A Peek at this Week

A Look at This Week:

Social Studies- We will read Lesson 4.3 "Life in New Spain" and take notes.  We will continue to find the main idea and supporting details in the text.  
Essential Questions:  
How can one country impact another?
What can we learn from the Columbian Exchange that has impacted other countries today?

Science- We will continue to read lesson 5.2 "How does energy pass through an ecosystem?"  Students will be learning about the food web and energy pyramid.
Essential Questions: 
How do plants produce food?
How is energy passed through an ecosystem?

ELA

Reading- We will be finding synonyms and antonyms, and will be discussing point of view.  Not only will we discuss perspective but also if a story is told in the first person, third person limited, or third person omniscient.  We will also be reading Teammates, which is about how Jackie Robinson faced the challenge of being the first African American baseball player in Major League baseball.

Essential Questions:

How are challenges conquered in literature and informational text?

How do characters, real and fictional, respond to challenges (both positively and negatively)?

How can challenges affect yourself and the world around you?

Word Work-  Not only will we be working with our root words/prefixes from last week (bio, man, phon, pre, aqua, uni), but we will also be looking at our vocabulary words from Teammates:  segregation, prejudice, apathetic, and humiliation.

Language Arts- We will continue to study commas.  This week we are looking at the use of commas in a direct address and tag questions.  We are also focusing on comparative writing.

Math-  We will begin Unit 1, Module 3 "Multiplication Strategies."  We will be finding efficient ways to solving multiplication problems.  We will also continue to go over factors, products, writing numerical expressions, prime and composite numbers, and finding volume.  

Important Days:

Tuesday- Magazine Drive Turn-in Day

Thursday- Early Dismissal at 11:35

Saturday- District Dash/Team66 Community Days

Have a great weekend!

Math Forum Preparations

Preparing for our Math Forum:

Our Math Gallery Walk:

A Look at This Week:

Social Studies- We will read Lesson 4.2 "Different Worlds Collide" and take notes.  We will continue to find the main idea and supporting details in a text.  We will be learning about how the Spanish conquistadors colonized the Americas.
Essential Questions:  
How can one country impact another?
What can we learn from the Columbian Exchange that has impacted other countries today?

Science- We will continue to read lesson 5.1 "How do plants produce food?"  Students will be learning about plant structures and photosynthesis.
Essential Questions: 
How do plants produce food?
How is energy passed through an ecosystem?

ELA
Reading- We will continue to work with similes and metaphors, and will be drawing inferences from the text.  We will begin our first ELA unit on challenges.  We will open this unit using Langston Hughe's poem, "Mother to Son."
Essential Questions:
How are challenges conquered in literature and informational text?
How do characters, real and fictional, respond to challenges (both positively and negatively)?
How can challenges affect yourself and the world around you?

Word Work-  We will be introducing and working with the following prefixes and root words:  aqua, man, pre, bio, phon, and uni.

Language Arts- We will continue to build our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook, and will be working on comparative writing. 

Math-  We will begin Unit 1, Module 2 "Factors, Multiples, and the Associative Property."  We will continue to go over factors, products, writing numerical expressions, and finding volume.  We will also continue to discover how to find the surface area of an object.

Important Days:
Monday- Magazine Drive Kick-off Assembly



Have a great weekend!

Sewer Maggots

Sewer Maggot Experiment

Well, we made it through our first full week of school!  It has been wonderful getting to know all of my students, and seeing all of the parents again during curriculum night.  We have had a great week, packed with all kinds of activities and experiments.  Be sure to ask your student about the sewer maggot experiment we did today in Science class!


A Look at This Week:

Social Studies- We will read Lesson 4.1 "The Voyages of Columbus" and take notes.  We will be finding the main idea and supporting details in a text.  Our activities will be focusing on the Columbian Exchange and how it shaped our world today.

Science- We will continue to go over the Scientific Method, and what it means to be a scientist.

ELA
Reading- We will be working with similes and metaphors.  We will find them in books, analyze what they mean, and make our own.  We will also be working on our stamina in silent reading.
Word Work-  We will be introducing and working with the following prefixes and root words:  aqua, man, pre, bio, phon, and uni.
Language Arts- We will continue to build our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook.  

Math-  We will begin Unit 1, Module 2 "Factors, Multiples, and the Associative Property."  We will continue to go over factors, products, and writing numerical expressions.  We will also discover how to find the surface area of an object and will have our first class forum.

Important Days:
Monday-  No School
Wednesday- MAPS Testing (Reading)
Thursday- MAPS Testing (Math)

Welcome Back!

Welcome to a new school year!  It was wonderful to see everyone at open house.  I hope everyone is finally settling in.  This is my fourth year teaching fifth grade at Prairieview, previously I taught Language Arts and Reading for five years at Lakeview.  I had a great summer with my sons Jonathan (4yrs), and Tomas (2yrs).  We had a lot of fun, but are looking forward to the fall, and football season. (Go Bears!)

A Look at This Week:

Social Studies- We will discuss who "discovered" the Americas, and will begin Chapter 4 "Spain Builds an Empire."

Science- We will be reviewing our Science tools and the scientific method.

ELA
Reading- We will be going over the parts of a short story, and reviewing how to mark a text when doing a close read.
Language Arts- We will be building our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook.  

Math-  We will begin Module 1 "Multiplication and Volume."  We will be going over factors, products, prime and composite numbers, and writing numerical expressions. We will also begin building shapes out of cubes, including a rectangular prism.

Important Days:
Wednesday- Curriculum Night 6:30-8:00

PBIS Assembly with Matt Wilhelm

The Talent Show

Field Day!

Have a wonderful summer!!!

Bowling

A Look at Next Week

Students will be presenting their slide shows that are either for or against Manifest Destiny.  They will also be making a scrapbook of their fifth grade memories.  Finally they will reflect on how they were as a student, what projects they liked and disliked, and on my teaching.  It will be a wonderful last two days of school!

Important Days

Monday- 10:30-11:30 Field Day and 1:00 Talent Show

Tuesday- Early Dismissal (11:00)- The Last Day of School!