Friday, December 19, 2014

5V News

We have been keeping busy this week in 5V!

Ask your child about:
  • The virtual tour of Plimoth Plantation
  • His or her science inquiry project
  • Our work with remainders in division problems
  • The geography bee
  • Our nonfiction reading work
  • His or her research-based argument topic (photos below)
  • Untitled

    Notes and reminders:
  • Yankee book swap, pajama day and movie and popcorn on Tuesday!
  • Have a wonderful holiday break with your families!  

Friday, December 12, 2014

5V News

Curriculum Topics:
  • Writing a research-based argument
  • Reading nonfiction 
  • Dividing decimals 
  • The respiratory system
  • Jamestown and Plymouth settlements
Some activities we did this week:
  • Estimated quotients to division problems
  • Did division problems with decimal divisors
  • Took our 13 colonies quiz
  • Toured the Mayflower
  • Looked at the Mayflower Compact
  • Learned about the different parts of the respiratory system
  • Created a question about the respiratory system for our inquiry projects 
  • Began our nonfiction reading unit
  • Previewed our nonfiction texts, tapped our prior knowledge and made predictions 
  • Paused and summarized our nonfiction texts as we read
  • Found key details in our text to support the main ideas 
  • Began research on whether schools should serve chocolate milk or not
  • Collected evidence to think through the various sides of the argument for chocolate milk
Notes and reminders:
  • Early release next Wednesday, December 17th
  • Yankee book swap on Tuesday, December 23rd followed by a movie and popcorn 
Happy Friday! 

Friday, December 5, 2014

5V News

Happy Friday!  Don't forget the Pancake Breakfast and Book Fair tomorrow!

We are learning about:

  • 13 Colonies
  • The respiratory system
  • Division 
  • Character study in reading and writing
Some activities we did this week:
  • Used base 10 blocks to show division
  • Practiced long division
  • Culminated our character project by pretending our characters were on social media and wrote about and illustrated what that would like look
  • Researched the fort at Jamestown and how it has changed
  • Began learning about the 13 colonies and their location
  • Participated in a school wide assembly where some of our 5V students shared about their coding experience
  • Did our second Mystery Skype!  (you'll have to ask your child where they were located!) 
I was happy and proud to present at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference this week on the power and value of student blogging.  I'm including a link to the presentation if you have any interest in seeing how I showcased some of our current and past students' work.  

Friday, November 21, 2014

5V News

Curriculum topics:
  • Division 
  • Character study in reading and writing
  • Circulatory system
  • Early colonization in North America
Ask your child about:
  • watching Jennifer Holm read aloud the last chapter of her book, The Fourteenth Goldfish
  • our blog posts on the main character of our books 
  • the debate on the lost colony of Roanoke (photos below are from the panel discussion)





Math:
Our upcoming math unit is on division and we began talking about divisibility rules today.  Many students are still not fluent with their math facts which is making multiplication, and even addition and subtraction, very difficult.  As we move to division it is increasingly important that students are fluent in their math facts.  Students should be spending time every night on their math facts to work toward fluency.  

Notes and reminders:
  • No school next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- Happy Thanksgiving!
  • Book fair- December 2nd-5th 
Have a great weekend!  

Friday, November 14, 2014

5V News

Happy Friday!  We have been working hard in 5V.  Here's what we've been up to...

Math: We have been working on multiplying multi digit whole numbers and decimals.  Students have been using estimation as a way to check their work but many students are still having difficulty with their multiplication facts, adding errors and other careless mistakes.  Students seem to have a grasp of the steps involved but are making small errors along the way that are affecting their answer.  We've also been growing our talk in math, discussing word problems in groups and how we will solve them.  There has been a lot of focus on explaining our thinking as demonstrated in the photo below.

Reading and Writing Workshop:  Our reading and writing time has been combined to focus on a character study in the books we are reading independently.  Students have self-selected a book and are working to build theories about the main character.  Each day we spend time reading, taking notes on our thinking, talking to our reading partners and writing about our characters.  This week we have started grouping and analyzing our sticky notes to notice patterns about our characters and continue to build and refine our theories about them.



Social Studies with Ms. Valenti: We have been studying the Spanish explorers and how they were the first European country to permanently settle in North America.  Up next we will begin to look at how the British settled and the lost colony of Roanoke and then on to Jamestown and Plymouth.

Science with Ms. Hodgdon: Students have learned about the parts of the heart and the flow of blood through the heart to the rest of the body.  Mrs. Kelley brought in a deer heart and students were able to explore and examine the parts of a real heart!

Have a great weekend!


Friday, October 31, 2014

5V News

Curriculum Topics:

  • Multiplication
  • Character study in reading and writing
  • Colonization
  • The circulatory system 
Some activities we did this week:
  • Took a test on adding and subtracting decimals
  • Practiced traditional multiplication 
  • Chose books to read for our character study
  • Stepped outside of our books to build theories about our characters
  • Noticed our character's actions and what that may reveal 
  • Became familiar with the circulatory system
  • Labeled the parts of the heart
  • Set up U.S. history timelines on Tiki-Toki
  • Discussed push and pull reasons for people to leave Europe 
  • Painted pumpkins for Halloween! 
Notes and reminders:
  • Early release on Friday, November 7th 
  • No school Monday and Tuesday November 10th and 11th 

Have a great weekend! 

Friday, October 24, 2014

5V News

Parent conferences:
Parent conferences begin next week.  Please see the schedule below and email me if you would like to change your time.  I'm looking forward to meeting with you!
Parent Conference Schedule Fall 2014

We are learning about:

  • Adding and subtracting decimals
  • Memoir writing
  • European exploration
  • Reading strategies 
Some activities we did this week:
  • Practiced reading aloud with power and expression
  • Reflected on our first quarter reading
  • Went "shopping" during math 
  • Reviewed our math unit 2 I can statements
  • Solved Halloween word problems in our table groups
  • Concluded our memoirs by writing strong conclusions
  • Researched one aspect of European exploration with Ms. Hodgdon's class 
Coming up:
  • For our next science and social studies topics 5V will have Ms. Hodgdon for science and Ms. Valenti for social studies and rotate the two topics 
  • Early releases- Wednesday, October 29th and Friday, November 7th for parent conferences 
Have a great weekend!

Friday, October 17, 2014

5V News

Have you signed up for parent conferences yet?  They begin in a couple of weeks!  Please sign up here.

We are learning about:
  • Adding and subtracting decimals 
  • Writing memoirs
  • Reading comprehension strategies
  • Early European explorers
Ask your child about:
  • Our first Mystery Skype!  
  • His or her job during our Mystery Skype
  • Christopher Columbus
  • Creating an astrolabe 
  • His or her memoir topic
  • The Global Read Aloud book- The Fourteenth Goldfish 
  • The Storyworks character contest 
  • His or her pattern during word study this week 

Have a great weekend! 


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Scratch in the Maker Lab

In the SMS MakerLab 5th grade students are about to start a unit of study on coding, and one of the tools they will use is called Scratch, which is a web-based programing site for students created by MIT. Steve Gagnon, the technology integrator, would like students to have their own accounts so that they will be able to save and share their programs.

Students under 13 signing up for an account are requested to submit a parent email that could be used for lost passwords. Please send me a note by Tuesday, October 21st if the parent email you would like your child to use is different than the one I have on file.  
To learn more about Scratch, click on the following link.
Note: Please be advised that without the ability to use a parent email, your child will not be able to participate in the web-based Scratch activity. In this case a less robust iPad application, Scratch Jr, that doesn’t require an account would be used by the student.

Students who already have Scratch accounts may use them with parent permission.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Steve at sgagnon@sau16.org.

Monday, October 6, 2014

5V News

Happy Monday!

A few updates...

Word Study:
We have started the Words Their Way program as a class, and for the past two weeks we have been spending time learning the routines and procedures.  This week your child will have a spelling test on Friday as a practice.

Beginning next week, each week, your child will receive a set of words that is matched to his or her spelling level.  We will spend time each day in class working on learning and practicing the patterns. Your child will be expected to spend some time at home doing the same.  He or she will bring home a list of words on Monday and your child will choose from a menu of options for word study homework. This word study homework will not be checked by the teacher and it will be up the students to practice on their own.

If you would like to find out more about the program, there is a great description here.

Math Facts:
Today a flyer went home on how to set up Xtra Math at home with your child.  Students do not need to use Xtra Math, however, I am asking that they are spending time each night practicing their facts. Students can choose to do Xtra Math, flashcards, another website, or any other routine your family has established.

Global Read Aloud:
Today our class began the book The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm as a read aloud book. The exciting thing about this read aloud is that there are thousands of kids all over the world reading the same book at the same time that we will connect with using Twitter, blogging and Skype.  You can find out more about the project here.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

5V News

Parent conferences:
Please check out the Google Doc sign up here and check your time or sign up for one.  They begin at the end of October!

Flickr page:
Don't forget to check out our Flickr page- it will give you a great idea of what we are up to!

Check out our blog:
We are up and running and we have a class full of talented writers!  Check us out!  www.kidblog.org/SMS5V

Ask your child about: 

  • Our team building day at Stratham Hill Park
  • Powers of 10 and scientific notation
  • How powerful readers read between the lines for an author's subtext
  • Turning points in their memoir stories
  • the Northwest vs. the Southwest Native Americans 
Have a great weekend!  

Friday, September 19, 2014

5V News

We are learning about:
  • Place Value
  • Writing personal narrative
  • Reading with power
  • The three worlds meeting- North America, Africa and Europe
Some activities we did this week
  • Played "Decimal Destruction" in math 
  • Did a room walk with place value task cards
  • Demonstrated that we know how to read, write and compare decimals to the thousandths place
  • Practiced recounting and retelling during reading workshop
  • Read Time of Wonder and noticed sensory details 
  • Mapped our hearts during writing workshop 
  • Played online games to help us locate the continents and oceans 
  • Learned about our essential questions for our "Three Worlds Meet" social studies unit with 5S
  • Sang the "5 Themes of Geography song"
  • Researched the 5 themes of geography for New Hampshire
Notes and reminders:
  • Fifth graders will be visiting Stratham Hill Park next Wednesday, September 24th 
  • Visit our Flickr page for photos!  

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Friday, September 12, 2014

5V News

It was great to see so many of you last night at Curriculum Night!  Your child is taking home a curriculum packet today with an overview of the fifth grade curriculum.  

Curriculum topics:
  • Place value
  • Reading with power
  • Writing personal narrative
  • Building classroom community
Some activities we did this week:
  • Used the place value chart to convert numbers
  • Read, wrote and compared decimals to the thousandths place 
  • Participated in "The Candy Rush" with 5S 
  • Logged in and tried out IXL 
  • Wrote out "I am" poems using the 5 senses
  • Discussed and practiced making positive and meaningful comments on blog posts
  • Brainstormed special people and places in our lives
  • Thought of strong emotions and wrote about times we experienced them 
  • Met with our second grade reading buddies for the first time 
  • Began typing practice on Typing Pal 

Parent conferences:
I created a Google Doc for parent conferences this year.  Here is the link:  Parent Conferences Fall 2014  Please sign up when you have a chance!

Have a great weekend! 

Friday, September 5, 2014

5V News

Happy Friday!  We are continuing to have fun in 5V while we get to know each other, build classroom routines and expectations and ease into the curriculum.  We have an amazing group of kids and I'm looking forward to being a part of their lives and watching them grow this year.

Please join us for Curriculum Night next Thursday, September 11th from 6:30 to 7:30 to learn more about 5V and the fifth grade curriculum.  I hope to see all of you there!

Here are some of the things we've done this week:

  • Brainstormed and decided on class jobs
  • Painted our self-portraits 
  • Discussed our 5V classroom rules and what they look like and sound like
  • Wrote a paragraph about our hopes and dreams for fifth grade
  • Began reading workshop and went over expectations
  • Logged our reading using Biblionasium or a paper log
  • Discussed digital citizenship
  • Tried out Google Classroom to respond to posts and to hand in work
  • Signed the 5V agreement for technology use
  • Read student blogs from the past two years
  • Collected ideas for what makes a good blog post 
  • Started writing an "I am" poem
  • Collaborated with 5S for a problem solving activity called "Can You Save Fred?" 
Have a great weekend and I hope to see you next week! 

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Welcome!

We've had a fantastic week in 5V and it's been fun getting to know each other!  Thank you for your attention to the parent forms.  Next week, look for a post more about the logistics of 5V.  In the meantime, here's what we've been up to this week:

  • Played "Guess Who" with 5 facts about ourselves
  • Created "The top 10 things you should know about me" list
  • Completed two teamwork challenges: the card tower and the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge
  • Discussed what works and what doesn't when working in groups
  • Logged on to our Chromebooks for the first time with our new usernames and passwords
  • Visited Digital Passport to begin the conversation about digital citizenship
  • Read The Colors of Us and began sketching self portraits  
  • Listened to There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar during read aloud
  • Played category tag with 5S
  • Displayed our artifact museum and learned more about our classmates 
We are off to a great start and I'm looking forward to a wonderful year with your children!  Enjoy the weekend!


Friday, August 22, 2014

Related Arts Schedule

Day 1: Music
Day 2: P.E.
Day 3: STEM lab
Day 4: Art and Band
Day 5: PE
Day 6: Library and Chorus

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Happy Summer!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer and spending lots of time outside with your family and friends!

Friday, June 13, 2014

End of the year

We are still busy in 5V finishing up several projects, building bridges and practicing our play!  Here's what is happening the last couple of days:

Monday, June 16th
10:30 AM Please join us for our play performance and bridge viewing

6:30 PM 5th grade celebration in the cafeteria.  Please have students meet at 6:15 in the library.

Tuesday, June 17th 
2:30 PM Final fifth grade walk out in the front of the school

It has been an amazing year with your children and I will remember them forever!  Thank you for all of your support both at home and in school.  I know our kids are ready for middle school and I can't wait to see and hear about what comes next!

Thursday, June 5, 2014

5V News

Thank you to all of the parents and former students who helped make field day a success!  We had a great day and couldn't do it without you.

Upcoming events:
June 9th- Odiorne field trip
We will arrive around 9:30 and all parents are welcome to attend.  We will meet in the science center and then begin tide pooling shortly after our arrival.  You will have to meet us there and pay the park admission.  I encourage you to join us!

June 11th- CMS
We will spend the morning at CMS

June 16th- Play performance and bridge showing at 10:30 AM in the classroom
Please join us!

June 16th- 5th grade celebration
6:30 PM in the cafeteria

June 17th- last day and final 5th grade walkout 2:30 in front of the school


Friday, May 30, 2014

5V News

We have been busy in 5V!  With just 12 days left we still have a lot of learning to do!  Here are a few things we've been up to:

  • Multiplying fractions
  • Taking care of our composting worms
  • Learning about ecosystems and food chains and food webs
  • Practicing our play- "Reviver: Philadelphia" 
  • Exploring how the U.S. Constitution was created
  • Formed construction teams to build toothpick bridges 
  • Researched different types of bridges 
  • Putting the finishing touches on our nonfiction picture books 


Upcoming dates:
June 2- Grandparents' lunch
June 5- Field day at Stratham Hill Park
June 9- Field trip to Odiorne
June 11- Move up day at CMS
June 16- Parents invited into our classroom at 11:30
June 16 6:30- fifth grade celebration
June 17- last day, 5th grade final walk out at 2:30

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Field trip update

We are scheduled for our Boston field trip next Tuesday.  It should be a great day! Students should arrive at school at 7:45 AM and be picked up at 4:15 PM.  We will be going rain or shine, so students should dress appropriately.  Students will also need a bag lunch.  For those parents driving, if you would like to take your child home from Boston you will need to fill out a permission slip at school before the day of the field trip.  No exceptions will be made for this.

Here is our schedule for the day and please let me know if you have any questions:

8:00 Leave SMS

10:00 Arrive at Boston Tea Party Museum
          http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/
          cost for adult- $21

11:00 Walk to Boston Common for lunch

12:00- 2:00 2 hour walking tour ending at Old North Church
           http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
           cost for adult- $12

2:15 Board bus on Commercial St to go to Bunker Hill Monument

2:30-3:30 Bunker Hill Monument

3:30 Board bus back to SMS

4:15 Arrive back at SMS

Monday, May 12, 2014

5V News

Have you seen our 13 colonies travel commercials?  The students used Wevideo to make them and worked hard to learn a new tool while deciding on the most important information on their colony to include.  You can find them here: http://kidblog.org/5Vclassroom/tag/colonycommercial/

Boston Field Trip- Tuesday, May 20th
We are still waiting for a few permission slips from students!  I have notified the two parents chosen to come with us on the bus- lucky them!  If you have not been notified, I encourage you to drive and carpool to join us on this great field trip!  Parents other than our bus chaperones will need to pay admission prices listed below.  Here is what our day looks like:

8:00 Leave SMS

10:00 Arrive at Boston Tea Party Museum
          http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/
          cost for adult- $21

11:00 Walk to Boston Common for lunch

12:00- 2:00 2 hour walking tour ending at Old North Church
         http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
         cost for adult- $12

2:15 Board bus on Commercial St to go to Bunker Hill Monument

2:30-3:30 Bunker Hill Monument

3:30 Board bus back to SMS

4:15 Arrive back at SMS

Notes and reminders:
May 14- CMS staff visits us and early release
May 20- Boston field trip
June 2- Grandparents' lunch
June 5- Field day at Stratham Hill Park
June 9- Field trip to Odiorne
June 11- Move up day at CMS
June 16- parents will be invited into the classroom to view our play, time TBD
June 16 6:30- fifth grade celebration
June 17- last day

Friday, May 2, 2014

5V News

Boston field trip:
Permission slips are going home today for our Boston trip on Tuesday, May 20th.  The cost is $5 per student and it would be great to get those forms back as soon as possible.  All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend!  Two parents may join us on the bus and the rest will have to drive.  I will give you detailed information if you would like to drive about the schedule and exact locations of our day. 

Some activities we did this week: 

  • Practiced adding fractions by finding common denominators 
  • Continued drafting our nonfiction books 
  • Created our 13 colony travel commercials using Wevideo- they will be published and viewable on our kidblog site next week! 
  • Chose book group books 
  • Practiced a book group discussion after reading an article on whale hunting
  • Became familiar with the historical fiction genre 
  • Began learning about how history evolved from colonization to the American Revolution to give us some background for our historical fiction books 
Upcoming dates:

May 6 1:30- Wellness walk
May 14- CMS staff visits us 
May 20- Boston field trip
June 2- Grandparents' lunch
June 5- Field day at Stratham Hill Park 
June 9- Field trip to Odiorne 
June 11- Move up day at CMS
June 16- parents will be invited into the classroom to view our play, time TBD
June 16 6:30- fifth grade celebration 
June 17- last day 

Friday, April 18, 2014

5V News

I can't believe it's already time for April vacation!  Time is flying and our last couple of months together are packed!  I tried to compile all of our upcoming dates:  

May 6 1:30- Wellness walk
May 14- CMS staff visits us 
May 20- Boston field trip
June 2- Grandparents' lunch
June 5- Field day at Stratham Hill Park 
June 9- Field trip to Odiorne 
June 11- Move up day at CMS
June 16 6:30- fifth grade celebration 
June 17- last day 

Have a wonderful vacation!  

Friday, April 11, 2014

5V News

Upcoming events: 
  • PTO with Nurse Lilly Tuesday, April 15th at 6:30 PM
  • Early release Wednesday, April 16th 
  • Jeff Warner event Thursday, April 17th at 6:30 PM 
  • Jump Rope for Heart Friday, April 18th  
This week we had our fourth Mystery Skype with a fifth grade class from Colorado.  We were able to guess their location in 6 questions!  We've also been enjoying our time with Jeff Warner and we were able to spend whole morning with him in our classroom.  Here are some photos: 


Friday, April 4, 2014

5V News

Parent conferences:
The finalized parent conference schedule can be found here.  Please email me if you'd like to change your time.

Ask your child to show you his or her:
  • nonfiction book progress on Google Docs
  • 13 colony travel commercial on Google Docs and WeVideo
  • fraction work on IXL
  • blog comments on other students' blog posts 
Notes and reminders:
  • Our Boston Freedom Trail date has been set!  We will be going on Tuesday, May 20th.  All parents are welcome to attend- more details to follow.  
  • Jeff Warner, our 5th grade artist in residence will be joining us soon!  He begins with us on Monday, April 7th.  
  • Early releases- Wednesday, April 9th and 16th 

Friday, March 28, 2014

Parent conferences:
Please check out the shared document to sign up for a conference time.  You can find it here.

Curriculum topics:
  • Fractions
  • Reading and writing nonfiction
  • 13 colonies
Some activities we did this week: 

  • Compared and ordered fractions
  • Found equivalent fractions
  • Practiced growing talk from reading
  • Discussed parts of Something Upstairs by Avi by doing "save the last word for me"
  • Used Google maps to research the Daniel Stillwell house in Providence
  • Continued researching the 13 colonies
  • Gathered images to use in our 13 colonies commercial
  • Began adding text features to our nonfiction books
  • Used the "Read&Write" app to listen to our writing out loud
  • Added to our altered books- "Where I hope to be in ten years..."

Notes and reminders:
  • Our Boston Freedom Trail date has been set!  We will be going on Tuesday, May 20th.  All parents are welcome to attend- more details to follow.  
  • Jeff Warner, our 5th grade artist in residence will be joining us soon!  He begins with us on Monday, April 7th.  
  • Early releases- Wednesday, April 9th and 16th 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

5V News

Parent conferences:
Please check out the shared document to sign up for a conference time.  You can find it here.

Curriculum topics:

  • Volume
  • Reading and writing nonfiction
  • Colonization 

Some activities we did this week: 

  • Found the volume of composed figures
  • Reviewed volume and took our math test
  • Started Front Row Math 
  • Wrote introductions and conclusions to our nonfiction books 
  • Decided on text structures that matched our nonfiction book subtopics 
  • Theorized about the mystery at Roanoke
  • Compared Roanoke, Jamestown and Plimoth 
  • Memorized the locations of the 13 colonies 
  • Began researching for our 13 colonies travel commercial 
  • Experimented with the WeVideo app on Chrome to make our travel commercials 
  • Started to read Something Upstairs by Avi during read aloud 

Notes and reminders:

  • Our Boston Freedom Trail date has been set!  We will be going on Tuesday, May 20th.  All parents are welcome to attend- more details to follow.  
  • Jeff Warner, our 5th grade artist in residence will be joining us soon!  He begins with us on Monday, April 7th.  

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Parent Conferences

It's that time of year to begin thinking about April parent conferences.  I've created a shared document to sign up for conferences.  Please click on this link to find the schedule: Parent Conferences April 2014

Anyone with this link is able to edit the schedule.  Please let me know if you need a different time and we can find a time that works.  Thank you!

Friday, March 7, 2014

5V News

It was great to see so many students and families at the 5th grade basketball game last night!  It was a lot of fun and I know all the students and teachers had a great time!

Curriculum topics:

  • Volume
  • Matter
  • Reading nonfiction
  • Writing nonfiction books
Some activities we did this week:
  • Compared area and perimeter of different shapes 
  • Created a foot, a square foot and a cubic foot 
  • Used blocks to create rectangular prisms with different volumes 
  • Calculated the volume of rectangular prisms with the formulas V= l*w*h and V= B*h
  • Decided on our nonfiction book topics
  • Wrote interesting and clear titles for our table of contents 
  • Created a glossary and began researching for our books 
  • Investigated how to separate solids
  • Made a "Whatzit" mixture and discovered how it had properties of both liquids and solids
  • Observed chemical changes with baking soda and vinegar
  • Took our final matter quiz
  • Practiced finding facts and opinions in reading
  • Had a class discussion and debated whether statements were facts or opinions
  • Continued our Genius Hour research and presentations 
Notes and reminders:
  • No school on Friday, March 14th- teacher workshop day
  • Parent conferences will be in April- I will post a sign up to the blog next week 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Snowshoeing

We will be snowshoeing Friday, February 21st from 9:20 to 10:05.  Students should be prepared with snow pants, boots, coats, mittens and hats.  Please join us!

Friday, February 14, 2014

5V News

Happy Valentine's Day!  We had a busy week in 5V even though we missed a day and had a delayed opening!  Here are some of the things we've been up to:

  • Measured angles in pattern blocks
  • Calculated the total amount of degrees in a triangle, quadrangle, pentagon, hexagon and heptagon
  • Played "Polygon Capture" during math
  • Began our nonfiction writing unit by writing for 50 minutes on a topic we know about
  • Listed topics we know well and subtopics to brainstorm for our nonfiction writing unit
  • Determined which subtopics need more information by writing about them
  • Observed and discovered how particles move in hot and cold water
  • Looked at narrative nonfiction texts and how they are different from other nonfiction texts
  • Practiced taking notes on both videos and short texts
  • Began reading Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen during read aloud 
Ask your child to log in to Google Drive, IXL, Kidblog, Science Companion and Newsela to see more of what we are doing in class.  Everything the students have access to at school they have access to at home!  

Have a great weekend!  

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Snowshoeing

5V will be snowshoeing during PE on Thursday, February 13th from 9:20 to 10:05.  Students will need boots, snow pants, hats and gloves.  Parents are welcome to join!

Friday, February 7, 2014

5V News

Curriculum topics:

  • Reading nonfiction
  • Types of angles
  • Writing persuasive 
  • Properties of matter
Some activities we did this week:
  • Categorized angle types
  • Played "Angle Tangle" in math
  • Learned about the types of triangles
  • Finished our persuasive essays!  
  • Practiced using a pan balance
  • Explored the density of materials in relation to water
  • Calculated the densities of several different materials using the formula D=M/V
  • Formed theories and grew our ideas in reading by discussing
  • Noticed how authors use pictures in nonfiction text to support the reader
  • Read a Newsela article on obesity and fast food in our country and had a thoughtful and engaging class discussion 
Notes and reminders:
  • We will exchange Valentines next Friday, February 14th 
  • 5th grade vs faculty basketball game is Thursday, March 6th 
Enjoy the weekend! 

Friday, January 31, 2014

5V News

Happy Friday!  We had a great week in 5V filled with science experiments, a Mystery Skype and a lot of other fun work.  Please check out our latest blog posts and our Flickr page!

Report cards go home today and we are officially in the second half of fifth grade.  Students have been working extremely hard and should be proud of all of their accomplishments.  As the year continues, I like to steadily increase the expectation for students in 5th grade.  We will focus on student responsibility, organization and stamina for challenging work.

I know that students will rise to the occasion as we look to challenge them more in the second half of the year.  This is the time of year when we can expect a lot of growth from students- when they are comfortable in our community, they know the work expectations and they begin to take an increased ownership of their learning.  We have a wonderful class full of caring, thoughtful and motivated children!  

As always, my goal is that this growth takes place in an environment where students love learning and love coming to school each day.  Thank you for your support in this and feel free to contact me at any time!  

Thursday, January 23, 2014

5V News

5V Photos:
Have you checked out our Flickr site lately?  We are always posting the latest photos of what's happening in our classroom.  Here it is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msvalentisclass/

Science:
Has your child told you about Science Companion yet?  We are piloting a new science program and we just started this week.  There is a great online component that goes along with our inquiry lessons in class.  Ask your child to log in and show you the work that he or she has done this week.  We had a great time investigating the properties of matter!

IXL:
IXL has been a great resource for us to practice our math concepts and now we are doing a free trial of the language arts component.  Ask your child to show you the topics we have been exploring in both subject areas!

Current curriculum topics:

  • Measurement
  • Reading nonfiction
  • Writing persuasive essays
  • Properties of matter
Have a great weekend!  

Friday, January 17, 2014

5V News

We participated in our second Mystery Skype this week! The class was from Iowa and we guessed their location in only 7 questions!  The best part was after we guessed the location we learned several facts about Iowa and we shared important facts about New Hampshire.  It was interesting to see that they were also a class with 1:1 Chromebooks.  This class is now on our blogroll and we have already started commenting on their blog posts.  Ask your child about his or her job during this Skype session!

Curriculum topics:

  • Measurement
  • Persuasive essay
  • European explorers
  • Reading nonfiction 
Some activities we did this week:
  • Practiced measuring using US customary units
  • Converted between customary units 
  • Found supporting details for main ideas in our nonfiction texts
  • Problem solved unknown words in nonfiction
  • Explored the five most common structures of nonfiction text 
  • Continued drafting our persuasive essays 
  • Met in small groups to help each other revise our persuasive writing
  • Finished our explorer information sheets using Google Docs and templates 
  • Worked on the first pages in our altered books
Notes and reminders:
  • The second quarter closes today, report cards go home Friday, January 31st 
  • Spelling bee: Monday, January 27th 
Have a great weekend!

Friday, January 10, 2014

5V News

Happy New Year!  We had a busy week in 5V getting back into the swing of things!  Be sure to check out this week's blog posts- they are definitely our best yet! 5V Kidblog site

Our curriculum topics:

  • The metric system
  • European explorers
  • Reading nonfiction
  • Persuasive essay
Some activities we did this week:
  • Practiced measuring using the metric system and the customary unit system
  • Converted between units in the metric system 
  • Continued writing our persuasive essays
  • Watched for shifts in verb tense our writing
  • Looked at students' blog posts and graded them with our new blogging rubric
  • Participated in the Geography Bee with Mr. Fosher 
  • Began reading nonfiction in reading
  • Followed the steps of previewing a section, predicting the content and activating our prior knowledge in each nonfiction section 
  • Determined main ideas after reading a section of nonfiction 
  • Chose our books for altered books and began the project! 
  • Continued learning during our Genius Hour 
Notes and reminders:
  • Second quarter ends Friday, January 17th 
  • No school- Monday, January 20th 
Have a great weekend!