Week of December 16, 2019

Dear Families, I hope you all had a wonderful week! In Room 101 we finished up some unfinished work and prepared ourselves and classroom for the break. This week has been a fun filled week and I am proud of all students work and efforts in the classroom! Students went into the Makerspace on Thursday and Mrs. Wolff allowed us to explore with different technology tools that are available to us! This is something we can continue to earn!

In reading, we wrapped up our Historical Fiction book club books and students were given a post assessment. This assessment tested them on their reading skills and the strategies they learned during book clubs. Students also continued working on their vocabulary book's with their groups and will be presenting them after vacation!

In science, we began talking about soil layers, different types of soil, and what type is the best for planting. When students return from winter break we will do a soil experiment and take a look at loam, sand, and clay and make observations of their physical properties.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with family and friends and have an amazing vacation!! I will see students back on Thursday, January 2, 2020! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Week of December 9, 2019

Dear Families, I hope you have all had a great week! We had a great one in Room 101, I can't believe we are a week away from winter break! On Monday during our morning meeting we discussed how we can show kindness during the holiday season. Students then wrote on a light bulb ways they can show kindness and we hung them up on our bulletin board!

In reading, we began a new historical fiction read aloud called Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. This book takes a different perspective on WWII and students are really enjoying the book, especially since the main character is a 10 year old boy. As we read students make notes about the plot and characters in their reading response journals, using the reading strategies we have been learning during Reader's Workshop. After winter break we will start up new book club groups and students will dive into nonfiction texts!

In science, we continued talking about food webs and had our ecosystem vocabulary quiz. This should have been taken home last night and signed by someone at home. Yesterday, we did a Mystery Science and discussed the question, "why did dinosaurs go extinct?" We used our knowledge of food webs and food chains to discuss what may have happened.

In writing, we continued working on our second personal narrative but this time thinking about the heart of our story. In our first narrative we discussed the heart of our story as the main event and the part of our story that we slow down and stretch out. Now we are thinking about the heart of our story being the theme or the message we want to get across to our readers. This is helping students think about our stories in a whole other way. It is very hard to find our own theme but students are persevering and really digging deep into their story!

Congratulations to Saanvi Jegan for being one of Fisher School's winner for the Dedham Savings holiday card contest!! So proud!!

Some notes for next week:

• Students have earned their whole class reward of a holiday movie! We will watch the movie next Thursday, the 19th, in the morning. You may send in a special holiday snack for students to enjoy while watching their movie.
• We will also have our holiday celebration next Thursday. It will be with the entire grade 5 in the auditorium and students will participate in holiday games/activities.
• Next Friday, the 20th, is our Battle of the Books competition. If students participated in the battle please make sure they wear their team shirts to school that day!! We will start the day off with a team breakfast in the cafeteria.
• There will be NO spelling test next week.

Week of December 2, 2019

Dear Families, I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and the first snow day! During our morning meeting on Monday students were excited to share what they did over the Thanksgiving break and the food that they ate! I can't believe we are only 2 weeks away from our Christmas break!

This past week in writing we started a new personal narrative. We began by discussing ways and strategies writers use to generate ideas. We also took a look at published narrative texts and analyzed the strategies the authors used. Students worked with their writing partner to come up with a new seed idea, story tell it then begin time-lining. Some students have already began drafting! My hope is that students will finish their second personal narrative story before the holiday break.

In science, we continued to discuss ecosystems, what lives in an ecosystem, food chains, and food webs. Ask students how we can use a mammal's feet, eyes, or teeth to distinguish what type of consumer they are! We will have our ecosystem vocabulary quiz next Wednesday the 11th! Students should already have all the words and definitions filled out.

In reading, we have been working on some RACE open responses and responding to our book club books. Students are doing a really nice job using the graphic organizers they created while reading the chapters and using them towards answering the questions. Next week, we will begin a new whole class read aloud that is based on WWII. We will go back to the reading strategies we have been using and then students will use these strategies in their own independent reading books. Students are also working on a vocabulary project with their book club groups! Students were responsible for specific vocabulary words in each chapter and they had to complete a vocabulary 4-square (definition, picture, synonym, sentence). Students are now taking these 4-squares and turning them into a book using Book Creator!

Just a reminder that next Friday, the 13th is a half day! Enjoy your weekend!