We have been a swarm of busy bees in Room 4 over the past few weeks!
In math we have begun our unit on geometry with a focus on classifying two-dimensional shapes based on their properties. We've reviewed some fourth grade terms and learned some new vocabulary such as vertices, adjacent, parallel, congruent, convex, and concave. Students have enjoyed identifying and sorting polygons based on their attributes.
Our European Explorers unit in social studies has presented students with the opportunity to participate in "research teams". Working in groups of 3-4, students are using multiple resources to become experts on individual explorers. Soon, students will teach one another about their explorer using a fun voice recording website called Blabberize.
Writer's Workshop has guided students away from the "generating ideas" stage and into the drafting stage of informational writing. Students are creating feature articles based on topics they know a lot about. Topics include swimming, great white sharks, labradoodles, and famous athletes. As a class, we have been using samples of both student writing and professional writing in this genre along with checklists to help create and organize these informational pieces.
The genre of nonfiction reading has tied in nicely with our writing. Students have learned about different nonfiction text structures such as cause and effect, chronological order, main idea/detail, and problem/solution. We have also been working on identifying the main idea of a text using different clues. The students enjoyed a catchy "Main Idea" song written by a teacher from PA in order to help them think about ways of finding the main idea.
Looking ahead, we will have our first activity with our Buddies on Thursday 11/20. During the school day (about 30 minutes) some classes choose to coordinate with a lower grade level classroom and participate in various activities together such as reading aloud, poetry studies, or other curriculum supported activities. Having "buddies" allows fifth graders to assume more of a leadership role in guiding and encouraging a younger student. Our buddy class this year is Ms. Hinton's first grade class and we will begin with a "getting to know you" activity and first graders will share their favorite book with their fifth grade buddy. We are very excited about this!
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
In math we have begun our unit on geometry with a focus on classifying two-dimensional shapes based on their properties. We've reviewed some fourth grade terms and learned some new vocabulary such as vertices, adjacent, parallel, congruent, convex, and concave. Students have enjoyed identifying and sorting polygons based on their attributes.
Our European Explorers unit in social studies has presented students with the opportunity to participate in "research teams". Working in groups of 3-4, students are using multiple resources to become experts on individual explorers. Soon, students will teach one another about their explorer using a fun voice recording website called Blabberize.
Writer's Workshop has guided students away from the "generating ideas" stage and into the drafting stage of informational writing. Students are creating feature articles based on topics they know a lot about. Topics include swimming, great white sharks, labradoodles, and famous athletes. As a class, we have been using samples of both student writing and professional writing in this genre along with checklists to help create and organize these informational pieces.
The genre of nonfiction reading has tied in nicely with our writing. Students have learned about different nonfiction text structures such as cause and effect, chronological order, main idea/detail, and problem/solution. We have also been working on identifying the main idea of a text using different clues. The students enjoyed a catchy "Main Idea" song written by a teacher from PA in order to help them think about ways of finding the main idea.
Looking ahead, we will have our first activity with our Buddies on Thursday 11/20. During the school day (about 30 minutes) some classes choose to coordinate with a lower grade level classroom and participate in various activities together such as reading aloud, poetry studies, or other curriculum supported activities. Having "buddies" allows fifth graders to assume more of a leadership role in guiding and encouraging a younger student. Our buddy class this year is Ms. Hinton's first grade class and we will begin with a "getting to know you" activity and first graders will share their favorite book with their fifth grade buddy. We are very excited about this!
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,