Class News for Mrs. Scott's Fifth Grade Scholars 2023-2024!!

 

April:

March ends with Edward Tulane's journey. April will bring more fantasy, figurative language, poetry, review of narrative elements, literary devices, and strategies for test-taking. Students participated in their first personification portal and will continue to garden for figurative language as they study poetry techniques. Throughout April and May, students will cultivate great stories and poems. In social studies, students will be creating a model of our current government to demonstrate how it works using "outside-the-box" thinking. It will eventually lead to the Bill of Rights and our journey westward.

 

March:

As February comes to an end, students are celebrating their hard work! Students published a comic book about the Revolutionary War, wrote a three chapter information piece related to the the Revolutionary War, and read several nonfiction books on Epic, along with historical fiction and graphic novels  as part of our cross curricular unit. They will finish up their research and start a fantasy unit. Students will also reexamine theme and start a new book club. March is a month for reflection of goals and reviewing test-taking strategies. 

 

February:

Students will be working on a comic book/graphic novel about the Revolutionary War. We are immersed in a cross curricular unit that allows students to research, read, and write about their chosen topics as they learn to navigate nonfiction text complexities. Students are also studying how to use text features and structures along with taking notes, paraphrasing, and tackling tricky words. February is also Black History Month, so we will take the opportunity to read about dream makers and heroes of the Civil Rights Movement and participate in some reader's theatre.

 

 

January:

As we finish up December with argument writing and debatable topics, students will return from winter break ready to do more research on a topic of choice. We will continue our study of the Revolutionary War by examining key people, important events, and the road to independence. Students will take a minute to understand how graphic novels work, and create a comic of a person or event related to the time period we are studying. They will be reading historical fiction in social studies as they begin to also dive into nonfiction research.

 

 

December:

Students did a wonderful job with their Feast of Characters and book projects. We will end November by continuing our argument study and looking at debatable topics to research. Students started this unit with a book review. Students will also learn about developing a thesis/claim and how to support an argument with evidence. They will read several articles and write an argument piece. Students will also read historical fiction as a means to develop a better understanding of history and the Revolutionary War.

 

 

November:

We end October with spooky stories! Students had been working on their narrative writing skills and practicing complex sentences while adding more sensory details to their stories.  Our thematic book clubs are coming to an end. Students will work within their club to uncover a theme and write an "I am poem" about their main character. We will also discuss an upcoming independent book project called-- Feast of Characters. As we begin November, we will write book reviews and study argument writing. In social studies, students are presenting in News Teams and will be learning about Loyalists and Patriots.

 

 

October:

As we end September, students are writing narratives and learning how stories tend to go both in their novels and in personal narratives. Students began listening to Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate which is as our mentor text. They have also been practicing different ways to write about reading. This work prepares them for upcoming book clubs on social issues. Social studies has students reviewing geography and examining the varying regions of the original thirteen colonies. Why did colonists choose to live in certain regions? Eventually, studying the regions will lead us to the settling of Colonial America and the tensions that grew between Great Britain and the colonists.

 

September:

We start our year establishing  classroom routines and expectations. Students will be immersed in: read alouds, partnerships, book clubs, and short stories to practice the craft of writing narratives and uncovering themes.  I can't wait to learn about their favorite books, first/last times, and to generate ideas for their small moment stories and personal narratives. Students will use Clever as a platform to access: Readworks, Epic, and Storyworks, as well as Social Studies Alive on TCI. Social studies begins with a geography review as well as examining how Great Britain established Colonial America by studying the regions within the thirteen colonies. Students will also do a refresher/practice using Padlets, Jamboards, Blooket and other online platforms--Oh my!!