Warriors of Pompeii!
Our theme for this year's Trek for Tech was "Warriors of Pompeii," which correlated with our Language Arts focus on informational texts. Students loved learning about the ancient city of Pompeii and how we are able to travel back in time to that fateful day when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and everything was preserved forevermore in hardened ashes.
From researching to designing our poster to dressing in appropriate and historically accurate period costumes, we were able to bring history forward to the year 2013!
From researching to designing our poster to dressing in appropriate and historically accurate period costumes, we were able to bring history forward to the year 2013!
Scentsy Persuasive Essay Winner
Congratulations to Jake Garrett for having the winning persuasive essay on which Scentsy scent I should have for our classroom. His essay on the scent of Perfectly Pomegranate was oustanding. Thank you to Mrs. Tricia Ward for providing the scent for our entire class to enjoy!
Love it or Junk it (see above video)
We have begun to use the Basal stories in a more analytical and "common core" way, beginning with "Love it or Junk it." For this idea we analyzed the text and chose words that supported our Essential Question, " What does it take to succeed?" and more specifically, "What did it take Mae Jemison to succeed?" Each child worked in small groups to list words that supported this question and had a chance to argue their choices. Then each group got up and presented their words to the entire group, which then voted whether they "loved it or junked it" by showing one finger (love it!), two fingers (junk it!) or three fingers ("cloud it" for later discussion). Here we see Tyler deciding to "cloud" the word for later thinking. In the above video we see Cambria and Amanda leading the class discussion with input from Alexandria and Sarah as to why they believed a proposed word should be "loved" or "junked."
Children did their follow-up writing by whittling down the class list to three words that exemplified success for Mae Jemison and then wrote a five paragraph essay which cited evidence from the text for those words. Our follow-up art (to be scanned soon!) showed portraits of Mae Jemison with all of the chosen words of success superimposed. Fabulous project and the kids did awesome!
Children did their follow-up writing by whittling down the class list to three words that exemplified success for Mae Jemison and then wrote a five paragraph essay which cited evidence from the text for those words. Our follow-up art (to be scanned soon!) showed portraits of Mae Jemison with all of the chosen words of success superimposed. Fabulous project and the kids did awesome!
Follow-Up Writing: Mae Jemison and Success
We have some absolutely phenomenal writers and artists in 5th grade! One of the biggest goals in our writing, in preparation for common core, was citing our evidence within our body of writing. Macy, James L., and Ethan certainly did just that ( watch slideshow of their writings below).
Artwork by Beza, Arleen, Ella, and Macy.
Artwork by Beza, Arleen, Ella, and Macy.
Core Literature Time!
October is here and with it brings a break from the Basal reader. It's time for our first core literature book and the kids are already entranced by an indian figure coming to life. It is wonderful to have so much knowledge of the Pre-Columbian cultures under our belt already because the children have that knowledge to bring to understanding the culture and climate of the Indian and his tribe in the story.
Scholastic Book Orders
Here is the link to order books, along with my code.
https://orders.scholastic.com/
HW33Z
This is my code for online book orders effective September 2, 2012. Thank you in advance for supporting your child as an awesome reader!
https://orders.scholastic.com/
HW33Z
This is my code for online book orders effective September 2, 2012. Thank you in advance for supporting your child as an awesome reader!
A Reading-Writing-Thinking Classroom
This will be a year full of opportunities to read deeply, think deeply, debate deeply, and write deeply. There is nothing that I love more than reading! From our Newbery Award Winners' Book Club to Literature Circles to engaging in Socratic Discussions with Junior Great Books to fantastic thought-provoking Read-Alouds... this is the year to read! I have waited a long time to read some of my all-time favorite books to you:
Our First Theme: Nature's Fury!
Our first two stories have been on the theme of Mother Nature's Fury and boy, can she be furious! From earthquakes to tornadoes to hurricanes, nature is a force to be reckoned with. It has been interesting to learn about the life of Warren Faidley who, instead of rushing away from danger, rushes towards it, to capture amazing photographs.