Almost There!!!!

With all the hustle and bustle of third quarter, it really flew by! It is hard to believe we only have one quarter left and the 5J crew will be crossing the streets. We have come so far this year, and I am so proud of all of the kids. Can you believe it, we are almost there!

This quarter has been a busy one in all content areas. In reading, we have plowed through the Harcourt series and we only have a few stories left. We have continued our practices in reciprocal teaching, and students are already reaping the benefits of the demanding, cooperative, and engaging strategy. While in their groups, I can tell everyone has really internalized the strategies, and they know what it takes to be a good reader. The next step is to transfer what is being done during reciprocal teaching into all other areas where reading is done. Whenever you read, whether it is for social studies, science, or just pleasure, you should be utilizing the strategies we have done in reciprocal teaching. We will continue our work with this strategy, and even start to dig a little deeper into what it takes to be a good reader.

In writing, we spent a lot of last quarter working on expository writing, specifically extended responses. When that was all done, I gave the students a chance to publish a piece of their choice. They were able to choose between writing another memoir or book review. The products that were published really display how far we have come since the beginning of the year. Now we are starting to write op.-ed./persuasive pieces. This genre of writing really forces the students to think critically not only about what they are writing, but who they are writing to. Although the persuasive pieces they are writing are somewhat formulaic, there is a lot of thought that must go into them, especially in the prewriting stages. We have already completed the prewriting stage of our first op.-ed./persuasive piece, and now we are starting to draft. I am excited to see what the students come up with this quarter!

Social studies and science was a major focus last quarter, and we will continue that this quarter. In science, we finished our unit on weather and atoms. The next science unit will be on electricity and magnetism. In social studies, we are pushing through the American Revolution, and by the end of the year we will be up to Reconstruction (post-Civil War). We have a lot to accomplish and little time to do so. However, I am certain that we can get it done with a little hard work.

If you haven’t noticed already, everything we do in 5J tends to be done in cooperative learning groups. I know this isn’t always conducive to every student’s personality, but there are a number of benefits to it. The big one is that we are preparing the students for the “21st century skills” they will need to be equipped with in middle school, high school college, and the real world. There are a lot of education buffs out there who say that this generation of students has different needs than recent generations of the past. If they want to compete in the now global economy, they will need to develop a specific set of skills in order to be successful. These skills are summarized by the 4C’s: Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation. There has been a lot of research done on these four skills, specifically on how to weave them into the everyday curricula. As a result, many teachers, including myself have changed their methods and approaches on how they teach. The things we do in our classroom (cooperative learning groups, discovery education, the 5J Wiki, and much more) are all a means to an end: prepare the students for the future, while delivering the content in the curriculum. I know it can be challenging at times; I know there can be conflict between students; and I know these methods often require more work (like reading the textbook at home), but if you fully commit yourself to these methods, it will all pay off in the end. As I have told the students before, “I am giving you the key, so don’t bust your head against the glass.”

A few side notes I would like to mention:

1.) We are at 76,000 minutes read this year for independent reading! Our goal is 100,000 minutes so keep up the good work!

2.) Cool Cat Cafe is coming up on April 14th! We will have some readers in that so come out and show your support!

3.) Book Fair is the week of April 11th! Buy some books!!!

4.) A BIG thank you goes out to all the parents who helped out at the class party before break. I have some good pictures I will be trying to post later.

Halfway There!!!!

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown. We are already halfway through the year, and I am so proud of how far we have come as a class. We have grown so much academically, socially, and in general preparation for the future. At this pace, I have no doubt that every one of the 5J students will be ready for the next level. Middle school here we come!

Academically, we have engaged in some very demanding curriculum. On top of the Harcourt stories, we have been really delving into the idea of “reciprocal teaching.” The class is divided into groups of five, and each student has a role that is specifically related to the “Fab Four Reading Strategies:” questioning, clarifying, predicting, and summarizing. This technique lends itself well into the idea that, at this level, we are not learning to read, but reading to learn. In order to do that, reciprocal teaching puts the students in a position where they are forced to practice good reader strategies. This in turn, allows them to use those strategies in all subject areas, and go from learning to read to reading to learn.

We have been really pushing the envelope in Writing as well. We have completed our units on memoirs, book reviews, and we will now be going into extended response and expository writing. Not only that, but we are still pushing the independent writing pieces. There are a number of students in the class who are now published authors through the Cool Cat Press! I am so proud of them, and I expect many more 5J published authors in the near future.

We have also dedicated a lot of time to Social Studies and Science. In Science, we finished our unit on Small Life. We learned a ton about cells, their parts, their functions, and we even got to see some live singled-celled organisms! After grading the final tests, and their 3D models of “A Factory as a Cell,” I have no doubt 5J students are small life experts. We have now moved onto Social Studies, Unit 3: Colonial Life in North America. Outside of working in the Social Studies textbook, the students have used a variety of resources (library books, videos, internet) to gather research one of the 13 colonies. Now the students are preparing a PowerPoint presentation to deliver to the class! From what I have observed so far, each group has some good stuff in store, and I know I will be learning a few things as well. After the TEST (oh no) we will be moving into the next unit in Science: Weather!

Academically, we have been extremely busy. There always seems like so much to get through and so little time to get through it. However, 5J has really stepped up to the plate this first half of the year, and they have grown so much academically. Fortunately, a lot of the academic content we have gotten through has been done by way of group work. I virtually give them a group, tell them what I expect them to learn, offer them the resources and support they need, and they work with their group to learn it and show proof of that learning. Not only does this allow them to grow academically, but it also teaches them to work cooperatively with others, and it just makes learning more FUN! It takes a lot of cooperation, maturity, and responsibility in order to succeed in 5J, and the class is really meeting those expectations. I have no doubt I will see the same the second half of the year, and I know 5J will be prepared for middle school (and much much more)!