Mr. Klein’s 5th Grade Blog

      Following our most recent set of guided reading books, students took a break to focus their energies on developing and improving their fluency. As with their previous exploits in the theatre, the students divided into troupes and divided roles amongst cast members. Roles ranged from narrators to rugged explorers to ancient dragons of Chinese Mythology. Students focused on bringing their characters to life as they practiced with their group members, making the words on the page sound like spoken language.
      After practicing the script for a few days, working through stage directions, and interacting with one another, they were ready for the final presentation. They developed backdrops that would be used in the various scenes, worked out how they would change them between Acts, and performed a few dry runs for the class. Beautifully created invitations went out to family and friends for our major Kleinway Opening.
      There was quite a large audience one opening afternoon. We had visitors in from as far as Woodridge to view the plays. Performers were met with rounds of applause and standing ovations as their plays concluded. All-in-all, out wonderful actors and actresses did an amazing job preparing for and presenting to parents and friends alike. Our fluency was flowing fabulously that day due to their hard work. Way to go troupes!
      Take a peek below to see the behind-the-scenes action.

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Just before school let out today, a case of swine flu was reported at Ira Jones. As a result, our Step-Up Day on Tuesday has been cancelled. We will reschedule the visit and let you know when that date is set. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Have a great weekend!

      For the past three weeks or so we’ve been learning about the Civil War and one of the projects we had to do involved historical empathy. We were writing a narrative from the perspective of someone involved in the Civil War. We each had to pick someone like a Union or Confederate, or a runaway slave and/or a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
    The first thing we had to do is write an organizer. On that we had to fill out a web that would give you most of the detail. Then we filled out these six questions that would help organizer the story. For example, we might ask what a Union soldier you would do before the battle, the march to the battle field then so on. From the information on the organizer, we made a rough draft that Mr. Klein would then check it. One of the things we tried to do with the project was to show feelings by using actions. Instead of saying someone was scared, , I could say that my hands were shivering. The reader should be able to get an idea of how that character was feeling at that time. After Mr. Klein checked all of the rough draft we had to pair up with groups of three to do this thing called Talking Triangles where we read our story to the other two kids and we would ask them questions to help us improve our writing. We used the advice on the rough drafts and from the talking triangles to make our final drafts. When all was said and done, we got to share our final stories with a few friends. Some of them were great!
     These stories helped the kids see how different people viewed the war. Even though we may not have agreed with certain peoples’ actions (slave owners, southern soldiers, etc.) we were able to at least understand their motivations.

By: Mark (and a small piece by Mr. Klein )

     What if you wrote to someone or a company and you could get something out of it?  Well, that’s what we did!  We wrote to companies like the Hershey Company asking for information, Mia Hamm asking for tips, and Mountain Dew asking how the product is made.
     There were many steps to writing a business letter.  We had to include the school’s address, the date, the sender’s address, and the salutation.  The letter had one or two body paragraphs depending on what you were writing about and then included a call to action, asking the reader to do something for us.  We then included a closing, our signature, and out typed name.  It was a lot of work!So far, we have gotten a few letters back in class.  One students received information about the Statue of Liberty.  Another got a gift pack with a video all about how Pepsi products are made.  One boy even got a special meeting arranged with the head of food services ad Sodexo to talk about changes he would like to see in the cafeteria! 
     I guess if you have a good reason for what you are writing for, you might just get what you want!

By: Kailee

By Reyse

       Do you know what would happen to your body if you did not have any joints?  It would just turn into a pile of bones.  To figure out how hard it would be to live without joints, we did some simple centers. However, there was a catch.   Mr. Klein split us into two groups.  Group 1 had to tape their thumb and pointer finger together (on both hands) so they could not bend or move them and Group 2 had to tape a wooden stick to both arms so they couldn’t use their wrists or elbows.
       Group 1had to do some centers that seemed easy, but were not!  Group 1 had to hold a pencil, and write their name.  That was hard because you usually hold a pencil with your thumb and pointer finger, and you couldn’t use them because they were taped together.  Group1 also had to tie their shoes with their fingers taped.  Most people thought this center was hard because you couldn’t get a good grip on the laces without your thumb.  Another center was turning to page 236 in a book, and then flipping ten pages one-by-one.  At this center, you were lucky is you completed this center all the way through.
       Group 2 didn’t have it easy either.  In Group 2, with the stick on your arm you had to cut a circle from a circle from and index card, and then put it on the bulletin board with a pushpin.  Most of the circles that students cut out didn’t end up looking like circles, more like ovals or triangles.  People in Group 2 also had to pick three popcorn kernels out of a tiny bag, then pull a piece of tape off the tape dispenser, and then tape the kernels to an index card.  Since the popcorn kernels were so small, and the tape was so sticky, it was hard to get them both to corporate.
       After we finished the stations, we had to switch, Group 1 turned into Group 2 and Group 2 turned into Group 1.
       At the end of the day, I think everyone in the class, everyone, realized that it would be very hard to live without joints.  And how sweaty your hands get when you have tape on them for 20-30 minutes

By: Megan

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   Business letters we mean…  As part of our exploration of voice in writing, we’ve taking on a more “professional” approach as our wonder writers practiced with formal letter writing.  We first compared and contrasted the purpose, voice, and content of friendly letters versus business letters.  The writers noticed how there were many similarities in the components - date, salutation, body, address, and closing.  There were a few key differences in the layout as business letters generally follow the block format.  The content of a business letter also differs from a friendly letter.  One student noted how business letters are more “serious” and are meant to accomplish something. 
   Once done ironing out the organizational details students began with a problem/solution letter.  In these letters, the writer identifies a problem, provides some potential solutions, and then calls for some form of action to be taken regarding the problem.  We discussed how it is important to explain the impact the problem has and why the person reading should care about it.  We want to make the reader want to fix the problem.
   I was amazed (and maybe a little scared!) at the problems students pinpointed.  The word wizards wrote about the heat problem from the vent, the noise in the hallway, the shortage of time to eat lunch, lack of space in the cubbies or desks, and many (many) more issues they face.  They did a wonderful job citing specific reasons why the problem should be alleviated.  Some pointed out the impact on their education, their health, time, and organizational habits.  As a result, their letters became much more meaningful and powerful to the reader. 

   If a “Wow!” would be sufficient, I would leave it at that.  But, that would not do all the hard work, effort, time, planning, and cooperation of these super students any justice.  For the past 3 1/2 weeks we having been living and breathing Civil War in Social Studies.  There’s so much to talk about that this post will be spread over 2 blog entries, one covering the events leading up to war and one covering the during and after war.

   Our journey began with the pre-Civil War era in the early to mid 1800s.  Our focus was to discover what events would lead to such a devistating time in history.  What could drive our great nation to split in two and fight one another?  Students first examined the differences in lifestyles and views of the North and South.  By comparing the views on slavery, the types of the economies, and the population make-up, our super-slueths were able to recognize how such differences could lead to greater problems.

   Our focus then shifted to how the two groups tried to settle their problems.  Students pulled from their own experiences to help understand how the North and South attempted to solve their problems.  You and your brother fight over the front seat?  Compromise and take turns.  Sister is always on the wii when you want to play?  Work out a schedule so both get to play.  We looked at a number of situations where brothers and sisters, kids and parents, and groups of friends worked out compromises to solve problems.  Of course, the kids’ problems were a little easier to deal with than those facing the North and South, but the discussions helped bring us to the core principle of a compromise - give and take. 

   The compromises each side made were enormous and meant to ultimately help preserve the union.  We studied the Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Compromise of 1850.  Each “solution” helped sustain the peace, whether by stopping the spread of slavery in certain territories or allowing slave states to enter in others.  Although each compromise did help settle some problems, the issues began to escalate and there was a very uneasy balance.  Upon the election of Lincoln, many southern states became too worried their way of life would change and seceded from the union.  Fort Sumter became known as the first battle of the war.

   Throughout the pre-Civil War era, the Social Studies Superstars were working on a number of mini-projects tied in with the various topics we had studied.  Students recorded vocabular, important people, completed some mapping activites and plotted major events on a timeline.  Take a peek below to see a few examples of the projects.  (Some pictures are MIA right now.  I will add them if they manage to magically undelete themselves!)

Be sure to check back for the next update - The Civil War!

   We were rockin’ and a rollin’ during our Valentine’s Party today!  Students took to the dance floor and tore it up as the Cupid Shuffle blared on the stereo.  Boys, girls, and parent helpers all jumped in and made this one of the most memorable holiday parties I’ve seen.  There was smiling, laughing, and a little bit of free-style groovin that ignited the fun. 

    After working up a good sweat, students participated in a few games to keep the fun going.  From the chopstick relay to the Hershey Kiss unwrapping contest, smiles were had by all.  Students attempted to become master architects, constructing heart towers.  Some of these precarious structures teetered on the brink of destruction but Taryn and Kailee managed to stabalize theirs long enough to take home the big prize.  Zack took home the monster Hershey Kiss with his expectional candy handle skills in the unwrapping challenge and Alex snagged a prize for his ninja-like shopstick skills.  Unfortunately the party ended rather quickly.  As they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

Take a peek below to see some of the fun!

 
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    What makes us who we are?  Is it our clothes?  Our actions?  Our family?  Where we live?  Students pondered these questions as we studied our voices.  We took a look at what features make us, and our voices, unique.  These idea we brainstormed developed into some free-form poetry as we completed our “I am from…” project.  The creativity was flowing out of the word wizards and right into their pens.

    We then moved to the computer lab to type up our poems.  The computer whizzes cruised through the typing process - writing, editing, formating, and adjusting fonts to best demonstrate their unique qualities.  Finally, students created mini-me’s.  From the hair to the clothes, to the expressions, our little characters came alive.  Our poetry is decorating our walls, shouting out our individuality.