Mrs. Thomas's 'OWL'standing 5th Grade

Hola Amigos!!!  I hope everyone's Tuesday has found you well and wonderful!  Boy, was it a nasty, rainy day...and now, the wind may blow us away!!!

This morning, we began by continuing to work on our On-Demand writing pieces for November that are due to Ms. Sharp by Monday.  We are doing a fabulous job and are learning about writing about given topics on command...or ON-DEMAND!  This month, our topic (made up) is writing an article to our school's newspaper (hypothetically speaking, of course) about a project from Ms. Sharp in which students will take 5 minutes of their recess to pick up trash around our school.  The students must write to inform their peers as to why this is a good idea, what and how it can be done, and the meaning of the phrase, "All for one and one for all".  It is exciting seeing the students develop in their writing, especially through creating engaging leads and meaningful idea elaborations.  They will undoubtedly be "pros" at this concept before the end of 3rd grade...and especially when it is their turn to test in this specific area as 5th graders!


In reading, we had so much fun playing 'charades'.  Since we are still focusing upon learning to make inferences by using clues in a text to read between the lines and make educated guesses about what the author is implying, charades was a fun way to practice this skill!  Students had to use the clues from body language and actions of their peers to 'infer' their topic.  It really was fun...we are so competitive!  Tomorrow, we will be continuing to work on inferences and, will be making 'Stone Soup'!  So if you have items you are willing to send in or have extra to spare at home, we'll need them tomorrow!  Here are some remaining items we are still in need of:

**mung beans

**bean curd

dumplings

lily buds

giant spoon

taro root

sweet cakes

lychee nuts

**optional items

Instead of math, both classes (Mrs. Ingold and ours) have again, met their goals for PAWS for compliments in the hallway or classroom from other staff.  Therefore we watched the original 'Charlotte's Web' together in our room.  It was great for members of my reading class who read that chapter book in their reading groups last 9 weeks and we were all able to make text-to-text connections in comparing the similarities and differences between the events of the book and the events of the movie.


In lunch, we earned another GREEN paw!!!  We are on a roll!  After lunch, we were unable to have our 'Wellness Walk' due to the weather and then went to support the 4th and 5th graders in their KCCT Awards assembly in the gym.  Ms. Sharp asked us to attend so we could see what is store for us at this time next year as we will be taking on the CATS test endeavor this year!  As a former 4th grade teacher, it was so amazing seeing all my former students receiving awards for doing so well, and we had many siblings who were recognized today for outstanding performances!  Just think, in only a few months, that will be all of us!!!


You all make me proud everyday, and I'm absolutely CRAZY about you!!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

9 days  until Thanksgiving!