Blog Update

I am so sorry it took this long to get a class update to have  you. I want to keep you updated on what we have been working on class, including some information that is important for you to know.

1.     Explorations – I have signed up our class to share the things they have made over the last two years at the EdVenture Maker’s Faire. While I don’t have the exact date right now, it will be on a Saturday in May. The Maker’s Faire is like a giant share fair – the attendance on that day is about 1000. Two years ago, my class won an award for being the youngest sharers at the fair! As we get closer I will get more information to you.

2.     Science – Our share fair in December was an absolute success. I had many compliments from the other teachers, especially sharing along their undergraduate science buddies. Right now, we are working on matter and mixtures. We spent a good time studying the differences between the three states of matter. We did some experiments uncovering the mass of solids, liquids, and gases, including creating a wall of matter! Currently we are looking at the difference between mixtures and solutions. This has led us to do experiments on how to separate mixtures and solutions. (Mixtures and solutions can be separated through flotation, magnetism, evaporation, sifting, and chromatography.)

3.     Math – We are finishing our study of decimals such as how to order decimals (number sense). Next week we will review adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals before moving into a large unit on fractions.

4.     Read aloud – We are finishing Tuck Everlasting (more about this book when I share reading) and moving into a whole class literature discussion of Out of the Dust. This is a classic, 5^th grade text dealing with the Dust Bowl. The book is written in prose and won the Newberry Award about 20 years ago.

5.     Social Studies – We have just moved into the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. This will eventually lead to Roosevelt and the New Deal. We are moving quite quickly through this unit because students are really excited about studying WWII!

6.     Reading – We have engaged in a very in-depth study of Tuck Everlasting. We spent a great deal of time looking for different examples of metaphor and we looked at how the element of time was used throughout the book (controlling metaphor). Students are currently going back into the text to find examples of what three of the settings look like (e.g., the woods, the cottage, and Tuck’s house). They are using these examples from the text to draw a picture of what they believe that setting looks like.

7.     Writing – We are currently writing a DBQ on the Dust Bowl. Based on the primary documents we analyzed, as a class we came to know that the Dust Bowl was caused by three things: the shortgrass prairie, mechanization, and drought. Students will be writing an essay using information from the primary documents to support the three causes of the Dust Bowl.

Here is some other important information you need to know:

1.     We are going to be working on Student-led Conferences next week. I will be sending out a SignUp Genius very soon so you can begin signing up for conferences.

2.     There will be no Curriculum Night on Thursday, February 15^th. Instead, we will be using that time for Student-led Conferences. The next Curriculum Night, Thursday, March 15^th, will be concerning our 5^th grade Kanuga Trip.