Week of October 2-6
Greetings!
Just the Basics:
Please have your child check their ProgressBook regularly, as this is where they can be reminded of missing assignments and determine their current grade in each subject. *My gradebook will close Friday, October 13. All assignments not turned in by that date will be a zero in the gradebook.*
Social Studies: We are beginning our study of latitude and longitude.
ELA:
We are continuing our study of Wonder! This week, the kiddos will practice some more RATE questions and discuss point of view. They will also write their own short chapter of Wonder from the perspective of another character!
Our grammar focus for the week is adjectives and adverbs.
Students will determine what their narrative will be about. *This will be a truly fictional story, not a personal narrative.*
Independent Work Update:
Along with Read and Write 15 (detailed again below), another consistent part of our Independent Work each week is completing iReady Reading. The requirement each week is to complete 45 minutes in lessons AND pass 1 lesson. More than that is fine; anything less results in a 0/5 for that week as I do not accept this assignment late. These requirements must be completed by Friday morning.
Read 15: Students are required to read for 15 minutes each day, which may be completed during our Independent Work time. If it is not, they will do it for homework.
Write 15: Students will free write in their composition notebooks for 15 minutes for the assigned amount of times that week (this upcoming week, they are writing 3 times). Currently, this and the iReady requirements are the only assignments that I will not accept late. I collect composition notebooks Friday morning, so the writing must be done before then.
Cautiously Optimistic
Friday was a day. The end of a week where I was more in my head than is advisable, no sweater weather to speak of, and a full moon to boot. I wasn't optimistic. But then, right on cue, your kids showed up in a big way.
I had gotten a not too pleasant report on cafeteria behavior from one of the lunch teachers the day before. Our class was singled out as disrespectful, loud, and kind of the "ring leaders" that got other tables riled up. Not surprisingly, I was crazy disappointed. Embarrassed. And honestly, a little hurt. We spent several minutes after recess discussing this. We discussed the disrespect and the trouble they could cause themselves and their classmates by acting inappropriately.
But then I went a little deeper. As fifth graders, these kiddos are starting to open their world a bit more. Actions have consequences, both good and bad...not just for the individual, but for those who love them. How they represent themselves matters, and it makes a bigger difference in other peoples' lives than they may think.
Which brought me to the hurt I was feeling. I am unabashedly proud of my students. They are remarkable and I will gladly tell any of my colleagues just how great they are. When they are at school and represent themselves poorly, it makes Mrs. Pawlak and me look bad. And I do a fine enough job making a fool of myself. I told them this, asked them to think of the people around them when they were making choices they knew weren't helpful, and we moved on.
Fast forward to Friday. Heading to lunch, I reminded them to think seriously about how they are representing themselves, and by extension, their teachers. And off they went.
Returning from recess, I was ready to check in with them and see how they thought lunch went. Before I could do that, one of your lovelies raised her hand and said, "We were really good at lunch and we were the first table dismissed for recess. The lunch lady actually thanked us for being so good!" I was happily surprised, but then the wet blanket side of me showed up. I asked several times if that was true, and while I heard a resounding yes from everyone, I simply said that I hope they can understand why I don't fully trust them yet, and told them I would be confirming their story with the lunch teachers. (I haven't done this yet, but I do honestly believe it's true!)
The really cool part for me came right after that. I said, "So was it that boring or way less fun for you, keeping yourselves a little under control?" I expected a "No it wasn't that bad." Instead, what I got floored me. Another D203 kiddo said, "Actually, it was more fun." That... that was more than I could have hoped for. They lived the lesson we all try to teach them. They experienced the feeling one gets when making their environment more comfortable for those around them, especially when the alternative is certainly easier. As a collective, they showed how to "Make Someone's Day Better," which is our mantra in D203.
And believe me, I'm not Pollyanna-ing this. I fully expect the 2 steps forward, 1 step back scenario to play out countless times. But there IS forward motion, and if these kids teach me anything, it's that a better tomorrow is endlessly possible. On Friday, a full moon Friday no less, these kids knocked it out of the park. Thank you for the gift of them. They make me look good!