Homerun club!🎉⚾️

Today we had our first Homerun club! We could pick to go to any room we wanted to! Also they had all different themes including art, a movie, board games, mincraft, and coding! - Social Media Leaders📱

Picture Day!

We're ready for our close ups!👔👗😀

#pictureday2016📷

Writing

Today, we learned how to put commas in the right spot! Now find the mystery comma😉! ~ Social Media leaders

Great Leads

Today we learned how to make the BEST LEAD EVER!😄 -Social media leaders

This Week in Room 33! Sept. 26-30

Check out the above video we have watched in class called the "Power of Yet". As we focus on a growth mindset and we track our own data in our goal setting section of our leader binder, it is important to remember that the only way we achieve our goals is through hard work and perseverance! We can do it! 

This week in 5th grade...

Science- Scientific Investigations tests will go home on Tuesday! This week we will begin our next unit on weather. We will be tracking weather data in our notebooks each day using weather.com. We are also starting our first set of science stations for lesson 1 on the water cycle. We should be able to answer the question-- How does water move through the environment? 

Writing- This week we are using the Google drive and Google classroom to publish our personal narratives. As we publish we will also focus on editing for the correct use of commas and other mechanics. We will celebrate our finished pieces on Friday!

Reading- As we wrap up our writing unit, we will also be wrapping up our reading unit on interpretation book clubs. This week we will compare characters' connections to a theme, study the choices an author did not make to better understand the ones they did, and delve deeper into literary analysis. We will celebrate our hard work and participation in book clubs on Friday as we share our most profound thoughts, ideas, and book suggestions! Book clubs will work hard to complete their 2nd book club book this week or into the following week. Check out the Reading tab for more information!

Math- Our chapter 2 test is on Tuesday. Later this week we will begin our study on division! We will relate division to multiplication through fact families and divide with and without remainders. Keep practicing those math facts at home- it makes a WORLD of a difference when students know their facts quickly!

Social Studies- We are studying the ancient Paleo-Indians and discussing other native american cultures. Within our stations we have been using the website mycapstonelibrary.com. Students have been choosing from the following books to read/listen to--

What did the Aztecs do for me?

Sitting Bull

American Indian Stories and Legends

Great Basin Indians

Pocahontas

Northwest Coast Indians

Southeast Indians

Northeast Indians

California Indians

Plateau Indians

Plains Indians 

***There are so many more books on this site that are FREE- just use Concord's username/password (concordes, school).

Reminder:

This Wed. is Picture Day!

Finding Themes Across Texts

Today in reading we learned about universal themes! 

This Week in Room 33! Sept. 19-22

One theme this year that we are focusing on is having a growth mindset! The above image is an example of how to change our thinking from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. You may have heard some quotes from your students that we use in class--- "When you're done, you've only just begun!" or "We learn from our mistakes!" and "It's okay to fail- that's how we get better!" There is ALWAYS room to grow and room for improvement- this is just another reason why we always set goals and WORK to achieve them!

This week in 5th grade...

Science- We are wrapping up our unit on scientific investigations with a test on Wednesday! Students should study their science notebooks and study guides (we will go over these in class on Tuesday). Students can also use this link to study the vocabulary words---Scientific Investigations Quizlet We will begin our next unit on weather this Thursday!

Writing- Thank you for taking the time to celebrate your 5th grader's 1st personal narrative in their writing portfolios and supporting them as they evaluated their work using the checklist! Today, we made goals based on the checklist and will be working towards them as we complete our 2nd personal narrative. As we draft and revise our narratives this week we will focus on stretching out the tension, catching the action or the image that produced emotion, and noticing how each character has an important role in our stories. We are learning that we become better writers by working hard to apply what we learn in mini-lessons to our own writing!

Reading- This week we are continuing to work on having meaningful and thoughtful discussions within our book clubs. Some clubs are already finishing their book and starting a 2nd one! Students are expected to be reading up to their group's stopping point each day/night so they are prepared to be an important contributor within their book club discussions. This week we are:

• debating to promote rich book club discussions
• reflecting on ourselves as books clubs
• comparing more than one text
• rethinking our themes to allow for more complexity
• comparing characters' connections to a theme

Math-  We are wrapping up our study of Ch. 2 this week as we learn partial products & the distributive property, estimating products using rounding & compatible numbers, and multiplying 3-digit numbers by 1-digit and 2-digit numbers. We will review on Thursday and Monday with a test on Tuesday, Sept. 27. 

It is SO IMPORTANT that your student knows their basic multiplication facts. Please quiz your child and have them practice in ALEKS (Quick Tables) or try this site---MATH MAGICIAN

Thank you for all your hard work at home- it REALLY pays off! 

Social Studies- We are continuing our study of Ch. 2- Ancient Americans. Students are participating in stations that include using mycapstonelibrary.com, creating a Native American regions map, and a textbook scavenger hunt gathering details about different tribes, while also meeting with a teacher to read and discuss parts of our textbook.

Reminder-- No School this Friday!

Writing about our Thinking in Reading

Paper Towel Investigation

Today we did our second experiment! We dipped 3 different brands of paper towels in to a graduated cylinder and saw which one absorbed the most.-Social Media Leaders

This Week in Room 33! Sept. 12-16

This week in 5th grade...

Science- We are wrapping up our unit on scientific investigations with our paper towel investigation and our paper airplane investigation! Our test will be next week!

Writing- This week we are completing our 1st personal narrative and celebrating them on Wednesday. After we celebrate our writing in school, students will bring their piece home to celebrate with you! Students will bring home their leader binder which includes a tab for their writing portfolio. Inside their writing portfolio will be their piece and a checklist to fill out and get signed by you. Please help them celebrate their accomplishments, but also look for & encourage setting new goals for their next piece that we will start on Thursday! These writers know that "when they are done, they've only just begun!" :)

Reading- Wow! We are doing some deep thinking and hard work in reading! We are learning that we need our brains on FULL POWER to really dig deep into our book club books and independent books. Reading can be SO MUCH MORE than just reading at the surface level if we put our mind to it.

Students are working hard on reading pages and pages of their book club books by following their reading assignments they created for class reading time and for reading at home. We are working on having meaningful, supportive, and thoughtful book club discussions- ask your student for different discussion sentence starters they are trying at school and encourage them at home as well!

Math- Place value tests will come home Tuesday (thank you for your patience as I was out sick on Friday)- we are SO proud of our mathematicians! We are starting our 2nd chapter on multiplying whole numbers as we are studying prime factorization, powers & exponents, multiplication patterns and problem solving using a table.

Social Studies- We will continue with our study of the first Americans!

***Don't Forget-

Early Release on Wednesday! Does your child know how he/she is getting home?

Starting New Book Clubs!

Check out the Reading tab for each book club's reading assignments!

Social Studies

Today was very exiting because we started social studies stations! -Social Media Leaders

Amazing Analytical Thinking!

Here are a few spotlight journal entries from today's lesson about analytical thinking... 😄

This Week in Room 33! Sept. 6-9

I hope everyone had a wonderful 3-day weekend! A big thank you to all the parents that read through last week's ABC's of Mrs. Schaefer & Miss Hake's Classroom and for taking the time to check out the Parents tab at the top of the blog. Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or thoughts!

Here's what to expect this week in 5th grade...

Science- We are continuing to work hard as scientists in our first unit on scientific investigations. We will be completing a series of 3 investigations to complete this unit. This week we will conduct the evaporation investigation and the paper towel investigation. We are using the scientific method and our science notebooks to record our data and conclusions!

Writing- This week we are continuing our unit on personal narratives. Last week we chose our seed story, flash drafted and even RE-drafted to bring out the heart of our story- what it is really about. We will continue to work on revision this week as we bring forth the story arc, elaborate on the important parts, adding scenes from the past and future, and revising our leads and endings. 

Reading- We are working really hard on our goals to read more than EVER before this year! We have also been learning that it is not only about VOLUME but about the QUALITY of our reading- our metacognition (thinking about our thinking!) We are showing our deep thinking about our books by using our reader's notebook. This week we are learning to think analytically and taking a closer look at our characters and their struggles.We will also begin our first book clubs later this week!

Math- This week we are finishing up our study of place value by reviewing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our chapter 1 test will be on Thursday! Students are always encouraged to study by doing practice problems in their textbook. Because we do not complete every problem in their book during school, there will always be an abundance of practice available to them. Study guide details will be given via an email. Another fantastic resource is their online textbook (see parents tab for video on how to access this). Each lesson has practice problems students can complete and the computer will check their answers (look for the checkmark icon).

Social Studies- We are beginning our Social Studies workshop this week as we dive into our study of Ancient Americans. We will participate in stations that include reading and discussing the textbook with a teacher, continuing to explore the textbook and Native American cultures, eCapstone library, and completing a regions map in their notebooks.

New and improved library!

Our library helpers have been working very hard to make it look fabulous! They even have a book of the day! The book of the day currently : Smile by Rania Telgemerier. -social media leaders 

Ordering Decimals!!!

We took on a challenge of ordering decimals!!!😄