GaMeS!

More, more and more games!

Practice you synonyms, antonyms, and homographs with this game!
sea caption

Build a pyramid

Figurative Language

prefixes and suffixes

Reading Comprehension

Computer Station

Practice Summarizing and become a millionaire!
Rags to Riches
 Take a cause and effect test
cause and effect quiz
cause and effect rags to riches
cause and effect

Writing in a Journal

I came across the perfect example of a journal. A journal is an excellent way to write down any thoughts you may have and jot down memories, especially for the fifth grade year. Anything exciting or not so exciting can fit perfectly into a journal. A poem you liked or a story/movie you saw, write it down! Read Amelia's Notebook and get inspired to start your own journal. 

Amelia's Notebook

Book It!

There is a fantastic new program to encourage kids to read more. the program is called Book It! I have give the students goals every month. if they meet their goal they will get a coupon for one free personal pizza from pizza hut. YUM!!
Here are the students goal for every month:
Read a total of 4 books.
Read at least 2 fiction books (chapter books)
Read at least 2 non-fiction books (informational or biographies)
complete the print outs on the links provided. 
*if you do not have a printer just copy it down a a sheet of notebook paper, it's the effort that counts!
Here are the links:

Comic strip activity : Draw and create a comic strip of the chapter book you read.
sequence: Write the events in sequence of the book you read. 
Story Box : create a cube with the important story elements in your book. 
Story Map: fill in the correct information using the information from your story. 
Characterization: Use you main character to complete this assignment. 
book review 1
book review 2

Computer Station (Word Games)
These game will help develop word association, spelling and vocabulary. Try it out!
Clueless Crossword

word mash

Literary Terms

When we read, we come across many literary terms, but what are they? As a class, we created a foldable to help us learn the definition and an example of the term. We also made a place to write other examples we might find while we read.

We practiced using our foldable when I read Luck of the Loch Ness Monster. We were able to find examples of similies and onomatopoeias. 
                                                             
Here are the definitions and examples of each Literary Term.

 

  

At Home: Find more examples in your child's library book. Poets often use a lot of literary terms so look at some poetry to find great examples.

Author's Purpose Group Activity

Students got into groups and were given a text to read and look through. Using text features and by reading the stories, they were able to create circle thinking maps. In the center, they placed what they thought the author's purpose was. In the outer circle they wrote evidence from the text to prove their choice. In the box were the questions they ask themselves and any background knowledge that may have helped with them determining the author's purpose. As a class, we realized that genre of stories play a role in author's purpose.

 

 

Author's Purpose Pies

In order to better understand what we read, we need to know the purpose behind it. We need to ask ourselves, "why was this written?" and "what is the purpose for this text?". We concluded that there are 4 major reason as to why a selection is written and the reasons are to persuade us, to inform us, to entertain us, or to show emotion.  We made (baked) author's purpose pies to help us remember.

Future Poets of America

Lately we have been learning a lot about poems and the terms used, for example, stanzas, onomatopeoia, and rhyme patterns. So I put the students to the test! The students were able to create beautiful poems on any topic they chose. Here are some great poems. Enjoy!



Computer Station and Practice at Home

Click on the links below to play and learn!

Main Idea

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/book_buddy/rosie/skill_pre.html

or

Predictions

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity_collections_preview/predict_outcomes/3_predict.html

New Book!

We are very excited to start our new book. The book I selected is called Holes by Louis Sachar. Its a story about a boy who gets wrongly accused of a crime and sent to a camp where the campers must dig a hole everyday to "build character".

Before reading the first chapter, we predicted what we thought of when we heard "camp green lake". Most students thought of a beautiful lake full of trees and kids playing. After reading the first chapter we discovered that Camp Green Lake is much different than we imagined. Students drew and created a bubble map of their predictions and what the actual setting was. 

We can't wait to read more about Stanley Yelnats and his adventure at Camp Green Lake! 

vocabulary, library and social studies

Vocabulary: This game helps us learn our vocabulary by coming up with a word that helps us remember our vocabulary word along with acting out. When the teacher says compression, the students say CPR and pretend to do CPR with their hands. 

Part of our library has a wall to write down recommendations of books to read. As a class we practiced reading different types of books from biographies to informational. The students write down the genre, three important events that happened in the book, and whether they would recommend it to a friend. 

 

We had to complete a map of the states and cities of the United States, but instead of just looking at a map, the students got to work together to construct a puzzle. 

First Day

Today the students received a welcome back survival kit. the bag contained lots of goodies to motivate them this year. 

5^th Grade  First Day Kit

• Starburst: You will be a shining star in school if you smile and

always do your best.

• Penny: To remind you that you are a valuable member of our

class.

• Sticker: We will always stick together and help one another.

• Smarties: You are going to learn SO much this year!

• Eraser: Remember, it’s okay to make mistakes. That is how

we learn.

• Lifesaver: I am here to help you. Don’t be afraid to come

to me if you need something.

We had a great time getting to know each other by playing ice breaker bingo. Every student had to find a classmate that matched what was on their card and that classmate would sign their square. It varied from the colors they liked to what they did this summer. Here is a completed game card. 

Every student had to get 3 post it notes and write a goal they had for this year on each post it. Many students had amazing goals. Some students would like to get honor roll on every report card, get commended on STAAR test and some would even like to get 500 point on AR! Through our hard work this year I believe we can reach our goals!

 Today was lots of fun for my wise owls!

Welcome Back!!!!

 Get ready for an exciting year! I expect everyone had a wonderful break and hope you are ready to get back to learning. This is your last year in elementary so it's your time to shine! 

This blog will be updated frequently to show off the wonderful things we do in the classroom and around Sutton. Please check it frequently. Important reminders and websites will be posted on this blog to help with homework and projects.