Inspiring Learning Always

I was just going through my email, and I came across one from Scholastic.  Opening it and clicking my way through links, I eventually found myself reading this article about motivating learners.  I recommend taking a quick look at it.  ( http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/motivate-school-success/10-ways-to-motivate-your-child-to-learn)  I especially liked #5 and #10 on the list.  It reminded me that learning should be a continual process, happening in every place and with all people in our lives. 

To show the class that I am learning too, every day, I recently shared with them a short article from Smithsonian magazine about a company in Japan that is planning to build a solar panel ring around the moon in order to produce enough clean energy to power the world (google Shimizu Corporation or Shimizu Dreams to find more).  Pretty amazing stuff; and we will likely see it in our lifetime!  This was not something that was in the curriculum (although it does tie in very nicely with our current unit on the moon and astronomy) or that I had built into my lesson plans, but it was too good not to share.  This kind of "learning" stuff is around all of us, every day.  Make sure to share some of it with your student.

It occurred to me again when I was grocery shopping.  Are the "real life" problems that students have to tackle in math really "real life"?  In a word, yes.  I discovered two of them while I was grocery shopping yesterday where I really did have to be able to divide and multiply decimals by a whole number to determine the better deal.  I'll be sharing these really real life problems with students on Monday.  The next time you have to calculate a problem or draft a business letter or email, let your students see that, yes, there are real applications to what they are learning in the classroom.

A few things to check out online

Today we did some work in the computer lab learning about compare/contrast essays.  When students finished their review of the website, they continued on to practice on an interactive Venn diagram.  Some students asked for the link to that website, so I thought I would put it here for your use.  The site is www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/venn_diagrams . This website (www.readwritethink.org) also has many resources for extending student learning outside of the classroom.  Check out the parents link.

I also shared an animation of the moon phases in class today.  This is a terrific website for exploring all things astronomy.  Some of the pages on the site are very detailed, but this animation of how the moon phases change should help in understanding the revolution of the moon around Earth and how we see it.  That website can be found at http://astro.unl.edu/naap/lps/animations/lps.html . I was unable to run the simulation on my iPad, but it works well on a laptop.  Ask your student to explain what is happening in the animation.  And check out the Kidblog link to see the work of some students who chose to make "edible moon phases" over the break.  Yummy!

Jeff Kinney & Dav Pilkey Webcast

Today after lunch we watched a brief webcast by Jeff Kinney and Dav Pilkey, authors of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants book series.  Using suggestions from an auditorium of elementary school kids in New York, they began a graphic story.  Students watching the podcast were then challenged to finish the story.

I thought that this would be a great jumping-off point for any reluctant writer to finish the story, along with its animations.  A package and information went home with students this afternoon.  Paula Klipfel has also posted more information and the webcast on her web page(http://mrsklipfelstopteachingtips.blogspot.com).  There is a contest for writing the end of the story with prizes!  This is not a required activity, but I am hoping that there may be some aspiring graphic novelists among us.

Happy Writing!

Welcome to the New Year

It's hard to believe that we have already completed 76 days of school.  We still have much to accomplish before the end of the year.

This week, we worked with Patsy Eldridge to begin to understand astronomy.  She brings valuable hands-on learning to our classrooms so that students can literally "see" how things work.  Students learned how the tilt of the earth impacts the seasons and the phases of the moon.  We will be working more with astronomy in our next science unit.

In math, we are completing our unit on fractions.  Students have been persevering through word problems and working to become flexible in their thinking when approaching problems.  We've learned that there are often multiple ways to attack a problem--therein lies the beauty of math.  I cannot emphasize enough the value of tenacity and perseverance as we solve these problems together.

Reading and writing are bringing an emphasis on expository forms over the next two months.  I was tickled by how the students became so engaged in the non-fiction magazines and books that I distributed.  While sharing what we had found in these, I learned today that the highest mountain in the solar system is in fact Olympus Mons on the planet Mars at 69,649 feet, more than twice the height of Mt. Everest!  I encourage you to share any non-fiction reading that you do with your child.  Small articles in the newspaper or in a magazine are a great place to start.

Stay warm during these cold weeks of winter.

December Work

We continue to move forward with all kinds of learning during these few short weeks of December.

During December, our class is studying poetry.  We are reading, writing, and learning the language of poetry.  Last week, the students had a particularly engaging discussion of the book, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.  It's a short read, written in free verse, and alludes to many different poems which are included in the back of the book.  I highly recommend it to all readers.  We're also fortunate to welcome into our classroom Judith Steinbergh, Brookline's Poet Laureate.  She has been working with students to read poetry and to write their own poem about the seasons.  It always amazes me how students truly embrace poetry.  Yes, even reluctant readers.

In Social Studies, we have begun to learn about European explorers who came to the New World in search of gold, land, and other treasure.  Students are also learning about the impact on the native people of what the explorers believed to be newly discovered lands.  Mind opening and good for discussion at home.

Science brings a study of genetics and how different traits combine to form unique beings.  We will look at what traits each of us possesses as well as use models of dogs and horses to understand how dominant and recessive traits play against one another.  This unit will have several hands on explorations to help students learn.

And of course, we continue with math.  This month we are working on multiplying and dividing fractions.  "Why do I need to know this?" one of the students asked.  My best response was that if I want to change a recipe, either divide it in half or double it, I have to be able to multiply and divide fractions.  What about measuring to build something if I want to make it half the size?  So many applications that we just do in daily life.  Being fluid with multiplication facts is especially important in this unit, as the ability to recognize factors and multiples makes working with fractions much easier.  Please take the time to practice facts with your student at home.

Report cards are due to come home on Monday, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone at conferences.

Giving is Good

The school has been having a canned food drive to support the Trinity food pantry in Topsfield this past week.  It ended today, and I am proud to report that our class contributed 111 items to the pantry.  Fantastic!!

I asked during the food drive for the students to not just go home and ask for cans.  I hope they took it to heart to contribute some of their own money or to do a chore around the house to earn the can.  I think the lessons that can be learned from doing this are invaluable.

And so the following little story.  We had a friendly competition going on among the 5th grade classes to see which class could bring in the most items; our class came in second.  Despite not being the "winning" class, your kids were incredibly gracious about coming in second.  They said, "We won even though we didn't because now there's more food for the poor."  That kind of spirit will take them far in life and should be celebrated.

 

25% There

It's hard to believe that we've completed more than 25% of the school year.  Our Calendar Math, however, shows that it's true.

We've been busy this past week starting in on fractions:  adding and subtracting, making equivalencies, and generally reviewing all that we know about fractions.  This coming week brings looking at division equations as fractions.  We are also working with mixed numbers.

In science, we are continuing with our study of light and color.  Experiments last week had us considering refraction and the various properties of objects in terms of light (i.e. translucent, transparent, opaque).  This week, we will work in CLIC to further explore light.  Please send your student in with a shoe box for this project (any extras are also appreciated).

I am looking forward to reading student blogs about Native Americans, their environments, and their cultures.  Knowledge of how Native Americans lived translates into deeper understanding of the colonization of the Americas.  Having students use technology in the classroom and in their learning supports the Common Core standards. 

In reading, we continue with group book studies.  Please encourage reading every day by your student.  The Scholastic Book Fair now in the school library offers a great selection of books for students along with the autonomy of making their own selections.  Ask students about their book choices, whether from the book fair, from the library, or from their own shelves.  This is a great way to get conversations going about what they're reading as well as about what you might be reading.