Saturation

Sometimes we have to teach more than just language arts and math, science and history. There’s that “other side of the report card” that deals with social skills and work habits. So one of the things we worked on today was learning to organize our materials. The students sorted out and turned in the completed math units, and the fourth graders received special folders for Science and History. Fifth graders already have Science notebooks. It took a little longer than I’d have liked, but the desks no longer look so much like Florida trailer parks after the latest hurricane.

In Math today the fourth graded focused on the distributive property of multiplication while fifth graders learned about exponents. In fifth science today we explored the concept of saturation. The students took 50 mL of water and placed it in a small bottle. They added salt 5 cc at a time until the the salt would no longer dissolve. They took careful notes of this, and tomorrow they will be filtering and weighing the saline solutions. 

Fourth graders will be doing one of my favorite investigations of the year tomorrow - isopods and darkling beetles. They will be exploring the environmental preferences of the creatures, and to get ready for that activity they made “runways” today. This was also a remarkably good activity for learning to follow written directions. 

In music today - our classroom music, that is, - we studied body percussion. This is a standard technique in Orff Schulwerk for teaching rhythm. The children use their bodies as musical instruments with four major movements:  the snap,

the clap

the “patsch" or pat,

and the stomp.

The students practiced these to a jump rope rhyme, and then started adding body percussion to their food chants. They will be performing these for the other students in the class soon!

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 16-20 in cursive and write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling word search. (3) Do the Three Times One practice sheet. (4) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 65-67 plus “Moonbeam Multiplication” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 66-67 plus “Writing Large Numbers” (5) Fourth grade history:  Do Natural Resources study sheet. 

Machine

We missed Tech Center yesterday because of Back-to-School Breakfast, but Mr. Seagren was kind enough to give us a chance to make it up today. After reviewing all the important stuff about the Internet and searching, the students did an Internet treasure hunt. They had a lot of fun with this, as you can see!

Almost right after this, we went to the auditorium for theater class with Mr. Pratt. He is working with the students not only on their acting skills, but also with their ability to provide each other with positive and constructive feedback. Here two students are getting ready to positively critique their peers after the pantomime warm-up. 

The big lesson for the day was learning to create “machines,” a classic theater game. This group was assigned to create a machine based on the Cinderella story. 

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 in cursive plus sentences for each one. (2) Do the spelling crossword. (3) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 62-63 plus “How Does Your Garden Grow?” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 64-65 plus “Store Smarts.” (4) Do Expanded Form worksheet. (5) Fourth grade history:  Do Natural Resources study sheet. 

Back to School Breakfast

It was fantastic to have such a great turn out at Back-to-School Breakfast this morning. I enjoyed talking to so many parents and sharing what a great class we have this year in room 19.

As typical of these kinds of days, the students were more than a little hyper. So we did mostly pretty focused activities in language arts, math, and social studies. The students illustrated a favorite scene from Holes. We focused on multiplication concepts and skills. Fifth graders learned to outline a text as a way to identify how nonfiction texts are put together in Social Studies and other content areas. Fourth graders studied California’s natural resources. 

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 in cursive and write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Complete the illustration for the selected scene of Holes. (4) Do the Three Times One practice sheet. (5) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 60-61 and “Patterns, Patterns” on the back of the answer sheet. Fifth grade math:  Do pages 61-62, odd only, and “Zoo Trivia” on the back of the answer sheet. 

Reviewing

We spent the morning reviewing the first part of Holes. The students worked in partners to create Jeopardy™ questions over the story. We will be playing the games tomorrow after Back-to-School Breakfast.

Both grades are working - at slightly different conceptual levels, of course - on multiplication. Fifth graders spent some time discussing the experiments we have done and reading some review material about mixtures in the Science book. Fourth graders make maps of California’s different regions.

In music the students are developing their rhythmic awareness through word chants. They will be using these later to learn body percussion as well. 

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 in cursive plus sentences for each one. (2) Do Synonyms and Determining Feelings worksheets. (3) Do Two Times One practice sheet. (4) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 57-59 plus Hurray Array on the back of the answer sheet.  Fifth grade math:  Do pages 52 and 53 as "Rival Restaurants" on the back of the answer sheet. 

Active!

Today was a pretty active day, and by the end of it the teacher was definitely ready for everybody to go home to their loving parents. We started out with our first trip to the library. We have a new librarian who seems quite efficient. Students looked for free reading books

and most checked out a couple volumes.

We returned briefly to the room to check some homework, then headed off to music. Mrs. Phiri is working with the students to help them develop pitch awareness and solfege skills. She is also working on developing an understanding of beat and rhythm, often combining it with creative movement. 

Today in Science the fifth graders were separating mixtures. 

Thanks to Mrs. Cha, Mrs. Choi, Mr. Kitiyama, and, of course, the fabulous Coach Angel, our fourth grade students have an amazing Physical Education program. It’s so great than many of our fifth grade students have chosen to participate in it as well. The students receive an superb mix of games and fitness activities like hula hoop

and sit ups.

The day ended with a fire drill - a monthly legal requirement even if it was way too hot out there to be hearing announcements.

Homework:  Fourth grade math:  Do pages 44-46 and 48-49 plus “Flying High.” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 54-55 plus “Dog Wash.” Some fourth grade students may still need to finish the desert questions from Science. 

Quick, Late Entry

Sorry for the late posting. Some friends invited me to their box at the Bowl, and I had to leave early. Along the way I neglected to post the blog, at least the homework.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 11-15 ten times each in cursive and write a sentence for each word. (2) Do spelling word search. (3) Write final draft of story. (4) Do Holes study questions. (5) Do the Two Times One practice sheet. (6) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 42-43 plus “Transportation.” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 52-53 plus “Which Property.”

Some students also need to finish their class work in History. Fourth graders were doing the Weather and Climate questions. Fifth graders were writing their “Winter Count” stories.

Artsy

It was a bit of an artsy day today in room 19. After checking, correcting, and discussing homework, we went over to the auditorium for theater class with Mr. Pratt. As usual, he was great and our students were outstanding. Theater class always begins with a warm up routine set to “Be Our Guest.” The students love it, and each week they compete to see who will lead the warm up the following week. Starting this week, instead of having the teacher provide positive feedback to the class for exemplary work in pantomime, he asked the students to do this. And, no surprise, they were both perceptive and articulate in their evaluations. 

A little later in the class, Mr. Pratt led them through another classic theater game, the “walk about.” 

Our fifth grade students worked more on their "Winter Counts” that we talked about yesterday. 

Last week, we started on an art project where the students could only use polygons and straight lines. Most of the students finished it today. Again, we had some outstanding work. 

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 in cursive and write sentences for each. (2) Do the spelling crossword. (3) Do the Holes reading skill sheet. (5) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 40-41 plus “So Many Decisions.” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 43-44, 46-47 and “Zoo Clues.” (5) Do the Two Times One practice sheet.  

Winter Counts

Today was our first day of Tech Center this year. As many of you know, we have a new company called Planet Bravo running the Tech Center this year. The new teacher is Scott Seagren. He likes to be called Mr. Scott even if that does sort of makes him sound like he cuts hair. He is quite personable and very, very smart, and I am sure we are going to have a fantastic year in Tech Center.

Our interested fourth graders and fifth graders went off to orchestra today to talk with Mr. Mason about which instruments they would like to play. It was not completely easy to be teaching with students coming and going all day, but I think orchestra is a very valuable experience for the students who can fit the time to practice into their busy schedules. 

Our fifth graders were studying a bit about the Yanktonai peoples of the Great Plains and the “winter count” designs they made on buffalo hides to chronicle important moments in their tribal life.

The students will be making their own “winter counts” over the next couple days - happily using paper instead of hides. We’ll be featuring those on the blog soon!

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 1-5 in cursive and write sentences for each. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do the Holes study questions. (4) Do the Classifying Words and Cloze Reading skill sheets. (5) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 38-39 plus “Use Your Head.” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 40-41 and “Find those Numbers.” (6) Subtraction with Zeros practice sheet. 

We're Jumping!

Once again, we had a wonderful theater class with Mr. Pratt. He was really impressed with how smart and creative our room nineteen students are. Of course, I was hardly surprised….

The students worked quite a bit on group pantomime today. These require pretty intense concentration. For example, in the jump rope pantomime, the two students holding the “rope” had to be working completely in tandem, and the person jumping had to know where the imaginary rope was at all times. Not easy! But our students did it beautifully. 

Fifth graders explored more with mixtures and solutions. They knew that a solution is a special kind of mixture and that the the material in a solution cannot be separated from water by any kind of normal filtration. They knew that that when a material - like kosher salt - is dissolved in water it seems to simply disappear. But what impact does this have on mass? Is the mass of a solution any greater than the mass of the liquid? Since the salt seems to completely disappear, it might seem like the mass of the solution would be the same as the mass of the water. The students were checking this out today.

In the afternoon, we also worked on rhythm activities, particularly doing some fun stuff with meter!

Homework:  (1) Write sentences for spelling words 11-15. (2) Do the spelling word search. (3) Fourth grade math: Do pages 34-35 and Bird Houses on the back of the answer sheet. Note that for Bird Houses some of the answers may be algebraic expressions like “s + 56”. Fifth grade math: Do pages 40-41 and "Find Those Numbers" on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Do Subtraction with Zeros. (5) Fourth grade only:  California Bodies of Water study sheet. 

Orchestra

Students will have the opportunity soon to become involved in the orchestra program. It is a great opportunity, but it is a decision that students and parents need to consider carefully. Orchestra is not only a commitment of 30-45 minutes on Tuesdays for class, but also a commitment to practice daily for 15-30 minutes. That may not seem like a lot, but for many students it is just one thing too many. But, for the students who can make that commitment, the ability to play an orchestral instrument and to start playing in an ensemble is just fantastic. 

Our students went to an assembly today where Mr. Mason, our district instrumental music teacher, explained all of this. 

Other than that, a pretty normal Tuesday. Fourth graders continue to be excited by how quickly their plants are growing, and they are getting pretty skilled with metric measurement, too!

 

Homework:  (1) Write sentences for spelling words 6-10. Cursive is optional this week. (2) Do the spelling crossword puzzle. (3) Do the Holes study sheet. (4) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 32-33, odd numbers only, plus “Canyon Trip”. Fifth grade math:  Do pages 35-36, odd numbers only, plus “Find a Rule”. (5) Do the Subtraction with Zeros practice paper. 

Further Science Adventures

First of all, let me again thank you for the great turn out on Thursday. Parental support is key to educational success. And one of the easiest ways you can support our program is by joining the PTA. Right now room 19 has one of the highest numbers of PTA signups in the school. But if we are number one we can get a cupcake party. I think it’s doable. Look at how far we’ve come. 

Today we continued our Science adventures. Fifth graders are starting on chemistry, particularly looking at mixtures and solutions. Today we mixed various things with water, and then used both a mesh filter and a paper filter to try to separate them. 

Fourth graders measured the growth of the plants in their terrariums. It was not all that much today, but in a couple days you’ll see a lot!

Homework:  (1) Write sentences for spelling words 1-5. Cursive is optional this week. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do the Holes study questions for chapters 17-19. (4) Do the “Making Inferences” study sheet. (5) Subtraction worksheet. (6) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 29-31. Just find the exact answer and do not worry about the different and often incomprehensible strategies. Also do “Mental Puzzles” on the back of the answer sheet. Fifth grade math:  Do pages 30-32 and “A Good Cause”. (7) Fifth graders also need to do the questions on page 7 of the Science book. They should copy the questions as well as answering them. This should be done in their Science notebook. 

Science and More

Today we had a number of new things. Our fifth graders went to Physical Education with Mrs. Skagg’s class this morning, and apparently Coach Angel gave them a really good workout! Way to go, Coach! While they were doing that, I was working with the fourth graders to help them get ready for their Science class later in the morning. 

We also had our first music class today. Our new music teacher is Mrs. Ashley Phiri. The “h” in her last name is silently, so it sounds like “PEER-ee.” She hails originally from Louisiana, and she taught the students a Cajun song this morning. This helped them learn the Curwen hand signs for “doh”, “me”, and “soh”. I have a feeling this song may also turn into a round or canon later on, too. 

She worked with the students to help them hear and reproduce some pretty complicated rhythmic patterns. I have a feeling that our 12 weeks of music this year are going to be kind of amazing. 

We also started Science today with both grade levels. Fifth grade students are going to be studying mixtures and solutions first. They started today by observing gravel, sand, a diatomaceous earth. Monday we will be adding water to it and straining these substances.

In fourth grade science, we started on our Environments unit. As part of this, the students will be making terrariums. In a couple weeks, they will be adding isopods and beetles to these environments. 

We also checked, corrected, and discussed all our homework. We took the math quiz and the spelling test. In fact, we were so busy we actually ran out of time to do math.

Homework:  Fifth grade has nothing. Fourth graders have a few Science study questions that we did not quite finish in class. 

Theater

Today we had our first theater class with Mr. Pratt. It was a lot of fun, and the students who were here last year remembered the concepts and vocabulary well!

They worked on pantomime skills today. They told stories through movement. First, they decided what gesture and other movements would convey the story. 

They then “told” their story to a partner, and selected students performed for the whole class.

Other than that, a pretty normal day. We checked, corrected, and discuss homework. We talked about how to round numbers, and why rounding is such an important skill. I am astonished right now at how closely the fifth and fourth grade math work together! Fourth graders learned about latitude and longitude, and fifth graders explored the ideas of customs and traditions in societies. 

Homework:  (1) Do spelling words 11-15. (2) Do the spelling crossword. (3) Do "Sequencing Events" and "Matching Antonyms” skill sheets.  (4) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 24-25 and “Animal Speeds.” Fifth grade math:  Do page 25-27 and “Puzzle Squares.” (5) Do Addition with Regrouping practice Sheets. (6) Fourth grade social studies:  Finish “Regions of California” and "Latitude and Longitude.” Fifth grade social studies:  Finish two paragraph essay on modern American and Native American Customs. 

Quick Post

Today was the first day for teacher meetings, so it was a short day. We started on a poem writing project, read a couple chapters in Holes, and took math tests. Tomorrow we have theater class!

Homework:  Write spelling words 1-5 either five (fourth grade) or ten (fifth grade) times each in cursive. Write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the spelling jumble. (3) Do the Holes study guide for chapters 11-13. (4) Do “Classifying Word Groups” and “Syllables” work sheets. (5) Do the final draft of the “I Used To” poem. This should be in cursive. (6) Do Subtraction without Regrouping practice sheet.

First Monday

It’s still hard getting up on these summer mornings, isn’t it? But our first Monday back in school went nicely. We checked and corrected homework and we read and discussed three chapters of Holes. Fourth graders worked on the four areas of California in History, and fifth graders worked on how native peoples adapted to the resources readily available in their regions. Both grades worked on patterns and problem solving in math. And we finished our line art project. 

Homework:  Write spelling words 1-5 either five (fourth grade) or ten (fifth grade) times each in cursive. Write a sentence for each word. (2) Do the Holes study guide for chapters 8-10. (3) Do “Using Long Vowels” and “Finding Base Words” work sheets. (4) Fourth grade math:  Do pages 16-19 and “Separate the Dots.” Fifth grade math:  Do page 15-16, 18-19 and “Gridlock.” (5) Do Addition with Regrouping practice sheet. 

Quick Post

As our first week comes to an end, let me just say that I think this may be my best class ever. 

We’re doing some work with different types of lines in art. Some of the student work is fabulous. We’ll have more to post on Monday.

I hope to see all of you on Thursday for our orientation. Have a great weekend!

Homework: (1) Do Holes chapter 7 study guide. (2) Fourth grade math:  do pages 14-15 and "The Number Game.” Fifth grade math:  Do pages 12-13 and "Digit Detection."

Talking About Math

There are some good things about the new Common Core State State Standards. One of them is the emphasis on having students not only reason mathematically, but also be able to articulate and defend their mathematical reasoning. Here in room 19 we’re working hard on this. Every day, the students begin math with a reasonably challenging problem designed to help them learn a new concept or skill. They work on the problem with their groups, and then I choose a group at random to come up and explain the problem and how they solved it. Fourth graders, of course, work on fourth grade problem, and fifth graders on fifth grade problem, but  they all find exposure to the other’s grade’s work interesting. Here are some fifth graders explaining different ways of representing rational numbers - as decimals, fractions, and visually.

Homework:  (1) Do Holes study guide for chapters 5 and 6. (2) Do the two skills sheets for Holes. (3) Finish the final draft of the descriptive paragraph. (4) Do the Addition with Regrouping practice sheet. (5) In the fourth grade math book, do pages 11-13 and “Follow the Leader”; in the fifth grade math book, do pages 10-11 and “Relay Races”.

First Day, Part II

I think that the second day of school is really the first day of school. It’s the day that the introductions and the pretesting and the discussion about rules and procedures are done … and we really start teaching and learning. It’s one of my favorite days of the year. 

We started in earnest on our language arts activities. When I volunteered to take the split class this year, one of my conditions was that I could skip the Treasures anthologies and work with both grade levels at the same time on challenging and interesting literature. We will be doing both independent reading, or Reader’s Workshop, and whole-class reading, or Core Literature, as part of our balanced literacy program. Our first selection for the latter is Louis Sacher’s Holes. It is a not only a good story, but it offers a great way to explore what the Common Core Standards called “text structures.” 

We continued our work in number theory with both grade levels. In history, fourth graders explored California geography while fifth graders did the same with U.S. geography. We finished off yesterday’s portraits, and most of them were absolutely splendid!

Teaching two grade levels is not as easy as teaching one, but it sometimes forces a teacher to actually teach better. This year we will be doing a great deal of group work. This is often, I have to admit, a bit noisier than I like, but the student-to-student interaction can make for a much richer learning experience. It allows me to also be the “guide on the side” rather than the “sage on the stage” as the popular saying has it. 

 

Homework: (1) Finish the descriptive paragraph. (2) Do the Holes study guide for chapter 1-4. (3) Fourth grade math:  pages 8-9 and “Puzzling Place Values”. (4) Fifth grade math:  pages 7-8 and “Competing Corporations”. (4) Addition with regrouping practice sheet.