Upcoming Due Dates

Field Trip Permission: Due Monday 4/30
Factory to Home Assignment: Due Tuesday 5/1
Math Quiz Chapter 10, Section A: Tuesday 5/1
Reader's Letter: Monday 5/7

Poetry in our Souls

Fifth graders have been drinking poetry this week.  We've talked about what it means for a poem to "speak to you."  Each night poets are required to read poetry aloud for at least five minutes.  Each day poets are invited to recite a poem that particular spoke to him/her.  We are keeping track of qualities we notice in poems.
Here's what we've got so far on our list:
Poems we like-
flow, sometimes rhyme, create mental pictures, evoke strong feelings, are sometimes funny or clever, sound pleasant to our ears, might make us think about something in a new way, and might have a strong ending.
Poets are writing different types of poetry and will continue to write poems all through May.

Solar Energy Unit with Mr. Lobovits

This week the students began to explore life in Botswana as part of an integrated unit on solar energy.  They met Lerato, a young child who has to travel daily to collect firewood, and began to think about what it means to have no electricity.  They also encountered the concepts of the engineering design process and life cycle assessment for materials and technologies. 

As part of the integrated science unit students tried to get their minds around the concepts of thermal insulators and thermal conductors.  There were clear signs of progress in students thinking as they started with the suggestion that a "microwave" was a thermal conductor and worked their way to the realization that a frying pan is a good thermal conductor because it "transfers heat quickly."  Several students were even able to explain why an igloo, a glove, and the fur of a bear were all good thermal insulators. 

Lyddie

Our final novel of the year is Lyddie by Katherine Paterson.  This historical fiction book tells the story of Lyddie, a thirteen-year-old girl who is forced to leave her life on the farm to work in a factory in Lowell.  We will be talking about freedom, our theme for the year, throughout the novel.  Today in class we read about Lyddie being forced to work as a maid to pay off a family debt.  Students decided she is "like a slave" and does not have freedom because she does "not get to choose."
We have plenty of extra copies for parents who have the time and/or desire to read along with us- just ask!

Yom HaZikaron

In honor of Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, we will be watching two videos about soldiers who have given their lives while fighting for the state of Israel. The first was created by Noa Prawer (the Israeli shlicha)'s sister and tells the story of her uncle. The second is about a friend of mine, Mike Levin, an American from Philadelphia who made aliyah and was killed in the war in Lebanon. Check out the clip that we will be watching in class, and let's all remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbEBUBJ4AbY

Metric Measurement on Monday

Today we began a new math unit on measurement.  Students recorded definitions for centimeter, decimeter, meter, and kilometer.  Everyone chose several objects to measure, first estimating, then measuring, then checking a classmate's accuracy.

Awesome Grammar Article

I loved reading this!

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/fanfare-for-the-comma-man/?ref=opinion

Work Returned

Graded Math Tests were returned this weekGraded DOL Quizzes will be returned on Thursday
Graded Reader's Letters (for students who remembered to hand in their reader's letter folder and rubric) were returned

Creative Stories

Writers handed in their creative stories on Tuesday.  They worked so hard on these!  Each writer was given an audience and read his/her story to the class.  Students listened with rapture.   Kol Hakavod to the fifth graders!  I look forward to reading these over the break.

Mystery Solved! Wrapping Up Chasing Vermeer

Fifth grade readers completed reading Chasing Vermeer last week.  In the final chapters there were groans when we halted reading, as the suspense was intense!  All the pieces of the puzzle came together.  This week students were given choices for an end of the book assignment.  Everyone chose to create a piece of artwork as an homage to the novel.  This is the first year that has ever happened!  Artists were focused on creating something meaningful from the text.  From paintings of frogs to a Vermeer sketch to a collage, the array is vast.  Readers then chose a piece of text from the novel to accompany the artwork.  All Chasing Vermeer art is currently on display in our classroom.  

Math on Monday

In math,  students had a go at preparing themselves bite-size peanut butter sandwich snacks.  Starting with two slices of bread and working their way down to sixteen pieces, the students used visual images and mathematical equations to represent their real life snack making.  First they divided their two slices of bread into halves and then their resulting pieces into quarters, ending up with lots of yummy peanut butter sandwiches (eight sandwiches in theory).  Of course some students opted to eat straight peanut butter, but seeing things from different perspectives is what math is all about.-Ethan