Febrary 17th-19th

Dear families,

Despite being a short week, we accomplished a lot! We continue to push forward on our research papers about our Revolutionary figures. Next week we'll look at costuming. There are costumes available for students to use that we'll look at on Monday. If students need to bring items in, we'll make a note of it in their agendas. During morning meeting today, we talked about where to find and make costume pieces. Our intention is for families to not buy anything for the museum. The date for the Wax Museum is March 10th.

In science, students have been working on their Rube Goldberg projects. I wanted to remind you that on March 5th at 8:30 AM students will present their scientific creations. We hope that you will make the presentation to cheer your child on!

In mathematics, we have begun a new unit on fractions. We are beginning with concept development and are quickly moving into critical thinking with fractions. Our prior work in multiplication and division, factors, and multiples will prove essential in this unit.

We are reading a class novel together called, The Journal of William Thomas Emerson. It is a historical fiction piece, which fits nicely into our American Revolution social studies work. Students are learning about inferencing and how to use clues in text to make good guesses in their reading. We continue to work on our reading fluency using Read Naturally. We are making good headway in our decoding and encoding (spelling) using O.G. I can see O.G. skills being transferred into writing. This is great evidence that our O.G. work is paying off!

There is no school on Friday due to parent conferences. I will see you then unless we have arranged another time. I look forward to meeting with you soon and showing you all the great work that your child is doing! Have a great weekend.

Laura

American Revolution Wax Museum

SAVE the DATE!

Wednesday, March 10th 1:00 - 2:00 P.M.

We will be celebrating our "Through Their Eyes" Wax Museum figures. Please join us!

One of our Social Studies throughlines in fifth grade is the idea of voice and how it is important in history. We are continuing our study of colonization and are now learning about the American Revolution. Students chose a voice in history that they wanted to bring alive during a Wax Museum presentation. Some students chose figures from the time period that are more well known, while others elected to study figures we hadn't heard much about. Students researched their figures and learned a note-taking process using note pages, which helps to organize information and create main ideas.

Next, students are writing a research paper complete with a bibliography. We've discussed the importance of using primary and good secondary resources in research. We're working on opening and closing paragraphs and have looked at past year's papers as models of what a good paper should be. Once students have finalized their research paper, they will boil it down into a one minute speech for the Wax Museum. Students will dress in costume for their historical figure and create a backdrop for the museum. Our museum will be held in the Commons and when a visitor stops to visit, they'll push a button and students will come to life delivering the speech they prepared about their figure's life. They'll speak in first person as they step into the life of their studied person and bring their voice alive.

Sam Barlow - Paul Revere

Matthew Arruda - John Paul Jones

A.J. Jarabek - Peter Salem

Nathaniel Vargas - George Washington

Emma Walsh - Phillis Wheatley

Cody Reynolds-Sylvia - Samuel Adams

We hope you'll mark the date on your calendar. We don't want you to miss it!

Laura

February 1st - 5th

Hello families,

We enjoyed our field trip to Boston where Evan, our tour guide dressed in period clothing, provided an engaging account of history. Are you a patriot or a loyalist? How you refer to the grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall will be an indicator! Did you know there are many bodies buried beneath the Boston Commons? ... or that Mother Goose is buried in Boston in the Granary Burial Ground? We learned lots of interesting things!

Nature's Hollow Update:

We had a successful meeting about Nature's Hollow last Thursday. Students met in Mix It Up groups (our integrated groupings) and discussed what they thought were the most pressing issues pertaining to our time in Nature's Hollow. They created guidelines, which we hope will bring a more positive experience for all. Some were:

Create a meeting space to work out conflicts

Choose words carefully

Be respectful

Use one fort at a time

Welcome others into your fort

After thirty minutes in Nature's Hollow trying out the new guidelines, the students came back as a grade to reflect. They felt the guidelines were helpful and would be successful however, they believed it would take time and consistent effort. What a wise group of students!

Adios,

Laura