Check out some of the kiddos goals!
On Thursday, the kids and I filled out our New Years Resolutions together. We decided we should have important goals that make us better people so... the first goal we made was a learning goal, something we wanted to get better at here at school. The second goal we decided should be a social goal - improving how we act, react, and interact with the people around us. The third goal we treated as our own personal fun, inspiring, traditional resolution. Check out some of the kiddos goals!
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The prep for this lesson is always a little time consuming - but nothing a little evening of Heart of Dixie can't turn into a relaxing couch activity! At the beginning of the lesson, I handed each of the table groups a baggie with about 15 pictures inside that I had cut out of magazines demonstrating some sort of character conflict. Their first task was to discuss and classify them together under the four types of character conflict. We also talked about conflict being internal or external. Next, each student individually chose a picture and determine what type of conflict it was, whether it was internal or external conflict, and explain what clues the picture gave them to make them believe that. Then, as groups they made collages of they clippings and cards to hang on the wall. The kids really did a great job with this activity and were able to articulate the four types very well! The posters have been a great visual for us to remember what we’ve learned and use as quick reminders of the different types of character conflict we come across in narrative writing. Recently, in reading, we have been reviewing story elements (settings, characters, plot, sequence, events, etc) and then beefing them up a bit for fifth grade. We have taken these elements and added new, Middle and High School, Vocabulary to them such as, Exposition, Conflict, Climax, Resolution, etc. The week before break we focused on the four major types of character conflict. Character vs. Character Character vs. Self Character vs. Nature Character vs. Society After learning about the four different types, the kids partnered up and chose one of the books that I had pre-chosen from the library. They then read the books aloud together around the room looking for the major conflict. We must remember, that a good book/story will have lots of little conflicts throughout to make the story more interesting, but we want to focus on the OVERALL conflict when summarizing. After that, we came back together on the carpet and shared where we thought our books belonged on the conflict chart. The kids really enjoyed reading the books aloud to their partners. During their independent reading time, when they are reading their own books, they decided what conflict was occurring in their stories and we recorded this in their notebooks.
I hope you are all having a wonderful - and much extended - holiday break!! I must warn you - this is a LONG post full of photos! To recap our Christmas adventures together, here is a little of what we did .... To begin our journey, we checked our baggage, turned in out tickets, grabbed our pass ports, boarded "Airway 5", and headed off to INDIA! In route, we watched a safety video (actual video used by Virgin Airlines). Once we arrived in India, we were greeted by costumed "Indians" who passed out a cultural snack for us to try. For many of us, this was a new experience - good for some, not-so-good for others! Snack = Fennel seeds and liquorish candies - intended as a breath freshener sweet. We also watched a short clip about the winter celebration of Diwali (pronounced diVali) in the country of India. Our cultural craft for this country included creating stained glass lotus flowers using laminate, tracing sheets, and permanent markers. Our next destination was Sweden! In route, we read an informational article on their winter celebration St. Lucia Day and viewed a short powerpoint showing us the different aspects and the history of St. Lucia. Once we arrived in Sweden, we were greeted by our very own "St. Lucia" who passed out a cultural snack of sweet cookies to everyone. In Mrs. Leach's room we continued our travels to the country of Mexico where they celebrate Las Posadas! In South American countries, the nativity and story of the Christ Child is performed and reenacted by children. Poinsettias are native to South America and flower throughout the winter. The shape of the flowers petals are often referred to as the "Star of Bethlehem" which led the shepherds and wise men to the Baby Jesus. Here we learned about the celebration and acted out the story of Baby Jesus's Birth. For the cultural craft, we created paper poinsettias to wear. After re-boarding their plane, students found themselves arriving in the Land of Dragons! The largest winter celebration in China is the Chinese New Year. There are lots of similarities to this holiday and Christmas including eating special foods, giving gifts (of money), and celebrating with lots of light! In China, students created chinese paper lanterns and learned about this holiday through a short movie clip. The next destination was to the country of Israel. Many Jews, around the word, celebrate the winter holiday of Hanukkah. Students read about the Miracle of the Maccabees, lit a menorah, created a paper dreidel and played for chocolate coins. The final stop on Airway 5 found us back in our own country - the good old USA! Here we learned about the history of Christmas music and the different golden ages - we answered the questions, what is the oldest song? (I Saw Three Ships) When was the first golden age? (Victorian Era) Why did Christmas stop being celebrated for years? (Puritans/Pilgrims banned it) When was the second golden age of Christmas music? (1940s - 1950s) We also looked at the history of Christmas Cards and answered questions like, When was the first Christmas card created? (1843) Who began the first "official" Christmas cards? (Queen Victoria) Who started the first US "affordable" card company? (John C. Hall - Hallmark!) Our Cultural Craft included creating our parents Christmas cards to go along with our science ornaments - We hope, parents, all enjoyed these :0) We used stamp pads and markers to create thumb print holiday designs. We also made sure all of our items were packed safely in our luggage (paper bags) and that we had filled out our passports correctly and been stamped for each country. To end our day, we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, ate cookies, and created SUPER scrumptious cups of hot chocolate at our Hot Cocoa bar (yes, we fixed the sign! LOL) and opened our stockings. |
HOPPIN's FABULOUS FIFTH GRADE CLASS!
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