The week has gotten off to a great start! Every student has been working well together and I am proud of their efforts across all subject areas. The class has earned three team tickets for working so cooperatively in groups. Keep up the solid effort!
The past two days, students have been finishing up there reading in science about aerial photography, photogrammetrists and national parks. Tomorrow, they will present their advertisement plays to sell an adventure to the national park of their choice. The science reviews will be given tomorrow, so that students have Thursday to review challenge areas and feel confident heading into the test on Friday.
Fifth and sixth graders have additionally turned in their persuasive essays and before we begin our new unit on the Revolutionary War in our reading and writing curriculum, we are delving into poetry! They have welcomed the vast array of poetry at their fingertips and have created their own free verse and rhyming poems.
5th grade math update: Students will receive a math review tomorrow that we will start in class.
Inquiry projects are underway and the planning continues. The final projects will be presented on November 2nd. Today in class, students filled out an update worksheet and planning timeline to stay on track for their inquiries. I am excited to see all of the wonderful ideas and questions that have arisen from these opportunities!
Lit Circles continue this week and students have been meeting in their discussion groups. Today, they did an excellent job of reviewing expectations for leading discussions and contributing their connections, inferences, predictions and reflections.
***Note: Spanish "frases" test will be given on Friday. Students will be tested on the first three weeks of Spanish conversational phrases in pairs. Students can study these every day during their "Literacy Living" time at the end of the afternoon.
Have a great day!
~Ms. Dobyns
Structures in our Neighborhood!
A shelter built by 2010-2011 Hoover 6th graders. This year, all 6th graders will go to School of the Wild the week of April 9th!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Upcoming Tests!
Week of September 27, 2010:
Thursday: 5th grade math test of unit 2: Estimation and Computation. Students will receive a three page review on Wednesday over computation strategies for multiplication, addition and subtraction, magnitude estimates, place value, and story problems.
Friday: Science test for all students: Landforms Assessment. This test will cover vocabulary terms. It will assess students' understanding of erosion and deposition and stream table investigations. Students may bring science journals AND PACKETS home to study this week!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Important upcoming dates
Picture Day ~September 17th (this Friday!)
Curriculum Night -parents only ~September 23rd (next Thursday)
Advanced Band -1st full rehearsal ~ Wednesday, September 22nd, at the City High band room. 3:30-4:45 weekly
Curriculum Night -parents only ~September 23rd (next Thursday)
Advanced Band -1st full rehearsal ~ Wednesday, September 22nd, at the City High band room. 3:30-4:45 weekly
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Week four!
~Week Four~
We are in the groove and on the move! Students have settled into routines and we are glad to get to know each other better as learners. Here's a look at what we've been up to this week:
Science - Both classes have done some stream tables activities to observe the effects of erosion on clay/sand landforms. This scaled down version is a great way to see first hand the deltas, channels, and plateaus that are formed. Students have worked in groups to observe changes over time, record the time it takes for landforms to form and to connect these observations to real-life situations.
Posters galore! Each science group became and "expert" on the text they were assigned. These texts included information about John Wesley Powell, Native Americans in the Grand Canyon, Rivers, and Dr. Graf doing her experiments as a hydrologist. Students created visuals and presented their information to their peers while the audience members took careful notes. Ask your child about their group and their topic!
Starting tomorrow (Friday, September 10th) and continuing next week, students will re-create Dr. Graf's Grand Canyon experiment with red dye. They will dye the streams to witness the intricacies of deposition in their stream tables!
Social Studies (from Mrs.Whittington's blog)
Our next unit is on the human migration routes from Asia into North America and the adaptation of NativeAmericans to a variety of environments. Feel free to ask your student to bring home a textbook. My only demand of the students is they not read ahead. A lot of the meaningful thinking we do is make predictions and put together ideas based on what we've learned so far. If students read ahead a lot of that thinking is merely recalling and the level of discussion and learning is much lower for everyone.
5th Grade Math
Many FACTORS will go in to doing well on this upcoming test tomorrow! Pun intended! Students will take their first test of the year, covering all of unit one's essential areas. Students received a review today that they have as homework to finish if they did not do so in class today. Students have learned to find the prime factorization of numbers, reviewed place value, made connections about square numbers and can define prime and composite numbers. I am impressed with the level of focus in our math class and excited for the rest of this year!
Homework is essential in math! Almost every day, students will have a homework worksheet or study link assignment!
6th Grade MathFrom Ms. Whittington's blog:
We are moving through graphs and data analysis very well. These students are the best homeworkers I've ever had. Nearly 100% every day so far!! We will probably be ready for our first math test sometime the week of September 13. We'll also start doing some timed skill tests of basic math operations. I should have students set up for EM Games in the next week or so.
Language Arts
Writing - Practice makes....persuasiveness? We aren't aiming for perfection...but we ARE aiming for some convincing arguments in our writing pieces. Students have come up with topic sentences and are now backing those up with their rationale. They are formulating ideas to back up their arguments and addressing opposing arguments. Today, we learned about ways to "spice up" or enhance our writing with details, descriptive language and vivid imagery. Persuasive essays will continue to be drafted through next week.
Reading -Literacy circle groups are currently reading one of the following novels: Crash, Hatchet or The Egypt Game. Students in each group are responsible for fulfilling their lit circle role and coming prepared to discuss their book and add to their discussion with their assigned role responsibility (literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, summarizer, illustrator, and discussion director).
Oral Lit- We are currently reading The Giver as a whole class. This is time to practice our "think aloud" strategies as readers as we delve into the world of Jonas' community in this fictional novel. Students share what they wonder, predict, infer and connect as we experience a piece of text that elicits some very meaningful discussion about life and society.
Spanish - FRASES (phrases) are some of the useful pieces of the Spanish language students are beginning to feel more comfortable using. Phrases in Spanish such as "I am hungry," "I'm happy," "My head hurts," or "What a mess!" are just some of the phrases students have learned and practiced in class. We are learning the days of the week and a song to connect each day with different names for food. Encourage your child to use the phrases when they can!
Inquiry Projects - Students have self selected their inquiry project topic. This week, they have signed up to conference with me about their main investigation question, their plan of action and any other issues to resolve before we get into the research process. We will use a variety of resources to investigate and research and a variety of literacy opportunities to display our final results.
Homework is essential in math! Almost every day, students will have a homework worksheet or study link assignment!
6th Grade MathFrom Ms. Whittington's blog:
We are moving through graphs and data analysis very well. These students are the best homeworkers I've ever had. Nearly 100% every day so far!! We will probably be ready for our first math test sometime the week of September 13. We'll also start doing some timed skill tests of basic math operations. I should have students set up for EM Games in the next week or so.
Language Arts
Writing - Practice makes....persuasiveness? We aren't aiming for perfection...but we ARE aiming for some convincing arguments in our writing pieces. Students have come up with topic sentences and are now backing those up with their rationale. They are formulating ideas to back up their arguments and addressing opposing arguments. Today, we learned about ways to "spice up" or enhance our writing with details, descriptive language and vivid imagery. Persuasive essays will continue to be drafted through next week.
Reading -Literacy circle groups are currently reading one of the following novels: Crash, Hatchet or The Egypt Game. Students in each group are responsible for fulfilling their lit circle role and coming prepared to discuss their book and add to their discussion with their assigned role responsibility (literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, summarizer, illustrator, and discussion director).
Oral Lit- We are currently reading The Giver as a whole class. This is time to practice our "think aloud" strategies as readers as we delve into the world of Jonas' community in this fictional novel. Students share what they wonder, predict, infer and connect as we experience a piece of text that elicits some very meaningful discussion about life and society.
Spanish - FRASES (phrases) are some of the useful pieces of the Spanish language students are beginning to feel more comfortable using. Phrases in Spanish such as "I am hungry," "I'm happy," "My head hurts," or "What a mess!" are just some of the phrases students have learned and practiced in class. We are learning the days of the week and a song to connect each day with different names for food. Encourage your child to use the phrases when they can!
Inquiry Projects - Students have self selected their inquiry project topic. This week, they have signed up to conference with me about their main investigation question, their plan of action and any other issues to resolve before we get into the research process. We will use a variety of resources to investigate and research and a variety of literacy opportunities to display our final results.
Any questions? Let me know! dobyns.lynn@iccsd.k12.ia.us
Go Hoover Hawks!
~Ms. Dobyns
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Welcome to our blog
Welcome Hoover families!
This blog will be a place for posts that will help to better inform you about our class activities! Every week, the class News Flash letters, created by the 5th and 6th grade students, are sent home. On this blog, however, I will post updates about our activities, curriculum, and reminders about upcoming important events.
I have greatly enjoyed getting to know your 5th and 6th graders as students and young people. They bring so many wonderful ideas and experiences to our room and we will build on these throughout the year.
Please, always feel welcome to contact me by e-mail at: dobyns.lynn@iccsd.k12.ia.us.
Go Hoover Hawks!
~Ms. Dobyns
This blog will be a place for posts that will help to better inform you about our class activities! Every week, the class News Flash letters, created by the 5th and 6th grade students, are sent home. On this blog, however, I will post updates about our activities, curriculum, and reminders about upcoming important events.
I have greatly enjoyed getting to know your 5th and 6th graders as students and young people. They bring so many wonderful ideas and experiences to our room and we will build on these throughout the year.
Please, always feel welcome to contact me by e-mail at: dobyns.lynn@iccsd.k12.ia.us.
Go Hoover Hawks!
~Ms. Dobyns
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