Dr. Johnson's Reading Blog

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Thanksgiving gathering. Students had a great time putting everything together. I have included some pictures from gathering. I still have pictures and video from our Immigration Simulation. I'm still working on putting these together. Science / Expert Projects - Just as a reminder, expert projects are due Tuesday, December 5th . We will have a share fair sometime in the afternoon. As soon as I have more details such as time, I'll let you know (it will most likely be in the afternoon). Our share fair will most likely also have our undergraduate science buddies who are also participating in the same expert project. When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will begin feverishly working on our expert projects. Starting Monday, we will spend the mornings gathering information while the afternoons will be about putting our posters and writing together. Remember, the dioramas are to be done at home. Reading / Writing - We are worki...

The immigration simulation will take place next Monday, November 13 . We will probably start around 12:00 or 12:30. This will run to about the end of school. Students have chosen their identities for the simulation. Students are either an Ellis Island processor or immigrant. This week students will do some research about their character, make their name tags, look up some words to help them get into character, and study the characteristics of their character. We have also started discussing our Ecosystem Expert Project. Today we spent time going over the requirements for the expert project and putting in important dates into their agenda books. There are three components to the expert project: students must make a diorama of their ecosystem, then they must make a poster explaining their diorama, then students will write a short narrative about their ecosystem. All parts of the Ecosystem Expert Project are due Tuesday, December 5th. Students have due dates in their agenda books ...

Here are a few announcements for the week: Remember that Thursday, November 2 is our annual Zoo Trip. Students will ride the bus to the zoo with their kindergarten buddies. Once at the zoo, we will spend some time viewing the animals before heading to one of the buildings for a class. Next week you will get information about two big projects coming up. One project will be our Ellis Island simulation in which students will take on the role of either an Ellis Island processor or an immigrant. Our other big project will be an ecosystem expert project. This project will have three parts. Once part is a the creation of a diorama which will be done primarily at home. The second part will be the creation of a poster. And the third part will be a short paper. The Book Fair starts next week. More information will come home towards the end of the week. In science, we have completed our terrariums / aquariums. The terrariums / aquariums have been a point of excitement as students quickly c...

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out to Curriculum Night. We did quite a bit of work with science. For those who were not able to make it, I'll share a few of things we are doing in science. First of all, whenever conducting science investigations, we usually begin with some kind of probing question - a question that will get kids thinking in the general area we are studying. For instance, I showed students the following picture and asked students why the ground is not level. Students made comments such as the grass and roots pushed the ground up. Some thought water was causing the ground to look like that. These questions start the inquiring into the topic. At this point, we use water tables to simulate erosion. Students set their water tables with several pounds of sand, a ruler, and a cup of water. We fill the cups with water as it drips water onto the sand causing erosion. Not using the word erosion, I ask students what is happening. They make comments such as ...

In science, we have started our study of continental and oceanic landforms. Students started off by building oceanic landform models out of Legos. Once these models were completed, we built oceanic landforms using dough. These were built inside of a container. We placed skewers through the lid of the container to mimic how oceanographers map the bottom of the ocean using sonar. Each skewer was measured and graphed. Students building their dough landform model Completed Lego model You have probably heard your students talking about their kindergarten buddies. Students are thoroughly enjoying their time working with them. We have spent the last few weeks talking about the reading strategies good readers use when reading texts. During independent reading, students are spending time reflecting on their own strategies. Being cognizant of these reading strategies helps 5th graders better work with their kindergarten buddies during reading. As 5th graders read with their buddi...

The first couple of weeks are off and running, and it has been quite busy! 5th graders have quite a few responsibilities. The two big ones are being a Kindergarten Buddy and safety patrol. Our class teams up with Mrs. Klosterman's class for Kindergarten Buddies. Each 5th grader is teamed up with a kindergartener. They are responsible for being a good role model, helping the kindergartener adjust to school life, reading alongside them, and demonstrating how to live and learn at CFI. Over the next several weeks I will talk with students on how to read with their kindergarten buddy including reflecting on the reading strategies good readers use when they make sense of text. This is similar to young ones apprenticing under more experienced members of a family. Safety patrol is also another new and exciting opportunity for 5th graders. As you may know by now, we have revamped safety patrol so 5th graders are getting used to the new procedures. For now, 5th graders are enjoying their n...

Dear Families, Welcome back to a new school year! I know the next couple of days are going to be hectic so I'm going to share a few things before we head back to school on Tuesday. The first week of school is going to be a busy one for all the kids. Since 5th graders have many more responsibilities, we spend this week going over those expectations. Our two main responsibilities are kindergarten buddies and carpool, both will start on the first day of school (I will be sending out a carpool schedule on Tuesday that will need to be returned by the end of the week Friday).  Ms. Whitecotton and our classroom will be sharing gathering duties. September 1, our classrooms will be doing a gathering on CFI's Rights & Responsibilities, and September 8th, our classes will be talking about the Book of the Month (a new CFI tradition we hope to start this year). I also wanted to remind you of my communication plan.   My primary way of communicating is through email ...

Hi Everyone - I hope everyone has been having a nice summer break. I know it's still a bit early to be thinking "back to school" anything, but I wanted to send a quick note before you went out and did back to school shopping for school supplies.  As I look at the district school supply list, there are some things you can leave off because 1) I have an abundant supply and don't need anymore of the item, and 2) there are some items you purchased last year that we will continue using. Here are items from the list you will need. Items crossed out you DON'T need to get: 1 Book bag  1 3-ring binder (2-inch) - (I have kept their binders from last year) Pocket Dividers 2 24-Pack No. 2 pencils (Ticonderoga)  2 Erasers (Pink Pearl)  4 Glue sticks (Elmer’s)   1 Pack Dry Erase Markers (EXPO 4 color pack)  4 Marble composition books  2 8-oz Hand sanitizer   2 Packs (200) wide-ruled notebook paper - (most children have a lot o...

We have a lot of stuff going on this last week, so I wanted to share some information on what is going on: Tuesday  - Tuesday is our last full day of school. Graduation is from 8:30 - 9:30. As rising 5th grade parents, you are invited to the graduation ceremony. We will spend the remainder of the day cleaning some of the room, preparing for 5th grade appreciations, and possibly watching a movie (after graduation, kids are mentally in another world as the realization sets in they are almost in 5th grade). The movie would be Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief. Wednesday - Half day. 4th grade classroom are in charge of the 5th grade appreciations. 5th grade appreciations run from 8:30 - 9:30. The remainder of the day is cleaning the room, and taking things home. 11:30 dismissal. Thursday  - Half day and last day of school. This will be a game day and signing yearbooks. Students can bring in a game to share, and play with other students. We will be playing games with Ms. Wh...

I wanted to post some information concerning this last full week before the end of school. Monday  - We are reviewing science and social studies in anticipation of our upcoming science and social studies test. Tuesday  - Science testing in the morning. Review social studies for test in the afternoon. Wednesday  - Social studies test in the morning. Practice for graduation ceremony. Thursday  - We will have a game day (board games, card games, etc.). Practice for graduation. Prepare for 5th grade appreciations. Friday - Preparing for 5th grade appreciations. Graduation practice. Friday gathering and Splash Day. In the midst of all this, we will be taking care of a carpool schedule for graduation, and choosing a 4th grade speaker for graduation ceremony. Needless to say, we have a very busy week ahead of us!

Thanks to everyone for helping our class have a successful trip to Brattonsville! This was by far the best trip to Brattonsville I have ever had. The bus ride (quiet), students listened and paid attention to the docents (perfect), lunch went great (no running around), and the buses got to Brattonsville, and back to CFI on time. And parents ... you helped make this a great trip. I appreciate taking time out of your schedule, and rising to the occasion when necessary. Thanks again! Here are few things to remember: 1) The book faire is this week so be prepared to be asked a million times if your child can get a book : ) 2) On Wednesday, students will be field testing a version of the writing SC PASS test. This test will not count for them, and will be good practice when we take the real test in two weeks.

Next Friday, April 28 is our 4th grade field trip to Brattonsville . If your are not familiar with Brattonsville, it is a 775 acre Revolutionary War site. We will be attending a session on life in the backcountry, eating lunch, then chaperoned groups will have the chance visit the other houses and sites located at Brattonsville. We have specifically created this opportunity for "free time" because there is so much to see, taking two session would not allow us to see all that Brattonsville has to offer. With that said, I wanted to go over a few expectations. 1) First of all, thank you so much for taking the time drive to Brattonsville to chaperone this trip. This is my favorite field trip, and Brattonsville has much to learn from. 2) Chaperoned groups will be small, so you will have only a few kids in your group. Feel free to team up with another group as we tour the grounds. Smaller groups make it easier to tour the houses and trails that are located at Brattonsville. ...

Before I share a few things about what's going on in class, I wanted to send out a reminder that our 4th Curriculum Night will be this Thursday, March 16th from 7:15 - 8:00 . Also, the MAP testing window begins this week. I plan on testing student the very last week of March (March 28 & March 30), so we can get as much math instruction before then. And one final piece of info, I will be at Camp Kanuga (5th grade camp) for three days next week (March 22 - 24). The kids and I will begin putting together several projects I will be expecting them to complete when I return back to school. Our kids have been great when they've had substitutes, but any reminder about expectations and behavior while I'm gone would be appreciated. Reading: We will begin our first literature study of the year. This literature study will be a whole class literature study so we can discuss expectations for future small group literature studies. Writing: We have been working on creating a bro...

There isn't too much information this week. I do want to remind everyone that instead of having Curriculum Night #3, we will be using that time for student-led conferences. Conferences will begin after school and continue into the evening. We will also use Friday, February 17 (half-day) for student-led conferences. Those will begin in the afternoon and continue into the early evening. I am also looking at several more dates, including Saturday, February 18 (I'm waiting on my son's soccer schedule), to schedule more times. I am in the process of creating a SignUp Genius, and as soon as I have dates and time slots down, I'll get the sign up out to everyone. Reading  - We are still working on studying characters in books. This week we will begin one of my favorite read alouds called Chains  by Laurie Halse Anderson. Writing  - Students have begun writing their DBQ pieces. We will be spending this week doing some editing. Math  - We are working on solving multipli...

First of all, thank you for all the wonderful gifts and treats I received before the holiday break. I appreciate every one's kind words and support. I wanted to share a few things we are currently working on, and give you some information on student-led conferences. Student-led Conferences : Students will begin working on their student-led conferences after the MLK holiday. While the dates are still tentative, we are working on having student-led conferences sometime around February 16 (in lieu of Curriculum Night), 17, and 18 (that's a Saturday). I am trying to come up with several dates to spread conferences around. As we closer, dates and times will be better known. Reading : We are engaged in a study of characters. We are looking a different characters in books and using evidence from the story to describe the character. While some books blatantly describe a character, in some stories the reader must infer the characteristics of a character based on the story. Writing...