We have quite the actors in our class!

This morning we reviewed how groups should act.  The students came up with these basic rules for groups:

We are kind to our groupmates
We are humble, we listen and respect other people’s opinions
We act as a group – we are not a dictatorship
We come to decisions TOGETHER
We should be discussing, not arguing
We ask for help, and we help others

Then each group put on a skit for each rule, with a correct and incorrect way to act.

They….were…..hilarious.  Ask your student about his/her group’s skit.  It was great.

Next, we talked again about character traits, and how we can discover things about characters by how they act, what they say, and how they feel.  Authors don’t often just tell us straight out about a character, but they develop their characters through the interactions in their stories.  We then did some reading, and identified character traits with actions as evidence.

In language arts students have to write a letter to me telling me about themselves, and ask me any questions they might have.

They also have a small newspaper-like hand out, where they are going to share all about themselves with the class.  This is also due tomorrow.

In math, we talked some more about base 10, and exponential notation, and writing numbers in different ways.  We didn’t quite get as far as I would have liked in this, so there is no homework in this tonight.

We then did a very fun activity called the toothpaste challenge.  We used this to talk about how we should be careful with our words.  Be sure you ask your student about this, and maybe even do it with them tonight.

so, tldr;

Read for 35 minutes, and get your agenda signed stating you did so

Letter to Mr. Potter

All About Me Newspaper

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

Today was a very smooth second day of school.

Everyone remembered to bring in their sneakers for P.E., which was great.  Tomorrow we have DIscovery Ed, so please remember to bring a composition book to use in Mrs. Long’s class if you have not already brought one in.

We spent our morning reviewing expectations and procedures, and then we started reading “The Mysterious Benedict Society” together, and talking about character traits.  We also discussed how we can write simple sentence long summaries of what we read that include who, what, when, where, and why.  Students will need to write these summaries about the books they read in order to assist them with taking AR tests later.

Next we started a fun word ladder, and that will be the students’ homework for tonight.

In math, we took an assessment test that will give me a much better idea of where the students are on quite a few concepts,

Finally, I wrote a letter to the students and had them read it, telling them a little bit about myself.  They have homework that is due Thursday that is to write a letter back to me about themselves, and ask me any questions that they might have.  I will read these over the weekend and have a response for them on Monday.

So tldr;

Things are progressing smoothly!

word ladder due tomorrow

Letter to Mr. Potter due Thursday!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Ah, the first day of fifth grade!

We began our school year talking about expectations and how we can be the perfect classroom.  Our students came up with some very good lists of what the perfect class looks like in the classroom, in the hallways, at specials, and at lunch.  They  know what is expected of them in these places, and they did a wonderful job meeting those expectations today.

We then spent some time organizing our desks, our supplies, and our binders.  Students have a homework binder that they are expected to bring home each night, which will contain their agenda, and their homework.  For tonight, they have a mountain of paperwork to bug you to sign and to bring back tomorrow.

I know that the pile of paperwork can be a hassle, but it would greatly help me out if you can get that finished and turned in.

They also have their nightly reading to do.  Students picked out books from our classroom library, and they should spend a minimum of 30 minutes tonight reading (Normally it should be 35 minutes, but they each got to do 5 minutes of it in class).  Please sign your students agenda or book log verifying that they did read for their 30 minutes.

In math we did some quick review of the base 10 system, and what base 10 actually means.  We will be taking some more notes on this tomorrow, and much of our math work this week will be focused on ensuring we have a solid grasp of the foundations of our number system.

We then did some activities where we got to know each other, and a group activity called Save Fred.  Be sure you ask your student if they indeed had a chance to save Fred, or if their team didn’t quite get there.  It looked like the majority of our class had a good time, and I’m sure they would like to share their experience with you.

So, tldr;

Read for 30 minutes and get book log or agenda signed verifying this fact

Paperwork mountain  (If you had already filled out a form last Thursday, don’t worry about filling it out again.  However there are some new forms to fill out)

Looking forward to tomorrow!

-Mr. Potter

Oh the sweet, sweet review!

We spent the great majority of our morning deep in math review, and that will be par for the course for the remainder of this week.

We are still primarily focused on making sure our answers make sense and that we have double checked our work.  This is a skill that will serve the students throughout their lives.  I fear that poor Roger may not survive our lessons, however.

In order to really drive home this “double check your work” idea, students this week in math have the EXACT same questions that they had last week to do.  They will do the questions again on the back side of their papers from last week.  The problems they had last week are great representations of what they will see on the EOG, it serves as review for everything we’ve learned, and it also hopefully serves to convince them to double check their work.  They will turn this packet, completed, in to me on Friday for an accuracy grade.

Tonight, they should re-do pages 1,2,3 in their review problems packet.

CC 5th grade word problems

In Language Arts we spent some time in the computer lab learning about how to add some pictures and such to our research reports.  For many students who do not use Word or computers regularly, this is something brand new, and I’m glad they will get this exposure.  Right now I am planning on giving the students ample time to type all of their research report in class, and so I will likely not make the final paper due until next Friday after our Math and English EOGs are out of the way.

So that’s pretty much it.  We are just reviewing at this point.  The only homework is to do pages 1,2,3 in their problems packet again, on the back of each page.  Each answer should be given in SENTENCE form as well, so students have to check to make sure their answer is actually answering the given question.

tldr;

first 3 pages re-done in packet.  Write answers on back, with work, and answer in SENTENCE form.

CC 5th grade word problems

Happy studying!

-Mr. Potter

OH NO!!

POOR ROGER!!!

SO as you can imagine, our mascot Roger took quite the beating this morning.  The students have again promised they will do their best to double check and think about their answers in order to keep our beloved Roger safe.  We actually had students asking for donations today at recess for the “save the Roger fund”.  But don’t worry, Roger has health insurance, so it will all work itself out!

Today students finished their Math Posters.  The posters ended up looking very nice, and I was quite impressed.  They will go out in the hallway tomorrow!

Having to make the posters really got a lot of our students thinking about many of the finer points of the mathematical concept they were explaining.  It is true that having to teach something gives you a greater understanding of it yourself.

We are still reviewing, and students have 3 new pages (pages 8, 9, 10) in their problems packet to complete tonight.

CC 5th grade word problems

In Language Arts we had our last opportunity to work in class on our research paper rough drafts.  If these are not yet done, they are homework tonight, as the rough draft and the research folder are due tomorrow.

We also have a short comprehension/history tie in worksheet to do tonight.  These questions are more than simple ‘find it in the text’ questions, and students will actually need to analyze the information presented to answer them acceptably.

RegionalDisagreements

We also did some more figurative language.  Apparently we have some parents that tell their children they are “barking up the wrong tree” regularly.  Good job teaching them those idioms!  keep it up please!

As tomorrow is Friday, students should also write a short story using their vit/viv words.  This should not be a simple collection of sentences that do not go together.  Part of the assignment is to try to think of a story context in which you could use all of these words.

This may seem like a good bit of homework (4 assignments), but students got some time after recess to begin their homework as I finished up some M-Class assessments, so honestly a good half of it at least should already be done.

so, tldr;

3 new math pages (pages 8,9,10)

CC 5th grade word problems

viv/vit story

reading/analyzing worksheet

RegionalDisagreements

RESEARCH PAPER ROUGH DRAFT AND RESEARCH FOLDER DUE TOMORROW!!!!

have a relaxing one!

Save Roger!

-Mr. Potter

So unfortunately, Roger took quite the beating this morning….

Our poor class mascot, Roger Dodger the horse, is getting closer and closer to the horse hospital!  Please remind your student that only THEY can save Roger, by double checking their work and thinking about their answers to make sure they make sense!  He is a trooper, but I’m not sure he can take much more of this!

So we just about finished up our posters today for our mathematical concepts.  They are really turning out nicely.

For math homework tonight, students have 3 new pages of review problems.  Students should remember to double check and think about their answers!  They should do pages 5-7 in their packet.

CC 5th grade word problems

In language arts we worked more on our research papers, and I spent a good amount of time doing M-class assessments while the students worked independently.  It’s that time of year, and we have to get a lot of this stuff out of the way.  There is no language arts homework, however students should be thinking about whether they will be able to finish their research paper rough draft by Friday.  If the answer is no, they should do a bit of that tonight.

In science we went back quite a bit to solids, liquids, properties, and physical vs. chemical changes.  Students have two worksheets to finish up and a good deal of reading to do if they do not have a solid grasp on this subject yet.  Students should read pages E4-E27 in their science textbooks, and finish these two worksheets.

HowDoesMatterReactChemically

MatterAndChangesVocab

So tldr;

3 math review pages

CC 5th grade word problems

ensure a rough draft of research paper can be turned into me by Friday

2 science worksheets, and read pages E4-E27

HowDoesMatterReactChemically

MatterAndChangesVocab

Hope you have a good evening!

Save Roger!

-Mr. Potter

Oh my goodness was today a productive day!

We spent a fantastic morning really exploring some of the finer points and understandings involved in our list of math topics.  The students have found that when they have to create a poster explaining their topic and showing how a math concept works, they need a real understanding of what is going on.  It has been great seeing them have little ‘light-bulb’ moments as they work to grasp the underlying concepts and explain them.

Our review continues, and students should finish the third and fourth pages of their review problems packet tonight.  These questions should be extremely easy, and I don’t foresee any problems with anyone.

CC 5th grade word problems

In Language Arts we worked again on our research papers, and I’m also very pleased with how these are going.  Students are realizing that they may not have quite enough notes to understand certain concepts to truly write a paper or a paragraph about a subtopic.  They are then going back to the books and the internet to find information.  It’s really neat to see them do this.  They will have tomorrow and Thursday in class to finish up their rough drafts, and that *should* be enough time to get it all completed in class.  The rough drafts will be due Friday.

As some science review and also some reading comprehension review, students have a passage and questions to complete tonight for homework.  The passage deals with plants as producers, which should be old hat to the students at this point.

PlantsAsProducers

In Science we talked about the different ways we measure weather.  It took a while for the students to realize that for all their talks of temperature, wind speed, and air pressure, they were forgetting one very important thing: humidity!

We also talked about the Fahrenheit vs. Celsius scales.  Here’s hoping the U.S. catches up with the rest of the world someday on this!

so tldr;

two pages of problems in math review packet

CC 5th grade word problems

one reading passage and questions

PlantsAsProducers

reading log as always!

Have a good day!

-Mr. Potter

And the review has begun

Today we began making our review posters, to put up in our classroom.  We’re going to focus on some specific topics, make ‘how to’ diagrams and walk-throughs, and then put them up in our classroom this week.  From here until the EOGs we are in super review mode.

To this extent, students have the beginning of their math problems review packet (the first two pages) to finish tonight.

CC 5th grade word problems

In language arts, we worked briefly on our research papers.  Students will have about 20-30 minutes this week each day to work on these.  I expect the rough draft of their paper to be finished completely by Friday, using only the time given in class.  We talked about how a good paper ‘flows’ and that one paragraph or subtopic should lead smoothly into the next.  The students should also be careful not to use the word ‘I’ in their paper.  This paper is not their opinion or their own ideas; it should be composed completely of  facts.

We also introduced a new vocabulary list of vit/viv words.  As per usual, students should write 10 sentences tonight using each of their words.

In Science, we watched a short video reviewing the wind and pressure, and then we made a cloud in a bottle.  Last Friday we made our own individual clouds in jars, but today we made a really neat one utilizing pressure.  Ask your student about it, and see if they remember that high pressure = sunny and no clouds, low pressure = clouds and possible bad weather.  There was also a worksheet associated with our video and talk, and if they did not finish this in class, they should finish it for homework tonight.

tldr;

first two pages of math review packet

CC 5th grade word problems

10 viv/vit sentences

wind science worksheet

Wind_worksheet

Have a good Monday!

-Mr. Potter

What a great day for us to be studying about clouds!

Our morning was unfortunately kind of a wash.  We had to take some assessments for our motivation reading and math.  The 5th grade team is participating in a large scale survey (Hooray grant money!), so we spent the majority of our morning time on that.

We did have a little bit of time to talk about area and multiplying fractions, and we got to beat on Roger (that’s our horse!) about how you can’t do a problem like 6 and 1/4 multiplied by 6 and 3/4 by multiplying just the whole numbers and then just the fractional parts.

In the hopes this sinks in, students have two more review pages in their motivation math workbooks to do tonight.  They should do the entirety of pages 89 and 90.

We only got to do a little bit of figurative language (they knew what let the cat out of the bag meant!), and then talk only briefly about our assignment in language arts tonight.  The students should answer the questions about our Monarch Butterfly selection on pages 44-46 of their motivation reading workbooks.  They will turn in both of these books (math and reading) for me to grade tomorrow.  They should do the best they can on these, as they will be graded for accuracy, and not simply completion.

In Science, we talked about the different types of clouds, and their naming conventions.  Ask your students if they remember which types of clouds bring precipitation (clouds with nimbo in their names!) and then ask them if they remember which ones bring more than just rain, but thunderstorms and severe weather (cumulonimbus clouds).  I believe the majority of the class finished our worksheet while we were talking about it together, but if they did not, they should finish their cloud types worksheet tonight to turn in.  Tomorrow if we have time, we’re going to see if we can make our own clouds in the classroom!

ok, so tldr;

2 pages in motivation math – pages 89 and 90

3 pages in motivation reading – pages 44-46

One types of clouds worksheet if it wasn’t already done

Also please remember that tonight is our meeting to discuss the end of year 5th grade recognition program.  If you are interested in helping out, or just want to find out what’s happening, please come to room 137 (that’s Mrs. Seawell’s room, right next door to our room) at 5:30 pm.  Even if you can’t come, don’t worry we will be sending home plenty of information about this in the upcoming weeks.

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

Fractions, Fractions, Fractions!

Review…..alllll of the review.

VERY few of our students realized that the two worksheets we did for homework were the exact same.  This shakes the foundation of my being, and will probably give me nightmares until the end of the school year.

Today we started talking about fractions as if we were back at day one.  We reviewed what fractions are, and the basic operations we perform with them.  Their homework is two review sheets in their motivation math workbook, pages 86 and 87.

In Language Arts, we actually had a good group of students that knew our daily figurative language.  Apparently ‘spill the beans’ is something everyone is familiar with!

We also talked about strategies for figuring out main ideas and answering ‘right there’ questions.  The homework here is also review, and students should answer the questions on page 49 and 50 of their motivation reading workbooks.

This reading selection led to a discussion about the insects that prey upon butterflies and their eggs, and to the discovery of parasitic wasps.  I tried to warn the students, but they insisted they do some more exploration of parasitic wasps.  This ended with us watching this video.  The students then regretted their decision.

In science, we talked about temperatures around the world, and ended up on a tirade about the Earth, it’s rotation, and how seasons and the solar system work.   The homework for science is to finish their water cycle worksheet from yesterday.

ok so tldr;

Pages in motivation math

pages in motivation reading

water cycle worksheet

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter