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)!