Our First Week

Our first week of school is almost over. Fifth-graders have been putting in shorter “work” days; we’ve kept the afternoons for some less structured time. We also have not given any homework (or much). I think the kids like that!

In 5-P, we have spent some time getting used to our computers. We’ve set up Google Drive, worked some with simple Google Docs, and begun to explore a website called Schoology that I will use for my teaching.

On Friday, you will find a copy of the fifth-grade newsletter in your child’s Friday folder as well as some other notes. I have a parent survey in there that I would like you to fill out and return with your child. Much appreciated.

Homework. While there hasn’t been any homework yet, more will be coming as the days go by. You can check the planners (sometimes the kids forget, though, to put stuff in there!) and also the Assignments link at the top of this page, or the 5th-grade website.

Reading Homework. Please have your child try to average about 30 minutes of reading at home per day for five days. I am not sending home a reading log; I’ve found that parents really don’t like them and they rarely help kids learn the reading habit. Instead, I’ll work on my end to try to get books in the kids’ hands that are ones they are interested in reading. We’ll talk a lot about books, and I’ll help them find books. (More, later, on our learning goals for reading and writing this quarter.) You’ll see 5-days of reading homework per week on the assignment sheet.

Calendar. Remember, there is a digital calendar at the top of this page, too. You can synch that to your digital calendar, if you have one.

A Poem Place. I have the first poem and informational text up on the Poem Place website. If you want, head on over there for some poetry and cool non-fiction viewing and reading.

Marshmallow Challenge. As an ice-breaker and thinking activity, I asked the children to build a tower out of spaghetti, tape, and string. You can see some of the photos of their structures in the slideshow below. There was a lot of laughter! It was really fun to see them rise to the challenge.

 

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Steve Peterson

I teach fifth grade in Iowa.

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