Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Snowshoeing on Friday

I hope everyone is enjoying the snow!  5V will likely be snowshoeing during P.E. on Friday.  The kids should come prepared with snow pants, jackets, gloves, hats and boots.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Friday, January 23, 2015

5V News

Happy Friday! A reminder that Innovation Day will take place next Friday, January 30th.  Be sure to look for a lot of photos and videos that day on our Flickr account:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/msvalentisclass/.  Your child will spend the day learning and creating on a topic of his or her choice.  Many students are planning to bring some supplies from home and those can come in anytime prior to Friday.  Be sure to ask your child what question he or she will be exploring that day!  Here's what we are thinking so far:
Untitled

Upcoming:
  • Our next Mystery Skype on Monday!
  • Report cards go home next Friday, January 30th 
Have a great weekend!  

Friday, January 16, 2015

5V News

We are learning about:

  • Order of operations
  • Reading nonfiction
  • Writing research-based arguments
  • 13 Colonies
Ask your child about:
  • "Colonial Idol" we watched live and voted for the winner
  • How cake and icing fits into our research-based arguments
  • 13 colony commercials we are researching and creating on WeVideo 
  • Self-assessing ourselves using the report card
  • Our order of operations puzzles (pictured below)

    Untitled

Notes and reminders:
  • The second quarter closes today, report cards go home on Friday, January 30th
  • Innovation Day is Friday, January 30th
  • 5th grade vs. faculty basketball game is March 5th 
Have a great weekend! 

Friday, January 9, 2015

5V News

Curriculum topics:
  • Reading nonfiction
  • Research-based argument writing 
  • 13 colonies 
  • Order of operations 
Coming up....Innovation Day! 
What is Innovation Day?  
For a whole day, students will get to choose what they want to study, decide on what resources they will need for their learning, and design and plan a project that demonstrates what they have learned. Teachers guide students in developing higher level questions based on their interests.  Students will generate a list of materials they will need to bring from home to complete their projects and they will also create a list of resources they need from school. Our Innovation Day will be Friday, January 30th.

During Innovation Day, teachers will facilitate, coach, question and guide.  

The final step in our Innovation Day will be the presentation of projects.  We think that placing students projects on display the following morning for the other fifth graders to view would add to the importance of such an opportunity.  Projects will also be documented through pictures and videos.

How will we grade and evaluate the work?

We won’t!  The purpose and focus of Innovation Day is the learning.  It is not intended to have a rubric attached to it, nor should students be trying to figure out how to achieve an “A”.  

Notes and reminders:
  • Quarter 2 closes on January 16th and report cards go home January 30th
Have a great weekend!



Friday, January 2, 2015

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Dear 5V families,
I hope you had a wonderful holiday and vacation with your families!  I would like to thank all of you for the class gift.  I truly appreciate your donation to the NH Food Bank and I know it's such an important time of year to help that organization.  I would also like to thank you for my gift certificate to downtown Portsmouth.  It will be put to good use!  Thank you again for your kindness and generosity.  Happy New Year!
Jessica