Ms. Calder, Language Arts, 5th Grade

Posts

May 28-31

Wow, the last week of the school year!
I am so proud of all the growth that the students have made this year!
I would encourage the students to keep reading and writing over the Summer. 
 
This week the students will be finishing their projects for the Open House on Thursday. We will also be writing a summer poem and have some fun with words that represent reading by creating a wordle. 
 
 

May 20-24

Reading:
Students will continue reading their Chapter books and writing questions to show their understanding of their book.  They will also be creating a poster to showcase their learning over the course of the year. 
 
Writing:
 Students will finish their biography research project and begin sharing with the class.  On Monday, we will be writing letters to the troops to show Operation Gratitude, and then we will mail them to the troops to show our gratitude for all they do for our country. 

May 13-17

Reading:
Students will continue reading their Chapter book. Last week we had a Battle of the Books with Mrs. Lounsbury's class. We had a great time competing with the questions that the students wrote for the books that they read. 
 
Writing:
Students will start the week with their final Writing Assessment to share their progress of their writing skills.
Next the students are continuing writing their Biography research paper.  The students are finishing up their final copies of their research papers and constructing their Bobblehead.  The students will then create a presentation that they will share with the class. 

May 6-10

Reading:
Students will continue reading their Chapter book.  A couple of students have finished reading their first book. The students will continue to set a goal for how many pages that they would like to read, then kick back and escape with their book.  The final step is for the students to write two questions each day to use in our Battle of the Books. 
 
Writing:
The students are continuing writing their Biography research paper.  After they finish writing the rough draft, they will edit their paper themselves and then switch with a peer for a second edit of their paper.  Then move onto their final draft. When their final draft is complete, they will construct their bobblehead for their biography person. 

April 29 - May 3

Reading:
Students chose a chapter book to read.  The first step each day is to set a goal for how many pages that they would like to read, then kick back and escape with their book.  The final step is for the students to write two questions each day to use in our Battle of the Books. 
 
Writing:
For our Biography writing unit the students are writing a rough draft essay showcasing all of their knowledge that they gain from their research.  After they finish writing the rough draft, they will edit their paper themselves and then switch with a peer for a second edit of their paper.  Then move onto their final draft. 

April 22-26

Reading:
This week we will focus on short stories again this week.    The students will pick from several short stories to read and then write two questions for each story for our Battle of the Books competition.  We are looking to have our Battle of the Book competition on Friday with Mrs. Lounsbury's class.  
 
Writing:
Biography research.  Students will be writing their research paper using the facts that they have researched.  The focus will be writing a five-page paper to showcase their learning of their biography person.
 

April 15-19

On Monday, we will finish taking the reading MAP assessment for the student who haven't complete the test yet. 
 
Reading:
This week we will focus on short stories.  The students will pick from several short stories to read and then write two questions for each story for our Battle of the Books competition.  Last week the students did such an incredible job reading the pictures books.  We are competition with Mrs. Lounsbury's class of who can read the most books.  The kids are having a great time!  I will keep you posted on the total number of books that the students have read. 
 
Writing:
The students picked a person to research, and they are in the process of completing their graphic organizer for their selected person.  After the research is complete, the students will write a rough draft sharing their knowledge of their biography person.  

April 8 - 12

Welcome back! I hope that you all had an amazing Spring Break!
 
For reading, we are going to start a new unit on the Battle of the Books.  Students will read picture books, short stories, and Chapter books.  After reading each piece of literature, students will write 2 questions.  They two types of questions are inferential questions and evaluative questions using a Microsoft form on the computer.   I will then compile all the questions, and then on Friday we will have a Battle of the Books to see who can answer the most questions correctly and also who has read the most books. 
 
For writing, students will choose a person to research from a given list, and they are using a graphic organizer will conduct the research.  After the research is completed, the students will create a Bobble head of their chose person and then take all of their research to write an Autobiography essay. 

March 18-22

This week in ELA will be a little different. 
 
Monday: Students will stay with their Advocacy until 10:00 and then they will transition to their regular ELA class.  The 5th grade boys will stay with me for Growth and Development with Mrs. Schnieder, and the 5th grade girls will go to Mrs. Lounsbury's class for a review lesson of reading skills. 
 
Tuesday: We will transition into our regular ELA classes and then at 10:15 the 5th grade boys will stay with me to work on reading skills, and the 5th grade girls will go to Mrs. Lounsbury's class for their Growth and Development lesson with Mrs. Schnieder. 
 
Wednesday and Thursday: All students will stay with their Advocacy classes as Mr. Varela and Mrs. Lounsbury will go with their First and Second grade buddies to the Tails for Tales program. 
 
Friday: We will have a regular ELA class.  The students will finish working on "Love That Dog" reading comprehension packet and writing poetry to finish up our Poetry unit. 

March 11 - 15

This week we will be breaking into new groups for ELA. 
 
Reading:  We will begin reading Love That Dog and working on comprehending this poetry book. The students will also be working on giving meaning to figurative language text. The students will be picking a free reading book and set a goal for themself of how many pages that they are going to read for the week and then each day the students will write down a summary of their reading and any new vocabulary words that they need to look up. 
 
Writing: Students will write a Sonnet, Haiku, Ode and Hip-Hop Poems this week.  The students wrote a bio poem last week that should be coming home in Friday folders.  They were super creative and wonderful! 

March 4 -6

Reading: We will continue to read poetry and understand the meaning.  We are also learning figurative language vocabulary to help understand the poetry elements to deepen their understanding. 
 
Writing:  Students will begin writing poems this week. They will write a Sonnet, Haiku, Ode, and Hip hop poem.  

February 26-March 1

This week we will begin Poetry. 
 
The students will learn the Elements of Poetry, read poems and understand the meaning. In this unit we will read Love that Dog and make meaning of this book as well and make connections. 
 
On Tuesday, February 27, the students will be on a Field Trip to the Denver Art Musuem. If you haven't filled out the permission slip for the Field Trip, please do so by Monday, February 26. Please see the information below. 
 

Dear 5th grade families,

Our students will be going on a field trip to the Denver Art Museum on Tuesday, February 27th from 9:45-2:00pm. Please complete the permission form here by Monday, February 26th. During the field trip, students will be participating in a program called Perception Games.

We are in search of 4 adult chaperones for the day. If you are interested in being a chaperone, please complete the background check via the Westgate website (if you have not done so this year already) and then email [email protected]. Note that not all parents who complete background checks will be selected to chaperone for this field trip.

February 20-23

Reading:
Students are finished or finishing reading their assigned novel.  When they are finished the students reading Hatchet are working on a Survival Guide and the students reading Esperanza Rising are working on the end of book project looking at the symbolism and connecting to real life events that Esperanza and her family faced. 
 
Writing:
After reading the Opinion writing papers comparing two restaurants we need to go back and take a second look of how the paper can be editing and created into a five-paragraph essay. 

February 12 - 15

Reading:
Students will finish Reading their novel. 
For the book Hatchet students will write a survival guide using their knowledge from the book. 
 
For the book Esperanza Rising students will pack a suitcase by putting their self in Esperanza's shoes.  They will need to pick five things that would be important to them and explain their reasoning for picking their choices and compare their items to Esperanza's travels.
 
Writing:
Students will finish writing their Opinion essay comparing two restaurants. 

February 5 - 9

Reading:
We hope to finish reading both books this week, Hatchet and Esperanza Rising.  The kids have done an amazing job of switching to the new Literature Circle Role sheet which encourages higher level thinking about the reading.  We will read and practice using Text Evidence to support your reading and thinking. 
 
Writing:
The students have finished writing their Opinion Writing piece. We will move on to choosing an Opinion writing topic that will show both the pros and cons of the topic.