What's Happening in Room 30...........

Important Announcements:

• We are off to a great start of the school year!  The students are in a routine, and I see a wonderful classroom family developing.  Our classroom is full of great personalities and students that are eager to help me, as well as their peers.  
• For the last couple of weeks, we have been brainstorming leadership roles for our classroom. The students will contribute to help our classroom run smoothly as they will take on a specific job/role.  Later this week, I will be sending home a list of the leadership roles we have created. Each of them will choose his/her top 3 choices and include why they would excel in each area. They will be assigned one of their 3 choices the following week.
• Please make sure your child is practicing multiplication facts at home each evening.  Each student has the set of flashcards on the facts they are currently learning.  They are also welcome to use the blog link "Fun Math Sites" to play games and take practice timed tests.

Word of the Week: commotion (from our read aloud, The Big One-Oh).  The room was full of commotion as the children danced, talked and ran around when the teacher was in the hallway.

Dates to Remember: 
Monday:  Mid-Quarters coming home - please review, sign and return the bottom portion 
Thursday: Moms and Muffins 8:00 - 8:45 -- I hope to see you!
                   5th Grade vs. Crestwood Staff Kickball Game at 2:00 - Parents are welcome!
                   1st Spelling Test
                   Social Studies Test
Friday:  NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Development Day
               

What's Happening in Our Room.... 

Reading Workshop:

• The students are doing a WONDERFUL job keeping up with their "at home reading log".  The students have shared how they are using their Reading Plan as they read at home.
• This week, we will continue to practice reading "intensely" (putting ourselves in the character shoes, reading the words for meaning, questioning and responding to while we read) as we read The Tiger Rising and their chosen chapter book.
• The students will practice "envisionment" this week as they learn how to play out the story as a movie in their head as they read.  They will also practice retelling a story chronologically and by using synthesis retelling (retelling by starting with the part you just read and pulling in connecting parts of the story). 

Writer's Workshop:

• The students are using their creative juices as each of them design his/her realistic fiction story.  It is going to be fun watching their characters "come alive" in their writing!
• They will be writing their 1st, 2nd and 3rd scene this week.  As they write, they will be learning about paragraphing, using punctuation as they include dialogue and learn how to "show and not tell" in their writing.  An example of this is:  "The girl was embarrassed." (tell)  "The girl slumped in her chair and hid her face with her hair as her cheeks turned pink."(show)

Math:

• The students will continue to be tested on their multiplication facts using Rocket Math.
• The students will be practicing regrouping as they subtract across zeros this week.  They will continue to work in Math Stations as they work on ALEKS and review place value.

Social Studies:

• The students will begin a unit with Ms. Dausmann this week and will study the continents and oceans, lines of latitude and longitude and the equator and prime meridian.  They will be tested on Thursday over the material.