Friday February 27, 2015

Click here for the March T'ville Times:

http://www.qcsd.org/cms/lib04/PA01000005/Centricity/Domain/724/Tville%20time%20for%20March.pdf

This morning we kicked off the day with our Latin/Greek root PWYK.... 100% Proficient or Advanced today! WOOOOOOO! Hard work does pay off!!!

In math we used fractional lengths to find the area of rectangles.

In grammar we wrapped up active and passive voice.

Writing focused on continuing to complete our organizers that are jam packed with quotes, elaborations and now counter arguments.  Today's mini-lesson discussed the importance and effectiveness of well placed counter-arguments.

In reading, we took a break from sequence of events and read two similar texts (one information, one a play) about the discrimination of Chinese immigrants in the early 1900s.  After performing a close reading on both texts, we took a quick PLICKER quiz and as a class achieved a score of 82.5%.  Anything above 80% is proficient in my books and that is solid!  Excellent analyzing and synthesizing of information.  Tough stuff!

I hope to see everyone tonight at BINGO!

Homework

Math- CCP 19

Math Plus- CCP 28

RELA- Read 30 min

Spelling due March 2nd

Other- planner signed

Thursday Feb. 26, 2015

area of rectangles

area of irregular shapes

Homework
Math- Area worksheet (see references above) and you may use a calculator
Math Plus- packet and worksheet on volume
RELA- green/blue: trifolds; purple/pink: TDA
Spell- March 2nd
Vocab- "frail, fract, frag" sentences tomorrow
Other- planner signed

Wednesday Feb. 25, 2015

This morning Nick took us through a ski themed morning meeting.

Top 10 projects continued!  Update pictures tomorrow possibly!

In math, we analyzed polygons by observable properties.

Active and passive voice in grammar:

In writing, partnerships were formed based on the educated opinion we now have on our topic.  In these partnerships, body paragraphs were planned out and quotes were gathered to support the topic of the paragraph.  Tomorrow we will elaborate!

In reading, small groups tackled TDAs on making conclusions and other small groups worked with a teacher to read a short story and sequence its events.

Homework

Math- CCP 36 both sides; Reflex or Khan

Math Plus- CCP 19 both sides; Reflex or Khan

RELA- Read 30 min

Spelling due March 2nd

Vocabulary- "frail, fract, frag" sentences Friday

Tuesday February 24, 2015

Social Studies Top 10 Projects.

Math- Properties of Polygons and Triangles/Quadrilaterals

Writing- BIG IDEAS for chocolate milk should be severed or shouldn't be served.  We learned how to use plickers as well!



Reading- new strategy; sequence of events for the story James Forton

Homework
Math- Quad and Tri worksheet (resource on back)
Math Plus- 324, 325, CCP 26 HW
RELA- Read 30; PB 157
Spell due Mar. 2
"Fract, frail, frag" sentences due Friday
Planner- signed

Monday February 23, 2015

Today began with social studies top 10 elaborating!  This project has been herky-jerky due to days off and delays, but it is coming along.  Kudos to the class for keeping their perseverance through this.

In math we took our first LTA (Learning Target Assessment) for the third marking period.

Latin root of the week: "frail, fract, frag" meaning to break or shatter
Quizlet

In the afternoon, we watched 4 movies that related to how chocolate milk SHOULD be in our school's cafeteria.  Check those out here.  Our research is not complete and we are ready to have educated opinions on the topic!

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/chocolate-milk-debate-13360641

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/life-video/video-ctv-ottawa-the-chocolate-milk-debate/article22475196/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFsymVRkMAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLJr7Rc7QtI

Lastly, we got to lesson 14 vocabulary for the story James Forten.  Due to our incessant chattiness this afternoon, we did not have optimal time to complete this activity so there may be more than normal for homework.  Life is about choices, you must make the best ones...  I will be checking this vocabulary even more extensively than others tomorrow.

Homework

Math- IF WE HAVE A DELAY: Area homework; if no delay- KHAN or REFLEX

RELA- Read 30 min. and Vocabulary complete in great detail

Spelling due next Monday

Vocabulary- matching due tomorrow

Other- planner signed

Friday February 20, 2015

TWIN DAY!

Today's indoor recess was used as measurement group work time.  We went around the world with group member from all 3 classrooms and reviewed metric and customary measurement conversions.

In the afternoon we finally did some research on the positive aspects of chocolate milk.  Monday we will check out some videos and begin organizing our opinion writing pieces.

Conclusions and generalizations wrapped up today.

Homework

Math (both)- Customary conversion worksheet (resource on back)

RELA- Read 30 minutes; Green and Blue PB 146; Pink and Purple finish trifolds

Other- Planner signed

Thursday February 19, 2015

Today began with Alex leading us through a morning meeting about his water slide birthday party.

Social studies continued to follow suit from previous days, but we did incorporate a mini lesson that focused on how to explain how a fact is important to that colony's history.

In math, we continued to tackle difficult metric related problems.  Multi-step and multi-levels of difficult!  Reading and figuring out what they want as an end product is half the trouble!  We are working hard though.

In the afternoon we continued our chocolate milk debacle as we researched and took notes on yet another article.

Lastly, small groups switched and looked at conclusions and generalizations that can be formed in texts.

Homework
Math and Math Plus- CCP 26 both sides; Khan or Reflex
RELA- Read 30 min; Cold Read (annotate; number proof; RACER)
Spelling- due tomorrow
Other- planner signed; coins of compassion/canned food for Twin Day

Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015

This lovely morning began with Freddie telling us about his holiday trip to Florida.

After, we jumped directly into our Top 10 Colony project.

Math's focus for today was again on metric conversion.  Check out the resources below to assist you with homework.  Remember to move on your staircase conversion chart.

This afternoon we revisited our chocolate milk debate.  We continued to research and even look at our school cafeteria's Tru Moo chocolate milk.  The debate continues- should it continue to be served or should it be banned from the cafeteria.  We still have more research to do before making an educated decision.

To wrap up the day, we continued to conclude and generalize about the various texts that we are reading.

Become a Inferring/Generalizing/Concluding Millionaire!  http://www.quia.com/rr/332704.html

Homework

Math- metric conversion worksheet

Math Plus- metric conversion worksheet; CCP 241

ALWAYS- KHAN or REFLEX

RELA- Read 30; pink/purple- PB 146; green/blue- trifold complete; Bud Not Buddy completed: Gavin, Alyssa, Devon, David, Ali and 4 people who were not here today

Spelling due Friday

Other- Planner signed; coins of compassion/canned goods for Friday's spirit day- twin day

Monday February 16, 2015

This late morning began with a trip to art class.

In the afternoon we learned about regular verbs in grammar.

After, we began our persuasive/opinion/argumentative unit by reading an email from administration about chocolate milk being served in schools.  We then did some research and information gathering so we could come to a educated opinion on the matter.

In reading, small groups concluded and generalized in a variety of ways.  My group for the day, the blue group, read an extremely interesting article about George Washington and how he dealt with the smallpox epidemic during the American Revolution.

** In preparation for two hour delays and snow days, there will be additional homework sent home in case of these situations.  I have clearly explained to students the expectations, and they are prepared in case of a snow/cold event. **

Homework
Math- metric conversion choose a page to complete; Khan or Reflex
Math Plus- front and back of measurement conversion sheet
RELA- Bud Not Ch. 17 and 18; p. 198-213; Q5-7 and Q1-2
Spelling due Feb. 20
Other- Planner signed

If Weather Effects Our Regular Day Homework
Math- finish entire metric conversion packet (use yesterday's metric conversion resources); Khan AND Reflex
Reading- finish Bud Not Buddy and all questions; PB p. 145

Friday February 13, 2015

Today began with an 84% on our Latin/Greek root quiz!  That means no root next week; a nice little week off.  Excellent job on 3 weeks of hard work!!!

Social Studies continued colony projects.

In math we wrapped up customary unit conversion and introduced metric conversion.  Its amazing how much more sense metric makes as compared to customary!  Please use these resources to help you with your homework.

The Math 24 tournament qualifying began during recess.  More on this later.

This afternoon, we met with our first grade buddies to celebrate 100 days in school.

Our reading skill/strategy focus was "Conclusions/Generalizations/Inferencing."  We looked at some famous paintings, gathered text evidence and then concluded what the artist could have been representing.  Then we read They Called Her Molly Pitcher and concluded about how Mary got her nickname.

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Homework

Math- Check What You Know metric

Math Plus- Finish metric packet

RELA- Bud Not Ch. 16 Q3-4

Spell- Due Feb 20

Other- Planner signed

Thursday February 12, 2015

We began this morning with our 13 colony quiz.

Then, we hopped directly into researching our partnership colonies.

In math, we wrapped up our exploration of customary units.

Later in the day, we took a mid-year classroom evaluation that helps me know what is going well in this class and what can be improved.  After, we worked on Khan and Reflex.

To end the day, we evaluated our lesson 13 vocabulary words.

Homework
Math and Math Plus- Lesson 25 both sides
RELA- Bud Not Buddy Ch. 15 Q1-2
Spelling due Feb 20
Vocab- flect flex sentences tomorrow
Other- Planner signed

Wednesday February 11, 2015

This morning began with Siya telling us about her trip to Virginia.

We then jumped right into a quick discussion about organization and its importance in middle school.  For now on, if papers and like-items are not being placed in the correct area after being used and they suddenly vanish when needed; it will result in negative Dojo, signing the BB and recess spent organizing desks.

In Social Studies we began working with partners to research the top 10 most important facts (and why) about each of the colonies.  These projects will be presented to other fifth grade classes.

Here is a blank 13 colonies map to study from:

In math, we continued our focus with customary unit conversion.  Use this little jingle to help you remember what to do when converting:

In the afternoon we talked about past, present and future tenses, took our spelling pretest, and had some time to free write.  Free writing is always relaxing way to get your brain to release some creativity onto paper.  Tomorrow we start a new unit- Opinion/Argumentative/Debate style writing.

To end the day, we wrapped up TDAs.

Homework

Math- REFLEX or KHAN

Social Studies- Study 13 colonies; quiz tomorrow

RELA- Bud Not Ch. 15 Q1-2 due Friday; TDA due tomorrow

Spelling- due Feb. 20

Vocabulary- sentences due Friday "flect/flex"

Other- Planner signed

Tuesday February 10, 2015

Happy two hour delay day!

Since we had a delay, recess was used for math.  We reviewed the conversions of length, volume and weight in customary units.

Add caption

In the afternoon we reviewed past, present and future tenses with Mr. Dan and our grammar workbook!

In writing, Mrs. Nolte, the librarian from Pfaff came over to introduce our class to persuasive writing.  She had a great topic to spark our interest- "Should students be required to do school work on snow days?"  There is a good chance we will revisit this idea later in the year and possibly send these letters along to Dr. Harner, our superintendent.

To end the day, we continued to work on our text dependent analysis essays.  To give parents and example of what is and is not text dependent questions, take a look at this image:

Homework

Math and Math Plus- Lemonade and Earth (both sides) conversion worksheet

Social Studies- Study for 13 colony quiz Thursday

RELA- Bud Ch. 14; Q 6-9

Vocab- "flect/flex" sentences Friday

Other- planner signed

Monday February 9, 2015

This icy morning began with our new Latin/Greek root which was "flect/flex" meaning bend.

Quizlet and "flect/flex" info

In math, we did our first switch.  Accelerated math went to Mrs. Wilson's room and the students continuing with fifth grade math were dispersed between Mrs. Bigenho's class and our class.  We began looking at how to convert between units of measurement in customary/standard forms.

In the afternoon we looked at a poem and broke it down like a detective would.  We looked at what the text said, how the text worked, and what the text means.  This was some great close reading practice.

To wrap up the day we reviewed the strategy of theme and then began our independent TDAs.

Homework

Math- finish length conversions page

Math Plus- finish customary conversions packet

Social Studies- 13 colonies quiz Thursday

RELA- Bud Not Ch. 13; Q4-5

Vocab- "flect/flex" matching

Other- Planner signed

Friday February 6, 2015

Today started off strong with another excellent performance on our Greek and Latin root assessment.  88% proficient or advanced this time!!

As the morning continued, we wrapped up our TDA (text dependent analysis) challenge that Dr. Hertz presented to us the day before.  WOW!  Were these impressive.  I would say every partnership showed proficient understanding of following RACER.  The evidence and elaboration was superb! Lets keep this up heading into next week's independent TDA.



Our RACER is a bit different; but you get the idea!

Math continued our focus on line plots with fractional parts.  This is a tough skill!  We may continue to recap a bit more heading into next week.

In the afternoon, we published. And published, and kept publishing.  Today was a wrap up day and we needed to get as far as we could into our publishing of writing pieces.  This unit has gone on for a long time due to Xmas break and snow days, and we needed some serious time to catch up.

I want to give a big shout out to the class for their interest in REFLEX math and Khan Academy.  Keep it up!  Reviewing simple facts and skills keeps you sharp and on your game.  Here is our fluency gain after only 3 days of REFLEX math... Impressive.

Homework
Math- Finish Lesson 27 (4-5); Reflex or Khan
Social Studies- Study for 13 colony quiz Thursday
RELA- Bud Ch. 12
Spelling due Monday
Other- Planner signed

Thursday February 5, 2015

This morning Jade treated us to a morning meeting based on her shopping experiences.

In Social Studies, students used their compare and contrast chart on Plymouth and Jamestown to explain what a colonist would say, smell, do, feel, etc.  Application at its finest.  A big thank you to the two individuals who researched Roanoke for the four opportunity!

In math we looked at line plots and analyzed them based on their fractional components.

We reviewed "viv/vit" to prepare for our Greek/Latin root quiz tomorrow.  Please see the Quizlet I posted a few days ago for more studying opportunities.

In writing we continued to publish our informational endangered animal pieces.

To wrap up the day, Dr. Hertz came and helped us through a lesson to review TDAs (Text Dependent Analysis).  This was perfect based on our TDA recap yesterday.  Tomorrow we will begin our independent TDA.

Homework

Math- Lesson 27 (1-3 ONLY)

Social Studies- 13 colonies quiz next Thursday

RELA- Bud Not Buddy Ch. 11 and questions

Spelling- Due Feb. 9

Vocabulary- "viv/vit" sentences due tomorrow

Other- Planner signed

Wednesday February 4, 2015

This morning started off very strong!  Bree lead us through a fantastic morning meeting about a tough soccer game against Deep Run.  Lots of grit and perseverance was involved.

In Social Studies we looked at what happened after the first two major colonies were established, and the 13 colonies came into existence.
http://www.shmoop.com/video/why-13-colonies

During math, we looked at two superb math websites to increase math fluency and gain extra practice.  They are Khan Academy and Reflex Math.

Reflex Math https://www.reflexmath.com/
This site is new to us, but you can all log in.  Go to "Launch" in the top right corner in the black bar, type in "zgarger" as the username.  Then click on your name and type in your student number (AKA your lunch number) as the password.  Practice, enjoy and level up!

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/login
Get started working through 5th grade or 6th grade if you are accelerated.

To begin the afternoon, we looked at verb tenses in grammar.  We then continued to revise, edit and publish our informational writing pieces.  Hopefully we can have these published by Friday.

To end the day, we looked at our Text Dependent Analysis reading/writing projects we worked on partners with last week to complete.  We broke them down, looked at exemplars, and reflected on our successes and how we can improve these in the future.  Our next one will be independent and it will start Friday for some groups.

Homework

Math- at least 15 minutes on REFLEX math (I will check online); (coordinate grid 4 opportunity due tomorrow)

Social Studies- 4 opportunity Roanoke research due tomorrow

RELA- Bud Not Buddy Ch. 10; p. 96-107; Q4-7

Spelling- due Feb. 9th

Vocab- "vit/viv" sentences due Friday (lets shoot for better than 80% again!!!)

Other- planner signed

Tuesday February 3, 2015

Today we worked on publishing our informative writing pieces and also looked at fact/opinion in reading.  Latin/Greek root "viv/vit" meaning live or life was also introduced on our two hour delay day.

Sorry for the quick post, I have meetings after school!

Homework
Math- mixed fraction review; optional 4 opportunity coordinate grids due Thursday
Soc- Roanoke research on organizer (optional 4 opportunity) due Thursday
RELA- Bud Not Buddy Ch. 9 Q 1-3
Spell- due Feb. 9
Voc- "viv/vit" matching
Other- planner signed