Today in Humanities

Social Studies: Students chose the first of the two categories they will be in charge of researching for their tribe.  Then we put our notes from Tuesday on "Growth of Civilizations" into our interactive notebooks along with some accompanying notes on how agriculture changed humanity and culture and created civilizations.  We then began reading a bit about the Anasazi- we will continue with this tomorrow. 

Language Arts: After read aloud I had students fill out a Google Form about their book project- they let me know where they are in their reading and where they need to be in their book by tomorrow according to their reading plan- students who are behind in either their reading or in the graphic organizer also had to give me specific details about how they will get caught back up- and then there was a spot for them to let me know anything they would like my help on.  We then took out the short story, "Flowers and Freckle Cream" by Elizabeth Ellis and used the remaining class time to read this story and practice identifying sign posts. 

Homework: Book project! Keep up with the reading and Contrasts and Contradictions section is due on Monday! 

Social Studies: Today students sat with the other kids that are researching their same tribe and they spent class reading through websites I shared with their group and both physical and digital books (on Epic!) about their tribe.  The goal of class today was for the students to familiarize themselves with their tribe to help them choose their topics they will be responsible for and then writing research questions for those toipcs later this week. 

Homework: Make sure you are current (or ahead) in your reading- don't forget to reference the book project calendar at home to remind yourself of the different due dates! 

Social Studies: We watched a Brainpop on the Aztec today and then filled in a sheet on the growth of civilizations that we will be putting in our social studies notebooks next class.

Language Arts: We talked about the different types of conflicts that are common in books: character vs. character (ex: Harry Potter and Voldemort), character vs. self (ex. Harry Potter wondering if he is turning evil), and character vs. nature/world/society etc... (ex. a WWII book where the character is Jewish and living in Nazi Germany).

Homework: Conflict section in the graphic organizer is due tomorrow

Social Studies: We watched some more of the America Before Columbus documentary today. 

Guidance: Mrs. Royal is going to be teaching lessons throughout this year in 5th grade SS and/or Science classes.  Today was our first lesson with her and it focused on rude, mean, and bullying behaviors.

Homework: Book project- keep up with reading and conflict section due Wednesday of this week!

Language Arts: We used read aloud to practice identifying signposts again today.  Students also worked in pairs to review their settings and provide feedback to one another using the exemplars from yesterday's class to help them- during this time I circulated the room giving feedback to students as well. 

Social Studies: We watched a Brainpop video on the Maya Civilization today and also read a bit about the Aztecs. 

Homework: Follow your book project reading plan!

Social Studies: I handed back the geography assessment from last week and went over each of the questions with the class- in particular focusing on the common mistakes and/or questions that tripped up multiple kids. Then we turned our attention to the textbooks and read more about the early civilizations and how farming led to their development. 

Language Arts: After read-aloud where the kids were identifying sign posts in the reading today, the kids then took their post-diagnostic in Quill today.  I will be meeting with the 2 other 5th grade Humanities teachers this week reviewing the kids results and discussing next steps. 

Homework: Book Project work- Setting section in the graphic organizer is due THIS FRIDAY

Social Studies: Today we continued reading and discussing about the first Americans- focusing primarily on the discovery of farming/agriculture and how this changed the lives of humans forever! 

Language Arts: We used our read aloud book (Indian No More) to practice identifying signposts in our reading- so while I read aloud 2 chapters the kids used their one-page overview of the 6 signposts to help them listen for and identify the various signposts in the reading- if they happened to notice one they raised their hand told the class what signpost it was and why and then answered the corresponding thinking question.  This led to some really great discussions! I was hoping to also check in with each kid regarding their book project books and see how they are coming along and look at the quotes/evidence they have been finding while they are reading, but we ran out of time....so that's up first on Tuesday! 

Homework: Book project work! Use the project calendar to make sure you are up to date!  Reminder- Commonly Confused Words in Quill due tomorrow. 

Language Arts: Today we reviewed all 6 of the sign posts: contrast & contradictions, aha moment, again and again, tough questions, words of the wiser, and memory moment. We are going to be practicing identifying these in our current independent books (students should be bringing these to school and home each day), short stories, and picture books.  

Homework: Book Project work- use the calendar and your reading plan document to make sure you are where you need to be! Quill- Commonly Confused Words (12 activities) due at the end of the week.

Social Studies: students took the geography assessment today- I am excited to move on to our next unit, Indigenous People, tomorrow!

Language Arts: Kids updated their planners with this weeks homework and also put in for Friday what page they need to be on (or past) in their book at the end of this week.

Homework: READ!! Keep up with your reading plan! Quill- Commonly Confused Words due at the end of the week

Language Arts: We spent class today planning out our first book project.  The kids all did the math to determine how many pages/week they need to read and then broke it down further to how many pages/day they need to read in order to finish their book with time remaining to do the creative portion of the project.  Each student has in their folder a calendar that has the due dates on it for each of the different sections of the graphic organizer and the page they need to be on in their book at the end of each week.  Please hang these up in a visible spot in your home so that both you and your child can be referring to it and checking in to make sure they are on track. 

Social Studies: We used SS class today to review for the assessment they are taking on Monday.  

Homework: Geography test on Monday! Posted in Google Classroom is the "Study for Geography test" assignment- linked to this are 2 different Gimkit links- 1 is a link to a game that they can play to help them review and the other link is also a Gimkit review except it isn't a game- instead it is just the questions for the kids to practice/review. They can choose either one to help them study this weekend.

Book Project due December 13

Happy Halloween!!  

Language Arts: Today we began reading the short story, "The All American Slurp" we will continue to read and discuss this story over the next few days.

Social Studies: We spent class reviewing for the geography assessment that they are having on Monday. 

Homework: 

1. Study for the geography test- there is a link to a Gimkit that they can use to help them study (it is not required to finish it- but recommended to at least answer questions until they feel confident they know and understand the material.)

2. Bring the book you have chosen for our first book project of the year to class tomorrow. Reminder- no graphic novel, must be appropriately challenging, and a book you have never read/listened to before. 

Wacky Wednesday! Today we only had Language Arts class due to the funky schedule.  Students took a mini assessment where they read a short story and had to identify any contrast and contradiction and aha moment they noticed and then answer the corresponding thinking question.  I will be using this to determine if we are ready to move on and/or who needs some additional support.  

Homework: Quill- 10 pronoun activities due Friday

Social Studies: Kids finished up their US maps in their interactive notebooks coloring in the different regions of the country.  Then they began setting up their vocabulary page in their notebooks- they have 8 terms that they are gluing the edge of the term into their notebooks so that they can flip the term up and write the definition underneath.

Language Arts: We finished up Priscilla and the Wimps today- while reviewing the post-reading worksheet I had the kids go back to the story and find evidence to support the examples they were sharing.  I also asked a few questions where kids had to use details in the text to infer - this was pretty challenging for a number of the kids and something we will continue to work on all year.

Homework: Quill.org- 10 pronoun activities due Friday

Social Studies: We finished reading lesson 2 today which was all about regions and the different ways geographers can break up an area based on common characteristics.  At the end of class students began coloring the different regions of the US on their maps in their interactive notebooks.

Language Arts: After recapping the story we read on Friday students then completed the post-reading activity that the vast majority of the class had not been able to finish last week.

Read Aloud: Indian No More this is a fabulous novel that is based on the author's life during the 1950s and 60s when the U.S government terminated the Grand Ronde reservation and her family was forced to move to Los Angelas, California. 

Homework: Quill- Complete the 10 pronoun activities- Due Friday

Social Studies: Today we started class by wrapping up our notes that we had started yesterday.  After note taking we started reading and discussing lesson 2 which is focused on regions and people.  

Language Arts: After finishing up the pre-reading activity from yesterday I had students share out their predictions about bullys and upstanders.  Then I read the story, "Priscilla and the Wimps" aloud while kids followed along in their own copy.  While listening to the story kids were keeping an eye out for sign posts and noting any they spotted in the margins of the story.  After reading the kids spent the last 5 minutes of class answering the post-reading questions which we will review and discuss on Monday. 

Homework: Reminder! Quill Subject-Verb agreement activities due Monday!

Social Studies: We finished reading lesson 1 in the geography chapter today and began taking notes under our two essential questions: What geographical features make the U.S. unique? and How does where you live impat how you live? 

After we finished reading the lesson and setting up our notebooks with the two questions kids took a couple minutes to look back over the lesson and see if they could find any sentences that answer one of the questions.  Then when called upon if their answer is correct we would add it to our notes and I would throw them a jolly rancher to enjoy. 

Language Arts: We did a pre-reading activity today for the short story, "Priscilla and the Wimps" by Richard Peck. Students write predictions based on the 2 sentence summary and then shared in their groups before sharing out whole class.  I also passed back their scored Scarecrow assignment from last week- we had a brief discussion about the common mistakes kids made on the assignment. 

Read Aloud: We finished Home of the Brave today! 

Social Studies: Due to the Wacky Wednesday schedule we only had Social Studies today.  Kids began class by labeling the major landforms on their maps in their interactive notebooks.  Then we read and had a discussion about natural resources. 

Homework: Subject-Verb Agreement (10 activities) on Quill.org due Monday

Social Studies: Kids glued in a blank US map, map key, title, and directions for labeling their maps into their interactive notebooks.  Then we spent some time talking about the vast landforms in the US before moving into natural resources. 

Language Arts: Today I introduced our next sign post: Tough Questions.  A tough question is when a character asks themselves or someone else a question that don't have an answer (at least for a while).  Tough questions provide us with information about the internal conflict the character is facing and we need to stop and think, "What does this make me wonder about?"

Homework: Complete the 10 subject-verb agreement activities in Quill.  Students will not be able to access these until all of the Capitalization acivities (last weeks homework) are completed....quite a few kids did finish last weeks homework. 

Language Arts: Today we reviewed the video, The Scarecrow, that kids watched independently yesterday while identifying signposts.  While watching today we stopped the video multiple times to point out the different contrasts and contradictions being portrayed.  Then we had a great discussion around what they thought the author's message to the audiance was/theme of the story.

Social Studies: We finally cracked open our textbooks today! Before we got into the chapter I first pointed out the different text features and resources in the book.  Then we began reading about the geography of the United States and how diverse and rich with resources the land is here. 

Homework: Finish the 7 capitalization activities on Quill.org. Remember to click "Log in with Google"

Language Arts: Due to the Wacky Wednesday schedule we only had LA today- no SS or read aloud.  In LA students used their headphones to watch the video, The Scarecrow, on their iPads (this way they could each pause and/or rewind as they wanted). While watching they filled in the worksheet identifying a contrast and contradiction and an aha moment and then explained how they knew it was a signpost and answered the corresponding thinking questions.  

Homework:  Don't forget Quill.org homework- all 7 capitalization activities due by this Friday!

Language Arts: We continued practicing identifying Aha Moments and Contrasts and Contradictions using Pixar shorts.  Today we watched Partly Cloudy and Cooler Self. 

Social Studies: Today kids wrote 3 goals for Social Studies class this year and how they plan to achieve these goals.  They then finished setting up their interactive notebooks so they will be ready to go when we get into the textbook in the next day or so. 

Homework: Quill.org- Capitalization Activities (there are 7)- due on Friday.  Reminder- students must select log in with google when they are logging into Quill at home. 

Language Arts: We continued our work on identifying contrasts and contradictions and thinking about why the characters behaved/said what they did.

Social Studies: We played a fun review game today to help us study our landforms vocabulary terms. 

Homework: Reminder - quill skills (plural and possessive nouns) due MONDAY

Language Arts: Yesterday I introduced the idea of using signposts to help us think about our reading.  This comes from the book Notice and Note which provides strategies to help kids learn to think deeper about their reading and make connections.  We started by talking about the first and most common signpost: Contrast and Contradictions- the idea behind this sign post is that any time a character behaves, thinks, or says something surprising/unexpected- you want to stop and think and ask yourself- Why is the character behaving in this way?  How might this be important?  To practice identifying and thinking about this signpost yesterday we watched the short video, “The Present” and kids identified the Contrast and Contradiction- stopping the video when we saw it and then had some great conversations about why we think the boy acted like this.  We finished this discussion today before watching “Snack Attack” and once again identified the contrasts and contradictions and answered the thinking question.

Social Studies:  Today kids finished up their landform vocabulary books and then began using a Gimkit that I created to help them study and learn the terms.  Next week kids will be taking a vocabulary assessment on these terms. 

Homework: All Plural and Possessive Nouns activities (14 total) on Quill.org must be completed by Monday.

Social Studies: Today we spent part of class time discussing the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina- connecting it to our current study of landforms/geography.  Students then spent the remainder of class time working on their landforms vocabulary flip book. 

Homework: All 14 Plural and Possessive Nouns activities on www.quill.org must be completed by next Monday, October 7.  See Monday's post for info on how to log-in from home.  

Reminder- as students complete an activity it will disappear from the "To-Do" menu on Quill and only the activities they haven't done yet will appear (some students have been confused not realizing that there is a to-do list of activities and completed list)

Language Arts:  Due to testing we have very short classes today and tomorrow- so we did a double LA class (which works out to be the same amount of time of a regular LA class).  

In the first part of class students wrote down their homework & I signed off on it.  Then I reminded the class how to access and log in to Quill at home using a student device to show them the steps:

1. On any device with internet access- go to www.quill.org 

2. Click on Log In *(if using an iPad or phone you may need to  first click on the  3 lines in the top right corner to bring up the drop-down menu and then select Log In)*

3. Select Log in with Google and use your school email and password to log in

• firstname.lastname@capeelizabethschools.org

• password is: Cape followed by their lunch number (no spaces).  Lunch numbers are on their password sheets and can also be found in PowerSchool if your student has forgotten theirs. 

4. Complete the suggested activities for Plural and Possessive Nouns

In the second half of class, I did a lesson on possessive nouns to help students understand the skill, since this was a skill that every student was suggested to practice based on the diagnostic kids took a couple of weeks ago. 

Homework: All 14 Plural and Possessive Nouns activities on www.quill.org must be completed by next Monday, October 7. 

Language Arts:  After reviewing the rubric for the written portion of the "Michael the Grasshopper" assignment students spent the rest of class finishing up their visuals from yesterday and then beginning their written response.  We will finish these up tomorrow and then begin our next unit on Monday.

Social Studies: Students spent class today working on their landforms vocabulary flipbooks. 

Read Aloud: Home of the Brave

Today is our Wacky Wednesday schedule so we only had Language Arts.  We began class by reviewing the instructions for the visual they are making of a key scene from "Michael the Grasshopper."  Prior to starting the assignment we went over the rubric so they could see how they will be graded and then looked at 4 different exemplars.  Students then spent the remainder of class visually representing a key scene from the story. 

Social Studies: We started class with our continents and oceans quiz and the kids knocked it out of the park- everyone got a 3 (100% correct)!  After finishing the quiz, students began creating their landforms vocabulary flip book- they have 22 landform pictures that they are cutting out and gluing into their book next to the definition they are copying down.  I explained the connection between physically writing something down and how it helps our brain learn/remember it (and how it's not busy work😀).  

Language Arts: Today we looked at the summary paragraph that I wrote from the SWBST each class wrote.  Students made observations about what I had included and not included in my paragraph compared to what they had in theirs.  We had a good discussion around why certain details needed to be included vs others that were either not included or mentioned in broad general terms.  

Read Aloud:  Home of the Brave

Social Studies: Last week we started our geography unit in class- we are starting small with learning the continents and oceans- later this week we will get into landforms before eventually exploring our essential question, "How does where you live affect how you live?"  Today we started class with a check-in to see what kids remember- they were given a blank map with a word bank and had to name each of the oceans and continents- I was impressed with how well they did!  Afterwards, we played a fun review game on the ipads- Blooket- to help them prep for tomorrow's quiz (which will look almost identical to the check-in they did today).  

Language Arts:  In LA we have been working on summarizing and using details from the text.  Last week the kids listened to the story, "Michael the Grasshopper" by Jay O'Callahan.  After creating a SWBST (Somebody Wanted But So Then) outline together as a class the kids worked with a partner to turn the SWBST outline into a summary paragraph.  We will be reviewing the paragraphs tomorrow in class.   

Homework:  Students can use this Blooket to continue studying for tomorrow's brief quiz

Read Aloud Book: Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate