Hello Everyone!
Happy New Year! It is great to be back in school after a nice, relaxing vacation ( and snowy 4 day break!).
In math, we are back at it with fractions! Students are learning how to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators. The students have been using models to represent their understanding of how to find equivalent fractions.
In reading workshop, students are still being immersed in nonfiction text. Before the break, we were learning how good readers determine main ideas and details. The students practiced these skills while reading nonfiction texts centered around the American Revolution. This week, we are beginning a new unit that will teach students how to develop an opinion based argument. Students will choose a debatable topic and will be given sets of articles that will help them research both sides of the debate. Students will learn how to take a side and find reasons and evidence to support it. We will also learn how to have respectful and informative debates with our peers.
The topics include:
Should people support or boycott zoos?
Should plastic water bottles be banned?
Are extreme sports worth the risk?
Should killer whale shows be banned?
Should people be allowed to climb Mount Everest?
Should school serve chocolate milk?
In writing, we will also be studying how to write an argument essay. The class will begin together with an essay around the following question:
Was the American Revolution Justified?
Students will read short articles to find evidence that supports both sides of the debate. Then, they will choose a side and write an essay. Our first lessons will focus on how to organize an essay as well as how to effectively use evidence to support our ideas.
Next week in science, we will be moving on to a unit about Space! Here is the unit overview from Mystery Science:
"This astronomy unit helps students develop a new perspective on the world they’re standing on. They will be given evidence that the Earth beneath our feet is actually moving through space, both spinning on its axis, and traveling in a great orbit around the Sun. They will see how these movements account for the patterns we see in our sky (the paths of our Sun across the sky, the changing seasons, and the changing constellations). Accompanying us on this journey are the Moon and planets, which the students will observe have their own patterns of movement in the sky. Throughout this investigation students will engage in actual and simulated observations of the sky, and they will engage in the process of inquiry: beginning with observations, debating a range of possible causes, and reasoning to possible conclusions" ( MysteryScience.com)
This will be a new unit for 5th grade and I cannot wait to jump in!!!
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| Designing Water Wheels!!! |
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| Determining Main Ideas! |
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| Working on Equivalent Fractions! |
