Happy September!

Is it September already?  Time really flies when you are having fun!

The happy hedgehogs have been hard at work now that fifth grade is in full swing.  Currently here are our areas of study:

Writing - Poetry (although we just wrapped up our on-demand narrative writing prompt this morning) - We will begin choosing poems next week for our revision.  Our unit will culminate in a little over two weeks when we will have a grade-wide poetry celebration where all students will read selected poems from their writing this unit. 

Social Studies - Three Cultures Meet  - We are wrapping up our study of the first people that inhabited the Americas and their civilizations.  Next week comes the Europeans.  Check out these historians researching the first peoples and trying to gather evidence to suggest they were civilized:

Reading - Agency and Independence - Our mentor text right now is Wonder by R.J. Palacio, which I chose because of our inside/outside circle activity with Dr. Bader and Mrs. Taylor and the class discussion it prompted.  We have begun discussing how our reading partnerships will go this year.  Today we began using a little catch phrase for class: "When the work gets hard, we work harder." 

Math - Chapter 2 - Whole Number Multiplication and Division - The "Parent Letter" is on my website for you to read if you choose.  Remember, you can also use the website to log into Think Central to watch videos on supporting your child's math learning in this chapter if you like.  At this point, all fifth graders should be expecting daily math homework, and all have an enrichment packet that coincides with our work in chapter 2 that they can be working on throughout the chapter. 

I also owe you a big thank you for purchasing books through Scholastic Book Order!  Because of that, I was able to order the following for our classroom library:

On a sad note, you probably heard that my beloved hedgehog, Hagrid, passed away yesterday.  Unfortunately he was unable to be in our classroom this year, due to his illness, but he did have a large impact on my students and teaching for the past three years.  He long out-lived the prognosis he received in December.  The children were so sweet in their support and requested to hold a ceremony in honor of his life.  We will do this ceremony in approximately two weeks.  It is my intention to have another hedgehog in the future (I know they keep asking). 

I hope everyone enjoys a lovely weekend!