Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!  Your donations to the food bank and the family in need was amazing!  (Well over $550 total!!!!) Your generosity is what this time is all about!  When presented with all this, I got a little teary due to the true meaning of the holidays.  I want you all to know how appreciative I am of all that you do!

Thank you for the Barnes and Noble gift card as well as the Amesbury Sports park gift card.  I can't wait to make more memories with Sean and Lizzie!

Thank you for all the extra treats too.  I'm seriously overwhelmed and my heart is full!  No wonder you have such amazing kids!

I hope you all have a restful, relaxing and energizing week with your families making lots of memories!  See you in 2018!

Love,

Shannon

Week 14

Happy Weekend to All!

Another week in the books and I'm really impressed with how much we got done!  Here's a glimpse into our week!  These kids deserve a vacation soon.... oh, wait....  :)

Before I forget!!!!  Early Release next Wednesday, the 13th!  12:50 Dismissal.

Math:

• Interpret remainders in problem solving with division
• Double digit divisors
• Reviewed and took an assessment
• Played math games with 5L
• Decimal division is next week!

Literacy

• Chose a high interest and engaging research topic
• Took notes on subtopics and details
• Flashdrafted with our notes
• Went back to the drawing board with some research
• Peer edited our writing with a partner

Word Work

• Returned to homophones
• Worked in pairs to define and use each homephone
• Played games

Read Aloud

• UGLY by Robert Hoge is our new read aloud
• PLEASE, ask your child about it (memoir-true story)

Science

• 5D visited Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Pinsonnault for Science this week
• Make sure to ask them about traveling
• I missed them and was pretty sure they grew an inch when they were gone each day

Have you heard about HOLIDAY DESK WARS????  

Haha, it's been a great week to pull some teamwork together.  Each table group earns points for doing the right thing and working as a team.  The team with the highest points will earn a little free time at the end of each week.  We will be having a full on table decoration competition judged by some SMS teachers and staff during the final week before vacation!

Party Time!

We will celebrate with a holiday brunch on Thursday, December 21st from 10-11.  More details will be coming in future details.  All are welcome.  I sent home a note about the holiday food drive as well as a family in need we can help.  See the attached link. Letter

The Gingerbread Boys!

The Santa Claus People

The Christmas Tree Santas

The Ornaments

The Elf-Reys

Enjoy your weekend!!

Shannon

Lucky Week 13!

Hello everyone!

Wow, December is here and these students are changing and growing each and every day.  I cannot begin to tell you the amount of work and motivation I'm seeing from every single student!  Here are some of the things we did this week...

Math:

• Worked hard on learning divisibility rules
• Demonstrated these rules in SeeSaw
• Began whole number division
• Divided to decorate some UGLY sweaters!

Literacy:

• Read A LOT of non-fiction texts in 5D
• Talked about how to keep EYES and MINDS in the book
• Took notes using a format called "Topic, Sub Topic, Details"
• Started learning about Informational Text Structures
• Sorted text structures for better understanding

Read Aloud

• We are finished with Scar Island

Science

• We began our MATTER unit with 5L early this week
• Chemical/Physical change in 5D
• Students will be traveling to the other four classrooms for two days each to learn about matter
• Students will be responsible for taking notes and observations over these two weeks
• This unit will culminate with a project

Early Release on Wednesday, December 13th. Dismissal at 12:50

Holiday Party!!!

Our party will take place on Thursday, December 21st from 1:30-2:30.  We will host 

a holiday book swap (wrap a book you've already read).  Details for food and other 

information will come later.  All are invited!

Winter Break begins Friday, 12/22 at 3 pm!

Science Matter Sort

Science Groups Experiment with Physical/Chemical Changes

Informational Text Structures!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and thank you for sharing your children with me!  We had a wonderful time at WONDER!  Here are a few pics from our day!

Thank you to Ryan who gave me tissues.  I surely needed them for this movie! :)

End of Week 12!

Week 12 is in the books!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week?  This time has flown.  Wow! Check out what the students in 5D did this week...

Math:

• Problem solved with decimal multiplication
• Created some beautiful turkeys using multiplication
• Reviewed unit 3
• Took the unit 3 assessment

Literacy:

• Began our non-fiction unit looking at text structures
• Completed a graphic organizer about text structures 
• Began reading one of my favorite (and grossest) books about animal adaptations

Science

• Partners worked on an inquiry question (what they wonder)
• Researched the question/performed an experiment
• Created something to teach the rest of the class
• Each pair presented on Thursday and Friday

Inquiry Pairs Hard at Work

 Some of our Presentations

Finn and Alex

 Ellie, Amber and Lily

Jonah and Marley

Addie and Jaclyn

Alex and Cece

Ryan and Nate

Brody and Thoren

Ishaan and Andrew

Logan and Tyler

REMINDERS!!!

Report cards went home Friday.  Please return the signed envelope on Monday!

WONDER movie on Monday!  No money should be sent in since the concession stand will not be open.  We will eat snack before and be back in time for lunch!

Enjoy the weekend!

Shannon

Thanksgiving Craft:Donations Needed

Hi there,

Could you see if you have any of the following items to donate for a craft we will do in 5D/5L? 

Mason Jars (cleaned without labels)
Gems/Decorative Stones
Hot Glue Sticks for a larger glue gun
Decorative Ribbon

Send in all through next Friday 11/17.  Any help would be appreciated!

Shannon

End of Week TEN!

Happy Friday to all!

Not sure about you, but this week felt so fast to me due to Monday's day off, Halloween celebrations  and Wednesday's early release!  I cannot believe we are over 45 days into our school year.  I have a feeling November is going to fly for us here in 5D!  

Math:

• Took a pretest for Unit 3 (Multiplication and Division of Decimals)
• Reviewed whole number multiplication
• Began decimal multiplication with visuals

Literacy

• Worked diligently to write a compelling realistic fiction story (WOW- improvement in writing noticed!!!)
• Talked about if the theme is apparent in our stories
• Worked on our book club projects using Buncee
• Began Words Their Way as a whole class (groups will begin in a few weeks)

Social Studies

• Reflected thoughtfully about our first project
• Wrote a script based on our reflection
• Modeled in groups
• Reflected in SeeSaw

Our first SCIENCE unit begins next week.  The students did some fun Kahoots to see what they already know about SPACE!  We are excited because they showed us they know a lot!

Reminder!  

Another Early Release on Wednesday, November 8th for conferences.  See list of conferences here.

Conference Schedule


Pictures from our Halloween Buddy Hike with the Koalas!

Thank you again for being such a wonderful support to all in 5D!

Shannon 

Week 9!

Wow, we are already at the end of week nine here in 5th grade!  This time has flown and the students are really working hard to raise the level of their thinking and working.

First, a couple important reminders!

Students will be hiking with their first grade buddies on Halloween.  We will hike in the woods behind the school around 1 pm.  Students should wear appropriate shoes and jackets.  We will go weather permitting.

Halloween celebration will be on the 31st at 2 pm.  Our room parent sent an email.  Food can come in Monday or Tuesday.  I like to keep things simple in 5D! :)

Conferences will be 11/1 and 11/8.  Each conference will have 15 minutes.  I have no breaks in between so please be prompt.

Here's what we did this week.

Math:

• Problem solved +/- decimals
• Played Trashketball to review
• Finished unit 2 with an assessment
• Shopped for HALLOWEEN candy at Can-De-Loh Depot (REAL LIFE DECIMALS!!!)

Literacy:

• Book clubs discussed character growth
• Read more to try to finish and talk about all the literary elements we've talked about
• Began a book club project on a website called Buncee (have your kids show you at home)
• Brainstormed realistic fiction stories
• Began writing using all our narrative focus lessons

Social Studies:

• Students presented projects
• Green screen, music, iMovie, skits, news shows were among some of the exemplars

Word Study:

• We are starting Words their Way and the whole class will be working on homophones for their first sort

Math Assessments are coming home today so students can rework any errors to earn back a little credit.  You'll see the grade as a fraction for now! They should return this with all corrected work to me on Monday.  Thanks for your help.

Book Clubs!

Three Worlds Meet Projects

Trashketball

Enjoy your weekend!

Shannon