A New Year

Happy New Year!

I have done almost no thinking about work for two whole weeks.  Usually I spend my whole break really working on lessons or grading papers.  My brain really needed a vacation.  This was a rough semester for me as my own coursework was very demanding and adjusting to a new curriculum has been challenging to say the least.

But since I go back in two days, I'm working one my plans a little at a time.  I at least want my community builders, vocabulary, and read aloud to be ready.  I found a great little website with lots of team building and ice breakers.  My kids already know each other but they could be good to loosen everyone up again.  Plus I completely changed the seating arrangement before I left.

I am launching two new units.  We will be digging deeper into using nonfiction texts through a group project about some famous inventors.  Here's the lesson plan I'm using from thinkfinity.com.  I'll put the kids into three groups and give each group a box with a task list, resource books, and websites.  They must develop a poster visual aid and a power point, then make a presentation.  We will start on a Wednesday because I only teach reading on Wednesday and they can have their whole class period to get started.  The beginning of a project is always the hardest.  I will be teaching some lessons on taking notes from resources as well as how to cite sources.

My kids seem to have a good grasp of what nonfiction is so I don't want to waste time going over text features and genres.  I'd prefer they really learn how to analyze and utilize their nonfiction texts since that is mostly what they will read through their lifetime. 

I plan to continue my use of ASL during reading instruction.  I will also start my inquiry this month.  I will be meeting with my four ESOL students (one in my homeroom, and three in Donna's homeroom) in small groups to work on vocabulary using ASL.  I am trying to find out if the use of ASL during word work using the power teaching model will improve an ESOL students use of fifth grade level vocabulary words.  I will be assessing them through tests that have a variety of test items paired with my own observations and interviews with the kids. 

The other unit I'm launching is a short force and motion workshop. It took forever to get through my life science unit because I included technology lessons and a couple of projects.  But I felt it necessary to lay a foundation for project work that will occur during their science fair projects.  They needed to be able to create word documents, power points, and conduct research, along with citing their sources.  I'm keeping the physical science less about studying and product creation and more about inquiry and experiments.  Hence the roller coasters.

So, here's to a busy new year!