5th Grade Challenge Newsletter
October 2015
What We Accomplished in September
These past few weeks have been a busy time in the 5th grade Challenge classroom. The beginning of September was spent establishing our classroom and getting into our routine. Our first task was to write and ratify a Classroom Constitution. We also worked on setting goals for ourselves, learning a bit about the Constitution, reciting the Preamble, and investigating the many cultural influences and regional distinctions among Native Americans. For our upcoming chapter we'll be finding out about Explorers.
Native American Codex Project
Native Americans were our topic of study this past September. Each student worked in groups and contributed work to a Native American codex, as shown in the pictures below. We then held a “tribal council” where the students shared their work. Native Americans will be highlighted throughout this year as we continue to study American history. We also recorded vocabulary words and definitions to study for our first day of Challenge Baseball: a very exciting game based on high-order questioning, comprehension, and constant review of material. We are looking forward to another round of Baseball this October!
Exploring in October
During the past week the students have been discussing and even playing a game to understand the reasons why people started exploring. Next week, the students will be reading Chapter 3 and taking notes about explorers. Later this month the students will be tested on their knowledge of the information presented in Chapter 3. The date of this test will be announced at least one week in advance, and information about this test will be posted to my website. In addition to testing our knowledge of the explorers, the students will be completing an Explorer Logbook. This project is designed as an in-class project with a partner, although the students will be completing several parts of the assignment individually. Hopefully this will be a fun and educational way to delve deeper into the topic of one explorer. Further information about the Explorer Logbook will be coming soon!
Living Museum
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015, 01:30 PM
Skyview Upper Elementary School
Mr. Joers' Contact Information
Email: rjoers@methacton.org
Website: http://www.methacton.org/Page/11150
Location: Skyview Upper Elementary School
Phone: 610-489-5000