Friday 3/30/18

Here are a few highlights from the past week:

  • In Reading Workshop, all students are enjoying their independent reading books. This week we were working on identifying themes in literature, messages that the author is trying to convey in their book. We worked on themes in Brown Girl Dreaming, Wonder, a bunch of picture books, then students identified a theme in their own independent reading book and made connections to their own lives or another book.
  • Also in Reading (and integrated SS), we continued the mini-unit on the book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson. We finished up with Brett by reading the extra poems in the book and doing a collage to show a theme from the book.
  • We have also explored the time period of the book, specifically discussing topics of race and identity in the 60s and 70s and the Civil Rights Movement. Students have done mini biographies of "People Who Made a Difference" during that time period. We are now working on events and a timeline.
  • We started our new read aloud book The Wild Robot. It's a fantasy book about a robot who ends up on a remote island and has to survive in the wilderness.
  • Students did a pre-assessment for the next science unit we will be starting in a couple of weeks on Sun and Earth Patterns.
  • We began prep work for the student-led conferences coming up. We did a self evaluation/reflection of the trimester and brainstormed things to share.
  • In writing, we spent more time writing to rebuild some writing stamina before we finish off narratives and dive into persuasive/argument pieces. We also began a poem that connects to Brown Girl Dreaming.
  • On Thursday we had Susan Sawyer and Charlotte Rosendahl in to do a Four Winds Workshop on deer!
  • We did not do Outdoor Learning this week, due to the Four Winds.
  • In Math, we continued small group rotation work. Right now, we have 3 groups- two 5th grade groups and one 6th grade group. All groups rotate between a small group lesson with me, independent work, and math games or other work with Mr. K (our paraeducator). Our units right now:
        • 5th Grade- Geometry- Fraction Equivalence and Adding/Subtracting.
        • 6th Grade- Geometry- Factors/Multiples
  • All students are continuing their weekly independent typing instruction, using typing.com. This involves lessons and games to help strengthen typing skills.
  • Green Sheets were done on Friday. Students also posted their collages from the book on SeeSaw.
  • Students have created a personal habit or academic goal that they'd like to work on during this next trimester. All students are working on these.


Some upcoming dates, important notes, and things to look forward to in the coming weeks:

  • Wednesday 4/4/18: Big Bear Paw Celebration- Field trip to St. J to see Taiko Drummers! 915am-1230pm. We return for lunch.
  • Thursday 4/5/18 and Friday 4/6/18: Early Release Days. Dismissal at 1150am. Grades 5/6 Student-led Family Conferences. If you've forgotten your scheduled time, you can email me or call Ms. Heather in the office.
  • Wednesday 4/11/18: Rescheduled 5/6 Leading All School Morning Meeting. We are planning to share our work on "Brown Girl Dreaming".
  • *** Cold weather is still here!!! Please be sure kids are coming with warm gear for recess and other outdoor time! This time of year they should have boots, a coat, snow pants, a hat, and warm/waterproof gloves or mittens. ***
  • In Reading Workshop, students will continue independent reading. We will begin looking at point of view using our read aloud The Wild Robot.
  • Also in Reading, we will finish up our mini-unit on the book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson. We will continue studying the time period more with a timeline and biographies of people who made a difference during that time period.
  • We will continue with math rotations in small groups.
        • 5th Grade- Geometry- Fractions
        • 6th Grade- Factors, Multiples, Exponents, and Order of Operations
  • We will likely not do Outdoor Learning again due to the two early release days and field trip on Wednesday morning.
  • We will spend a lot of the week prepping for conferences. Planning things to share as evidence of learning, reflecting on goals, practicing with someone, etc...
  • In Writing Workshop we will be finishing another poem to culminate "Brown Girl Dreaming" then continue with Personal Narratives and begin Opinion/Argument Pieces.
  • We will continue Word Study work.
  • We will begin a new Science unit on Sun and Earth Patterns.
  • We will begin organizing and prepping for Student-led Conferences.
  • Students will work on their goals and will monitor their progress using their accountability charts.