Happy Friday!!

Hope you all had as a great of a week as we had in 5^th grade!  As second quarter has gotten underway we have hit the ground running! 

In science this week, we finished up a lesson on clouds and precipitation.  The kids did several activities in their stations this week including making models of the different types of clouds with cotton balls and making their very own weather forecast video.  They had so much fun exploring this new material!

In writing, we have started our new unit on information writing.  Students chose a Native American tribe to research and will be working on creating an informational piece with the new information that they gather.  Their enthusiasm for this unit has me very excited about what is to come over the next couple of weeks.

In math, we have been worked on several lessons about long division.  Many of the kids expressed to me that they were not feeling confident with the material so we have been working on practicing these strategies in order to improve.  I continue to encourage the kiddos to practice multiplication and division problems at home.  Practice makes perfect! :) 

In reading this week, we have continued to discuss how we can build bridges between characters in two different texts.  They have done a fabulous job with this.  We are also going to be starting book clubs soon, which the kiddos are very excited about!  We took a vote on which book they want to read and I am looking forward to the conversations that we will have around these books.  The kids are full of such wonderful ideas which makes me confident that they will enjoy this.

In social studies, the kids have started a new project centered on Native Americans.  They will be creating a slideshow presentation for our class, along with a model of the house of the tribe that they chose.  Students will be given time in class to work on their presentation but the model of the house should be done at home.  The due date for this project is projected to be November 5^th or 6^th.  I will keep you updated as the date gets closer.

I am looking forward to seeing you this coming week at Parent Teacher conferences.  Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather!  

Writing celebration !!

Last week 5th graders worked hard to edit, revise, and publish their personal narrative pieces.  On Friday we got to celebrate their hard work by eating popcorn and reading each other's fabulous stories!  After reading the stories we left comments for the author.  It was so much fun!

Weekly Update 10/13

Happy Sunday!!

Sorry that I was not able to get out our weekly update up until now! What a great week we had in 5th grade.  I can't believe how quickly October is flying by and soon it will be the end of October and time for parent-teacher conferences.  I sent home conference sheets with the kiddos on Friday.  Please take a look at the sheets and send them back as soon as you are able to!  Many of you already scheduled a time for your conference at Curriculum Night so I just need you to confirm that that time still works for you. :)

Lots of learning was taking place in our classroom this week...

In science we have been learning about a variety of weather tools which has been a subject that the kids have really enjoyed.  We have continued using science stations this week and the kids were able to lots of hands on activities.  We constructed anemometers and we hope to find a windy day this week to put them to use.  This has been something that the kids have been anticipating for several weeks!

In writing we finished up our drafts of our second and final personal narrative pieces.  We started publishing on Friday and will continue working on them for the next couple of days.  On Thursday we are going to have a celebration where the kids will get to share their writing with other 5th grade classes and teachers.  We are super excited!

In math we are continuing to work on division.  I can see that the more we practice multiplication facts, the better the kids are getting at division as well.  We are going to start Chapter 4 in math this week which will build on the division concepts that we know.  We will not have a chapter 3 test because we are going to combine chapters 3 and 4 into one test.  This test will not be for a couple of weeks.

In reading we have been focused on learning about characters and how our characters can help us understand more about the story we are reading.  I cannot say enough about how many great readers we have in our class.  It is amazing that they enjoy reading so much!

This is the last call for anyone who would like to place a Scholastic Book Order.  Our orders are due on October 20th so please send in your orders or place them online if you wish to order any books!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith DiFranco

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Wow! I cannot believe that it is already October!  I am so proud of the learning that has gone on in our classroom this week.  I really couldn't ask for a more hard working group!

This week we celebrated being a Blue Ribbon school!  On Tuesday, many people from around our district came to every classroom to celebrate with us and give us Culver's ice cream!!  We were so excited...not only for the ice cream but for the dedication of each and every one of our students to their education. :)

In science this week we have been learning about the water cycle and the ocean's role in the cycle.  We have started using science stations which allow for multiple activities to take place around the same subject.  The kiddos have really enjoyed them and I can see that they are gaining so much knowledge!

In writing we are working on the third section of our personal narrative unit. This week we have spent time using other author's writing to get ideas that we can use in our own writing pieces.  Next week each kiddo will choose an idea from their notebook to take through the whole writing process.  During our share out at the end of writing today I was so impressed with the strategies that were present in their writing.

In math we have started our chapter on division, yay!!  This is another chapter where their multiplication facts will be super important.  I continue to encourage them to practice those facts at home because they will be so helpful as we progress this year!  :)

In reading we have been focused on the characters in our stories.  We have been paying close attention to their thoughts and actions and have been using those to make predictions about who the characters really are.

I wanted to give you a quick reminder that our October Scholastic order is due on October 20th.  I sent the order home with the kids awhile ago but I know sometimes things get lost in the shuffle.  If you are interested in placing an order and cannot find your order form, you can go online to scholastic.com/readingclub and place your order there.  Our class code is: NDWMZ.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you for all the support you give your child!  We couldn't do it without you!

Ms. DiFranco

Working hard in our science stations this week!