Fifth Grade Fall Fun

Happy Autumn, families! 

We have been hard at work in fifth grade, as I hope you've heard about, and I wanted to share some of it with you! 

Firstly, I am shipping off our Pringle Challenge discovery projects today. 

For this project, students were challenged to package one Pringle chip so that it would safely reach a partner fifth grade class at Glenridge.  Students learned about what happens to packages during shipping and how to package items safely.  They were given some limitations for materials and size.  They researched designs and devised prototypes for their packages and then tested them.  Once our packages arrive at Glenridge and their packages arrive at our school, our classes will Skype and watch as we unbox our projects to see who succeeded.  I can't wait to see what happens!  

Our next discovery project was introduced by Dr. Martin to all of the fifth graders this week.

We want to empower students to make a difference in our community.  They are all going to be considering different problems or issues that concern them, and then research ways to make a positive change.  Then students will create plans and carry them out.  Students who are a part of XL will also be exploring this through their work, as well.  We know that our fifth graders are leaders and can't wait to see what they pursue with this project!

Speaking of leaders, we got to meet with our 2nd grade reading buddies recently.  It was lovely to see these partnerships share stories together!

One of the areas of focus for our class in mathematics has been working on our growth mindset as mathematicians.  We reflect on Jo Boaler's "Math Mindsets" at the beginning of each class period and keep those as a focus through our work.  There are 8 in total: everyone can learn math to the highest levels, mistakes are valuable, questions are really important, math is about connections and communication, math is about creativity and making sense, math is about learning and not performing, and depth is more important than speed.  Many times students write these on their desks as reminders.

We've also started using a new technology in our math class: Pear Deck.  This is an interactive interface for presentations so students can respond to our math problems on their own iPads and I can view their thinking on my computer screen.  It's an incredible tool for fostering conversation around our thinking!

Finally, I must thank you for ordering books through Scholastic this month.  I was able to order 18 books at no cost to add to our classroom library!!!  I selected a mix of non-fiction and fiction, a couple of graphic novels, and chose books that would hopefully appeal to your children and support our learning in fifth grade.  Thank you so much!