Shaking Things Up!

We really did shake things up this week. With 2 assemblies, band and orchestra, and our bully prevention program, each day was different than the next. Not only that, but we only had Math for 3 days, we had the beginning of our parent volunteer schedule, and the copy machine has been down for 2 weeks. Although there were a number of changes this week, we still got a lot accomplished.

Despite a few obstacles, in Reading, we completed Folktales from Asia. We have been focusing on making inferences and we will continue to do the same for the next few weeks. Next week we will start reading Iditarod Dream, which should lend itself well to making inferences. I think it is also important to mention that last week, we read the most minutes we have all year! We are around 11,000 total minutes so we are on our way to our goal to 100,000 minutes. Keep up the great work everyone!

In Writing we finished our Parrot Perspectives of the Christopher Columbus landing. I have already read through a number of them and they are AWESOME! Not only did we focus on including a number of facts about Christopher Columbus, but we incorporated the 1st person perspective in our writing. I’m excited to finish reading them. The students also did a great job of working through the writing process. We will be spending a lot of time this year working on writing, so it’s important we get that process down. Besides our Parrot Perspectives, we also started working in our Book Review Unit. We will delve even deeper into what makes a good book review next week, while continuing to write individual pieces that will eventually be published with the Cool Cat Press.

Although the schedule had numerous interruptions, we still got a lot accomplished in Math and Social Studies. We will be wrapping up Unit 2 in Math this week and probably have a test the following week. Let’s be ready for that. In Social Studies, we are learning about the beginning of colonization in America. We spent a lot of time on Jamestown and Plymouth, and next week each student will begin researching and creating a presentation about one of the 13 colonies. I am excited to see how the students will demonstrate what they have learned in Social Studies!

Like I said, this week was interrupted by a number of things, but I would like to highlight the Bully Prevention Program we completed this week. We spent a lot of time discussing what bullying looks like, what to do if you are being bullied, what to do if you are a bystander, and what to do if you might be bullying someone else unknowingly. At the 5th grade level, this is a very important topic, especially since we are trying to prepare for next year. After conducting an anonymous survey, it is clear that all of us have encountered bullying in some way, shape, or form. This trend will probably continue in middle school. With that being said, the program was very useful to help prepare for future bullying circumstances. I would highly suggest parents talk to your child about what they learned and reinforce the importance of being prepared for these situations.

We really did shake things up this week. Despite all the changes to the schedule, the limited time to complete curriculum, and the copy machine (which was tough for me), we really got a lot accomplished. Next week shouldn’t be quite as crazy, so I expect to see even more progress. However, we do have OLSATs this week, this is an important assessment that the schools will use for various reasons including PA placement. Let’s be ready for this on Tuesday. I would also like to thank all the parents for being so flexible with the changes in the volunteer schedule. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and I am excited to get all of you in the classroom.

Celebrations!!!!!
100% on Spelling Test
-Cooper, Lanie, Megan, Arushi, Ally, Dominic, Victoria, & Hannah C.
100% on Roberto Clemente Test
Megan, Matthew H., Kevin, Hannah C., Nick, Victoria, & Gabby
-Kara completed all levels for multiplication in Otter Creek
-Jack’s Bday was Friday (hope you had fun this weekend)