Reading Groups

We are trying out reading groups in class, instead of reading as a whole class.  This will allow for more individualized instruction and reading time.  We are continuing to read Out of Many Waters.

New Unit in Math: Fractions

We began our next chapter in the fifth grade Singapore Math book yesterday.  We reviewed students' prior understanding of fractions.  This month we'll be working with fractions in new ways!

Story of Stuff

Fifth graders viewed the online movie "The Story of Stuff" yesterday.  We are using this as a jumping off point to synthesize our understandings of healthy ecosystems, food webs, and waste.  Fifth graders will choose from one of four assignments to work on, and will incorporate a lot of science vocabulary and concepts into their writing.  This is a chance for them to show off their thinking!

Math Tests Returned

Our first math test, using Singapore Math, will be returned today, Monday.  Please check in with your child about his/her test.  Tonight's homework is to spend ten minutes working on test corrections.

Touro Synagogue

Last week we ventured to Newport to visit Touro Synagogue.  There was a wonderful moment when a student asked, "Wait, are we here for Social Studies or for Reading?"  I always love when the work we're doing feels genuinely integrated.  In our current class novel, Out of Many Waters, students learned about the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, as the protagonist Isobel is a victim of the Inquisition.  They were shocked to learn that the history of Touro dates back to the same time.  Although our novel is historical fiction, it's incredible for students to understand the actual history behind the text.
The entire class was very well-behaved and asked impressive questions.  We talked about how Rhode Island was the prime location for religious freedom and what the Jewish community did in Newport to create a community.
Please be sure to ask your child about this amazing field trip!

Reader's Letter Reminder

Due Thursday
I'll be happy to look at these ahead of time. 
Fifth graders should spend ten to fifteen minutes a night this week writing these.
Happy writing!
-Mrs. Woods

K'en L'Av"i, Bricks and Mortar, and Bride Swapping

In 5th Grade JS, we have had quite a week! In fact, it's been quite a 2 weeks! In Lashon, we have been learning about Eliezer ben Yehuda, the father of the modern Hebrew Language. Last week, we held a debate between Eliezer ben Yheuda, who argued that Hebrew should become an everyday language, and the Charedim, who believed that Hebrew should be preserved as a holy language, and therefore only used for prayers and Torah study. Rabbi Seltzer joined us as the judge, and though both teams made very convincing arguments, ultimately, the judge ruled in favor of Av"i (Eliezer ben Yehuda). This week, we are sharing our knowledge with the rest of the school by presenting a biography of ben Yehuda through skits at the Fridat Assembly. We have been working very hard on learning about one of our modern Jewish heroes, and I am so proud of all the students have accomplished!
In Chumash, we contniue to watch the enslavement of the Jewish people. We have learned more details about slavery that students can incorporate into their Biblical Narratives, like the bricks and mortar that slaves needed to create and the fact that their numbers continued to increase despite harsh physical labor. Students have been raising great questions about this story: How is it that the slaves became enslaved? How did fear play in to dehumanizing the other? How are modern examples of slavery similar to the Biblical one that we are learning about? Fabulous questions from fabulous students!
Miss Weiss taught the students Torah project this week, and students had the opportunity to learn about Lavan's trickery. As always, they had to write a commentary about this parashah. In the words of Jacob Hammarstrom, "the big idea of this parsha is 'midah k'neged midah'- what goes around comes around." Yakkov deceived his father, so he had some deception coming back at him. Let's try to act in ways that we remember what goes around comes around, and that hopefully we will all be getting lots of kindness int he coming week.
Shabbat Shalom!
Eliana 

Toxic Waste Experiment

How does toxic waste affect ground water?
That was our focus question, which fifth graders wrote, in the scientific notebook style, in their meaning making journals.  We made models, simulating the aquifer layers with clear pebbles, then molding clay and moistened sand for groundwater.  Red food coloring was our "toxic waste."  Students wrote and articulated their predictions, claims, and evidence.
Our young scientists were amazed to see the process unfold!

"It's really hard to hook the reader." -5th grader

Fifth grade writers handed in their first polished piece of writing for the year: their personal narratives.  Students completed self-assessments today and wrote reflections about the writing process.  We specifically spent a long time editing and revising so they can learn to focus on that important step in the process.  Below are a couple of quotes from students around the question of what they learned about themselves as writers or about the writing process.  What an exciting informal assessment!  I think it's so important for fifth graders to have time to think about how they think and learn.  It would serve all of us well, actually!
Today was thrilling for me as a classroom teacher.  I consciously planned to incorporate time for reflections on learning this year, and so to have students articulate these important big ideas about writing, through their own experiences, that I'd hoped they'd implicitly realize by the end of the year exemplifies one (of many )aspect(s) I love about teaching.. 

"I learned that when you just type it up, it's not done.  You have to revise and edit it."

"What I learned about myself,... about my writing,... well it really sounds twice as good if you revise it."

"I realized that when I think I'm done, I'm not done.  Every time I thought I was done, I just kept revising and revising, and now I just really am so happy with it."

Food Web

We enacted a food web, using organisms that live in the Narragansett Bay.  Each student represented a certain organism and touched hands with anyone who represented something it eats or is eaten by.  Then we introduced different scenarios that would impact one organism, and then have ripple effects on the whole eco-system.  Students then worked on their own definitions of a food web and listed characterise of an eco-system.  Several fifth graders connected this concept to the greater field of systems thinking, which we touched upon at the start of the school year.