Back to Normal!

Well, it's officially over...FCAT that is! I am so ready to get my kiddos back on a normal schedule and back to routine! It's exhausting being off from our regular day for so long. A few things I'm looking forward to...

Synthesis Part Deux: Next Steps

Here they are, my lovely ladies! They have been working synthesis magic in my classroom over the last week. We've been really digging in to what it means to synthesize by using our schema and questioning to examine our changes in thinking. {See my last post if you missed it!} I've been brainstorming where to go next in this inquiry into synthesis, and after talking with a teammate today I think I've got it mapped out. But you know how it goes..best laid plans of mice and men and whatnot...

Synthesis and a *freebie*

I've been tackling the tricky thinking strategy of synthesis this month. I say "tricky" because it always seemed like too abstract of an idea for my kiddos to understand. How would I teach them to  understand how their thinking changed over time and texts?

Expository Text Structures

Today was the first day back, but without the kiddos. My team and I spent most of the morning planning common assessments for our next reading unit - nonfiction expository texts. This is honestly the first time we've ever had the opportunity to sit down and plan out all of our concept assessments for a unit, and it was great! Here's a peek into what we'll be learning next:

What's Ahead in 2013 {linky}

I'm linking up with Michelle at Making it as a Middle School Teacher for a 2013 New Years Linky. Here's what I'm looking forward to in 2013 {now let's see if I can do it all!}. Head over and link up too!

Science Fair

Before leaving for break, my kiddos turned in their science fair projects {yes it's that time already!}. I must admit, there are SO many things I will do differently next year. This was the first year I've dealt with science fair projects on my own. We used to have a full time science lab teacher {I KNOW!!} who would take care of all of our science fair needs.

So, this year as the 5th grade team leader and Science Committee Chair, I was given the duty of handling the science fair. Luckily, I have an AMAZING co-worker who volunteered to head the Science Fair, and I just had to help her out with planning.

Miss McDonald had some CHICKS

With a peep peep here, and a chirp chirp there!

Last month our fifth graders incubated 12 eggs as part of an inquiry into animal life cycles. We studied and researched the incubation process and the life cycle of chickens. We checked for heartbeats, monitored their temperature, and tracked their growth and development.