January 30

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I posted, as the students have been doing most of the posting, so I thought I would update you all on what we have been doing. 

In Reading, the students have been working diligently to finish up writing and producing Public Service Announcements about bullying.  Each group of students selected a specific type of bullying, wrote a script, storyboarded the PSAs, and are getting ready to film them. This week, we will also be learning about simple, compound, and complex sentences and clauses. Additionally, they are actively reading their biographies for the Wax Museum project.

In Social Studies,  the students are finishing the research phase of their 13 Colonies Jigsaw Project.  They are working in groups to research and develop teaching tools to help the rest of the class learn about their specific area.

In Writing, the students are either finishing their Personal Essay (opinion piece) or if they are already done, they are working on their creative fiction pieces based on "Pictures of Harris Burdick."

In Science, the students are learning about animal adaptations with Mrs. Johnson.

Math varies by teacher.

Last week, the students used the Engineering Design Process to plan, design, test, and improve sails for sailboats.  It was very frustrating for some stduents, but everyuone learned a lot!

Thanks for reading!

Mr. Weinstein

January 13, 2012

   In Room 32 this week we have been learning about the parts of the cigarette in Health. Did you know that cigarettes have rat poison and acid in them? They have 4,000 different ingredients! Never smoke a cigarette because it  can cause cancer! Plus you will spend lots of money on them.Stay safe!
   In preparation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we learned about civil rightsRosa Parks started the Montgomery boycott in 1955. E.D. Nixon helped her case from getting arrested to becoming famous. She got scared one day before she got arrested because she found out that the man she was working for was in the Ku Klux Klan. That's why she got scared.The Ku Klux Klan is a group of white people who kill black people because they think they are better than colored people. They lynch them, burn them and sometimes bomb their houses. Lynch means to hang a person by a tree or something. It was a horrible time.

November 2, 2011

This week in Reading we did Literature Circles. We read certain parts of a book and wrote about something. There were six roles that you could chose from.  They were Discussion Director, Passage Master, Creative Connector, Artful Artist, Word Wizard, and Super Summarizer. I was the Creative Connector. I had to make three text-to-self connection or text-to-world connections or text-to-text connection.


This week in Science we learned about fossil fuels.  Fossil fuels are coal, oil and other types of energy that come from fiossils underground.  They pollute the Earth.  So let's try and stop it!

Global Warming is killing animals especially Polar Bears because there’s a blanket that covers the Earth. That blanket is getting warmer so the glaciers are melting and the polar bears are dying because they are drowning. The reason why is because people are using coal and other fossil fuels. It gets me so mad when people only think of themselves.

November 4, 2011

This week , in Science, we've been learning about energy.This week in particular we've been learning about sound. Did you know that your ears are like funnels? Our ears take the sound and use nerves to send the information to the brain. Then the brain will know or recognize what the sound is-like your best friend talking to you-like that. This happens so fast, yet so much happens in a lot less than a second! It also involves air molecules, but that's a different story.

This week in reading we read a book called "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," which you might know as the new movie "Hugo".The genre is Historical Fiction. Hugo lives alone.Why, you ask?Because all of his family members had died. Before you watch the movie read the book.  I'm sure you'll like the book better. 

This week in math we had our Chapter 3 test. We learned about prime numbers, (which have only 2 factors, 1 and itself) and square numbers, like 4. 2x2=4, and obviously the factors are the same. We also learned about Factor Trees. They start with a number and then you split the factors until they are all prime. Then you write the prime numbers to get the number sentence!

by Philip, Connor, and Zack

October 14, 2011

This week in Science we learned about energy. Electricity is transmitted in 2 forms. AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current). Direct current was the first way electricity was transmitted. DC can only travel in one direction, making many more wires necessary. However, AC, developed after DC, can travel in both directions, eliminating the need for a lot of that wiring. To understand how electricity is made, we must go much smaller. To the scale of atoms, to be exact. Atoms are made up of protons and neutrons bunched together to make the nucleus. Elections zip around the nucleus. Sometimes, one or more electrons may be pulled from it's nucleus, then jumping to another nucleus. These jumping electrons are what generates electricity.
   In reading this week we learned about parts of speech. The two parts of speech we learned about are prepositions and conjunctions. Prepositions are words that show direction. Some examples are on, over, with, by, in, above. Some examples in sentences are: The cat sat on the fence. Or: The rabbit slept inside his hutch. Conjunctions are a joining word. Some examples are and, because, so, if, although. Some examples in sentences are: I went to buy dog food at the store but they didn't have any more. We also had spelling an vocabulary tests this week. For our parts of speech test next week we got a study sheets. On the test there will be nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. Our classroom got a new "Time for Kids" it is about monarch butterflies. That is what we did in reading this week.
         In writing this week we did our personal narratives.When people were editing their narratives they used a editing checklist.On that editing checklist you are supposed to read the paper backwards.We also did some other things in writing too.We did a writing prompt.We did that for a few hours.Each of us either wrote a rough draft or if we had time to do a final draft.The story we were supposed to write something that was great and tell why it was great.

October 6, 2011

This week in class we learned about Kinetic and Potential energy. Potential energy is energy that is standing still or just not moving at all. Kinetic energy is energy that is moving energy. Other types of energy include sound energy, eletric energy, and lght energy. A car moving on a highway is Kinetic energy. When it stops at a gas staition, it shifts into Potential energy.
This week in writing we had to draft our own personal naritives. We had to add internal and external voice. It took us a few days to draft. We had lots of fun but had to work very hard.
This week in reading we wached 5 different School House Rocks. I could tell we loved them. We saw one about nouns, one about verbs, one about pronouns, one about ajectives, and one about adverbs. I can't wait to see the one about conjuntions.

By Alex, Elizabeth, and Jake

August 24, 2011

Hi everyone!

We will be using this blog to share what we are learning in our classroom throughout the year.  The blog will usually be written by a team of students, but I will also occassionally provide an update.

I know you may be sad that summer is ending (and that you'll need to start getting up earlier for school), but I promise we're going to have a great year as we embark on your fifth grade journey together.  I have been busy getting the classroom all set for your arrival next week!  I can't wait to see you all again!

Mr. Weinstein