Reading- We celebrated our Fantasy Book Club Unit by watching the book talk/reviews that each of the clubs made. Everyone loved to see what others had come up with and were excited to learn about another book series that they might be interested in reading.
Writing- This week students wrote their on-demand writing piece in the genre of opinion. So far, it seems like students have made great growth from the beginning of the year!
Science- We spent time learning about the biosphere this week. We went outside to collect samplings of living or once-living things. Students created concept maps to connect their living item to the other spheres: geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. We spent a lot of time together discussing the connections between the spheres, wrote about why they are all needed in order for the biosphere to exist and drew models of how they interact in the world around us. One of our models even focused on Michigan specifically! To review at the end of the week, we watched a short video and took notes. Next week, we'll move beyond the Earth and spend more time focusing on space!
Math- This week we continued learning about conversions. We finished our focus on metric units and started talking about customary units like ounces and miles. Unit 8 heavily focuses on story problems. Students have been practicing not just giving their answer, but explaining how they got their answer. Next week, we will be learning about and practicing finding volume!
Friday, March 22, 2019
Friday, March 15, 2019
March 11 - 15, 2019
Social Studies- Students have been busy making beautiful posters advertising their assigned colonies. They look great! We are taking the chapter 7 test this Monday, March 18, 2019. Then, we will take a tour of Colonial Williamsburg! If you have some free time, check it out online. Such a cool place and worthy of a family vacation!
Reading - Students have been working hard as script writers, directors, and actors as they create their very own iMovie about their Fantasy Book Club Books! They will have their premier on Monday and we can't wait to hear about all the great books they are reading and see their Oscar worthy performances!
Writing - This week in writing, we've been working really hard on completing a final draft of a literary essay on a picture book that we read in class. Students have been doing a great job of including multiple pieces of evidence along with their own thinking (or frosting/icing) to explain how it all fits.
Science - It has been such a fun experience for students seeing how what they're learning in social studies also applies to science! Students researched a specific land form then used what they knew about advertising, propaganda, logos, and slogans to create "informative billboards" to promote it. We also learned a lot about our Earth and its different layers. Students will have a quiz on this information (page 38 in their journals) on Wednesday. A copy of the notes can be found in OneNote in the science section.
Math - We had a blast celebrating Pi Day on March 14th! We learned about how pi was discovered and even learned some of the digits ourselves. Students also jumped headfirst into Unit 8! We learned how to convert between metric units with the help of a mnemonic (King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk). The "K" stands for the prefix kilo, the largest unit we will be working with and the "M" stands for milli, the smallest unit we will be working with.
Reading - Students have been working hard as script writers, directors, and actors as they create their very own iMovie about their Fantasy Book Club Books! They will have their premier on Monday and we can't wait to hear about all the great books they are reading and see their Oscar worthy performances!
Writing - This week in writing, we've been working really hard on completing a final draft of a literary essay on a picture book that we read in class. Students have been doing a great job of including multiple pieces of evidence along with their own thinking (or frosting/icing) to explain how it all fits.
Science - It has been such a fun experience for students seeing how what they're learning in social studies also applies to science! Students researched a specific land form then used what they knew about advertising, propaganda, logos, and slogans to create "informative billboards" to promote it. We also learned a lot about our Earth and its different layers. Students will have a quiz on this information (page 38 in their journals) on Wednesday. A copy of the notes can be found in OneNote in the science section.
Math - We had a blast celebrating Pi Day on March 14th! We learned about how pi was discovered and even learned some of the digits ourselves. Students also jumped headfirst into Unit 8! We learned how to convert between metric units with the help of a mnemonic (King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk). The "K" stands for the prefix kilo, the largest unit we will be working with and the "M" stands for milli, the smallest unit we will be working with.
Friday, March 1, 2019
February 25- March 1
Reading
In our fantasy unit, we've focused a lot on the character's journey. We learned that characters in our fantasy books can actually teach us life lessons! Students also learned that most fantasy stories follow a quest structure. Using this structure, students worked with their book clubs to determine the internal and external quests that their main character goes through within the book(s) that they've read.
Writing
Students have been looking at new stories this week and determining a big idea that they can focus their literary essay around. All of the stories have been read aloud in class which makes it a little easier as the stories are now familiar to us. Our next steps were to take our big idea and develop a strong thesis statement. Students are continuing to work to be sure that all of their evidence aligns with their overarching claim. We discovered that sometimes, if our evidence doesn't fit, we may need to alter our thesis statement.
Science
This week in science, students learned a little bit more about ocean currents and how water travels creating erosion. Students used their knowledge to solve a real world problem: Helping make a hillside safe for a new housing development. Geologists worked together to devise a plan. Once they tested their model, students had the opportunity to think through their plan to see what could make it better in the future. Students presented the their findings to the class as a group which allowed for others to hear of alternative solutions.
Social Studies
Students have begun working in groups to design a billboard advertising their assigned colony. They will be focusing on writing a slogan and designing a logo to help others learn about why their colony was founded, what the geography and climate is like, the jobs that are available, and who could participate in government. The teamwork has been great and I cannot wait to see the outstanding final billboard creations!
Math
Students have been practicing dividing by decimals this week. They also had the opportunity to interpret remainders and decide whether to ignore the remainder, round up their answer, or include the remainder as a fraction or decimal. They supported their answer with reasoning, explaining why it made sense to do this with the remainder. Our Unit 5 Test is on Tuesday!
In our fantasy unit, we've focused a lot on the character's journey. We learned that characters in our fantasy books can actually teach us life lessons! Students also learned that most fantasy stories follow a quest structure. Using this structure, students worked with their book clubs to determine the internal and external quests that their main character goes through within the book(s) that they've read.
Writing
Students have been looking at new stories this week and determining a big idea that they can focus their literary essay around. All of the stories have been read aloud in class which makes it a little easier as the stories are now familiar to us. Our next steps were to take our big idea and develop a strong thesis statement. Students are continuing to work to be sure that all of their evidence aligns with their overarching claim. We discovered that sometimes, if our evidence doesn't fit, we may need to alter our thesis statement.
Science
This week in science, students learned a little bit more about ocean currents and how water travels creating erosion. Students used their knowledge to solve a real world problem: Helping make a hillside safe for a new housing development. Geologists worked together to devise a plan. Once they tested their model, students had the opportunity to think through their plan to see what could make it better in the future. Students presented the their findings to the class as a group which allowed for others to hear of alternative solutions.
Students have begun working in groups to design a billboard advertising their assigned colony. They will be focusing on writing a slogan and designing a logo to help others learn about why their colony was founded, what the geography and climate is like, the jobs that are available, and who could participate in government. The teamwork has been great and I cannot wait to see the outstanding final billboard creations!
Math
Students have been practicing dividing by decimals this week. They also had the opportunity to interpret remainders and decide whether to ignore the remainder, round up their answer, or include the remainder as a fraction or decimal. They supported their answer with reasoning, explaining why it made sense to do this with the remainder. Our Unit 5 Test is on Tuesday!
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