Take a Peek at Our Week!

We had a wonderful week! I apologize for the lack of photos this week...my phone decided it was on its last leg and wouldn't cooperate!

In lang & lit, we worked on our next notice & note strategy, again & again. When students notice that the same word, phrase, or situation is repeated, they stop and ask themselves why and make inferences about how it impacts the text. We practiced with a short story (Something Beautiful) and a passage (excerpts from Hatchet). I am so impressed with how quickly students are able to learn these strategies!! In reading groups, we finished up our work with summarizing. We continued to read about individuals who suffered adversity and discussed how that shaped their identity. Next week, we will be working on our FINAL notice & note strategy (contrasts & contradictions) and main idea in reading groups using texts on early civilizations which aligns with our I&S planner!

In writing, I gave students feedback for their summaries from last week and we edited our work. For our second summary, students read the short story, The Penny Tree. After they completed their summaries, we practiced giving each other feedback this time. I am so impressed with the quality of suggestions that students make to each other. They are thinking deeply, reflecting on their own work, and helping their peers to grow. Wow!! We also unpacked the informational writing rubric....it's time to start our first genre of the year! Students worked in groups to discuss each section of the rubric in order to identify what is expected and put the sections into student friendly language. This helps students understand what they need to do as we progress through our lessons for the genre. Students also set goals for the genre and identified what they can already do and what was new to them this year using Google forms.

In individuals & society, we researched the food and homes of our expert civilizations. After each round of research, students were asked to assess their comfort level on a scale of 1-4. Students then paired up with a peer who either could help them or one that they could help and worked together to go over the research, work out challenging sections, and also share quality resources. The students shared at the end of this experience that they felt supported by each other. They also expressed that even though the research was difficult at times, knowing that they would be able to work it out with a friend later helped them persist. I am so proud that we have a classroom culture where students feel comfortable recognizing when they need help and asking for it. Such mature learners!!!

Reminders for Next Week:

*Red Ribbon Week 10/28-11/1:

Monday- PJ Day (no slippers please)

Tuesday-Twin Day

Wednesday-Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

Thursday-Wear Halloween Colors (no costumes please)

Friday-Cadet Pride

*Swimming on P.E. Days 10/28-11/15

*10/31 Early Release Day and Halloween Breakfast

*11/1 D.A.R.E.

Have a great weekend!

~Mrs. Carr

Take a Peek at Our Week!

This week, we worked on our next stop, notice, & note strategy, tough questions. When a character asks themselves a tough question, we ask ourselves what it makes us wonder or what it tells us about the character (personality, traits). We used the books Fly Away Home and Bully to practice and discussed the tough questions in partners. In reading groups, we worked on summarizing articles about people who have faced adversity. This ties into our statement of inquiry for the planner-Authors use multiple genres to convey how identity is shaped by challenges. We will continue to read about individuals who have faced adversity next week and move on to our next notice and note strategy, "again & again".

Our annotating during lang & lit is coming along nicely! Students are really showing their thinking as they read! This helps us to answer questions and to discuss the text. 

We carried over our work in reading groups to writing this week and practiced writing summaries. Students read a short story with a partner, and pulled out the important information using our "somebody, wanted, but, so, then" organizer. Students then independently took the information from the organizer to construct their summaries. 

In individuals & society, we discussed research strategies. Research is our ATL (approaches to learning) focus for our early civilizations planner so we will be discussing how to effectively and responsibly find information for our work. Students also selected which civilization they will become and expert on (Maya, Aztec, Inca). Our next step is to jump into researching the culture of our expert civilizations!! 

WIN time is in full swing! Ask your child what they are working on during their groups. My group is doing a novel study and I'm lucky enough to have a few students from my homeroom joining the fun! What a great time to work with other students in the grade level! 

Reminders: 

*October 31st is an early dismissal day for students. 

*We will not be wearing costumes on Halloween. However, we will be having a Halloween themed breakfast and watching a movie that day! Thank you to all parents who signed up to send in a breakfast treat. :-) 

*Please check your conference date and time! We enjoyed our conferences this week and look forward to meeting with everyone else in the near future! 

 Have a great weekend!
~Mrs. Carr

Take a Peek at Our Week!

In lang & lit, we finished up our work with our notice and note strategy, words of the wiser. We also started reading groups! Students worked hard to annotate while they read during groups in order to show their thinking right on the paper. Next week we will move on to our next notice and note strategy, memory moment.

Our buzz word challenge for October is up and running! Students are excited to use their buzz words....I can't wait to see how many stickers we can collect by the end of the month!

In writer's workshop we practiced writing RACCE responses using words of the wiser as a topic for two different texts. I've been conferencing with students during writer's workshop and I am so impressed with their progress with this strategy! We also learned how to use "round table reads" as a way to peer edit our work! For this routine, students read each other's work and left specific feedback for the author. Students then read over their feedback and made adjustments to their work. This is a routine that we will use all year long in writer's workshop!

In I&S, we learned how to use three different resources from our database page for research. Students practiced using World Book, Britannica World Atlas, and True Flix for our "Where To?' activity in which they were asked to find a new place for to relocate Hilton. They had to give specific reasons based on their research to support their answers. Next week we will begin to work on culture and identity!

Reminders for Next Week:
*Picture day is next Wednesday, October 9th! Remember to bring those smiles!

 *School is closed Friday October 11th, and Monday October 14th.

Have a great weekend!
~Mrs. Carr

Take a Peek at Our Week!

In lang & lit, we worked on our next STOP, notice, & note strategy; words of the wiser! Words of the wiser is when a wiser, often older character gives advice to the main character. This advice affects the character in some way which changes the course of the story. This also connects to theme, or the overall message of the story. We practiced using a variety of texts and short videos to identify the words of the wiser. We will continue with words of the wiser next week! Students were also given the MAP test for ELA. This test assesses their reading level. Once we receive and analyze the data, I will send out information about your child's Lexile (reading) level. Finally, we learned how to use Freckle on our Chromebooks! Freckle is a great way to practice and extend our lang & lit skills!

We are learning lots of new buzz words in class! Each day, we begin our lang & lit workshop with a buzz word warm up. Buzz words are vocabulary words that go above and beyond....and make us sound sophisticated. :-)  We start each warm up by reviewing the word from the day before. Then we read a story with a blank word that is the buzz word. We think of words that will fit in the blank to help us understand the meaning of the buzz word before it's even revealed! Next, we go through the Frayer model for vocabulary to identify synonyms, antonyms, personal connections to the word, and even a visual representation. The more connections we make, the better the word sticks in our brains!! In October, we will start a competition among the tables in which students will earn points each time they accurately use a buzz word in their speaking. The table with the most points at the end of the month wins a special reward! Healthy competition really motivates kiddos to use their buzz words!

In individuals & society, we finished up our work with map skills. Next week we will dive into our Early civilizations planner! We will be working on a "where to" activity in which students practice using trusted resources to research an area to theoretically move the Village of Hilton to that would satisfy all of our wants and needs. This introduces the students to the concepts of innovation and adaptation which we will learn more about as we dig deeper into the ancient civilizations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. We will also work on a culture wander and wonder activity to help us define culture. 

It was so wonderful seeing so many of you at Open House on Wednesday!! Students had a great time completing our scavenger hunt to show their families around! If you were not able to attend, please send me a Dojo message and I can send home any information that was given out on Wednesday. 

Finally, we had our first D.A.R.E. lesson with Deputy Rick on Friday!! We will have D.A.R.E. every Friday through January. The students were respectful learners...I was extremely proud! 

Don't forget Spirit Week starts Monday! Here is the schedule...I can't wait to see the students in their gear!

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Mrs. Carr