Weekly Update 1/18-1/22

J15 is probably getting ready to step out onto the ice to serenade the packed arena of roughly 10,000 fans for the Providence Bruins game!  I wish I were there to see you all perform!

We had a short, albeit busy week.  Students have been busily working on their opinion essays.  They are coming along quite well and I love the topic choices.  In math we have been wrapping our minds around multiplying decimal numbers.  Finally, we have begun lit circles!  Today marked the first day lit circle groups began their discussions of their books.  I heard some quality discussions happening at the two groups I sat in on today and I know we will have some great discussions for the rest of the school year.  Before we got into our groups for the first time, we established expectations as an entire class which are pictured below.

Reminder- All lit circle job worksheets are now on our google classroom drive.  If you forget to grab yours in class, please download the worksheet and print at home.

Weekly Summary January 11-15

During the week, students have been excitedly reading 'Number the Stars' anxiously waiting to see what happens next.  While reading this classic story, we have been practicing our lit circles roles which begin next week.  In science, students have been learning about the properties of matter: mass, weight, gravity, density, buoyancy, conductor, insulator, and volume.  We've also been reading and discussing the early settlements and colonies of America and thinking about what motivated the first Europeans to come here.  Finally, students have begun the writing process for their opinion essay.  We have some great opinions students are eager to argue, such as: the existence of big foot, Hallmark Holidays should/ shouldn't be celebrated, we should get rid of the February and April vacation and replace it with a single vacation in March, hunting for sport should be made illegal...just to name a few!

On Friday, our class began their art project with the 'Artist in Residence' program.  They will be making finger puppets and we began molding the heads for these yesterday.  Next week they'll move on to painting their faces.

Weekly Summary January 4-8

"This week J15 has started 3 new writing pieces (poetry, opinion, and another non-fiction) and completed a math unit about dividing fractions. In science we started to learn about matter. We have also switched how we do things. We are temporarily not using partners in math, and we use a teaching tool for homework each night. J15 has also  begun reading Number The Stars."

- Annika & Corinne

Starting January 11th, we will begin morning work buddies. A few students from each 5th grade classroom will do their morning work alongside some 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students. Our 5th graders will be setting a good example for the lower grades on how to start the day with good routines and work ethic.