February 28th

Science: Students used their sketches from last week to create landform models out of salt dough. Pairs of students also made keys to match their models. Next week they will paint their models in art class! We also learned more about bodies of water this week by doing a scavenger hunt using globes. Students identified oceans, rivers, bays, lakes, and seas.

 

Math: This week we worked on adding and subtracting three digit numbers in word problems. We also learned about subtracting across zeros.

Reading: This week we enjoyed reading an African folktale called Why the Sky is Far Away. As we read this story, we determined the theme of the story, used context clues to determine the meaning of new words, examined character traits, and identified the problem and solution. We have also been working on finding examples of cause and effect in fiction stories. We found several examples in Mr. Peabody’s Apples and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In phonics, we are learning the au, aw, and al patterns (stalk, haunt, draw).

Writing: We finished writing our fictional narrative drafts this week. Then, we worked on revising to add transition words, adjectives, adverbs, and sensory details. Finally, we edited our writing, paying special attention to how to punctuate dialogue correctly.  

February 13th

 Reading: This week we enjoyed exploring a story known as a trickster tale called A Foxy Garden. As we read this story, we discussed the theme and we practiced identifying character traits along with text evidence to support our thinking. We also practiced reading with the intention of working on our fluency. 

Our phonics lessons were all about: 

Vowel Teams /oo/ Syllable Patterns (oo, ui, ew, ue, u, ou, oe, u_e)

Writing: Brainstorming using a graphic organizer has been the main focus of writing lately. The students have generated ideas for how they would like their fictional narrative stories to go. They have created stories based around a theme or lesson that they would like to teach about. Most recently we took a closer look at their stories and found places where they would like to zoom in to develop what their characters might say and explain how they are feeling at that point of the story.

Science: In this science unit titled, “Exploring Earth,” the students have been introduced to three different groups of people who explored the world over the past millennia. They researched early Inuit, Polynesian, and Nordic explorers. They took a close look at where in the world they lived. We also learned about maps and globes, and we discovered that the Earth is mostly covered in water.

Math: Subtracting three-digit numbers both with and without regrouping is what we have been working on. This is a great topic that can easily be practiced at home. If you have the time, try to give your child a few problems to work out on their own or alongside you. 

Valentine’s Day Fun:

February 8th

100th Day of School:

Dressed as our future selves:

Of course I had to get a picture with our future teachers! :)

What could we make with 100 items?

We charted 100 flips of a penny!

 

We wrote about what we would do with $100.

Lastly, we enjoyed a 100 themed dancing brain break!

Reading: In reading this week. we began a new unit titled “Tales to Live By.” In this unit we will be reading several folktales from around the world. One story we read this week was called “Village of Moon Rain." We talked about the central message or lesson, and we also discussed how the pictures can better help us understand stories. We also practiced using context clues and background knowledge to help figure out vocabulary words. 

Writing: This week we wrapped up our opinion writing about our favorite pet, and those writings are displayed in the hallway. During our new writing unit we will be writing a fictional narrative story. We started our graphic organizers to help us plan these stores out. We are including characters, setting, problem and solution. Then we will also have a lesson we can learn from the stories we write.

Social Studies: We had so much fun at our Market Day this week. We were able to sell our products to our buddy class, and the fifth graders were really impressed with how we ran our businesses. We counted up our profits from our sales, and learned that all of our businesses were successful. We also started our next science unit. In this unit we will be learning about explorers and the landforms they encountered on their adventures.

Global Day of Play