Week 13

11/25/2012

 
There's nothing like a few days of rest and a day of focused thanksgiving to help us refocus, is there? I had an exceptionally blessed break and am ready to spend more time with my students, teaching and learning! I hope the same is true for you.

Like the explorers, we will be embarking on many adventures this week:
- Reading - We're continuing to develop our self-monitoring skills as we study the biographies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and various explorers.
- Word Study - Each group gets a new set of leveled words on Monday, and we ALL will practice spelling words with 3-letter blends.
- Language - We will define and distinguish between common/proper nouns and singular/plural nouns.
- Writing - Project: Holiday Mail for Heroes has started, and our class will participate by designing encouraging, handmade cards for active service members or veterans.
- Social Studies - We will discuss the accomplishments of great explorers like Marco Polo, Zheng He, Leif Ericsson, and Vasco da Gama and explain how they affected our modern world.

This year is going by incredibly fast-- I can't believe how much the kids have already learned, and I'm especially thankful to see the ways in which they have developed their character and maturity. Let's all continue to support our wonderful children by helping them reflect on their actions and learning, then encouraging them to push themselves to reach their full potential!

Week 12

11/11/2012

 
Let me start off by expressing my gratitude to all of you in the H5 Family who have served or are currently serving in our armed forces. Your hard work, bravery, and discipline keep our country safe year-round-- and are appreciated year-round-- but on this particular day we want to give you extra recognition. So, thank you. Thanks, as well, to all the spouses and children in our military families for your invaluable patience and support!

We have a PACKED week, as usual, but we will pause on Monday to recognize our veterans and reflect on what's really important. We'll read The Wall, by Eve Bunting, which is an excellent reminder of the sacrifices that occur in war. We'll also view excerpts from a Veterans History Project interview with a Marine who fought in Iraq, and all week we will be working on letters to veterans and active service members so that we can participate in the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes program.

In addition, we will be working diligently toward several goals ...
- ELA: As we continue our study of biographies, we will monitor our comprehension and use fix-up strategies to solve problems when we get confused. We'll define and spell words that contain the prefixes pre-, re-, un-, and dis-. We'll also review what we know about correct sentences and show that knowledge on a test (and, hopefully, in our writing!).
- Social Studies: We will FINALLY wrap up our study of the Native Americans and test on that topic by the end of the week. We've had a fascinating time learning about these cultures, but I am eager to help the kids discover what happened when European explorers began arriving in the area.

I am slooooowly getting caught up on sharing your children's work with you on the website. You can already see students' thoughts on the Native Americans in Student Central, and soon I'll be posting some of their excellent descriptive writing. I LOVE reading what they have to say-- it's one of the best parts of my job-- and am glad to be able to share that with you!

Week 11

11/6/2012

 
Well, I had an informative, inspiring trip to Fife County Schools in Washington, but nothing beats being with the H5 Family! I missed my kids while I was away and am glad to be back to normal. Well, as normal as things get around here!

We've got some hefty goals for the next 2 weeks:
- We will read various biographies to answer the question, "How can one small person make a BIG impact on the world?"
- We will practice monitoring our thinking as we read so that we're aware of questions, connections, and confusion.
- We will continue our leveled Word Study and also practice spelling and defining words with prefixes. Since the entire class is sharing this exploration of prefixes, each student will have 4 words to practice this week in addition to his/her usual Word Study set.
- We will finalize and share our fall descriptions, which are turning out to be fascinating! I'm looking forward to sharing this work on our website. We've also decided to share our writing with the 5th-grade students of Ms. Matthews's friend, Ms. Thompson. Ms. Thompson teaches down in Tampa, Florida, where there isn't much of a fall. The kids thought it would be a good idea to help their Floridian friends experience autumn through their writing!
- We will finish learning about the Native American tribes present when the Europeans first arrived, then begin *exploring* the reasons why the Europeans came to America in the first place!

I've been pondering how best to help students reflect on their Social Studies textbook readings, and this week I'd like to try using our class blog as a forum for their ideas. This week's Social Studies homework assignment will be for each student to access the Student Central blog on this website, then post a comment telling the most important idea they've learned about the Native Americans and why that idea is important. I will share more information about this assignment with studenin class, and I will give you the password for Student Central via e-mail (or the paper newsletter, if you receive it).