Fifth Grade has taken off like a rocket! It is like our class is on fire! New classroom (We’ve moved up to the Peterson Penthouse!), new classes (Writer’s Workshop), new surprises (the book nook and the comfy chairs!) and new faces (Meet Alex R!). The energy and spirit of the class is simply undeniable.

In History, we have begun an in-depth exploration of Mesopotamia beginning with the Agricultural Revolution. Students have created personal timelines and regional maps, gone on an virtual webquest, and learned how the story of Sargon is just like the story of Moses. The binders are organized and ready to be filled with notes and details of the ancient world.

In English, we have delved  into Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Students are relating to Billy’s obsession with redbone hounds by crafting their own Puppy Love Paragraphs. PTR books have been approved and should go back and forth from home to school. And in our first Grammar Monday, we distinguished between types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative) by doing gross motor relay races in the gym.

Writer’s Workshop takes place three times per week in the cozy corner of our classroom. Students come with their personalized writer’s notebooks and a pencil and are ready for the adventure. We’ve started our toolkit for good writers by practicing two strategies that writers use to generate ideas for a personal narrative:

  • Think of a person who is important to you and then list memories you have with that person
  • Zoom in on a small detail and stretch it out

Keeping the writing trait of “Ideas” in mind, we are exploring different types of writing for clarity, high interest and new ideas. Students are drafting their own creative pieces in the spirit of this week’s touchstone text, David Wisniewski’s Secret Rules of Grown-ups.

It has been a delightful beginning of the school year with our class. Please stay in touch by checking the HW calendar each night.

Helpful dates:

  • Sept. 12 Map quiz/Spelling test
  • Oct. 20 PTR project showcase

Cheers!

Jilly Lederman