Word Work – 5th Grade ELA

Today we reviewed antonyms and synonyms and learned two new words: homograph & homophone.

We talked about the bases of each word (graph & phone) and the prefix of both (homo) to figure out what each word meant. It was really awesome to apply our SWI skills to the vocabulary words!

The kids were excited to think of as many homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently) and homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meaning) they could. Many even asked if they could brainstorm more over the weekend! I’m excited to hear/see what they come up with!

On Monday we will play a fun game to review these ideas!

Shabbat Shalom

Editing our Memoirs! 5th ELA

Everyone is officially in the revising and editing stages of writing! Many students had questions about how/when to use commas. We went over and practiced eight different ways to use them in our writing and then took a look back at our memoirs– checking for correct comma usage. We are hoping to publish and share our writing by the end of next week!

 

Another Amazing Class – ETC 5/6

Please ask your kiddos about the second round of the puzzle challenge we completed today. 

We were having SO much fun and having such rich conversation that we ran out of time for the students to blog about it. 

We hope they’ll continue to reflect with YOU over the weekend as they were pretty amped about their work/learning/teamwork today. 

We’ve included some videos here, pictures below and the slides from today’s challenge for your viewing pleasure!

Shabbat Shalom 

 

 

 

Growth in ETC – Evidence! 5/6 ETC

Please take a look at your child’s blog — Today they took some time to write about their growth as teammates in ETC class. We are pretty impressed by their ability to self assess and reflect. We think you will be too!

Here are some photos/videos from today’s challenge:

Video: First Failed Attempt

Video- I couldn’t upload this video- but after their failed attempt, this group communicated beautifully and formed a plan together to ensure success for their second attempt! 

Video: Group Success

Video: Excellent Team Communication

 

 

Point of View

Happy Thursday! I am so glad to be back at school learning with your children!

 

As we continued our study of fiction today, we thought about how the point of view of the narrator makes a huge impact on the story. Would the Harry Potter series be the same if told from the perspective of Voldemort? How about Cinderella told through the view of the Prince? Point of view is crucial to a story! 

We talked about how the best readers will often imagine how characters outside of the narrator may tell the story differently. Or, if a story is told in third person, what the characters are thinking outside of their dialogue and actions.

After the lesson, the kids thought about their independent reading books and the point of view of the narrators in their texts. They wrote reading responses to show their understanding. 

Please ask your children about the lesson from their point of view…pun intended!

PS. I think we can all agree that I am not the best symmetrical artist- but the kids enjoyed my anchor chart regardless! 

Cup Tower Challenge- 5/6 ETC

As we continue to work on teamwork in ETC we are noticing more and more opportunities for growth within our students. More impressive is your children being more self aware of these opportunities and setting realistic goals for themselves. 

This past week we challenged the groups to move cups from the ground to their tables using only string and rubber bands. They were not allowed to touch the cups with their hands. This challenge was chosen specifically because of the need for excellent communication among the teams. Before the challenge we referred back to our teamwork rubric and asked the class to think about which aspects of the rubric would be most valuable in this challenge. They set individual goals and also asked their teammates to hold them accountable. 

It was fun and exciting to watch different types of towers being built. Additionally, watching the struggle was equally as fun as we were able to directly connect their words and actions to goals. We can’t wait to see what this Friday’s challenge brings!

 

Reading Response Homework

Today I introduced our thinking Journals to use at home for reading responses. Most weeks I will assign 3 reading responses to be due the following week.  This means that your child should be reading for at least 20 minutes, three times a week at home. In addition, they should be using their thinking journals to respond to what they have read.

We talked about the expectations for responses, put rubrics in our journals and looked at a few examples together. As we delve further into our fiction unit we will practice the different strategies to use when responding to a text.

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At this point in fifth grade, I expect students to respond by using at least  one of our strategies. Next quarter I will expect them to use two and as each quarter progresses, the expectation will grow. This will allow them the time to practice the different strategies before 6th grade where they will be expected to use multiple strategies throughout the entire year.

When reading responses are assigned they will be written in assignment notebooks daily! 🙂 They have TWO responses due on Monday. 

 

How Reading Improves Your Mind And Body Infographic