5th Grade Spotlight

Written By: Andy Theis, 5th Grade Teacher

Fifth grade has been packed full of learning, laughter, and love.  This is such an incredibly special group of students, and every day is a new adventure.  We have been very busy working on a variety of things to strengthen our academic skills, social/emotional well-being, and relationships with each other.  
 
Social/Emotional 

• MELA Tickets: MELA tickets are one way to acknowledge students as they demonstrate MELA expectations, with a big focus on being MINDFUL, EMPATHETIC, LEADERS, and ACCOUNTABLE.  In 5th grade, students are given points on our Leader Board when they demonstrate the expectations.  The number of points represents the number of tickets they receive.  Students fill in their tickets, reflecting on the positive choices they made to earn them.  The tickets are placed in a bucket for a drawing at the end of each month.  In addition, the students earn a little prize for every 5 tickets earned each week

• Mindfulness: Our Mindfulness time is a very important part of the day.  Every day students are given the opportunity to participate in calming activities.  In 5th grade, our Mindfulness time is a 15-minute block immediately after recess.  Students are able to watch a variety of videos that focus on being aware of your emotional needs, breathing strategies, and movements designed to calm your body and mind.  Students are also able to choose activities that help them calm down, such as drawing or coloring.  Another part of our Mindfulness time is having students listen to a read aloud.  Currently, we are reading a book called "My Life as a Stuntboy" by Jake Tashjian, which is quickly becoming a favorite.
• Class Points: Class points are awarded when students are going above and beyond the expectations.  When students earn enough points, they earn a class party.  Students vote on what the class party will be and the number of points needed is negotiated between the students and teachers.  So far, we have earned 2 class parties.  Our first party was a 1-hour kickball game when students earned 20 points.  Our second party was a hair-dying party.  Mr. Theis and Mr. Gears agreed to dye their hair pink and green after students earned 30 points (Yes, the teachers negotiated to make students earn more points for this one).  Currently, we are working on a pajama/snack/movie party.  We are almost there!!!!

Literacy: Our literacy block consists of multiple components including whole group lessons, small group instruction, and writing.  Our whole group lessons are integrated with science, as we work on skills such as finding the central theme, comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, asking and answering questions, and using text features.  Our current topic is severe weather.  We have been learning about different kinds of severe weather, how it develops, and how it impacts us, our communities, our environment, and our world.  Writing goes hand-in-hand with what we are learning in whole group reading.  We have been working on writing narrative analysis essays about severe weather.  Students gather information from texts we have read together, as well as texts they have read independently, and use that information to write their essays.  During small group instruction, students are able to work on skills that are personalized, while reading chapter books together.  Students take part in engaging conversations as they read and analyze the text. 

Math:  We use Bridges in Mathematics for our curriculum, which allows for an extensive look into many focus skills.  Bridges lessons and activities give students the opportunity to learn through discussions, investigations, group activities, games, and hands-on activities.  During whole group lessons, 5th graders have been working on fractions.  During this unit, students learned how to identify and model fractional parts, find equivalent fractions, find common denominators, add and subtract, and simplify.  We are moving into multiplying and dividing fractions.  Students also participate in small group lessons.  During small groups, students work on skills that are geared towards their personal needs.  Small groups change based on the needs of the students.  Pre-assessment, post-assessment, and informal observations help determine student needs.