Hello Families,
I apologize for not keeping the blog as updated as usual. The holidays have made things a little hectic, as I'm sure many of you know.
In the past two weeks, we have been working on our Cartographer's Challenge in Social Studies. Students handed in their rough drafts and I gave them notes for corrections. They are now in the process of making their final copies. Some of your children opted to take their maps home for the long weekend, while others have kept theirs in school. We will be completing this project next week in class. Our gallery walk will take place on Friday, either during 2nd period or 4th. I will send a formal notice as to the time next week.
Our Science curriculum has been very exciting. We created wonderful travel brochures for the planets in the Solar System. They are also hanging in the classroom and can be viewed during the gallery walk as well. I will post some pictures of both projects onto the blog next week.
We have now transitioned to studying the moon. Next week we will take a look at some of the history of our country's endeavors to outer space. Specifically, we will look at the original video from the first moon landing as well as John F. Kennedy's famous speech declaring the need for advancements in U.S. space exploration.
In Math, we are continuing to study calculations with whole numbers. Your children have been focused on multiplying and dividing by 10s, up to billions and the order of operations. We are now working on the distributive property as well as compensation for mental math. Next week we will begin studying word problems and using model drawings to solve them.
Our Writing curriculum has focused on collecting journal entries to prepare for our narratives and practicing correct capitalization. Other units will include punctuation and grammar and usage. We expect to begin our narratives once the holidays have ended.
Reading continues to focus on our read aloud, Sahara Special. We are studying the author's use of various language and descriptive words. We call this, "Show, Don't Tell." This study connects with our writing as the main character in our book keeps a journal.
I'm looking forward to a terrific day at Chabot!
Chag Sameach,
Debby
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
What's going on in 5D???
Hello Families,
Here is a summary of what we are working on this week:
Social Studies - We are continuing to work on our map skills this week. We have practiced working with latitude and longitude, map scales, and the compass rose. Today we began looking at various landforms and will continue with that until Friday.
Math - Today we reviewed our first unit on Whole Numbers. There is a test on Thursday. We will review again tomorrow for students who need more support. There will not be math on Friday, so we will begin our next unit on More Calculations with Whole Numbers next Wednesday.
Science - We had so much fun learning about what our astrolabes could tell us! This week we will begin our work with the Solar System. Children will learn about each of the planets (including Pluto, even though it is a "dwarf" planet). Check out these websites to see some of the tools we will be using.
http://www.planetsforkids.org/
http://www.nineplanets.org/tour
Reading - We are continuing to read Sahara Special and we have had some interesting conversations about why authors choose the words they do and finding text to self connections in order to understand the main character.
Writing - We have recently started journaling in our Writer's Notebooks. Journaling is a great way for writers to gather ideas. We will continue to journal for a bit until we have gathered enough entries to select one to write for our personal narratives.
Grammar - Tomorrow we wil begin our Daily Language Review lessons. Each week we will review various lessons that include editing sentences, homophones, contractions, etc.
Have a great week!
Debby
Here is a summary of what we are working on this week:
Social Studies - We are continuing to work on our map skills this week. We have practiced working with latitude and longitude, map scales, and the compass rose. Today we began looking at various landforms and will continue with that until Friday.
Math - Today we reviewed our first unit on Whole Numbers. There is a test on Thursday. We will review again tomorrow for students who need more support. There will not be math on Friday, so we will begin our next unit on More Calculations with Whole Numbers next Wednesday.
Science - We had so much fun learning about what our astrolabes could tell us! This week we will begin our work with the Solar System. Children will learn about each of the planets (including Pluto, even though it is a "dwarf" planet). Check out these websites to see some of the tools we will be using.
http://www.planetsforkids.org/
http://www.nineplanets.org/tour
Reading - We are continuing to read Sahara Special and we have had some interesting conversations about why authors choose the words they do and finding text to self connections in order to understand the main character.
Writing - We have recently started journaling in our Writer's Notebooks. Journaling is a great way for writers to gather ideas. We will continue to journal for a bit until we have gathered enough entries to select one to write for our personal narratives.
Grammar - Tomorrow we wil begin our Daily Language Review lessons. Each week we will review various lessons that include editing sentences, homophones, contractions, etc.
Have a great week!
Debby
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Week of 9/4/12
Hello Families,
Although it is a shorter week, we will still be covering a lot of material in class. Below is a summary of what we're working on.
Math
Today we started with place value to trillions using science facts to guide us. We will also cover estimation, factors and multiples, and prime factorization this week. Your children will have homework in their math workbooks. However, they have been asked not to write directly in the books so we can continue to use them in future years. Please help to remind them to use looseleaf paper. This is also an easier way for me to check their homework.
Science
We started our unit on Astronomy today. This week we will focus on the night sky, creating star charts (drawing of what they observe) and an astrolabe. For tonight and tomorrow night their homework will include viewing the night sky and writing and drawing what they see. Please allow them to stay up a little later than usual in order for them to have at least 15 minutes of viewing time.
Social Studies
We began our Map Skills unit on Friday and will continue to study maps as they relate to astronomy and exploration. This week we will focus on latitude, longitude, the equator, the prime meridian, a compass rose, a map scale, a map key/legend.
Reading and Writing
We began our read aloud, "Sahara Special" last week and will continue to read this book along with our writing curriculum. Students will learn methods to help them gain a deeper understanding of the text as well as story-telling methods. By Thursday, we will begin using writing journals to capture small moments in our lives and describe them in detail.
Have a wonderful week!
Debby
Although it is a shorter week, we will still be covering a lot of material in class. Below is a summary of what we're working on.
Math
Today we started with place value to trillions using science facts to guide us. We will also cover estimation, factors and multiples, and prime factorization this week. Your children will have homework in their math workbooks. However, they have been asked not to write directly in the books so we can continue to use them in future years. Please help to remind them to use looseleaf paper. This is also an easier way for me to check their homework.
Science
We started our unit on Astronomy today. This week we will focus on the night sky, creating star charts (drawing of what they observe) and an astrolabe. For tonight and tomorrow night their homework will include viewing the night sky and writing and drawing what they see. Please allow them to stay up a little later than usual in order for them to have at least 15 minutes of viewing time.
Social Studies
We began our Map Skills unit on Friday and will continue to study maps as they relate to astronomy and exploration. This week we will focus on latitude, longitude, the equator, the prime meridian, a compass rose, a map scale, a map key/legend.
Reading and Writing
We began our read aloud, "Sahara Special" last week and will continue to read this book along with our writing curriculum. Students will learn methods to help them gain a deeper understanding of the text as well as story-telling methods. By Thursday, we will begin using writing journals to capture small moments in our lives and describe them in detail.
Have a wonderful week!
Debby
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