Diversity Week: Update 11/12-11/16

This week is Diversity Week @ May Watts! 

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: This week in reading the students are going to study the following: 

* Character traits through our read aloud. 

* Inferential and critical thinking via our social studies texts.  

* Transferring knowledge and content gained in social studies to writing. 

* Test-taking strategies. 

* The "usual" comprehension strategies. 

Current Events: The election is over but we'll study a mix of government and more...

* Self government (connection to social studies) 

* Branches of government (future connection to social studies) 

* Chicago Bears talk

* The Economy (what in the world is a fiscal cliff?)

* Any other events in the news and/or interesting articles. 

Writing: Writing everyday...

* Persuasive writing skills through our argument writing. 

* Reflection writing 

* Math reflective writing

* Kids will begin a new student-driven story (we'll organize it based on ideas and theme)

* Focus on authentic audience that will drive our student-driven stories

* Poetry through social studies

* Maybe a short answer response

Technology: This week in the lab the students will learn the following skills: 

* More graphic manipulation

* Features and tools of MS Paint

* Internet browsing

Citizenship: Next week we will focus on: 

* DIVERSITY WEEK: Kids and I will have discussions/presentations on holidays/traditions

* Empathy (finishing up lessons from last week)

* Being thoughtful (we're having an art show to raise money for an animal shelter) 

Science: We're checking the weather daily and reinforcing the ideas of fronts, air pressure, and wind. We actually forgot to check the weather last week. Note to self: Check weather. 

Social Studies: We're studying America as a "playground" and...

* The French exploration of America

* The impact on Native Americans

* Ideas of self government

* Early colonial towns of the British on the east coast.  

* All of our studies are aimed at our SS theme question" "How did the U.S become so powerful?" 

Spelling: We are studying study strategies with spelling. We're also doing a lot of math with it too which is always nice. 

Happy Halloween: Update 10/29-11/2

Happy Halloween!

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: This week in reading the students are going to study the following: 

* General comprehension and vocabulary strategies that we study every week. 

* Two new challenge words. 

* Character traits and qualities. 

* Very high level literary devices that we study each week through conferences. 

Current Events: While we study the 2012 Presidential election, we are going to examine:

* Political parties of our country. 

* Our attitudes about managing a country

* The branches of government

* Commercialism 
Writing: We continue to write each day and this week will include the continuation of: 

* Persuasive writing skills through our argument writing. 

* Narrative story writing through our journal topics. 

* Reflective writing through our reflection journals. 

* Halloween scary stories shared at our Wednesday Marshmallow campfire! 

Technology: This week in the lab the students will learn the following skills: 

* Manipulating graphics

* Capturing screen shots

* Tips and tricks on MS Word
Citizenship: Next week I think a good focus for us will be: 

* Empathy 

* Recognition for students who have made improvements in the way they conduct themselves. 

* We will also discuss our "Art Show" that we're having to generate revenue for our classroom and help the local Naperville Humane Society. 

* Please consider coming to our classroom during Diversity Week to talk about a tradition or holiday that your family celebrates or follows. Diversity week is the Week of November 12th at May Watts. 
Science: We're checking the weather daily and reinforcing the ideas of fronts, air pressure, and wind. We actually forgot to check the weather last week. Note to self: Check weather. 

Social Studies: We are wrapping up the study of Spanish colonization and will now study: 

* English colonization of the Americas. 

* The Roanoke Colony

* The Jamestown Colony. 

* All of our studies are aimed at our SS theme question" "How did the U.S become so powerful?" 

Spelling: We are studying study strategies with spelling. We're also doing a lot of math with it too which is always nice. I tricked the kids into wanting to find the mean of a data set. They do it with such ease now. 

Two Month Anniversary Approaching: Update 10/22-10/26

During these busy days don't forget to play.

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: The kids last week studied protagonists vs. antagonists in their books after I conferenced with them. lot of our conferences have focused on literary elements such as symbolism, foreshadowing, and atmosphere. We'll continue that but we're also continuing informal conversations about the text, about connections, about our feelings, about our excitement and joy as readers. We're reading some great articles in our TFK this week by the way. Our school's reading night is this Wednesday, October 24th between 6:30pm and 8pm. Come with your child or children and enjoy reading in the LMC and storyteller Sue Black. She reads at 7:15pm.

Current Events: The kids know how our country elects its President. They know about the Electoral College-though they'll call it the Electoral Voting Point Thing...(we'll have to fix that) and they love watching the debates. They are slowly turning an eye and an ear to the issues. We're going to study political parties as part of current events time. Hey, whoever you vote for, whatever your party affiliation, whatever stance you take on the issues, this is an exciting time of year and a great opportunity for kids to learn about politics and government through our several minutes of current events each day. 

Writing: We publish or at least begin publishing our stories this week. We're also going to learn how to properly write dialogue. In addition, we'll continue argumentative/persuasive writing. We're going to finish up our research project which ask the kids and their groups to argue for or against commercialization of schools. Some schools do sell advertising space to corporations for funding. Not us. Not yet...The kids sure have their opinions. They'll debate it this week or next. Also, we're continuing to add more journal writing in class. We have a couple of entries this week that the kids will either find a challenge or fun, or both. 

Technology: We studied CNTRL Z and CNTRL F commands this week. In addition, we ramped up our search cue strategies using Google Safe Search. Ask your children if they remember how to double space and create a title on MS Word. 

Citizenship: Last week we studied how to engage in conflict resolution. We're studying the word pugnacious this week so that will kind of fit the context of conflict. I've told the kids to be assertive when need be,  but being kids, you know, it's easier said than done. 

Science: We're checking the weather daily and reinforcing the ideas of fronts, air pressure, and wind. We actually forgot to check the weather last week. Note to self: Check weather. 

Social Studies: Is colonization right? About 21%of our class thinks it is. We've studied Spanish influence on the Western World, in particular the Bahamas, Mexico, and South America. The kids wrote argumentative papers taking a position on colonization. We finish up this week with a colony project that puts them in the shoes of an expedition team and we will take another quiz on conditions and life in New Spanish settlements. 

Spelling: We are studying study strategies with spelling. We're also doing a lot of math with it too which is always nice. I tricked the kids into wanting to find the mean of a data set. They do it with such ease now. 

High Level Learning: Update 10/8-10/12

The kids will debate about whether the Columbus Day Holiday should be honored by schools. 

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: I've been meeting with kids in small groups to study comprehension as well as to have conversations about books they have been reading. This week we will continue that but I will also meet with kids in writing groups to discuss their short answer responses. We recently examined literary devices like symbolism, foreshadowing, plot twists, mood, and flashbacks. These are great devices used in movies, but they are in stories as well. When we talk about them, they bring our reading conferences to a higher level. 

Current Events: We continue to study the voting process, talk about platforms, and look at an imaginary election in our class with the Sunshine and Tree Party. We are studying platforms in that arena. But we will talk about the real things as well and this Wednesday and Friday we have time to look at the Electoral Map again, look at polls, and have discussions about the recent debate, and the issues with economy and health care. The kids love it-they ask a lot of questions and really drive the lesson/class with out me having to do so much! 

Writing: I am meeting with writers to discuss their writing pieces. They are putting on the finishing touches next week to what will be their first officially published work this year. All students are done with drafts but need to see me for their editing and revisions. These are brief conferences aimed at not editing the entire paper, but really getting to know the writer and in addition to that, making edits and revisions on basic grammar/spelling, and writing craft. We are also ARGUING a lot! That is good! We are learning how to write the argumentative paper. We're doing some work in social studies and Citizenship with that as well. I'm also teaching the kids how to present information when doing so in front of an audience. They've learned some basics like to introduce themselves and their purpose, constantly scan the audience and make eye contact, as well as use a presentation voice. 

Technology: This week we will study some internet browsing strategies and in addition to that, some research strategies. Mrs. May taught the kids some research skills they could use to narrow down a search when using a search engine. 

Citizenship: We will talk about cooling off. The kids have a brief journal narrative to write about a time they were really upset or angry and had to cool off or well...didn't cool off. They'll actually learn how to begin a narrative with either background exposition or action. 

Science: We're checking the weather daily and reinforcing the ideas of fronts, air pressure, and wind. 

Social Studies: We will write an argument paper about whether countries should engage in colonizing or not. We are going to present our arguments on whether Columbus Day should be a holiday honored by our schools. We learned about Columbus and well...some of it didn't shed the best light on the man! We'll also study how Hernando Cortes had an impact on the Western World, in particular the Aztecs. 

Spelling: We study more parts of speech and fluency with our spelling this week. We're also doing math and the students are setting goals for what percent score they want to get on the test, and then using a math strategy to find out how many problems they must get correct! 

Here Come the Work! Update 9/24-9/28

Some of our Citizenship Discussion has been about people with special needs. 

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: This week we study some neat vocabulary strategies and we continue to practice reading informational texts. We're studying interpreting this week as well as synonyms with our vocabulary. We'll take a quiz on an article we read from our Time for Kids magazine and we'll practice the re-read to monitor comprehension strategy as well. We always practice that one!  Look forward to a couple of new challenging vocabulary words and silent reading and conference time. I'm going to respond to students book conversations and they will respond back to me by this Tuesday or Wednesday. We have to meet in small groups to practice interpreting. We are interpreting in our short answer responses but also on our recent quiz, we had 10 friends have trouble with interpreting information so we will have to fix that I guess! 

Current Events: Last week we learned how our country elects a President. Go ahead, ask your child! He or she should be able to explain it to you. Our mock election between the Sunshine party and Tree party candidates will take place after they hit the campaign trail. We will continue to study the actual 2012 election and take our mock vote in that as well!  On EDLINE the kids are having discussions about elections and current events. Their recent discussions about teachers and teacher evaluation was very interesting. 

Writing: More EDLINE "What would you do?" discussions this Friday...In addition, the kids will turn in the drafts to their first books to me this Wednesday and we will begin the editing and revising process the week after. We've just studied how to show our thoughts in writing rather than telling them. We're going to study how to keep focused in our writing this week as well. We write EVERYDAY! We also have some good quick writes this week. I will see kids in small groups to discuss/re-teach/re-learn some skills related to short answer response writing, aka SAR writing. 

Technology: We're still studying the ACV strategy in class. Ask your child about it. Soon we will begin practicing some internet browsing strategies and we will use EDLINE to do some of that work. 

Citizenship: I talked to the children about not staring at students who are "drawing attention to themselves". Sometimes kids see students with special needs drawing attention to themselves unknowingly and can't control the behavior. We talked about how it was rude to stare. One thing we talked about the week prior was addressing people in the correct way. For example, not calling a student or anyone "retarded" or saying something like "he is special needs"...Instead we talked about putting the person first like: "He is a person with special needs."

Science: This has been such a great weather unit. We are going to continue to study weather the rest of the year though! We will continue to watch ABC7's weather forecasts daily and read the weather at www.weather.com daily. This week we are studying the water cycle, clouds, and different types of clouds. Please see Edline for visual image resources that can be used to study for the test which is upcoming in about two weeks. 

Three Week Anniversary: Update 9/17-9/21

The class seeks to generate revenue via ball chair sales. 

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: This week we study some neat vocabulary strategies and we continue to practice reading informational texts. We'll take a quiz on an article we read from our Time for Kids magazine and we'll practice the re-read to monitor comprehension strategy as well. Look forward to a couple of new challenging vocabulary words and silent reading and conference time. I'm going to respond to students book conversations and they will respond back to me by this Friday. 

Current Events: Last week we studied some basics about Election 2012 and this week we'll be studying how our country elects its President. We'll be doing some math with the study of the Electoral Map. We studied the Chicago Teacher's strike and there is a discussion question on redline in the current events discussion folder regarding that. The response is due this Wednesday! Kids will have time in class on Tuesday to work! 

Writing: After formally planning our first stories we are are now drafting them. Kids are also responding to journal topics in class and learning how to elaborate using phrases like because and for example. In addition, we are writing in our reflection journal. Soon we will study how to properly answer an essay question! There is also a discussion question from the "What Would you Do?" discussion board titled "classmate" which is due Wednesday or Thursday. 

Technology: I've shown students control commands and general internet browsing and posting tips. That will continue this week. I hope that this week we can learn to upload files. We will continue to practice practical tips and learn how to manage posting information using strategies for success. 

Citizenship: This week we study "I can statements" in conflict resolution. We've already learned how important the "I can" statement is when we need to address an issue and not the person him/herself. 

Science: We're busier than ever proving concepts in our scientific method experiments. I see so much thinking taking place when the kids lead the experiments and projects. We're also studying the following concepts within the context of watching a weather forecast: temperature, air pressure, humidity, and fronts. Please see Edline for visual image resources that can be used to study for the test which is upcoming in about two weeks. 

Getting in Gear: Update 9/10-9/14

We'll be learning about weather forecasts this week. 

Math: Please refer to the 5V Math Class blog with the link provided below. For easy access, the link is also located on the left hand column in the links for learning section. Or... http://5vmath.blogspot.com/

Reading: I am having reading conferences with the kids and I'm learning more about them each time. I will use this information to help them become better readers. The ultimate goal is to instill a passion for reading in them. We'll be working on more strategies this week. Those include vocabulary strategies and summarizing strategies. We'll continue learning through our read aloud text Because of Mr. Terupt and we will learn a new challenge word! We'll also be logging on to Blackboard to have book conversations! 

Current Events: Last week we studied some basics about Election 2012 and this week we'll be studying how our country elects its President. We'll be doing some math with the study of the Electoral Map.  

Writing: The kids are beginning to write their first books. They are learning how to write with mini craft lessons. We learn what the authors in our books do as authors to make their books engaging and great. Recently we've studied how authors describe characters and use different perspectives to reveal character personalities. 

Technology: We have to study control commands for copying and pasting. In addition to this, we will study how to post messages on Blackboard. I will introduce a learning portal called Edline to the children as well and this will help them learn online and access resources online for their learning! 

Citizenship: We studied "I statements" this past week. I praised one of our students for making the comment: "Mr. Vaid, I did not get my lunch card." instead of "Mr. Vaid, you didn't give me my lunch card." Those little manners go a long way! 

Science: This week the students will use the scientific method to conduct experiments proving or disproving certain characteristics or properties of air. We're trying to prove weather air is lighter than water, weather air has weight, and we'll also study a weather forecast and study the nuances of the terms and what they mean.