It is an honor to be teaching at TCDS again this school year and to have the opportunity to work with all of you. It has been great to getting to know all of you. This has been a fantastic and memorable year so far and there's so much more fun left to be had!
At the start of this school year, I had hoped we could use this website throughout the school year to stay updated on what we are learning in each subject, homework assignments, and special events. Unfortunately, I've had some difficulties maintaining the website. I will be working on updating and revising the site over the next few weeks. For the time being, it is...
This quarter's literary focus is historical fiction. Each student will choose a book set in a historical period studied in fifth grade (anything from the Age of Exploration through the Civil War of the United States). While reading this book, students will participate in weekly literature group discussions. Literature group discussions will focus on topics such as setting, characters, and theme, just to name a few. The final project for our historical fiction unit will be the creation of a newspaper based on the book. You may upload a copy of the project guidelines from the class downloads listed below.
Check out this chart to make sure your book really is historical fiction!
Just can't get enough math? Check this out!
Since the Monkeys are simply mad about math, I have included some extra math sheets for practice of basic math facts. It is very important that students know their basic math facts. Having a strong knowledge of their basic math facts will make math much less stressful as the year progresses!
Any worksheets that are printed out, completed and handed in will be considered as extra credit as long as students are caught up on ALL classwork and homework.
NEED TO PRACTICE MATH FACTS?
This site has a game for just about every basic math skill you might need practice with. Check it out! (Hey, it beats regular ol' flash cards!)
http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A GRAPH?
This site will help you make bar, pie, and line graphs in a snap. Check it out!
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx
It seems like it's been a long, long time since we've had a regular Weekly Writer's Workshop assignment! Of course, we all know we've been very busy with some great writing projects, such as our very creative "Your Classroom" projects... And let me tell you, your classrooms certainly would be interesting places to be, boys and girls!!! We will be busy with a large writing project yet again, towards the end of this quarter, as we create and design our own newspapers based on our historical fiction novels.
In the meantime, we will reinstate our Weekly Writer's Workshop. Each week you will be able to download the Weekly Writer's Workshop prompt from this website.
Remember to take a peek at the Six Traits of Writing guidelines, to make sure that your writing is the best it can be!
And don't forget these important tips too!
GRAMMAR ROCKS!
Kids, ask your parents if they remember these videos... I bet they could sing you a few of the songs!
After seeing our virtual class pet, Charlie, the kids have become interested in adopting a pet of their own. In order to adopt a virtual pet, you must have a website to for it to live on. As such, students who do exceptionally well with effort and attitude will be given the opportunity to adopt a pet and have it added to our class zoo!
