Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to in May! One month to go before they are officially grade fives 🙂
Language Arts
Writing- Design a Donut 🍩 Descriptive/Persuasive writing
In this writing assignment the students were asked to design their own unique and delicious donut. The students were excited right off the bat. We took part in a visual tour of several donuts from around the world to get our imaginative juices flowing. Part one of the writing process was very fun to say the least : ) The students were also asked to use persuasive writing techniques to convince people that their donut is the best. They used many techniques to help “sell” their donut. Strategies included special deals, unique features and ingredients and even celebrity appearances! The students drafted their initial copies for part 2 of the process. The writing was fantastic. After editing and making revisions, students published their writing. See some samples below. Each student will present their donut to the class later this week.
Literature Circle Wrap Up
The students finished their novels this month and had very successful group meetings! They enjoyed the process and really impressed me. We utilized the new outdoor classroom over the past 5 weeks. What a great addition to Carr! As a final review each student completed a Story Map outlining the essential elements of their book.
Math
For most of May the students were learning about data management. They learned about types of data, collecting data, and reading and interpreting graphs. They explored pictographs, bar graphs, double bar graphs, stem and leaf plots, and learned the terms range, median and mode. Recently we have just begun a unit on fractions. We also used one of our math periods for some math games to reinforce some skills. Math Noodlers was a hit!
Science
Science this month was very involved and the kids were super engaged in the learning! We have been continuing to learn about energy from the Mystery Science resource. In summary:
“This introductory energy unit will encourage students to think about the energy that things need to move. Students will explore how energy makes things go, from powering vehicles to moving one’s body. Students will experiment with rubber bands to discover the relationship between how much energy is stored in a material and how much is released. They will investigate the role that hills play in making roller coasters move and the energy transfer that happens when two objects collide. Students will realize that thinking about the world in terms of energy helps them make sense of how and why things speed up and slow down. Hands-on activities focus on engineering, testing hypotheses and using results to develop their ideas.”
– Mystery Science
Drama
We have started some drama exercises for Fine Arts. The kids have been great! They all seem comfortable and confident presenting. It has been very fun so far.
Ultimate Frisbee!
We had the pleasure of hosting Elevate Ultimate this month. They ran two clinics for each class. The kids had a lot of fun and learned some great throwing and catching skills. I foresee some great Ultimate players in the future!
After work Options
I continue to be impressed by the options students choose if they finish their work early. They have show such maturity this year. Here C is working hard at his keyboarding skills. He will be faster than me in no time!
