How did we make it to second trimester already? Time is flying by in fifth grade, and we have been very busy over the past few weeks. Fifth graders did their first book club, and finished this week. It was fun to hear them discuss a bunch of different books! My class started meeting with their preschool book buddies every other Thursday, and that has been so great! Now we are diving into poetry. This is my favorite unit of the year because it always amazes me how creative they are. And usually by the end of the unit I can get the kids who raised their hand on the first day and said they did not like poetry, to change their mind! As we near winter break I want to remind all students to keep reading...even over break! I hope everyone has a great holiday season!
                                        
                              Preschool Book Buddies...on Halloween!

Conferences

Wow, how are we half way through October already? Time really does fly when you're having fun! Thank you to all the parents that came out to conferences. It is our privilege to get to work with your children. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Last week my class got a chance to Skype with a class from South Carolina for the start of our Global Read Aloud. Both of our classes are currently reading Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. As we read the book we will be discussing it with our partner class. Next week, Mrs. Haglin will be coming into teach us about Kid Blog, and we will be posting questions and comments about the book for our partner class to respond to. It is a very cool project, and allows us to go outside our classroom without really going outside our classroom! 

This week all classes participated in performing readers' theaters in reading class. Everybody did a great job and it was really fun to watch. When we come back from break we will be working on main idea, and eventually our first book club. I hope everybody had a fantastic fall break, and remember to keep READING! 

Skype Session w/ a class from South Carolina

Getting into the Groove!

This week we had a normal week! All students rotated each day, and we started Art, Band, and Technology! Fifth graders took their first spelling test on Friday, and they even had some homework! This week in reading we worked a lot on read-to-self. Students also put together their reading journals that will be crucial to reading class this year. Finally, we practiced writing a letter about the book we are reading in class. While students were reading this week I started to assess their reading levels with a word test. I will continue assessments next week. These students are awesome! I am so excited for the rest of the year. I know it is going to be great! 

Just a reminder next week is our volunteer orientation. If you are planning to chaperon our field trip in the spring you will need to attend this event. Also, the people from Rachel's Challenge are coming back next week.  Have a super weekend! 


PS. Check out this post from Mrs. Haglin's blog. My class will be participating in this again this year! I can't wait! 

Posted: 18 Sep 2015 01:00 AM PDT

The Global Read Aloud is a fantastic way to connect your students with the world through reading!

There are no rules other than reading one of the selected books aloud to your students and connecting in some way with a different class about the book.

Last fall, Amy Kosloski's class participated.  They connected with classes in Texas, New York, and Canada through Skype and Kidblog.  Check out some of their Kidblog posts here.

They enjoyed a good book together and became more engaged as they discussed the book with other classes.  They broadened their perspective as they viewed, spoke to, and blogged with students from a different area of the world.  Click here to see a few moments from one of their Skype experiences (this was a Mystery Skype, in which each class tried to guess the location of the other class).

This opportunity is for all ages, K-12.  It officially beginsOctober 5th.  I can help you set up a partnership, teach you and your students how to Skype/blog/make any other sort of connection.  Please click here to let me know if you are interested in learning more about the Global Read Aloud.

First Week of School

Happy Friday! We survived our first week of school! We had a really great week in fifth grade. At the beginning of the week fifth graders did a lot of getting to know you activities, and also learned a lot about our room, and the expectations in our school. Towards the end of the week students got the chance to rotate to math and science and social studies, while I got a chance to get to know students from Mr. Kiebel and Mr. Brown's class. In reading class this week we did a few read alouds, and talked about "shopping" for books. Most students also got the chance to check out a book or two from my room.
 Next week I will begin assessments on all students. This year students may read any book they want in while in my room. With that said, students need to make sure they always have a book while in my class to read. In fifth grade we work really hard on learning how to pick out good fit books. We use the IPICK method (see picture below). I will be working with students on this in our individual conferences as well as in whole class lessons. Along with reading in my class students are expected to read 20 minutes at home five days a week. They will need to record these minutes on their monthly reading log, have it signed by a parent, and bring it back at the end of the month. Fifth graders will receive their first reading log on Monday. As I said earlier it was a great week. I am so excited to work with all of the fifth grade students this year. Cheers to the weekend and a great week two!

PS Book orders are due Wednesday 9/16

My class performing a rules readers' theater for the kindergarten class!

Check out Mr. Ronnenberg's latest post! http://ronnenbergblog.blogspot.com/

I can hardly believe it is spring already; a time for flowers, warm weather, and MCAs! Okay, so the last one isn't the most fun, but it is reality, and our fifth graders are currently showing me what they know! This past week students have been performing and MCA dress rehearsal. They are moving through five different stations to show what they know, and maybe what they need to refreshed on. That is the glory of a dress rehearsal...its still practice! In the next week or so students will then move onto the state practice packet, and finish up with an MCA field day of sorts (this I am really looking forward to)!
Along with the MCAs spring brings some exciting other events in fifth grade. For example in May Mrs. Haglin and myself will be bringing a group of fourth and fifth graders to the Young Author, Young Artist conference at St. Ben's where they will get to advance their writing and art skills. Fifth grade will also take its annual field trip to the Science Museum in May. Although there a lot of fun things coming up it is important for students to remember we are still in school, and there is learning that still needs to be done. There will still be homework and reading that needs to be done at night, even when the weather is nice! So until next time remember to keep READING! :o) 

Perfect Spellers for Trimester 2

No Homework Alerts/Incidentals for Trimester 2

MCA Dress Rehearsal

Student of the Month (Patience)

Long time, no see! I'm not sure where I have been, but it has been awhile since I last posted and I apologize for that. Winter is fully upon us and in reading we are deep into our reading skills. I attended a workshop in December with the author of the book The Book Whisperer, and some of my focus has changed for my Wild Readers! I am really focusing on giving them time to read in class. After all, if I can't make the time in school how am I supposed to expect them to make the time out of school! It is a partnership that the kids have really taken off with, and they are reading more than ever. They are also reading some really great books...many which they have shared with me, and I have read! My most recent recommendation was The Boy On The Wooden Box. It is a memoir about a Jewish boy who lived in Poland during WWII. I highly recommend this to parents to read as well as any high readers or readers who have interest in history. It was a great read!

Along with lots of reading this winter many students participated in our annual Battle of the Books. The kids always impress me when it comes to this competition, and I truly think it is a great way for kids to explore new books at a variety levels in a variety of topics and genres! This year was no exception to the amount of great competition. Congratulations to the Hadler girls for taking first place, and to all the contestants for all the great reading they did!

With winter almost half over that also means we are getting closer to that time of year that everybody loves (or nobody) testing time! Although this is not my favorite time of year, I do find value in seeing what my kids have accomplished this year. If you are looking for some ways for your students to brush up on their reading skills I have some reading apps that I would like to recommend to you. The first one many of the students have played in my class, and it makes reading review fun by putting it into a game show similar to Jeopardy. Take your student on in Language Arts Game Show. The other app. is one that students can practice their test taking skills as well as their reading skills and it is called Reading Comprehension Prep. Well, that is all I have for today. See you soon! Hopefully!

 Battle of the Books

 Look How Focused They Are?

 But not so much they can't take a picture!

 Concentrate

 2015 Champions

Greatness Student of the Month (Organized)