C.A.M. Academy

5th Grade-ELA and History

Lucinda Bancroft bancroft.lucinda@battlegroundps.org

A Little about me

No matter the role I have held in education, I have always been proud to be part of this profession. This is my second year at C.A.M., and I bring more than 30 years of experience in education, including time as a teacher, administrator, and instructional coach.

I moved to Washington in 2004 after teaching in several states, including my home state of Ohio. I’m a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan—though I hope you won’t hold that against me! 😊

I truly can’t imagine doing anything else. My greatest passion is helping students discover the many treasures our world has to offer through reading, learning, and exploring history. I look forward to sharing that passion with your students and helping them develop a lifelong love of learning.

Quick Links: Syllabi Schedule Skyward CAM Website

November 4, 2026

This week in our class (Nov 2-6):

It is nice to have the students back full days this week. We have read chapters 1-5 in Thunder Rolling in the Mountains and students are specifically exploring the question, "How does the conflict betwen the Nez Perce and the U.S. Government reveal differing cultural beliefs and values?" This lends itself well to both our work with reading historical fiction and our non-fiction work in Social Studies in learning about the westward expansion. Students are also going to make a model of a tipi on Friday with limited supplies. It should lend itself to a little friendly competition.

October 27, 2026

This week in our class (Oct. 26-30):

Since we have had half days all this week it seems the load has not been as heavy for students. With that said, we do have a big vocabulary test on Thursday. I am trying hard to make sure that vocabulary is not just memorized for a short time then forgotten so I am really encouraging students to use our new words in their every speaking and to develop a long term understanding. We also have read two chapters in Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. Everyone seems to be pretty intrigued so far. Lastly, Friday is costume day here at CAM so students are welcome to dress up in appropriate costumes but please know we will not have any formal party in the classroom for Halloween.

October 20, 2026

This week in our class (Oct. 19-23):

We have been practicing our skills in speaking collaboratively on an academic topic. I have been reiterating to students that ELA is Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. They took part in a Socratic Seminar where they had the chance to practice the skills of academic dialogue. On Thursday we are going to be starting our first novel, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. It is the story of how the Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, were impacted by the westward expansion. It is an adventurous and tragic story. We will also have some time to work on our cursive on Monday.

October 13, 2026

This week in our class (Oct. 12-16):

We began our first "New Read Assessment" on Monday. It was another legend story called "How Beaver Stole Fire from the Pines." I should have these graded by Thursday so please be sure to check Skyward. Also this week I am asking students to be sure to have a book that they enjoy reading in class. It is actually their homework for Tuesday. Please see the letter they wrote. Finally, we are going to try to squeeze some cursive handwriting practice into our academics. I see many students wanting to write in cursive but not having the correct formation. Here is a resource for parents to look at. Cursive letter formation. We will be using the formation that is provided with our curriculum.

October 6, 2026

This week in our class (Oct. 5-9):

In Social Studies this week we are diving more deeply into the change that occurred during the 1800's and exploring the cost and benefit of change. We also have been using the resources on our online curriculum more in class. In ELA we are exploring the idea of storytelling to pass along lessons and traditions in the Nez Perce culture. Students watched a video of a Native storyteller telling about the legend of Coyote and Monster. Here is the link (Coyote and the Monster) if anyone is interested in watching. The storyteller is quite good and the student really enjoyed it.

September 29, 2026

This week in our class (Sept. 27-Oct 2):

In ELA we have focused on reviewing how to write a hook and topic sentence in an informational/explanatory paragraph. The second half of the week we will focus on how to write evidence and elaboration in the same paragraph. The goal is that students can write a well organized informational/explanatory paragraph to a prompt after reading text about the subject. In Social Studies we are going to begin a study on the change that happened in our courntry during the 1800's in industry, technology and politics.

September 23, 2026

This week in our class (Sept. 21-25):

We are finishing up a project involving our constitution. Students will complete a Constitution Lapbook for homework. It is a big project because it will involve 5 grades total. (4 in History and 1 in ELA). Please see the rubric that was sent home with your student. Also, we are focusing in on the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) and learning how their homeland sustained their lifestyle and culture. In ELA we have added new vocabulary words and are beginning work with writing an Information/Explanatory Paragraph.

September 16, 2026

This week in our class (Sept. 14--18):

Thursday is national Constitution Day. To learn about this important document, students will create a lap book that explains about some of our Founding Fathers, The Preamble, The Bill of Rights and the branches of our government. In ELA we planned and wrote a summary of an informational text. Students will now work on writing one independently. Our homework focus was on prepositional phrases.

September 9, 2026

This week in our class (Sept. 8-11):

Our focus this week in ELA has been identifying the main idea of articles we are reading about the westward expansion of the U.S. after the Lewis and Clark expedition and the way of life the native people had during that time. (early 1800's). This work is guiding us to being able to write a clear summary. In Social Studies we are learning about chronology and the importance of knowing the order in which historical events happen.

Note: Students also spent some time logging into Google Classroom and Skyward. It's been a bit of a rocky road but we will get there.

September 3, 2026

This week in our class (Sept. 1-3):

We spent much of our time learning procedures in the classroom and just getting to know each. The homework about family culture will allow us to continue this work next week. Students also completed a learning styles survey to determine if they were auditory, visual or tactile learners. I encouraged them have parent and family members take the survey as well. We ended our week ready a hefty article about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This the springboard into our unit on Cultures In Conflict.

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