Weekly Re-Cap ~ October 29, 2010

What a week!  It was a week full of editing and revising writing pieces, celebrations with peers and new relationships.  Here's a peek at what happened in room 12 this week:

-Reading Buddies!  Mrs. Wegman's first graders joined us Thursday afternoon to start our year of regular Thursday meetings.  During this time, first graders were paired with fifth and sixth graders.  They introduced themselves, got to know a bit more about each other and started reading books together.  I was so impressed with the level of care, respect and encouragement that our fifth and sixth graders gave to the younger students. It is a wonderful opportunity to be role models not only as respectful students, but as good readers!

In Language Arts, students have proofread, edited and revised their biographies.  We have discussed how writing is an interactive process. The interactions are plentiful...between fellow writers and with the resources students gain knowledge and information from.  The writers have conference buddy A and buddy B that they go to for sharing, idea brainstorming and editing.

Students have also continued learning more Spanish, including phrases to describe the seasons and weather changes. With the cold weather this week, we have had good conversations about weather descriptions in Spanish. I notice many students using their conversational phrases often during the day. I encourage them to use these as much as possible at home and with friends and family members.

Students continue to have challenge words each week and opportunities to expand their vocabulary. They also have continued in lit circles using strategies from our literacy "CAFE."

In math, fifth graders took their unit 3 test today. I will spend the beginning of next week re-teaching and offering support to students in areas of geometry and providing extensions for those that are confident in their understanding of angle measurements and polygon properties.  Then, we will begin Unit 4!

NEW science unit!   We began our unit on floating and sinking.  Students began selecting objects to test today in their water bins.  Predictions were made and reflections on surprising and interesting events were recorded. What wonderful conversations I saw today in the small groups.    Students noticed that oversimplifications about objects floating (for example, "it's light so it floats) don't cover the many reasons why objects float or sink.   They discussed ideas for why they do float such as mass, density, weight, materials, shape, size, etc. Students will continue this science unit, recording data and reflections daily in their journals.

THANK YOU parents for contributions to our Halloween festivities this Friday!  It was a wonderful time to celebrate with each other.   The treats and materials were generous contributions to our fun afternoon.

Have a great weekend.

Go Hoover Hawks!

~Ms. Dobyns