This week our "big" question in reading was... "What excites us about nature?" We read several poems about nature such as "April Rain Song", "Helicopters", "Snow Shape", "In the Sky.", and others. We used clues from the poems to find the theme. We discussed several features of the poems as well. We looked for similes and repetition.
The students also wrote several poems of their own. They used their imagination and their "poet's eyes" and came up with some interesting poems. We looked at several poems and how the author used lines breaks in them. We even had a visit from Mrs. Gansert who listened to several of the poems and was very impressed with the creativity. Great job!!
One of the things that excited us about this nature this week was finishing our model rainforest. We created the trees and the layers of the forest last week. This week our class and Mrs. Taylor's class added the animals. Mrs. Moran had the students create the butterflies and macaws in art class as well. You can almost hear the sounds of the rainforest when you walk down the hall.
In math we have been doing a lot of multiplication and division practice. We done number stories involving multiplication and division. We also have practiced with fact triangles. Fact triangles were sent home this week as homework. Spending just a few minutes everyday going over the fact triangles will not only help your child in the future but also boost their confidence in math.
In social studies this week, we looked at several communities from long ago that had a problem. In Chicago over a hundred years ago children had to play in the street. A woman named Jane Adams thought this was a problem so she rented a house and turned it into a recreational center for children. She was also responsible for building the first playground there. These were the types of problems we talked about and the students tried to come up with ways to solve the problems.
Next week the 5th graders (our book buddies) will be taking the NJ Ask test. Since the theme of the month is EFFORT, we made cards for our book buddies. We wished them luck and encouragement.
Once again, this week as a special thank you for viewing my blog, I have attached some special passes. To print the passes, click here.
Have a great weekend...
