Crazy December

December has been such a crazy month for all of us. The Holidays are approaching and we have all been so busy. I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on what the class has been doing this past month.

Math:

We finished our short unit on Division at the end of November and have moved into Fractions. The class as a group had a minimal knowledge of fractions so we started with finding equivalent fractions by either multiplying or dividing both the numerator and denominator of a fraction. We progressed to reducing fractions by finding common factors in both the numerators and denominators. 

Our next step was adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators. The students found this to be fairly easy and were able to apply the previously learned skill of reducing/simplifying fractions once they had an answer to their addition or subtraction problem.

Before we could start adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, the students needed to learn how to find common denominators. We started with finding common multiples of each denominator to be added or subtracted. From there we moved onto finding the smallest or least common denominators.

A few students were ready to move forward, so I taught a small group how to add and subtract mixed numbers while I continued to work on least common denominators with the rest of the class.

Reading:

We have been working on a Non-Fiction Unit in our new Schoolwide Reading program. I have supplemented the Schoolwide program with a fantastic resource called Storyworks. We spent a week analyzing an interesting article about Malala Yousafzai. We used the article to study text evidence and learn how to write summaries.

Writing:

I gave the students a few fun winter prompts and had them write two different creative stories. After writing the stories, I began to meet individually with students to edit their rough drafts. I used this editing session to help students with their individual writing needs. The topics covered with individual students included:

• Dialogue
• Past and Present tense
• Clauses
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Spelling
• Sentence Structure

Social Studies:

We have moved into the beginnings of the American Revolution. In November we covered the main causes of the Revolution:

• Debt from the French and Indian War
• Sugar Act
• Stamp Act
• Sons of Liberty
• Daughters of Liberty
• Townshend Acts
• The Boston Massacre
• The Boston Tea Party
• The Intolerable Acts

December brought discussions about the 13 Colonies preparing to revolt against Britain. We learned about:

• The 1st Continental Congress
• Lexington & Concord
• The 2nd Continental Congress
• Appointment of George Washington as General of the Continental Army
• Bunker Hill
• The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
• Thomas Paine's Common Sense
• The Olive Branch Petition
• The Declaration of Independence

Hopefully this last week of December before Winter Break will be filled with fun and celebration in Room 19! We have lots of fun activities planned at Liberty School and we are all looking forward to a well deserved two weeks off!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ROOM 19!!!

Parent /Teacher Conferences

A big thank you to all the parents who came in for Parent/Teachers Conferences. I really enjoyed sharing all the students' strengths and the areas where they can grow. I think we had some great discussions and came up with fantastic plans for the rest of the school year! Thank you for being such willing partners and working with me to help your child reach their full potential.

Science Fair

Our Wednesday Science Fair was a great success! The students did a wonderful job on their projects and their presentations were fantastic! 

 

This was the culminating activity for our Scientific Method Unit. 

 

Students picked a question to test, made a hypothesis and observed the results of their experiment.  

 

Projects ranged from the affect of exercise on heart rate to who has better a memory. 

 

Thank you to all the parents, teachers and students who came out to see our Science Fair! 

 

Halloween!

We had a fun-filled day full of Halloween Celebrations on Thursday!

Our class took part in Liberty School's 20th Annual Halloween Hustle! Students braved the weather to get out and burn calories before the Halloween Weekend by running or walking Miss Blue's Halloween Hustle course! 

 

 

The afternoon kicked off with the Liberty School Halloween Parade. Although the weather kept us inside, we still had a great time showing off our costumes in the hallways of Liberty!

The Party in Room 19 was a huge success! Students participated in fun games and crafts planned by our wonderful Room Parents!

 

 

A huge Thank You to Mrs. Pelini, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Voorn, Mrs. Faille, Mrs. Sanchez and Olivia's Aunt! Thank you for taking time out of your day and for planning such awesome activities! Our class had a blast!

Scientific Method or Engineering Design Process

Since finishing our Social Studies Units on Exploration and Colonization for the 1st Quarter, we have started our Science Units on Scientific Method and Engineering Design. The students have been exploring both ideas in the last two weeks through fun experiments. We tested the questions:

1. How many drops of H2O will fit on a penny?
2. Can you poke a hole through a plastic bag without it leaking?

The students also used the Engineering Design Process to design a catapult and bridge.

So what's the difference between the Scientific Method and the Engineering Design Process? 

• The scientific method is a way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments.
• The steps of the scientific method are to:
1. Ask a Question
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
6. Communicate Your Results

• The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineers follow to come up with a solution to a problem. Many times the solution involves designing a product (like a machine or computer code) that meets certain criteria and/or accomplishes a certain task.

• The steps of the engineering design process are to:

1. Define the Problem
2. Do Background Research
3. Specify Requirements
4. Brainstorm Solutions
5. Choose the Best Solution
6. Do Development Work
7. Build a Prototype
8. Test and Redesign

While scientists study how nature works, engineers create new things, such as products, websites, environments, and experiences. Because engineers and scientists have different objectives, they follow different processes in their work. Scientists perform experiments using the scientific method; whereas, engineers follow the creativity-based engineering design process.

Both processes can be broken down into a series of steps, as seen in the diagram and table.

Ask your student about these great experiments and the ones we will be doing throughout the next two weeks!

Turn & Talk! Stop & Jot!

We officially started Reading Workshop this week! The students have been doing a great job listening, learning and participating during our Mini-Lessons!

The philosophy of Reading Workshop works like this: 

• Teach a skill and strategy through modeling and think-alouds using authentic literature.
• Release the students to apply the learned skill and strategy with their own independent text.
• Conference with students individually about what they learned while the class is reading and applying the skill and strategy.
• Regroup the class and share how they applied the skill and strategy to their own reading.

The key is to keep the lesson short and focused. This allows the students to maximize their time reading and applying the concept taught.

This week we learned about student and teacher roles during Reading Workshop, turning and talking with a partner to grow ideas together, and the importance of thinking during reading by stopping and jotting down our thoughts about the text.

The kids were very familiar with Turn & Talk. We use this in Reading Workshop, but I also use it in Social Studies, Science and Math. At different points during the text I stop and ask the students to turn and talk about their thoughts with a partner for a few minutes. After partner sharing, I ask a few students to share what they talked about with their partners. It's a great way to keep all the students engaged and accountable.

Stop & Jot is very similar to Turn & Talk. This is an approach I use to have kids actively think while reading. I modeled Stop & Jot this week as I read Old Henry. As I read the book aloud to the kids, I stopped at different points and said "I think..." or "I wonder...".  Each of these phrases were then turned into ideas that I wrote on post-its attached to the page. 

This strategy is no different than what a lot of us did in High School and College when we wrote in the margins of our books.  Fifth grade students can decode words, read with some fluency and even recall a bit of what they read...but if they don't actively think while reading, they won't fully comprehend what they have read.

Hopefully you have seen a few books come home this week with post-its sticking out on all ends! Ask your kids about it. Room 19 is filled with Readers and we are loving it!

MAP, FOUNTAS and PINNELL...Oh My!

We are slowly getting through all our beginning of the year testing. All students have now taken both their Reading and Math MAP tests for the Fall. Our Resource teachers have finished administering the Easy CBM to all students and I have F & P tested about half the class.

The NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) describes MAP testing as:

Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) are K – 12 interim assessments that measure growth, project proficiency on high-stakes tests, and inform how educators differentiate instruction, evaluate programs, and structure curriculum.

Computer adaptive MAP assessments reveal precisely which academic skills and concepts the student has acquired and what they’re ready to learn. MAP assessments are grade independent and adapt to each student’s instructional level. Every item on a MAP assessment is anchored to a vertically aligned equal interval scale, called the RIT scale for Rasch UnIT—a stable measurement, like inches on a ruler, that covers all grades.

And because the measurement is reliable and accurate, RIT scores serve as an essential data point in a student’s learning plan; educators can see their precise learning level and respond accordingly.

As a classroom teacher I use this data to drive my daily instruction and to adapt that instruction to individual student needs. Students in grade 5 MAP test in the Fall, Winter and Spring.

The Easy CBM testing is designed to "give teachers insight into which of their students may need additional instructional supports as well as to provide a means by which they can measure the effectiveness of their teaching. System reports provide information that supports evidence-based decision making, and the Interventions interface streamlines the process of keeping track of students' instructional program, a feature that is particularly helpful for student study team meetings and parent conferences". These tests are administered by our school reading specialist in the Fall, Winter and Spring.

The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System is used to get one-on-one assessments of each student's instructional and independent reading level. This information helps me:

• Determine reading placement levels and group students for reading instruction.
• Select texts that will be productive for student's instruction.
• Assess the outcomes of teaching.
• Assess a new student's reading level for independent reading and instruction.
• Identify students who need intervention.
• Document student progress across a school year.
• Inform parents of student progress.

I will administer these tests in the Fall and Spring. Students in need of intervention may also be tested in the Winter.

Although testing can be time consuming, the data helps me provide your child with individualized instruction.