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We are working on our extravagant end of
year show for your pleasure and entertainment.
It's called, 'The Mystery of The Haunted Film Set'.
Teacher planning
for that project needs to be a much more organic affair than
standard curriculum projects. I won't be able to give you anything,
not even the broadest plans.
What that means is that this note may well be your last 'teacher
planning update' of the year! (Boo, hoo!)
There may be other plans to put up here, but if not, I would like to
say, thanks for reading, and I hope you found the plans useful and
informative.
The teacher planning page returns in September: I'm posting a
typical first week plan here for prospective parents to get an idea
of what to expect:
This Week:
Monday, September 14th - Friday, September 18th 2009
Welcome to the 'Teacher Plans' page.
You will be using this page frequently
during our time together, if you want to find out about the exciting
and thrilling events in the class.
It is usually to be found crisp, fresh,
and new each Sunday afternoon, laden with the ambitions, plans, and
follies of the following week!
The structure of the page is usually
something like:
·
Review of the previous week
- what went as planned, and what didn't!
·
Language plans - reading and
writing
·
Math Plans
·
Project: Usually science and
social studies appear under this category.
So, without further ado, let's get
started:
Review:
A promising first almost-full week of school, from my perspective.
I think the students enjoyed the week, broadly speaking.
Usually I don't get anywhere near my goals for the first two or
three weeks, but, to my surprise, we didn't do too bad at all for
this week. For example, I did get to hear almost all of the students
read. I also managed to examine each student's early writing in some
detail. Most students wrote a rough draft for one aspect of an 'All
About Me' essay. I'm not going to pursue this piece any further -
it's given me what I wanted!
I finished two of the Neal Shusterman short stories I have been
reading to the class. They did not result in finished writing
pieces, but we did make predictions, ask questions, and we did have
some interesting discussions.
We completed some of the math goals for the week, but didn't get to
the last two lessons - the divisibility lesson took longer than
anticipated. Also, I wanted to find out more about their attitude
and working habits in this subject. This led to more discussion!
There will be more of these discussions this week, too!
I will be talking to parents about classroom resources that the
parents themselves have access to should they wish to review or
examine some of the class math material, on Curriculum Night later
in the month.
The Project got going with energy and decent effort and motivation
from the students. The students who are more used to team projects,
in theory, helped out those less familiar with working with others.
The teams clearly need some help in group organization and
time-management. We have begun talking about improving planning and
coordination of their team efforts. This will be a focus this week,
where I will be giving guided instruction to the class on how to
handle complex open-ended projects like this one. If last year is a
guide, the project will spill into and through next week before
concluding, finally on Friday, October 2nd!
The students collected their first homework project this week, as
you know. It took quite a while to present, explain, and answer the
storm of questions! In about a month, that process will take fifteen
minutes. If you haven't done so already, this might be a good time
for parents to read the
Parent guide to
homework
If there is one subject that causes problems in fifth grade it is
this one!
So overall, I had a very promising and encouraging first week. The
students have made an excellent first impression. I did learn tons
about the class both individually and collectively, so I'm pretty
happy.
There is inevitable turbulence over the start of any new school
year, and I don't suppose this year will prove any different, as the
'honeymoon period' draws to a close this week and next. However, I
think we're all ready to face the challenges and opportunities
ahead.
We'll see!
Language:
As my journey begins with these students,
my primary goals for September in Language are all about learning.
My learning!
I need to collect information about each
student's abilities. Specifically, I'm going to try to hear each
student read again by the end of the week, collect in more writing
samples, and continue building my early assessment of each student's
broad linguistic skills.
Here are the main language jobs for the week:
· This week the students will be re-reading and analyzing one of the
short stories I read to them searching for similes and selecting
passages they found powerful, as well as explaining their choices in
writing.
· I will be asking the students to read a short section of the story
to me as another early reading assessment. They will also perform
self-selected extracts in a Readers Theatre presentation.
· The primary writing this week will be creative writing set in the
'perfect worlds' they are designing with their team. This will
include writing the ten most important rules on their World, the
lyrics to their National Anthem, and the design of a presentation,
described below, as well as 'historical' stories and myths.
· I will begin reading the profound and thrilling story, 'Mortal
Engines' by Philip Reeve to the class.
This story will be especially relevant to our 'Perfect World?'
project.
· The students will be working on designing and agreeing to the
class rules for behavior, etc. that will govern the class this year,
as well as writing a team contract for the first project.
Math:
The first Unit 'Number Theory' will draw
to a close this week. Unit 1 will conclude next week with an
assessment activity - it's only a short, cute little Unit! The
lessons for this week are:
·
Prime and Composite numbers
·
Square numbers
·
Un-squaring numbers
·
Factor strings and Prime
Factorization
·
Multiplication Bingo -
getting the rust off those basic facts!
The students will review the unit at the
start of next week, both in small groups and as a whole class,
before attempting their first 'End of Unit' assessment!
The first assessment is often a 'wake up call' for those students
who tend to be 'passengers on board other people's trains'! The
assessment is completed as a solo exercise!
The whole point of the assessment is to help the student understand
more clearly what they have learnt, and what they're still working
on and to get the students into the habit of taking personal
responsibility for their learning, even in collaborative situations;
quite a challenge for this age group at this time of the year!
It is not intended as an exercise in judgment and comparison of
students by this teacher.
The assessment should help to spark honest conversation between me
and the student on working practices. It should also help me and
each student to understand more clearly what subjects we need to
work on more from the first math unit.
Project:
Perfect World?
My primary goal for the start of the year
is to give the students plenty of opportunity for catching up with
each other, as well as getting to know new people, as I start to
learn about each of them.
Together we are going to build a kind,
respectful, and empathic place for us all to live and work. I would
like re-entry into school to continue be as gentle and stress-free
as possible for us all!
I think the opening project will be an
excellent vehicle for all of the above.
The opening project is called 'Perfect
World?'
We will ask the question:' what is a
perfect world?'
The students will work in collaborative
teams of four or five for this project.
Their challenge will be to create a future
world they would like to live in.
Fantasy aspects will be encouraged.
Activities:
·
They will design a specific
wall space in the classroom with maps, drawings, and other artwork
of their worlds.
·
They will present their
'future worlds' to the whole group, and explain and show what makes
them great.
·
The students design ten
'laws' for their World,
·
The students design and
create a song/anthem for their Planet.
·
We will talk and read about
utopias and dystopias, and investigate emerging technologies through
magazine articles.
This primarily relaxed and creative
project takes just over two weeks.
The opening project is designed to set
the background for many of the group's future explorations.
Each aspect of the project will be
'graded' using the rubric system. I've published the main rubric
below.
The students will be provided with the
rubric while they work.
There is an emphasis on points awarded for
team work, effort, and team spirit.
The project grades are not as important to
me, however as starting to find out how the students work with each
other.
I'll be publishing their work to the site
at the beginning of October, so keep checking back to the
What's New' page for updates!
Perfect World?
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CATEGORY
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
|
Perfect World
- Stories |
Very imaginative,
detailed, high quality work. The summaries have been
carefully thought through. Writing is thoughtful, inquiring,
extensive, interesting to read, accurate and fulfils job
requirements. . |
Somewhat
imaginative, detailed, mostly high quality work. Summaries
are somewhat thoughtful, inquiring, interesting to read,
mostly accurate and fulfil most job requirements.
|
Not very
imaginative, or detailed work. The summaries have not really
been carefully thought through. Writing is not very
thoughtful, inquiring, interesting to read, or accurate.
Some job requirements are missing. |
Careless or
uninspired work. The summaries have not been carefully
thought through. Writing lacks thought, inquiry, and is not
interesting to read, or very accurate. Most job requirements
are missing |
|
Perfect World
- Presentation |
Well-rehearsed
with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.
|
Rehearsed with
fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of
the time. |
Delivery not
smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most
of the time. |
Delivery not
smooth and audience attention often lost. |
|
Perfect World
- Presentation 2 |
Product shows a
large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and
inventive. |
Product shows some
original thought. Work shows new ideas and insights.
|
Uses other
people's ideas (giving them credit), but there is little
evidence of original thinking. |
Uses other
people's ideas, but does not give them credit. |
|
Perfect World
- Artwork |
Very imaginative,
detailed, high quality work. The design has been carefully
thought through. |
Somewhat
imaginative, detailed, mostly high quality work. The design
has been quite carefully thought through. |
Not very
imaginative, or detailed work. The design has not really
been carefully thought through. |
Careless or
uninspired work. The design has not been carefully thought
through. |
|
Perfect World
- Songs |
Songs are
pertinent, developed, appropriate to the subject, thoughtful
and interesting. |
Songs are somewhat
pertinent, developed, appropriate to the subject, thoughtful
and interesting. |
Songs are not
really pertinent, developed, appropriate to the subject,
thoughtful and interesting. |
Songs are not
pertinent, developed, appropriate to the subject,
thoughtful, or interesting. |
|
Perfect World
- 10 rules |
Very imaginative,
detailed, high quality work. The work is creative and has
been carefully thought through, with excellent supporting
details. |
Somewhat
imaginative, detailed, mostly high quality work. The work is
creative and has been somewhat thought through, with good
supporting details. |
Not very
imaginative, or detailed work. The work is not very creative
and has not really been carefully thought through. Only one
or two reasons for choices provided. |
Careless or
uninspired work. The work lacks creativity and has not been
carefully thought through. |
|
Teamwork
|
|
|
|
|
Here is the rubric I will use to ascertain
teamwork scores for each group:
Collaborative
teamwork skills:
|
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Attitude |
Never is publicly
critical of the project or the work of others. Always has a
positive attitude about the task(s). |
Rarely is publicly
critical of the project or the work of others. Often has a
positive attitude about the task(s). |
Occasionally is
publicly critical of the project or the work of other
members of the group. Usually has a positive attitude about
the task(s). |
Often is publicly
critical of the project or the work of other members of the
group. Often has a negative attitude about the task(s).
|
|
Focus on the task |
Consistently stays
focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very
self-directed. |
Focuses on the
task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group
members can count on this person. |
Focuses on the
task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group
members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this
person on-task. |
Rarely focuses on
the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
|
|
Working with Others |
Almost always
listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others.
Tries to keep people working well together. |
Usually listens
to, shares, with, and supports the efforts of others. Does
not cause "waves" in the group. |
Often listens to,
shares with, and supports the efforts of others, but
sometimes is not a good team member. |
Rarely listens to,
shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Often is
not a good team player. |
|
Contributions |
Routinely provides
useful ideas when participating in the group and in
classroom discussion. A definite leader who contributes a
lot of effort. |
Usually provides
useful ideas when participating in the group and in
classroom discussion. A strong group member who tries hard!
|
Sometimes provides
useful ideas when participating in the group and in
classroom discussion. A satisfactory group member who does
what is required. |
Rarely provides
useful ideas when participating in the group and in
classroom discussion. May refuse to participate.
|
|
Quality of Work |
Provides work of
the highest quality. |
Provides high
quality work. |
Provides work that
occasionally needs to be checked/redone by other group
members to ensure quality. |
Provides work that
usually needs to be checked/redone by others to ensure
quality. |
|
Time-management |
Routinely uses
time well throughout the project to ensure things get done
on time. Group does not have to adjust deadlines or work
responsibilities. |
Usually uses time
well throughout the project, but may have procrastinated or
wasted time on one thing. Group does not have to adjust
deadlines or work responsibilities because of this person's
procrastination or time wasting. |
Tends to
procrastinate or waste time, but always gets things done by
the deadlines. Group does not have to adjust deadlines or
work responsibilities because of this person's
procrastination. |
Rarely gets things
done by the deadlines AND group has to adjust deadlines or
work responsibilities because of this person's inadequate
time management. |
|
Preparedness |
Brings needed
materials to class and is always ready to work. |
Almost always
brings needed materials to class and is ready to work.
|
Almost always
brings needed materials but sometimes needs to settle down
and get to work |
Often forgets
needed materials or is rarely ready to get to work.
|
Tune back in here next Sunday for the
third thrilling full plan!!
Homework will be back this coming Friday,
September 18th, when the students will receive their second homework
pack. Look for it in the student's backpack.
The project usually will be up on the
'Homework' page here at the site later on the respective Friday
evening.
Check out the 'What's
New' page for the
'Parent's Guide to Homework',
as well as other delicious treats for the start of the year!
See you back here next week!
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