Teaching World War I

The students are learning so much about World War I. We had the opportunity to borrow one of the traveling trunks through the Upcountry History Museum and the kids loved it! They were able to handle actual artifacts from the War and some great lesson plan ideas. I highly recommend using the trunks in the classroom. It gives students first hand experience and they will love it!! I already have arranged for the World War II trunk. 


 http://www.upcountryhistory.org/education/traveling-trunks/

Point of View

Teaching point of view was so much fun! There were so many different activities that I was able to incorporate into our lessons to really cement their understanding of POV. Flocabulary has amazing videos and the kids loved the Point of View video, they would request all the time. 

 https://www.flocabulary.com/point-of-view/

One activity that helped the kids was a group activity that I found online. The teacher puts a picture in the middle of  an anchor chart and labels around the pictures all three different types of POV, along with the 3 types of 3rd person. The students work together (After the teachers models one) to formulate sentences to fit the picture in each person. 

The students also created a foldable that they used throughout the entire unit. I got the template for free on TpT. 

I used Point of View worksheets  from http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/point-of-view/point-of-view-worksheets/  to model and have students practice figuring out the POV. This is an amazing website that I use regularly. 

Elf for Hire!

The kids enjoyed the Elf For Hire Writing Project this week! We are starting our focus on persuasive writing unit and I thought this would be a fun and easy introductory formal essay.

"Scary" Opinion Writing

When you think of spiders what adjectives come to mind?  Students were asked this question and that started our  opinion writing for the week. Students worked on their opinion writing on spiders this week  

Wow, is it already September???

This year is just flying by! We are already wrapping up our third week of classes. Students are starting to adjust back to being in school. We are already focused on learning our standards for this year. In Social Studies we began studying Reconstruction. Our Writing Unit is focused on Narratives for the first few weeks of school. Your child have already created a map of their "heart" with events from their life. This is the first step in creating a personal narrative. In Reading we have started working on theme. Students have taken notes on what is theme and how to determine theme in literature. They will have an open note test on Friday. Our vocabulary focus is prefixes (re- and dis-).

                          Creating a "heart" Map.

                        Working on theme notes                                              (Standard RL.5.2)

 

Tomorrow, I have surprise for the students! They don't even know it yet! But, we are going to start an awesome Read Aloud: MATILDA! I love the book and the movie. I hope they really enjoy this book as much as I do!

Meet the Teacher... That's me!

Yesterday was meet the teacher and I believe that it went very well. Below are some pictures of the classroom. Many of the students were able to come and I know they had a mixture of emotions about the new year. I am so excited to be their teacher and can't wait to get to know their parents and them better. 

I really hope the kids enjoy this! It is a Reading Graffiti Board where they can share a favorite quote that they find. 

The front of the classroom. 

The reading area... still coming together. 

A very sweet treat from one student! 

The school gave each student a pair of UV sunglasses and I gave out Blow Pops. I bought 4 bags and they were gone before the end of the evening:) 

Time is quickly drawing to an end and before you know it school will start again. This year is going to be an amazing year.  I hope you have enjoyed your break from school and spent time with family and friends. I know you don't want summer to end but just think about all the fun that is about to begin! 

This is going to be your first time in fifth grade and my first time teaching fifth grade. I remember all the fun that I had in fifth grade. I especially remember all the fun extra privileges that we as fifth graders had. My favorite responsibility was helping raise the flag during the week. It was a "big" deal for me and my friends:) I know that there are many responsibilities and privileges that you will have this year.  Fifth grade is so important and you learn so much during your final year of elementary school. 

My responsibility is to get you ready for middle school and I take that responsibility very seriously. I want you to grow and have so much fun learning this year. I will stay in communication with your parents and you. I want you to succeed! Reading is so very important and when you develop a desire to read you will become even more creative in your writing. Your responsibility is to try your best! That is all I ask. If you try, you might just be surprised at the outcome!

As a side note... Pinterest has become my best friend these past few weeks. I hope you enjoy the classroom. Don't worry I will go over all the procedures starting the first day. As I look forward to meeting you I can't imagine the mixed feeling you have about fifth grade. I can't wait to get to know you and your family:) Your final year of Elementary School is about to begin!