8.31.15 - Day TEN

Happy Monday, all!  Boy, that weekend went by quickly, didn't it?!?  Yowza!  Whim, bam boom...Monday again.  womp womp.

Congratulations to our 5th/6th grade football team as they remain undefeated!!!  Yay boys, WAY. TO. GO!!!!

LANGUAGE ARTS:
VOCAB- We continued our focus upon practicing the concept of dividing and conquering vocabulary words through prefixes and bases and/ or suffixes using our word bank.  Students worked with partners to conquer word meanings.
HOMEWORK: vocabulary pages posted to Edmodo (link at top of blog under header!) due by Friday (usually I will assign certain days but groups have not been completely set up yet in Edmodo with codes and such so I wanted to provide adequate time)
WRITING- We discussed the methods, routines, and rituals of writer's workshop.  Students practiced listening skills, created a list of possible writing topics, and continued with oral language development while also looking at the three components that comprise a writer's workshop (mini-lesson, writing time, sharing time) and what makes up each, as well as the rules for writing time and the tools students use when writing.  Students then met with partners to discuss their writing topic lists and narrow them down from 10 topics to 2 or 3.

READING- Students and I discussed how and why to abandon books within a Reader's Workshop session.  Sometimes this is a more than necessary step!

HOMEWORK: log reading minutes.  LOSER questions made up by 5S or 5T due Wednesday.

MATH:
MATH #1
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN compare and order decimals.
Students learned the art of comparing and ordering decimals by lining them up vertically and then comparing the numbers digit by digit.

rearranging digits based on Mrs. Thomas's stipulations :)

they were SO engaged with this, it was GREAT!

HOMEWORK: WORKBOOK pages 4 &5; Simple Solutions #s 9, 10 & 11 due by Wed., 12 &13 due Friday.
Math #2
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN round whole numbers, decimals, and money to the nearest or greatest place-value.
We reviewed the concept of rounding and learned about rounding when a decimal is involved.
Rounding Video 1; Rounding Video 2

HOMEWORK: WORKBOOK page 6; Simple Solutions #s 9, 10, & 11 due by Wed., 12 & 13 due Friday.  There WILL most likely be a quiz over these concepts on Wednesday (hint, hint) :)

SCIENCE:
Students worked on their conclusion for their experiment
HOMEWORK: finish conclusion

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Students went over notes for early peoples and Beringia.
HOMEWORK: finish definitions

RELIGION:
Students went over maps for the old testament.
HOMEWORK: none

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

WE ARE GETTING A CLASS PET!  Riley is generously purchasing a BUNNY for us to have as a pet!!!  We are ALL responsible for his love and care and each week a student will be accountable for taking him home and caring for him over the weekend (Riley will take him home over extended breaks and the summer).  Thus, it must be noted before he arrives, do we have any serious allergies that we need to be aware of before his arrival?  Our students' health comes first!  Please let me know asap if this is an issue for you or your child.  And please do NOT feel obligated to take him home if you do not wish to do so!

About him...

Name: Tribble (after the Star Trek episode) 
Species: Lionhead Rabbit
Food Preference: It depends on the age of your rabbit. Young lionheads should receive be fed twice per day. Make sure you don’t feed your rabbit too much. This goes especially for fruits, if they eat too many fruit this could lead to diabetes.  After 7 months you just have to make sure that they have an unlimited supply of fresh water and hay. Yogurt treats are prohibited, they are very unhealthy and could lead to serious health concerns. Do not ever feed them lettuce as well as potatoes. There is a misunderstanding that rabbits seem to love lettuce which is in fact not the case. Please be extra careful with vegetables. Also make sure that your rabbit has no access to eating flowers in your garden. If you want to give them a little treat you could give them a small carrot. 

Meet Mr. Tribble :)

LOADS of Additional Information can be found at lionheadrabbit.com

Kate is our class Blogger this week.  Her first post can be found HERE.

Molly M. is our Paparazzi this week, but she was absent, so I just took pictures during our commercial break at the end of the day (by the time the kids are back with me for Language Arts instruction, it has been literal HOURS since they've had a break, so I play a quick song and let them get a little energy out before we're back on task).  Thus, our third week of paparazzi pics begin HERE.

Have a magnificent Monday!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

P.S., Did you know our sweet Lexi's mom got married this weekend?!?  Lexi was a junior bridesmaid and she was BEAUTIFUL!!!!  Here are some pics her mom sent me.  We missed you SO much, Lex, and can't wait to have you back tomorrow!!!!!

8.28.15 - Day NINE

Yaaaaaay Friiiiiiidaaaaay!

I want to thank all of you who came last evening!  It was a pleasure meeting with you and getting to chat with you about the school year ahead of us!  It was quite nice to already hear feedback from some of you and I truly appreciate your honesty and your support.  Your child's education is most definitely a team effort and please know that his/ her success this year is my utmost concern.  The students were SOOOO excited and delighted to get your notes you left them this morning...it was an added bonus to their Friday.

Guess what we got today?!?  Riley's Mom ordered us a WHOLE shipment of books from AMAZON!!!!!   ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL?!!!!?  The kiddos are so, soooooooo excited!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank yoouuuuuuu Mrs. Adkins, you have delighted us so, and the kids could NOT wait to have some silent reading time this afternoon...they BEGGED me for it!  What a treat and a blessing you are!

my excitement as I unwrapped the mystery box!

it was a mystery box so students were snapping pics as I unwrapped it :)

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Mrs. Schleg's class had the treat of having Mrs. Nguyen (our school curriculum director) in to teach our first Vocabulary lesson as we get back in the swing of things with our Divide and Conquer. Students worked on dissecting meaning of words through breaking down from the base/ root word from the prefix and/ or suffix.

We encouraged students that this year, they are able to use the dictionary (online or book) as a resource in coming up with applicable definitions to their words.  It is not cheating in the slightest bit as it is a useful reference tool!

WRITING:
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN create a list of possible writing topics.
Students worked on creating a list of writing topics that will be easy for them to elaborate upon and add specific detail, emotion, and dialogue.

READING
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN explain the difference between an easy, "just right" and challenging book.
HOMEWORK: NONE

MATH:
MATH #1
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN read and write decimals greater than one in word and standard form.
Students completed lesson from yesterday along with graded common core worksheet.
HOMEWORK: none (weekend)
MATH #2
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN compare and order decimals
Students learned how to compare and order numbers with decimals.  I taught them to rewrite the numbers vertically so they are on top of each other and easier to compare the digits.

HOMEWORK: none (weekend)

SCIENCE:
Students learned about the Scientific Method
HOMEWORK: none (weekend)

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Students had a quiz over landforms.
HOMEWORK: none (weekend)

RELIGION:
Students labeled maps in notebooks
HOMEWORK: none (weekend)

Have a wild and wonderful weekend!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

FLASHBACK FIVE

8.27.15 - Day EIGHT

iiiiit's Friiiiday eve, everyone!  Can I get an Hallelujah?!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR ERIN!!!!  

Here's our sweet birthday girl!  We sang, "Happy Birthday" to her at exactly 1:02PM, the EXACT moment she was born :)

PARENT MEETING: TONIGHT at 6:30.  I asked you to download the app AURASMA on your tablet or compatible device, but I am concerned about you having guest access to the wireless on our network here at SMA in a hurry this evening.  Thus, could you download it on your PHONE instead?  iPhones or Androids or other app compatible phone devices will work perfect with this little surprise we have for you!  If you do not come with it downloaded, no worries, you can use my iPad :)
HERE is the website for a little background.

FLASHBACKS:

I forgot to post the flashbacks from yesterday morning, so here are yesterday's and today's as well!  Please have them completed and yes you may use resources (i.e., GOOGLE, parents, a neighbor, friend, your own memory, etc.)

On Thursdays, our schedule is different because of Mass.  Upon returning, we start with Math and Religion classes and have all Language Arts and Science/ Social Studies blocks in the afternoons since our schedule is condensed.  Thus, we began our day with Math and Religion.

MATH
MATH #1
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN read and write decimals through thousandths in word and standard forms.
Students began the lesson we completed yesterday with Math #2 which was working on the concept of DECIMALS.  Last year in 4th grade, they took decimals out to the hundredths place.  This year, we will be working out to the thousandths place.  We discussed how decimals are the only time that you are allowed to use the word "and" in a number or else the number being read is wrong and people often mistakenly add it when conversing with others.  We also discussed the many places that decimals can be found, specifically with money and how we can always go back to money to help us with equating the value of decimals; i.e., it takes ten tenths to equal 1 whole so a tenth is like a dime, it takes 100 hundredths to equal 1 whole so a hundredth is like a penny, and 1 whole is like 1 whole dollar since each of these comprise monetary amounts to get to them.  Next, it was time to study a thousandth which is the next place-value step beyond a hundredth. This a bit more difficult for students to master because there is no monetary value to equate it to, so we just made one up: we called it: a JIMMY!  It takes one thousand JIMMIES to equal 1 whole dollar and to get from each place-value to the next, you must multiply by ten.  The students practiced going forward and backwards with this and then writing decimals in standard, word, and fraction form as well as equivalent forms.
HOMEWORK: NONE because we did NOT complete this lesson and I did not feel students were ready for independent practice just yet.  They will be completing this tomorrow in class.  Simple Solutions #s 7 & 8 due tomorrow (Friday 8.28.15)

MATH #2
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN read, write, and represent decimals greater than one in word, standard, fraction, and base-ten form.
Students had an independent formative practice over the concepts they learned and had homework over yesterday.

HOMEWORK: common core worksheet (front and back); Simple Solutions 7 & 8 due tomorrow (Fri. 8.28.15)

FRONT of homework

BACK of homework

LANGUAGE ARTS:
LEARNING TARGET: I CAN explore acceptable responses and questions when sharing with a partner and whole group.
We again discussed appropriate questioning strategies and tied it into our book, Loser.  Mrs. Schleg's and my class worked with partners and in small groups to come up with questions over pages 51-100 for the opposite class.  They presented these questions, we decided on the best ones, and then we created a sheet for them to answer.
HOMEWORK: answer LOSER Post-it questions from opposite class (If you're in 5T, answer questions from 5S, if you're in 5S, answer questions from 5T).  DUE BY MONDAY!!!

Questions that Mrs. Schleg's (5S) Class Made up for MY (5T) class are shown FIRST below:

Questions for MRS. THOMAS'S CLASS TO ANSWER!!!  5T, THESE ARE YOURS TO ANSWER!

Questions MY class (5T) made up for Mrs. Schleg's (5S) class are shown below:

Mrs. SCHLEG'S CLASS...YOU ANSWER THESE!!!!! ^^^^

SCIENCE:
Students devoted this time to Social Studies
HOMEWORK: none

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Students worked on guided notes on ancient Americans and had a short quiz over what they read last night.
HOMEWORK: quiz tomorrow over vocabulary

RELIGION:
Students worked on the Old Testament
HOMEWORK: study notebook (pop quiz is possible any time)

Check out PAPARAZZI pics for today HERE

Molly M. was our Guest Blogger today. Check out her post by clicking HERE. 

Can't wait to see you tonight at Parent Night!  The students are excited for you to see our room and your surprise!  Download the FREE Aurasma App on your phone if you can (I also included a link to join my Aurasma group in the email, be sure to click it and join).  
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas