CAP CHAT
Mrs. Tuttle's CAP Class ~ Shields Elementary
March 2, 2017
Mission Statement
We, the Wizards of the CAP House, will participate in advanced level learning, have a growth mindset, and work towards BIG dreams, by following our school rules, and having fun!
CAP NORMS
- Be prepared
- Be respectful
- Be Kind
- Persevere
What's Happening??
3/3 - NO SCHOOL
3/5 - Odyssey of the Mind Fundraiser at FINS
4/6 - Spring Picture Day
4/13 - 5th Grade Science Fair Presentations
4/14 - NO SCHOOL
4/17-4/21 - SPRING BREAK
THURSDAY NOTE
Happy MARCH!
Today was the kick-off of One Book, One School and students are bringing home their copy of Nim's Island tonight. You will get a letter and schedule of reading too! Enjoy reading with your kiddo.
We are changing homework! Students now have a Novel Study Choice Board and must complete 2 activities on it using their book club book. These activities will be shared during Socratic Seminar each Thursday. Students also have to complete organizers in their book club folder to ensure they are prepared for discussion during Socratic Seminar. For math, they have one page of mixed math review to complete in entirety. The math is differentiated for 4th and 5th grade as it contains standards on each grade level. Some topics we have covered and some we haven't yet, but we have discussed a lot lately how students are encouraged to take charge of their learning and may use any resources to complete their homework including Google, YouTube, friends, family, and calculators. Every Thursday, our math time will be spent reviewing the math page, correcting the homework together, sharing strategies that work. Everybody seemed excited with the new routine and I welcome any feedback!
Don't forget the Shield's Surfer is floating at sea. Track its progress at http://educationalpassages.com/boats/00-160380751/
Happy Thursday,
Mrs. Melissa Tuttle
Seven Habits of Happy Kids (and of Highly Effective People)
HABIT #1 - Be Proactive
HABIT #2 - Begin with the End in Mind
HABIT #3 - Put First Things First
This habit focuses on the importance of staying organized, working efficiently, and planning and following a schedule. When we do this we can meet deadlines, avoid a crisis, and be productive!
This week the students organized their busy schedules using their agenda books. Each week, they will be given time in class to complete their agenda book and begin thinking how they can organize their time to be productive and avoid crisis!
Reading
Each week, students will participate in small group Socratic Seminars where they participate in literature discussions about what they read the past week. To help foster relevant discussion, part of the new homework includes completing a discussion organizer so they will be prepared to discuss their reading.
Since the setting of Phantom Tollbooth changed to Digitopolis, where numbers rule, students are integrating math into our whole group book. We met a new character, the Decahedron, which is a 12-faced platonic solid. We also read about infinity and how it never ends. Students could choose to research platonic solids or mobius strips and create a presentation to teach others about them. They must create a visual presentation as well as a model of the item they are presenting. I must confess, I had not heard these terms before enjoying this book so I've been learning a lot!
Writing
Math
Always think before you do.
4th grade
What do you do when you can't use common numerators, benchmarks, or missing pieces to compare fractions? You find common denominators by finding the least common multiple and then create equivalent fractions. We used all of the strategies to compare and order fractions this week.
Next week, students will continue exploring equivalent fractions as they explore tangrams and determine the fractional value of each piece.
5th grade
The 10th Street Pet Santuary is the new unit the 5th graders started this week. They were excited to have a M3 unit to begin! This unit uses the story of a pet sanctuary as a basis to teach adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals as the owners take care of pets. The unit kicked off with a discussion of "decimal fractions." Ask your student what this means. This week we explored the the place value chart, determining that every place value to the right is 1/10 of the digit before it. We discussed the relationship to whole numbers increasing by a power of 10 every time it moves to the left. We used base-ten blocks to provide visuals and manipulatives as we explored reading, writing, and comparing decimals.
Next week, we will continue to compare and order decimals to the nearest thousandth. We will explore the idea of the density property of decimals.
All Pictures are provided by Media Muggles and Picture Professors
Connect with Us!
Email: melissa.tuttle@cape.k12.de.us
Website: www.mrstuttlesclass.com
Location: 910 Shields Avenue, Lewes, DE, United States
Phone: 302-645-7748
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mrstuttlesclass
Twitter: @TuttlesTechies