Classroom Update

It has been a busy two weeks in our classroom. I apologize for not posting to the blog last weekend. It was a busier than normal weekend. The choir my daughter sings with performed in the opera, Carmen, at The Academy of Music in Northampton last weekend. It was a wonderful opera!  So last weekend was filled with basketball, soccer, ice skating, and singing, and I  just did not have time to get to the blog. Here is what has been happening in our classroom over the past two weeks.

In Reader's Workshop the students have been focused on  American Revolution research projects. Students have been working in groups of two or three to research a question about the American Revolution. These are opened ended questions that require the students to make a claim or thesis statement and support their claim with reasons and evidence. Some of the questions that the students have been researching include: Was The American Revolutionary War justified? Who were the real heroes of the American Revolution? Who were the good guys and bad guys of the Revolution?, and Which army was stronger? Students read articles, books, and textbooks that went with their question. Students took notes, students noticed patterns and main ideas that appeared in more than one source, students synthesized information from multiple sources, and finally wrote their claim. The research portion of this project ended on Friday. Now students will work with their group members to create a project to share what they learned about their topic with the rest of the class.  Groups have choice in how they want to present their information. Some of the choices include: Google slide shows, a poster and discussion, and a guided museum tour of the topic. This part of the work will shift to the  to our social studies and science block in the afternoon.

 In Writer's Workshop, students finished the rough draft of their second argumentative piece of writing. The students worked hard not only making sure that their essay contained enough evidence to support their reasons and claim, but that they used their own thinking to explain how their evidence supported their claim. Students made to sure to include a quote and to explain how that quote supported their reason. Students also made sure that they acknowledged a counterclaim and than rebutted it.  The studnts put a lot of work into their rough draft. This week students will be typing their final draft of their essay.

 In math the focus has been on decimals. So far in our decimal unit, students have rounded decimals, compared decimals, added and subtracted decimals, and we have just begun multiplying decimals by whole numbers. Students have begun using Khan Academy during math workshop. We have Chromebooks available to use in math workshop on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On those days as part of the skill review part of math workshop, students are able to use a Chromebook to log in to their Khan Academy account. On Tuesday and Thursday, students play math games to review previously taught skills in skill review.

In science, we finished up our geology unit. Students learned about the rock cycle and how each of the three types of rocks are formed. Students also did a mystery mineral investigation. Students worked with a partner to identify two mystery minerals. Students observed physical characteristics of their mineral such as color, luster, and texture. Students tested the hardness of their mineral and also the streak color of their mineral. They used this information and a mineral identification key to indentify their two mystery minerals. Students present their findings to the class.

Students will be working on their American Revolution project and presentation for the next two weeks during our science/socail studies block.