Classroom Update

Dear Parents and Students of Room 10,

      Last week, while not quite as eventful as the week before, kept us very busy, indeed. The children have been researching topics for their opinion piece in writing.  We are so fortunate to have the Chrome Books as we use them very frequently...and I don't have to remember to sign up to use technology 2-3 weeks before.  What a benefit!!  As a part of the research process, we have stopped to discuss a variety of interesting topics such as wearing uniforms in public school, pay rates for professional athletes and whether students should get paid for good grades.  We have been reading lots of opinion essays, dissecting them and working backwards from essay to graphic organizer.  We have been working on opinion essay reading in guided reading groups.

      This Wednesday, the children will be drawing, painting and cutting out whales to scale; that is, one inch for every foot.  They are excited about this project and we look forward to your help.  Many of you have volunteered to join us, and we really appreciate your taking time out of your day to help us out.

      In addition to the concert Wednesday afternoon and evening, the children will have the opportunity to meet and listen to a gentleman talk about what it's like to live with a disability on Thursday. Not only is John Robinson an amazing human being, but he is also my neighbor.  I am looking forward to seeing him talk to the children. 

                                                                                    Have a terrific week,

                                                                                    Lester B.

DARE Graduation

Greetings from Room 10,
      On Friday, January 15th the children graduated from the DARE Program. Congratulations!  We were proud of our DARE essay readers, Zachary Price and Alicia Prieto, as well as Lucas Fros for calling the 5B students to receive their diplomas.

       

      Despite the short week, the children will be completing their vocabulary/spelling unit again this week. In addition to their nightly homework, you should be seeing your child studying all of the words (spelling and definition) nightly. This will prepare them for the 50-word test in a few weeks.  While this can be challenging, it is a good way to prepare for the expectations of middle school.

      In small group reading, we have been discussing our Ocean Book Club books and have also focused on reading persuasive letters and articles. This mirrors our writing unit. At this point, we have been dissecting articles to determine whether they meet the criteria for 5B persuasive writing. 

      Whales, whales, whales!  Science has been exciting because the children love the whale unit; so many questions. Thankfully, I can answer most of the questions they ask, but we will need to be resourceful and use our Chrome books to address other questions.  I love teaching about whales and the children LOVE learning about them. I am hoping to begin showing "Voyage of the Mimi" later this week.  It has thirteen, 15-minute episodes chronically a whaling expedition to monitor whales.  It is on the "older side" and it stars a young...very young...Ben Affleck. I wonder how many of you have also been exposed to this program?

      On Friday, January 22nd, the school as a whole will be celebrating The Trumpet of the Swan with a "DARE TO BE DIFFERENT" Day!  The fifth graders should wear a UNIQUE or MISS-MATCHED outfit. We will also be joining the school's "Dare to be Different" parade.

      Don't forget, play rehearsal will be on Tuesday at the children's regular times.

                                                                                                                                   Enjoy,

                                                                                                                                   Lester B. and class 

New Year Word Work Unit

Greetings!
I am attaching the information about our Word Work Unit; that is, the new spelling/vocabulary unit we begin tomorrow.  This sheet, which I copied on salmon-colored paper, should be in your child's red folder and needs to be maintained for the next several weeks.  See yesterday's post for additional information!

Name: ___________________                Word Work Unit

Directions:  Over the next several weeks, our spelling program will include vocabulary words that I’d like you to know before you move on to the middle school.  Each week you will be given 10 spelling/vocabulary words with which to work.  You will be tested weekly on both the spelling and definition of each word.  A cumulative test consisting of 50 words and definitions will be given at the conclusion of this unit.

Monday Morning:         You will be assigned 10 spelling/vocabulary words.  You will write in each word three times; twice on the paper provided and once in your assignment notebook.  Then you will write the spelling/vocabulary word on the blank side of an index card and the definition on the lined signed. Put them in alphabetical order.

Monday Homework:              Write your spelling/vocabulary word on the line provided followed by the definition I gave you. You will find the definitions on your index cards.  This assignment will be turned in Tuesday morning!

Tuesday Homework:            Using either a dictionary or on-line source such as dictionary.com, you will divide each of your 10 words into syllables (i.e., can-tan-ker-ous)  AND list at least three (3) synonyms for the word in the space provided.  This assignment will be turned in Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Homework:       You will write a descriptive sentence on loose-leaf paper.  You must underline the spelling/vocabulary word.  This assignment will be turned in Thursday morning.

Thursday Homework:           Complete an activity provided by Mr. Betor.  In addition, you must study for your spelling/vocabulary test.   The written assignment will be turned in Friday morning.

Friday Morning:                    You will take a spelling/vocabulary test.  In addition to spelling the words correctly, you will need to identify the definition.

Happy New Year!

Greetings from Room 10!

      With a new year comes new curriculum.  I am always excited to begin the Whale Unit with my students.  Over the years I have learned so much about these amazing creatures, and I love sharing my knowledge with the kids. We will get started immediately with a whale pre-test and a KWL activity.If you are interested in coming in and helping out, we will be doing a "whale-to-scale" project which requires lots of parental support.  Look for details in the next couple of weeks.

      Ocean Book Clubs begin this week as well.  All of the books have an ocean as its setting.  I have already selected book groups for the children.  They will be reading either The Cay, Kensuke's Kingdom, Stranded or The Music of Dolphins.  In addition to reading assignments, the children will be responsible for entries in their reading response journals.  Ask your child to see the assignment sheet which identifies both the assigned pages and response journal entries.

      For the next several weeks, we will be focusing on new vocabulary.  In addition spelling each night, the children will be responsible for knowing the definition of each of their spelling words.  I have outlined their  nightly responsibilities on a salmon-colored sheet.  Ask your child to see it when he/she comes home Monday night.  There will be the same assignments each week for five weeks.  The vocabulary unit will culminate in a 50-word spelling test and vocabulary test.  If individual modifications need to be made, rest assured that I will chat with your child about them.

      Play rehearsal begins on Tuesday, January 5th.  As a reminder, ALL LINES must be memorized by Tuesday, with no exceptions.  I consider this first rehearsal to be a "test" to make sure all of the children have their lines memorized so we can focus on projection, characterization and blocking.  

Act 3:  7:45am - 9:10am

Act 2:  3:20pm - 5:00pm

Act 1: 5:30pm - 7:00pm 

      The DARE essays are due Wednesday, January 6th and the third Betor's Bulls-Eye project is due Friday, January 8th.  I hope you have included the DARE Graduation to your calendar.  It will begin at 9:45am on Friday, January 15th in the bleacher-side of the gymnasium.  

      My fifth grade colleagues and I will be selling 50-50 raffle tickets at the Applebee's breakfast on Saturday morning, January 23rd;  1 for $1, 3 for $2 and an arm's length for $5. The prize for the last several years has averaged about $200 for the winner!!

       I am thrilled to be sharing all of these events with your children!  Looking forward to seeing you soon.  Happy 2016!!

                                                                                     Lester B.