Valentine's Day

For Valentine’s Day we will have a small in class party. If your child would like to participate he/she should make sure that there is a Valentine for EVERY student in class. If you’d like to share a treat please make sure that those treats are prepackaged (bought or packaged by you), this makes serving easier, as well as it allows students to take the treats home if necessary. Here’s a list of students:

1 Frances	7 Rodney	13 Isaac	19 Gil	25June
2 Esmeralda	8 Grant	14 Julia	20 Kayleigh	26 Dillon
3 Ari	9 Grace	15 Josie	21 Julian	27 Leela
4 Jackie	10 Robert	16 Sophia	22 Ava	28 Aaliyah
5 Caleb	11 Seakang	17 Luisa	23 Lily
Henry	12 Chase	18 Vincent	24 Abigail

COPS

Our yearly COPS (Classes On Personal Safety) started today. Madison Police Officer Kelly Hoeft will join us each Thursday. Here is the MPD website that tells you about the classes and the officers. 

Madison COPS Classes

Awesome Writing!!

Students turned their animal research into picture book pages to make a class book written by all of us!  Here are some examples of their great work. 

Literacy

This week we began working together on a shared reading unit.  We have been reading Newbery Award winning book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. See more about the book here, Number the Stars. But please don't share this with our students, it gives away too much of the story...;) 

This shared reading experience is allowing the teachers to model how we want students to be responding to text.  We learned this early in the year, but as the year goes by students need reminders about what good responses look like, as well as making things a little more challenging as the year progresses. The kinds of assignments include summarizing, vocabulary, questioning, character mapping, visualizing and passage finder. Here are a couple of screen shots of examples that I have modeled for students using Number the Stars.  

Summarizing

Vocabulary Finder

Question Writer

Division of Fractions TEST ON MONDAY!

Math Test on Monday that will have both the multiplication and division of fractions on it.  Check out these sites for practice:
Khan Academy fraction x fraction
Multiplying fraction and whole number


Dividing a whole number by a fraction
Dividing a fraction by a whole number


Here are some games and other practice:
http://www.mathplayground.com/fractions_mult.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_SnowSprint.html
http://www.mathgames.com/skill/4.67-multiply-fractions-by-whole-numbers


Here's an idea of the work we did in class on division

Middle School.....it's on the horizon.

Although I am not yet ready to give up my fabulous fifth graders, MMSD is already thinking about next year. 

This week Wright Middle came.  If you are planning on applying to Wright, those papers come home today.  Those also should not come back to Randall, those applications need to be sent to the enrollment office downtown. They are not to be sent here to Randall, nor to Wright. 

Hamilton Middle School counselors will come to talk to the students on January 26th about next year. 

Social Studies Chapter 10

Essential Question: What British actions angered the colonists in the 1700s?

In an Experiential Exercise, I can plan a class party and then experience frustration when the PTA places restrictions on the party. I can relate my feelings to those of the colonists and then match metaphors of parent-child conflicts with key historical events.

After reading the text we did a short simulation to help the students understand what it felt like to be a colonist being "oppressed" by King George and the British Government. Ask your child what role they played in the simulation.

As we finish the chapter we are assessing the students by having them complete a timeline of the events that lead to the unhappiness of the colonists. Here are the papers we shared with the kids outlining the requirements and the scoring. We will be working on this in class unless unfinished at the end of next week.

Multiplying Fractions

We have been working on multiplying fractions. We started using a scenario titled "The Big Bike Race".  Our first step in multiplying fractions is to be able to multiply a whole number by a fraction.

We then began work on a fraction by a fraction. Students are asked to solve the problems both in a representation as well as with equations. 

Here's our in class reference poster. 

Up next, dividing fractions!!

Start With Hello

This morning we had the Start With Hello program presented to us by the PTO. Please see the following links to check out the program and talk with your child about this important message.

It Starts With Hello

Parent Brochure