Sunday, April 30, 2017

5B Classroom News

Here is what 5B has been up to for the week of April 24th:

Dinosaurs Visited the Regions of the U.S. Rug
Here are anonymous posts from some students who are enjoying a new dinosaur game on the rug:

"The dinosaurs, aka the sweatshirt cyrusrex, are almost a extinct, but with more people caring for them they will not become extinct."  


"The dinosaurs are starting evolve and grow arms to be able dab, Now we have a new rug to have dino fights."



Earth's Systems: Biome Project
"In science we are learning about biomes. It is super fun because we get to do fun, but interesting things, and to paint and be part of a group. It is challenging, but cool, at the same time. In the biome groups we paint information booths and shape clay for dioramas. Some students have 3D printed animals which is multiple layers of plastic melted together, but the layers are tiny." - Ella










Fact Fluency
Students continue to practice their multiplication facts.  This week they learned a new game called "High Times."  If you have a deck of cards at home, please ask them to show you how to play this game.  It's a great way to help them learn their multiplication facts.









Reading
In our new reading groups we are reading Woods Runner. It is based on the Revolutionary War.
-anonymous post by a student in 5B

National Walk at Lunch Day
On Thursday we walked with our buddy class to help celebrate National Walk at Lunch Day. We didn't walk at lunch because the students would not have had enough time to eat, but we walked just before lunch with our buddy class, 2C. This was to help students practice a healthy activity and to be good role models for their 2nd grade buddies.



Friday, April 14, 2017

5B Highlights: April 10 - 14, 2017

The students have been working very hard this week and are looking forward to some well deserved time off next week.  I hope everyone has a relaxing April break.

Rug Continues to be a Big Hit!
In the classroom we got a rug that shows the United States of America. The map is very colorful and shows each of the time differences. The map also shows something unique about each state.
-Ella

Biomes in Science
Students are continuing to learn about biomes in science. They have been working in groups, mixed together with the other 5th grade class, and have been given the challenge by a travel agency to entice travelers to visit their biome. Each group created a proposal that let the travel agency know how they could meet this challenge. This is the first time the students have been involved in a project-based learning project. This means they get to tell their teacher how they want to share their knowledge about their biome. They have come up with wonderful ideas and I can't wait to share them with you as they develop. They spent the rest of the week doing independent research about their biome. They will be getting back into their groups after the April break to share their research with each other so they can begin working on their projects. Here they are working on their proposals:









Today, the students shared their proposals during our weekly community meeting.  They did a great job sharing their work with the 3rd and 4th grade students. They will start working on the projects they have proposed after the April break.  Here they are presenting their proposals during our community meeting:














Sunday, April 9, 2017

5B Highlights: April 3 - 7, 2017

A New Addition to our Classroom
This week I surprised the students with a new carpet for our classroom.  It shows the regions of the U.S. and will be a nice resource when we study the regions.  The new carpet is a big hit!




Biomes in Science
In class we are learning about biomes.  We are researching 8 different biomes: Marine, Tundra, Tropical Rain forest, Desert, Deciduous forest, Grassland, Freshwater, and Taiga. We have many different books that talk about the biomes and what is in them.  We are also doing a worksheet called “Web of Life” and we have to find out the characteristics, human impact, climate, location, animals, and plants that are in the biomes.  I can tell that a lot of people in our class like researching the biomes because in the morning we usually do morning choice, and a lot of people raised their hand for working on research in the morning rather than doing morning choice.  We don’t just use books for research, there is also a “Many Biomes of the World” link in Google classroom. That is what we are doing in class about the biomes.  
-Lilly

Math
In math we have been learning how to do the standard algorithm for multiplication. We are also getting ready for 6th grade and we don’t have to get our planner signed anymore because we won’t need to do that when we get to 6th grade.    
-Sonya

Writing
We have been learning about either the atmosphere or the hydrosphere and how they affect the biosphere. We have been learning in 5 separate groups of 3 people to create plans for a group essay in which we will write about the hydrosphere or atmosphere.
 -Evan






Sunday, April 2, 2017

Highlights in 5B for the week of April 27, 2017

A couple of new things:

1.  On Friday I let students know that I will no longer be checking their planner each morning for a parent signature.  As they prepare to transition to the middle school, this is a chance for them to become more independent about recording and completing their homework.  

2.  In this week's post I have included words from the students about what we have been up to in 5B.  It's a nice way for them to practice their communications skills.  I hope to make this a regular part of the blog... enjoy!

Fact Fluency 
This week, students learned a new game called Good Times to help with their multiplication facts. Here is what a couple of students had to say about our fact fluency sessions:

The 5B fact fluency really, and I mean really, is helping with the really hard math problems with fractions and stuff like that. I am working hard and the fact fluency games make it easier for me to do math problems.
                                          -Gail and Aidan





Earth’s Systems:  The Rock Cycle Starburst Lab
In 5B we did a science experiment with Starburst. The first thing we did was smushed them which represented sedimentary rock. Then we put it in hot water and squashed it some more, and that represented metamorphic rock. Then we rolled it into a ball and let it cool which represented igneous rock. Then best of all, we ate it!
--Sadie



















Ella brought in real volcanic rocks to share during our rock cycle lab! Students enjoyed looking at, and touching, them.  It was wonderful to have them as part of our making meaning science discussion after the Starburst rock cycle lab.  They added a lot to the discussion and students were able to relate these real volcanic rocks to the rock cycle.




Earth's Systems: The Biosphere
This week we transitioned from the geosphere to the biosphere. Students worked together to create posters of what things, and systems, they think belong in the biosphere. They will continue to explore the biosphere over the next few weeks. Here they are sharing their posters and their initial thoughts about the biosphere:



 



Reading:  I Survived series books
In 5B we are reading the I Survived series books. I love to read the books because they are both nonfiction and fiction. These books make me want to read more and even write a book of my own. The books are very interesting and have many supporting details. I suggest reading these books for people who like nonfiction and fiction. My favorite I Survived book is, I Survived The Eruption Of Mount St. Helens, 1980.
--Leiyah