Reading Centers

This last week in reading we worked on a variety of centers.  The big topics we discussed were biography, Latin and Greek root words, author's point of view, and opinion writing.  We began on Wednesday by going over our checklist and getting all the directions necessary for class.

Our leveled reader this week was a biography on Nellie Bly, a reporter from the 1800's.  It was a very interesting story and discussed what she did with her life that lead to change.

 

We also worked on Latin and Greek root words.  The students completed a 'folder center' that I have had for many years.  They had 48 words that they had to sort into categories based on the root of the word.  They did a nice job working together!

We have also been working on author's point of view.  This week I used some great resources that I purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers.  Thank you PTO for the mini grant!  The students worked on a nonfiction point of view piece where they worked together to answer questions about an author's point of view.  They then worked on their own to respond to a paragraph that gave an author's point of view and they had to decide if they agreed or disagreed.

Our last center this week was on opinion writing.  The students read a paragraph and had to respond by writing their own paragraph that gave their opinion on the topic of pop machines in schools.  This was put on google classroom so the students were even able to do a little research on the internet to help support their opinion.  They also had the opportunity to practice their typing skills!

Christmas Assembly

What a wonderful Friday we had!  The day before winter break is always very busy and this year was no different.

We started the day by opening up our Prize Box.  Students were able to use their soccer tokens which they earn for a variety of positive reasons throughout the school year to "buy" a wide assortment of items.  Thank you to our great PTO who allowed us to use a portion of our mini-grant money to buy items for our prize box!

The students then spent some time wrapping the gifts they made earlier in the week.  They worked hard to wrap their gifts and added yarn and bows to really make them look special!

The last thing we had time for before lunch was to watch the movie "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  We read the book together in class on Monday and Wednesday and the students enjoyed seeing the differences and similarities between the book and the movie.

In the afternoon we had our annual Christmas Assembly.  This year we did something a little different and students from each grade performed for the school.  Since fourth and fifth grade had just celebrated Grinch Day on Thursday, they recited "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" together.  They had been practicing all week and wore the Grinch masks that they made.

All of the students in every grade level did an excellent job performing!

We finished the day by celebrating at our Christmas party.  Thank you to the parents who helped put it together.  The students had a wonderful time and it was the perfect way to end the day!

Reading Centers

Almost every week in Reading class, we have been completing centers.  The students really seem to enjoy the two days each week where they are working in small groups, with a partner, or independently on a variety of tasks.

We begin centers on Wednesday after having been instructed on each of the skills for the week on Monday and Tuesday.  The students have the majority of class Wednesday and Thursday to move through their four centers.  Each student receives a Centers Checklist that lists the directions for each center.  We go over this together and then they have it with them to refer to while they are working.

Over the last few weeks I've been able to collaborate with Mrs. Fedor and have one center that had the students working on both reading and science skills.  This last week we collaborated again and had the students completing a social studies skill.  With a partner, they were reading a map of Ohio and then created a poster listing some of the important features of their state.

Overall the students did a great job working on this center and learned a lot about their state and how to read a map.

A Girls Only and a Boys Only Day

On Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, the fourth and fifth grade teachers collaborated and did something a little different.

The boys worked in the fifth grade area throughout the day.  They did a variety of team building activities which emphasized leadership, communication, and encouragement. They also completed a math and science activity, then had some time to work on a Christmas project.

The girls began their day by getting to know each other in small groups.  They then each created their own compliment bag.  They put their names on a bag and decorated it however they wanted.  Throughout the day, they each put compliments in each others bags.  At the end of the day, they went home with some great compliments from old and new friends!

Their other activity allowed the girls to work together in a small group, be creative, and reflect a little about who they are.  They used magazines that were sent in by parents (thank you!) and cut out words or pictures that they felt told something about them.

They used the magazine clippings to create a collage.  The teachers traced their silhouettes onto the back of the collage and then the girls cut them out and mounted it on black paper.  The projects ended up looking great and the girls had such a great time working together to complete them.

Each group ended their day with a presentation from the Cleveland Clinic on Hygiene.  It was a great talk and we appreciate the presenter coming to speak with our students.  They learned a lot and even left with a personal hand sanitizer!