Weekly Newsletter
November 14 – 18
The last Monday we attended school was on October 24. Wow. I hope that at this stage everyone has returned to a life of consistent heat, electricity, cable, internet, and all the other good stuff in life. As I said to students last week, the events of the past two weeks were historic (not in the most pleasant of ways) and we will be writing about those events on our new blogs. If you look on the side of this page you will see an individual blog set up for every student. They are only learning the basics right now, but as time goes on they will learn more and more about jazzing up their websites with widgets, pictures, videos, and content. They will learn how to embed pictures and videos as well as how to use html code within their own website.
A few weeks ago, I introduced the Powwow Project to students. This week we will spend a lot of time in the Computer Lab doing research and next week students can start building their model shelters. The internet is great – you’re on it right now. However, I told students that if they get the opportunity a visit to a real library can be very helpful and cut out a lot of the time it takes to sift through internet junk. The Powwow is a month-long project (three weeks left – the timeline changed due to Snowocolypse) that will be our introduction to the mid-1700s, especially looking at how the future United States was populated during this time period. The French & Indian War came just before the colonists got really riled up over their treatment from the British. Once the American Revolution was over, the American Indians still lived on the land and this will help us look at the landscape of who was here during that time. The Powwow will conclude with a two-day event on December 6 & 7. Parents will be invited and each of the five groups will present foods, games, stories, costumes, and a miniature shelter to the class. Students should dress up in Native garb on the day of their presentation and as I showed them in dozens of pictures, “costumes” can be made creatively through things as simple as an old white t-shirt (dyed brown) and paper. The initial two weeks will be mainly research and as it comes together in the second half students will be working more closely with their groups on the presentation and building the shelters.
Upcoming Events
Halloween Luncheon – Ba-Bye
Book Buddies – Postponed – Date TBD
Powwow – Date TBD due to the storm
Parent/Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 1 and Friday, December 2
Math – We just finished Unit 4: Division and students will be tested on this Wednesday. Students are in the final year of the Everyday Mathematics program in Avon. I offer math extra help on Wednesday mornings from 7:30 – 7:55 AM. Your child can attend regularly, once in a while, or even just one time. Do not think of this as remedial help or even enrichment – it’s basically whatever the students need who show up. My two requirements to attend are as follows: 1) Parents should send me an e-mail by the night before letting me know their child will be attending. 2) The student should have some idea what he/she needs help with. If their answer is, “I don’t know. My mom is making me go,” that’s not going to cut it. It may be absolutely true, but if students have no idea what they need help with then it’s not always useful time. This year we are using the 2012 edition which does a much better job helping teachers focus on the new Common Core State Standards, but for students you most likely won’t notice anything drastically different from fourth grade. Basically, these standards are an effort to get all 50 states teaching the same curriculum. It doesn’t mean the same program even town-to-town – it just means that in the past a student in California and a student in Montana might be learning very different skills. This is an effort to tighten that up and within a few years the CMTs will disappear and be replaced with national tests. On most nights (except Fridays) students will have homework and the vast majority of the time it will be a Study Link worksheet. Again, probably very similar to fourth grade.
English – Writer’s Workshop continues with activities tied into Writer’s Notebooks. With the new website and blog students are customizing their own websites and they will be writing their first post about the rare snowstorm soon. Writer’s Notebooks will serve as a major vehicle for their writing activities this year. This month we will focus a lot on main idea & theme; connections; and making a personal response to the text. In addition, students will learn the importance of a mini-lesson and how it will help shape what writing they do each day in class.
Reading– Mrs. Pooler continues with Reader’s Workshop. This month some of the things that students will learn include: main idea & theme; connections; and making a personal response to the text. In our classroom, I am currently reading aloud with students – A House Called Awful End: The Eddie Dickens Trilogy.
Science – The second science unit of the year is Light and students are learning about this with in the classroom and in the science lab. Students will continue two science labs a week with Mrs. Luddy. In the classroom (with me) we discussed sound and read literature about how sound impacts their everyday lives. This week we will continue those discussions and also focus on the parts of the ear. At Thompson Brook, students have science twice a week in the science lab with Mrs. Luddy and once or twice in the classroom with me. (During the second half the year they will switch to Mrs. Mahar for science.) For the most part, the implementation of the science curriculum is established by Mrs. Luddy as well as any supplies that students need. If you have questions or concerns I’m happy to pass them on to Mrs. Luddy or you can reach her directly at jluddy@avon.k12.ct.us. Unless it’s a personal issue, please CC me on any e-mails to the science teachers so I can help out, too.
Social Studies – We started the Powwow Project a few weeks ago. This is a month-long project that will be our introduction to the mid-1700s, especially looking at how the future United States was populated during this time period. The French & Indian War came just before the colonists got really riled up over their treatment from the British. Once the American Revolution was over, the American Indians still lived on the land and this will help us look at the landscape of who was here during that time. The Powwow will conclude with a two-day event on December 6 & 7, (which parents are invited to) where each of the five groups will present foods, games, stories, costumes, and a miniature shelter to the class. The initial two weeks will be mainly research and as it comes together in the second half students will be working more closely with their groups on the presentation and building the shelters. As I told students, I’m not a big quizzer or tester in Social Studies. I do assess my students – just not through a standard quiz or test. I could write an entire thesis on my dislike of rote Social Studies memorization, but I’ll try to sum it up in a few sentences. My students walk away learning about many historical events and some even remember specific dates, but I could care less if students remember that the Boston Massacre took place on March 5. I care very much that they know it TOOK PLACE, they know WHY it took place, and they know the historical significance of HOW that one event helped begin a revolution that led to the formation of our country. If a student can memorize the date and know nothing else about the event except that a few people were killed, what’s the point? After basic geography (because if students don’t know that Japan is not off the shore of Connecticut they will at some point in their lives sound foolish), most of Social Studies in fifth grade is based on history, with a big focus on the 1760s – 1860s.
