Thursday, February 19, 2015

5V News

We are learning about:
  • Geometry
  • Reading strategies
  • Writing a research-based argument
  • Matter
Some activities we did this week:
  • Classified polygons, triangles and quadrilaterals
  • Watched and (sang along to!) music videos on geometry
  • Activated our schema (prior knowledge) while listening to the song "Rachel Delavoryas" 
  • Inferred about who Ms. Valenti's new neighbors are by using their recycling
  • Practicing using our schema and inferring during independent reading
  • Moved toward finishing our research-based argument essays
  • Discovered the differences between solids, liquids and gases 
  • Began listing and understanding the properties of matter
  • Participated in a Mystery Skype!  



Have a wonderful vacation with your families!  



Thursday, February 12, 2015

5V News

We are learning about:

  • Angles
  • Reading comprehension strategies
  • Writing research-based argument essays
  • Matter
Ask your child about:
  • Measuring and drawing angles
  • Playing the game "Angle Tangle"
  • Our science website, Science Companion, that we will be using for our matter unit
  • Reading the book Don't Laugh at Me
  • What a "reading salad" is
  • Metacognition 
  • Our read aloud book, Something Upstairs by Avi
  • His or her final colony commercial 
  • The Red Book 
  • The electronic field trip we watched live from Colonial Williamsburg- "When Freedom Came" 

Thanks and have a great weekend! 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

5V News

Well...it was a very short week in 5V!  The highlight was definitely Innovation Day!  I was so impressed with the students' work, engagement, enjoyment and enthusiasm!  The photos of the day in progress and the final products can be seen here on our Flickr page.  Look for blog posts next week where we will reflect on Innovation Day.

Valentine's Day:
You should be hearing from our room parent soon about contributing to our class party that will be held on Friday, February 13th.  Students are welcome to bring in Valentines and even candy (but of course I will attempt to limit their consumption during the school day) for all students in the class.  The class blog site (www.kidblog.org/SMS5V) is a great place to get a list of student names in the class.

Once we get back into the swing of things here is what's coming up next...

  • Finishing up our 13 colony commercials (look for those on the blog soon!) 
  • Starting our next science unit on matter 
  • Two dimensional geometry 
  • Revisiting some comprehension strategies and then book clubs in reading
  • Continuing our research-based argument essays in writing 
A few other things...
  • For the remainder of the year our word study/ spelling cycle will last 2 weeks instead of 1 week.  We are finding we are not getting in enough class time with the words and patterns.  
  • Vocabulary search- you may have noticed your child now has a vocabulary search as a part of homework.  Each week they will be presented with either a word root, prefix or suffix and students should find 5 words that "fit" the meaning for the week.  The purpose is exposure to these word roots, prefixes and suffixes to enhance their reading but also to expand their writing.  Students are welcome to use any source to find the words but they should understand the definitions if they are writing them down :)  
Have a great weekend!  

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Snowshoeing again!

5V is lucky enough to snowshoe again tomorrow!  Students will need to come prepared to snowshoe during P.E. at 10:20 and parents are welcome to join!