The Scientific Method in Comic form

Last week students completed a comic life portrayal of what they learned about the Scientific method. Follow this link to enjoy a sampling of the student work created during this unit. Enjoy!

Team 105 Updates

Lots of rainy days but that didn't slow us down in room 105.

This week we completed a "practice week" of our new spelling routines. We will be alternating each week between Spelling and Vocabulary. In spelling students are working in small groups on the rules that they need to focus on. At times the words seem simple but the goal is to learn the rules so that they can generalize to more challenging words. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

This week we started our unit on ecosystems and continued to use the scientific method of inquiry to get a hands on glimpse of what it means to be a living organism. Ask your child about the experiment we did in class.

We finished our read aloud The Liberation of Gabriel King, ask your child about the themes of this book. If your child enjoyed this author's style try some of KL Going's other works.
The Garden of Eve is a great book, though I will admit it can get a little spooky, and it deals with the loss of loved ones so please preview it before letting your child read it.

Enjoy the weekend!

What's happening in Room 105

        What a great week and what a fabulous way to celebrate it with this gorgeous weekend! 

I enjoyed meeting many of you at curriculum night Tuesday. If you missed the night, your child should have brought home some information about the classroom to share with you. Let me know if you need an extra copy. 

In the classroom we are finishing up our unit on the Scientific Method, we took our first online assessment on the iPad, and next week we will begin talking about ecosystems. In writing we started our first unit on personal narrative and discussed where writers get their ideas. In reading we are finishing our first read aloud, Liberation of Gabriel King by K. L. Going, and also learning how to respond to our reading in a journal format. 

We had our first week of math switch. The students are enjoying the movement around the building and learning what it means to be prepared for going to a new room. It is a valuable lesson to figure out what they need to bring to each class.

As always please reach out to me if you have any concerns or questions.

First Technology Project

In case you missed our first computer lab project we looked at the "writing process" using Story Builder. You can watch a "video" of this process by clicking on the individual links below. The technology page will be under construction as we work to upload our newest projects.

Going Painting	http://goo.gl/L88lTp
Surfboardin'	http://goo.gl/Q4AAbj
Chocolate	http://goo.gl/9Lbw7D
Playing Softball	http://goo.gl/Q1YPE6
Soccer practice	http://goo.gl/HtTnL2
Ice Cream!	http://goo.gl/ngc7ME
Music	http://goo.gl/cDBIQq
Science	http://goo.gl/jCi445
Castle dodgeball	http://goo.gl/5396in
Video Games	http://goo.gl/RYv3tC
The anxiously Waiting Puppy	http://goo.gl/iW9kwo

Feel free to explore this new application on your own as well :) By clicking the link Below

Story Builder Website

A Busy Week

           This is going to be a very busy week. Monday morning will be the first day of math switch. There is always much anticipation for this day  and of course some first day jitters. Some students are disappointed by their placements, but I assure you that within days the students forget all about the levels and just enjoy the change of pace. It is a great opportunity for students to see other friends as well as learn from another style of teaching. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or your your child's new math teacher.
          Tuesday night is Curriculum night. I look forward to meeting many of you on Tuesday night at 6pm. Curriculum night is a great opportunity to see the classroom and learn a little bit about Team 105. You will also get a chance to meet your child's new math teacher and tour the IA wings.
         We will be wrapping up our unit on the Scientific method this Friday by completing a comic life of the seven steps during our integrated technology block. The projects will hopefully be posted to our website when complete. We will also be having a "check-in" to see how students are able to apply what they have learned about the seven steps.

Looking Ahead

       It feels like we have been in school for a while now and the students are all becoming comfortable in the classroom. The fifth grade team is working on planning our fall and spring field trips. If you are interested in chaperoning this year please remember that we have a new finger printing procedure that you must complete. Our first field trip will be in early November.
       Curriculum is almost in full swing and the students have already taken their unit 1 benchmark in math. We are continuing to explore the scientific method. Did you know that the surface of a nickel can hold over 20 drops of water without breaking? Check out our class results above and have your child explain them to you.
        Next week I will be sending out check-ins just to let you know how your child is settling in. Please watch your email :) I hope you all enjoy the weekend.

Technology Integration and The writing Process

Our second week was very exciting!

We completed our first technology integration project combining technology and the writing process. I have added a new tab to the classroom website which allows you to explore the student work that they created. Ask your child to show you the one they created and have them explain to you what the writing process is.

In addition, the students all practiced entering their online reading log form. Students should submit a reading log on Thursday nights (or Friday Mornings before school). They are required to read a minimum of 20 minutes a night for at least 5 nights each week.

Please email me if you have any questions at jmoores@westfordk12.us