Happy birthday to me! (day 4)

Day 4

I really didn't get much done before school because people kept popping into my room to wish me happy birthday, which I thought was very sweet.  My new grade level brought me balloons and cupcakes, along with decorating my room.  Wasn't expecting that from a team I've worked with for basically a week, but it's great to feel so welcomed.

In math, we talked more about persevering through problems, did our number talk, then I introduced them to one of my favorite math games 20 wins.  Basically they are placing digits (0-9) into boxes and trying to make a square equal 20 with any operations.  For the first day, I modeled with me against them before letting them try with a partner.

 

We came back together and talked about strategies that were used:

While they played, I walked around making observations.  For the most part, my class seemed very comfortable with addition strategies.  A few groups tried multiplication to make 20.  They'll play again tomorrow and their weekend homework will be to play with a family member.  I don't think I'll have much trouble getting them to want to play math games.

What they don't realize is how much math they're doing.  Yes, they're adding for the most part. But they're also thinking strategically and looking for patterns with numbers.  They're having to predict what their partners might do and prevent that from happening.  They're using multiple operations, practicing order of operations, and often times trying several different strategies until they can make 20.  I love tricking them into learning!

After that math fun, we went over phrasing with fluency.  I had them do a sort with their table teams to pre-assess them and for the most part, they know what fluency is so I'm not starting instruction from the beginning.  Of the four components of fluency (rate, expression, accuracy, and phrasing) I decided to model one.  If I modeled all 4 in one day, they'd be bored and probably confuse the components.  I'd rather go a little slower to make sure they've all got it.

I modeled several different times (incorrectly) and had them give me feedback.  They did a really good job with picking out the errors.  We made a chart together in our notebooks before moving to the carpet for today's skill lesson.

I modeled metacognition, which is thinking while reading, using The Lightning Thief.  The first time I read, I modeled great fluency.  Afterward, I asked them how I did to which they responded great!  Then I let them in on a secret: it's not enough to just read the words.  You've got to think about what you're reading.

I modeled again, this time tapping to the book whenever I was "in the text" and tapping to my head, modeling a think-aloud, whenever I was practicing metacognition.  I had two students keep score:

We talked about how we have to think while reading.  Some of them got it, some didn't.  That's okay, it's day 4.  We've got time. 

We also went over what it means to be a good reader, which was part of their homework:

I'm trying to color code my anchor charts (reading being teal) to help my students.  We'll see how long I can keep up this goal!  I had them brainstorm independently, talk as a table team, then add their thoughts on post-its.

In writing, they're continuing to work on their letters to self.  In science, they're having a great time with the mystery bags.  I also had them draw pictures of what a scientist is:

Then we had the conversation that women can be scientists too, since many drew men.  I talked about how I am a scientist whenever I step into the kitchen.  I am a chemist, hoping my ingredients combine the way they're supposed to.  I have to be accurate in my measurements and ensure my oven is preheated to the proper temperatures.  I test my experiments by eating them :)  I also shared that of the real chemists I know, the highest ranking ones are women.  This was very surprising for them but part of my job is to destroy their gender stereotypes about scientists.

All in all, it was a great day.  My biggest concern so far is I've had to move one student's desk twice already, but I think that's just an adjustment back to school and realizing my expectations of listening to instructions the first time they're given.  

Four days down!

Science notebooks

We've talked a lot about notebooks this year.

In science, we've been studying land forms, geography, earth and space. 

We started with maps and created this tree map of maps (I crack myself up):

We have been looking at physical & political maps.  We talked about aerial maps and tried to be surveyors, mapping out the primary playground by using different benchmarks.

Today we built foam mountains and traced the "layers".  Tomorrow we'll discuss how these "layers" are really contour lines and dig deep into topographic maps.

I'm in no way following the suggested pacing guide because well, my pacing guide made more sense :)

Here is another thinking map about land forms:

We also went over the 5 themes of geography (Mr. Help!) which is available for free at my TpT store :)

Here is one of my TpT sorts in action, ready to be analyzed by my ten year old geologists:

Yay science :)

Days 3 and 4

Sigh...it's almost Friday.  That means I can wear jeans :)

Wednesday (yesterday) was my birthday and I got a new student.  (I got another new one as well today).

I was surprised by this lovely dessert and sign by my grade level:

One of my students brought me these beautiful flowers and Batman balloon :)

And most importantly, my kiddos were mostly on their best behavior so we got a lot of learning accomplished!

They worked on mystery bags in science and we talked about metacognition in reading:

I think they're starting to grasp the concept of thinking while reading :)

We've been doing a lot of read alouds to build class community, so we made this anchor chart together:

We've been adding to it as our discussions continue.  Today I added that another role for students was to listen for interesting vocabulary.

I'm exhausted and it's only week one!

At least I made my class poms to distinguish table teams:

For more on how to make these cute poms, see this post!

-Ms. Vice

Science Mystery Bags

One of the first science activities I love to do with my fifth graders is mystery bags.  Basically, you collect objects from your home or classroom, place them inside brown lunch bags, number the bags and staple them shut:

I go over observations with my students and the five senses we use to explore the world around us.  We go over that we aren't using our sense of taste for this activity (no one wants to lick paper anyway) but all others are fair game.

They create a data table in their notebooks as we go over the expectation for writing evidence.  They make a prediction about what is inside and work as a "lab group" in whisper voices to try to figure out the objects.  They record their thoughts here:

This year, I used a Batman statue, a Princess Peach figurine, a Rubik's cube, an expo marker and a fuzzy cat toy that is shaped like a chicken.  Students are given about five minutes per mystery bag and at the end, we reveal some of the objects.  I don't reveal all of them because we have the discussion that sometimes scientists work really hard on something for years and don't know the correct answer.  That awesome idea came from my colleague across the hall.  I love that my grade level shares awesome ideas.

They will be exploring the remaining bags today and making predictions about what is inside!