That's a Wrap!

Happy Friday from my new niece, Olivia Louise Conceison, born on January 17th.
She's sporting her Red Devils hockey sweatshirt!  

• Information went home today about the class baskets for the Toast to Memorial on March 5th. We are contributing to a coffee/tea basket. 
• Congratulations to this week's Wall of Fame winners!  
• Fifth graders will be showing their ice skating skills next Thursday, Feb. 4th. at 9:10 at the Burlington Ice Palace. All families are welcome! 
• Everyone did an excellent job on their compliments. I was very impressed by their thoughtfulness. We will be having a Friendship Celebration on Feb. 12th in honor of Valentine's Day. More info to come!  

Math: We started Topic 8 this week. This topic is about the order of operations, evaluating algebraic expressions, and recognizing patterns. Check out this video to remember the order!  

 

Social Studies: We went to the computer lab today to start our Glogster project. Each student is in charge of researching a colony and then creating an advertisement for their colony. Here's what we have learned so far. Talking tidbits: reasons for settling in colonies, differences among southern, middle & New England colonies

Students used alphaboxes to keep track of important vocabulary while going through the 13 colonies presentation

Reading: We began a unit on theme this week. We discussed common themes in literature and then used various picture books to determine the theme and provide evidence from the text. Talking tidbits: What was one of the themes from Teammates?

Writing: Students worked on comparing and contrasting Hatchet with the movie "A Cry in the Wild." They used the RAFT strategy to write about Hatchet this week. They took on the role of either Brian's parents or a news anchor to report what has happened in the time Brian has been missing. 

Enjoy the weekend! 

-Ms. Conceison- 

That's a Wrap!

• Burlington High School offers seniors the opportunity to participate in an internship during the fourth quarter. I am very excited that we will have a BHS senior as an intern in our classroom. She will be coming to meet the class on Tuesday. 
• Congratulations to this week's Wall of Fame winners!  
• Ms. Bannon and Mr. Peterson shared how great the kids are doing at skating. Thanks to all of the parent volunteers. The kids are having a blast! 
• Information went home today about the compliment books. We will be celebrating friendship on February 12th, which is right before Valentine's Day. Rather than bringing in valentines, each student will receive a book filled with kind words from classmates. Please take a look at that notice.

Math: We started Topic 7 this week. This topic is on dividing decimals. Fact fluency is very important during this unit. Students must be doing Reflex math 3 times per week. Question to ask: Can you sing the Decimal Shuffle?

Social Studies: We are gearing up for our biggest unit, which is on the Revolutionary War. Prior to that, we will be discussing European settlements in North America. 

Science: We had our test on vertebrates today. We used kahoot.it to review yesterday. I know that everyone studied hard and their grades will show. Question to ask: What organ does a reptile use to breathe? Hint: It's not a nose!

Reading: We are nearing the end of Hatchet. I've warned the kids that there are a couple parts coming up that might turn their stomachs! We have been talking about the themes of survival, man vs. nature, and man vs. himself.  We have also been working with character traits and figurative language throughout the book. Question to ask: What caused Brian to change from "old" to "new"?

Writing: We did some work with verb tenses this week. I am always encouraging students to revise their writing to improve it. Next week, we are going to work on some Hatchet writing. Students will play the role of either Brian's parents or a news reporter and tell the story from that person's perspective. 

Enjoy the LONG weekend! 

-Ms. Conceison- 

That's a Wrap!

• Happy New Year! I hope that the winter break was relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun. 
• Congratulations to this week's Wall of Fame winners! Students are consistently going above and beyond to show kindness, responsibility, respect, and safety. 
• The skating program will take place over the course of the next 4 Thursdays. Ms. Bannon and Mr. Peterson would like to stress the importance of each student wearing a helmet. Bike helmets are great! 
• We will have a science test within the next two weeks. Keep an eye out for a study guide! 

Math: We started Topic 7 this week. This topic is on dividing decimals. Fact fluency is very important during this unit. Students must be doing Reflex math 3 times per week. Question to ask: What are "friendly numbers?"

Social Studies: We are currently working on a science unit. Our next S.S. unit will be on colonization. 

Science: We are continuing our unit on classification. The students started off the week by completing an animal sort activity in groups. They had a group of toy animals and needed to figure out different ways to group them based on similar traits. Questions to ask: What percentage of classified animals are invertebrates? What percentage are vertebrates? What is the only mammal that lays eggs? 

We classified some of our favorite animals based on similar traits. 

Hmmm..where should we put this insect? 

The fish caused a challenge with grouping! 

Reading: We are continuing to read Hatchet and it's getting pretty intense! Brian has had to go to great lengths to gather food, make fire, and keep himself free from harm. One highlight from this week was an activity called reciprocal teaching. Students were in groups and each student was assigned a different role: reader, summarizer/questioner, and clarifier. They read a chapter together and needed to facilitate a discussion around the chapter. They did a great job! Question to ask: What happened with Brian and the turtle eggs? 

Writing: We are finishing up our resolutions. We also did a couple writing activities based on Hatchet. We did a "write around" where students each wrote one sentence and then passed their paper. The next student wrote a related sentence, and so on. They then took this writing and revised it by "cutting and growing." 

Hatchet write around

Nick and Jessica "cutting and growing" their writing

Many groups found that there were some great descriptors to add! 

Great beginning! 

Enjoy the weekend! 

-Ms. Conceison-