Week Ending March 12

Hi All,

This week we had our Wax Museum and I couldn't prouder of my class and the entire 5th Grade.  The students chose a Biography to read.  Then, they wrote a summary and a speech.  They had to memorize the speech, create props and costumes and present them in the evening to our guests who walked around the classroom bringing the statues to life by shining a flashlight on them.  If I could capture the amount of energy in that room, we wouldn't be worrying about an oil crisis in the Middle East :)

We also started reading Gary Paulsen's "Hatchet." It's a great adventure book and the students are identifying key information as they read and respond to the text.  They seem to be really enjoying it!

Another big learning area was in Social Studies.  We learned a great deal about the injustices of slavery thanks to our wonderful student teacher, Mrs. Coburn.  The kids really enjoyed reenacting the journey on a slave ship.  One of the things that I love most about teaching fifth grade is the students' ability to foster a deeper and more meaningful understand of why social justice is important.  They were shocked that human beings were treated the way slaves were!

Next week we're off to the Museum of Fine Arts-it's going to be GREAT!

Mr. Weinstein

February 11, 2011

 WAX MUSEUM   

 For our February book that we read every month we must read a biography.With our biography we will be participating in a Wax Museum.Wax Museum is when we come after school and act as the famous person we read about.Our Wax Museum will be on March 9,2011.The entire grade will be in it.This year our class will have some famous people we have never had before.Hopefully everyone comes and it will be a big success!

READING

This week in reading we had centers.There are 5 different centers.There is independent reading,Time for Kids magazine,guided reading,comprehension packet,and spelling and vocabulary.In spelling and vocabulary we got to play a game called Spelling City on the computer. It helps you with your spelling by playing games and then taking the test. Also we have been learning about homophones.We had a project where we had to write sentences with a homophone in each one.That is what we did in spelling.

SOCIAL STUDIES 

This week in Social Studies we learned about the British Monarchy.The British Monarchy is about having kings and queens, and saying if they are better than ordinary person.A guy named Stephen Hasele said that "Anybody that is a citizen should be able to be head of this country".I think he is right because if a queen gives birth, that baby is not different than a citizen's baby because it did not do any thing to earn it.

Reading:  Fantasy Fanbook    By: Catherine O'Donnell

   Our class had to make a fanbook. You had to pick out a fanasy book. Then when you are done reading it yo get a white, blue or green piece of paper and make it into a fanbook. Then you write 6 important events from the book. You also have to make a cover and leave a page p
blank for commennts and the grade. You also had to color the pictures neatly in colored pencil, crayon or make a collage and spell everything correctly. On the cover you would write the name of the book, the author, your name and the date. It was due on January 28, 2011.

Reading: Wax Museum   By: Paige Hofschire

On March 9th, the 5th grade will be doing something called the wax museum. For the wax museum, we choose a person to read a biography about. Then, for the wax museum, we dress up as  the person and pretend we are them. We tell about them, like when they were born, tell about their life, and other stuff. When people come to the museum (families, friends) they will have flashlights, and when they shine the flashlight, we start talking about our person. The wax museum is gonna be in the evening and be super cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reading:  Homophones and Homonyms   By: Sally Donovan

This week in reading we learned about homophones and homonyms. A homophone is word that sounds like another word but means the same thing but it is spelled differently.Some homophones are pair-pear,one-won,see-sea. A homonym is one word that has two or more meanings to it. Some examples are run,fair,coat,there, and there are many more too!!

January 7, 2011

Engineering

 This week in Engineering we started making windmills. We got partners to make them with. We had a packet so we could draw our ideas, answer questions and some other things. We have to follow the "Engineering Design Process" which is ask,imagine,plane, create and improve. On January 6, 2011 we started our ask and imagine stages, some people already started creating. We are having so much fun doing this.

Social Studies

 In Social Studies, we learned about the 13 colonies. It was a "Jigsaw" project.Our teacher Mr.Weinstein split the class into 3 groups.The 3 groups were the Northern Colonies, Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. All 3 of the groups had to get information on the colony name,the founder,the main resources,the main religion in the colony, and one interesting fact about the colony. After we found out all of the information we had to make a map of the colonies.After we did that, we recopied the information on a poster board.The 13 colonies were much different back then, than right now.This was a fun project!

                           

Health

 This week in health we did a cool thing . We put goggles on called "drunk goggles." They show you how people see when they are drunk. Mrs.Kinsella put a long piece of tape on the rug and told us to try to walk in a straight line.She said to listen to your eyes, and not your brain. When you have the drunk goggles on, you see double of everything. If you are drunk, when you are driving, it is not safe for you and the other people on the street. You might see two yellow lines and accidentally go on the wrong side and have an accident with another car. That's why you must NEVER drink alcohol when you're driving.

By Jordan, Jonas,and Elias     

December 10, 2010

Hi everyone,
The children will not be able to blog this week, as they are rehearsing for our Poetry in Motion presentation in honor of the Winter's Solstice. Therefore, I decided to give you a subject by subject update of what the they are learning.
Reading:  This week, we have been learning about advertising techniques and different types of ads.  This is part of a two week unit on Media Literacy.  Next week, the students will be writing and producing anti-bullying Public Service Announcements. They have really enjoyed learning about target audiences and the techniques that advertisers use.
Writing:  The students have been working on Personal Essays.  After brainstorming different opinions that they had about a variety of topics, they arrived at a thesis statement and three supporting ideas.  They are now in the process of gathering information to support those ideas.  They are really enjoying this unit.
Social Studies:  We are finishing up our study of the settlement of North America.  Next, we'll begin working with groups to learn about the 13 colonies.
Science:  We are completing our Energy unit by studying how energy transforms from one form to another.  The students will be preparing for a unit test that is is on December 22.
Math:  Depending on their teacher, the students have been learning how to compare fractions or how to multiply large numbers.  Fractions are often challenging for 5th graders, and I am so proud of how the persevered and asked for help when they needed it.

Stay Warm!

Mr. Weinstein

December 3, 2010

Poetry in Motion

This month we are doing Poetry in Motion.We are doing this to celebrate the shortest day and the longest night of winter (the Winter's Solstice). For this assignment we got to pick a friend or two to do it with.With your partner(s) you and will pick out a poem and memorize it.And you will perform it in front of the whole grade and guests.You also have to dress up, make simple props, and do a short skit with your group After the performances we will in enjoy a lovely breakfast.

Reading

This week in Reading, we wrote another letter to our epals in Moscow, Russia. We also received a video from them and we saw what they looked like and we saw what the lobby in their school looked like. It looked like a mall!! It was so cool! Also, we learned about commas. We learned where to put them when we are writing. For example, we learned to put a comma to set off words of the speaker : Sally said, "I am going to take the dog for a walk!" We also learned to put them in a sentence to separate a long phrase that comes before the main part of a sentence: When Paige talks on the phone, she talk for a long time.Finally, we learned to put a comma when we separate an interjection from the rest of the sentence : Wow, look at that! That is what we learned about this week in Reading.

Health

This week in Health we started a new unit. We are learning about drugs.We are also learning about marijuana and alcohol. Our last Health was Tuesday we talked about good drugs and bad drugs. Next week we are going to learn about different types of drugs. 

Written by Paige, Sally, and Jordan 

Week of November 19,2010

Reading:  Jane Yolen

  This week we have been learning about Jane Yolen. Ms.Smith made a poster and has been teaching us about her. She has written over 300 books!Some of her fantastic books are "Owl Moon," "Pirates in Petticoats," and "Dragon's Heart." Jane started writing when her and Steven, her younger brother started writing a newspaper for their apartment building. In high school she was the editor for the school newspaper.In 1962 she married David Stemple.They were married 44 year until he died of cancer in 2006.She has 6 grandkids.Jane Yolen still writes today.This year she is turning 72.Happy Reading!