Weekly Update

Greenfield Village Field Trip:
Although our day at Greenfield Village started out rainy, it quickly cleared up so that we could enjoy all that the historic venue had to offer.  Students loved taking a step back in time and learning about life before modern-day conveniences.  (Double click on the slideshow below to see larger versions of the photos.)



Typing Camp:
Students loved learning to type last week!  While typing for extended periods of time might sound boring, we tried to make it as fun as possible by taking the class to Typing Camp.  We had campfire breaks, camp songs, and camp stories when our fingers got tired from typing.  Students loved their camp books and getting their classmates' signatures at the end of the week.  We were proud of the students' progress during the week, even while typing with speed-skins over the keys!

Hemali uses a speed-skin while she types!

Reading/Writing Workshop:
Students began the week selecting the 4 poems that they wanted to publish in their final poetry book.  They used a rubric to assess the poems and determine if each poem met enough of the criteria to be "worthy" of publication.  Students revised their poems before writing them in their final books.  They added line breaks, repetition, alliteration, similes, personification, rhyming, and other poetic devices when necessary.  Some students needed to change complete sentences to fragments to make their poems sound more poetic and have more rhythm.  We look forward to hearing the students read their favorite poems aloud at the Poetry Cafe on Tuesday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm.

Math:
We began our final unit last week on fractions.  Students spent the beginning of the week using fraction bars as models to represent parts of a whole.  The fraction bar was one whole, and students had to determine what fraction of the bar was shaded.  Students also learned how to use number lines to represent fractions.

Social Studies:
The students took their Southwest Region test on Wednesday.  The graded test was sent back home in your child's homework folder.  Below are photos from our last tour stop in Guthrie, Oklahoma.  In Guthrie, we learned about the Oklahoma Land Rush.  The students reenacted the land rush outside.  As students pretended to run into the little town of Guthrie, they picked up fate cards.  The goal was to find a card with a good fate.  If the fate was good, students kept their card and stayed on their piece of land. (Good Fate Example: You found a piece of land with great soil.  You were able to grow corn and became rich by selling it to others.)  If the fate card was bad, students threw it back on the ground and kept running to find a better fate before the time ran out. (Bad Fate Example: Your horse couldn't keep up his pace and collapsed to the ground.  You tried to run by foot, but all of the land was taken before you could find a place to settle.  You headed back to Texas.)  Check out the photos and video below of our Land Rush!

All-Star of the Week:
Devon was our awesome All-Star last week.  He started the week by sharing his favorite stuffed animals in his sharing sack and showing the class his great photos.  He loved telling the class about each photo that he brought in for his board.  The class especially loved the photos from his most recent trip to California!!  He was so lucky to have both of his parents join him as his lunch buddies!

Weekly Update

Reading & Writing Workshop
Students continue to enjoy poetry workshop.  This week poetry partners worked together to make inferences in poetry.  Students learned sometimes they need to use clues in the poem to figure out what the poet is writing about.  Students also learned how to write a few types of specific poems.  The first poem students wrote was an acrostic poem.  Many students wrote acrostic poems about themselves and their friends.  Students also learned how to write an ode.  An ode is a poem written about someone or something the poet especially loves.  It is written like a letter.  The last poem students learned to write is a Japanese poem called a haiku.  These short poems use sensory language to capture a feeling or image.  They are often inspired by an element of nature.  They are written in three lines of seventeen syllables (5/7/5).  Students practiced writing a haiku about an animal with their poetry partner.  When students read their haikus aloud, we tried to guess the animal students had written about.

Math
We wrapped up Unit 6 this week with a review and assessment.  Please look for your child's Unit 6 test to come home soon.  We also used the iPads this week to practice "Math Talk."  Students worked with a partner to record themselves solving area and perimeter problems using an app called EduCreations.  Students enjoyed sharing their recordings with the class.

Science
We finished up all the parts of our first investigation in our Measurement Unit.  Your child will bring home a few sheets stapled together, which covers the content we learned in Investigation 1.  We also started our second investigation.  Students explored using a balance scale.  They weighed different items using a nonstandard unit--paper clips and a standard unit of measurement--grams.  After investigating how the balance scale works, students worked together to sequence the steps for weighing an item using a balance scale.  Below, Zain is putting his steps in order.

All-Star of the Week
Hemali was our fantastic All-Star of the Week!  We enjoyed learning a little more about Hemali from her parent letter.  Perhaps this music lover will reach her goal of becoming a future popstar!  Hemali also enjoyed lunch with her dad on her lunch buddy day.

Weekly Update

Reading & Writing Workshop:
The students are loving our poetry unit, and we are so impressed with the poems they are crafting!  This week, we focused on adding new "tools" to our poetry toolbox.  The "tools," or poetic devices, that were taught included repetition, personification, and similes.  After looking for examples of these poetic devices in poems during reading workshop, students tried adding them to their own poems in writing workshop.  We also looked closely at how line breaks can change the meaning and rhythm of a poem.  After noticing that some students' poems were still sounding like "stories" rather than poems, we also showed students how to turn long phrases and sentences into shorter phrases by eliminating the less important words.  This strategy helped make the students' writing sound more poetic!

Students have been working with their poetry partners during reading workshop to locate and discuss the poetic devices they learn about during the mini-lesson.

At the end of writing workshop each day, students love taking turns in the author's chair to share the poems they have written.

Math:

We continued our geometry unit this week with lessons on "decomposing" polygons.  This strategy helps students break shapes into multiple rectangles.  They find the area of each rectangle separately and then add them together to determine the total area of the polygon.  Students also solved area and perimeter word problems and used tangrams shapes to find the area of different figures.  A unit review was sent home over the weekend to help students study and prepare for the test this week. 

Social Studies:

We continued our region tour this week with stops in Carlsbad Cavern National Park in New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.  We also stopped at the Hoover Dam.  During this tour stop, students worked in teams to solve two problems that engineers faced when building the Hoover Dam.

1. How could they harden 66 million tons of cement in less than 5 years?  (If left to cool on its own, that much cement would take 100 years to set!)

2. What should be done with the Colorado River during the construction of the Hoover Dam? (The Colorado River is a fast-moving river that runs right through the site where they planned to build the dam.)

Students worked in teams and acted as construction engineers when presenting their solutions to the 2 problems to their classmates.

Economics/Class Store:

The class store was open again this week, and students were SO excited to spend the money that they earned in our classroom economy!  Before the class store, students learned about the concept of Inflation.  As the school year has progressed, students have earned a good deal of money.  Many students have become fairly "rich"with all of the All-Star Cash that they have earned and saved.   Since students have more money now, the prices at the class store were increased to reflect the state of our strong economy.  Students were not thrilled to see higher prices at the class store, but it was a great way to teach the concept of inflation!!

All-Star of the Week:

Alexandra was our awesome All-Star of the Week!  She was excited to share 3 special items from her sharing sack on Monday, along with some great photos of her siblings and her beloved cat named Avatar.  Her mom also wrote a wonderful letter to the class telling us 10 things that we may or may not know about Alexandra.  We learned she is a total animal lover!  Her mom joined her in the cafeteria for Lunch Buddy Day on Thursday!

Weekly Update

Reading & Writing Workshop
We began our poetry unit.  Students started off the week by completing a See-Think-Wonder.  They added poetry books to their book boxes and spent time reading poems for enjoyment.  Students learned poetry can be written about ordinary objects.  We read several poems together and later used these poems as mentor texts.  Students tried to write their own poetry about ordinary objects during Writing Workshop.  We also learned poets include sensory images in their poems.  Poets do this to give the reader a clear visual image.  The reader can feel, taste, smell, hear what the poet is describing when the poet uses sensory images.  Students read many poems and recorded lines from poems which included sensory images (touch, taste, sight, sound, smell).  During Writing Workshop, students tried writing poems focusing on including sensory images in their own poems.

Math
We have continued learning geometry concepts in Unit 6.  Students reviewed the difference between area and perimeter.  We also practiced writing equations to find the area of a large rectangle by splitting it into two smaller rectangles.  Students used their skills of solving two step word problems to find the unknown side length of a rectangle.  Students should understand adding all side lengths around the outside of a shape will give the total perimeter and multiplying length times width (adjacent sides) will give the area of a shape.

Science
We have started our final science unit--Measurement.  Students have learned the difference between a standard and nonstandard unit of measurement.  They also practiced estimating lengths (in meters and centimeters).  Then they used their meter sticks to accurately measure the objects.  Last, they recorded the difference between their estimation and actual measurement.
Students also recently dissected owl pellets.  We learned owls are not able to digest everything they eat.  Instead they regurgitate the things they are unable to digest in the form of a pellet.  Students used tweezers and toothpicks to carefully pick apart the owl pellet to discover the many hidden bones, teeth, and skulls of animals.  Students will have the opportunity to dissect owl pellets one more time.

All-Star of the Week
Orlando was our outstanding All-Star this week!  One classmate wrote in his compliment book he thought Orlando was a "quiet kid" when he met him at the beginning of the year but has learned this is not true!  We have learned Orlando is outgoing and fun!  He is also a good friend.  Students enjoyed Orlando's read aloud, photos, sharing sack, and parent letter.  Orlando also enjoyed a special lunch with his sister on Thursday!  This All-Star had a great birthday week!

Huskies Helping Huskies
Some students from Room 13 attended the school dance after school Friday.  The dance was held to raise money for the Mahoney Family.  Your child can donate $1 and wear a hat to school on Wednesdays.  There will also be a spaghetti dinner and silent auction on May 19 for the family.