Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Fraction Action and Character Types




My last post was a long one about our Character Study Unit! We are almost finished with our book and have been getting into how to write a character analysis essay. I am forcing them to really dig deep with this one! Here is one last Character "Thing" that we have done...

I made this page for them to fill out on their own and paste it into their Reading Interactive Notebooks. (This will be added to my Character Analysis packet on TPT-See previous post) We fill it out together and talk about specific examples. There is also a good flat/round character YouTube Video that we watched that can be found HERE.

Character Anchor Chart I use with my 5th GradersWe made an anchor chart similar to this one found on Pinterest with nothing other than the image:












We are going to begin our Characterization Foldable Friday and being with Thesis statements and the Analysis on Monday!

We have been studying fractions this week and I found these awesome FREE Fraction Task Cards! They are from HERE. There were only 3 in this set, but it worked great for my classroom. The task cards are designed for students to create fractions based on pattern blocks. Then they have to justify how they know their design represents the fraction that they were given. Explaining or justifying is not a strong point for most. BUT some of them just amazed me with this!!



 Here they were tracing their design. Next they had to color it to match the blocks they had used.
Finally they had to explain or "Convince Me" as the Task Card says how they know it is an accurate representation. 

Here is some of their work:




Yesterday we did this Fraction Smarties activity:
FOUND HERE - Click on the Image to go to the ORIGINAL BLOGGERS POST WITH DOWNLOAD LINK :) 

What are your favorite upper level fraction activities?? 



Friday, February 20, 2015

Character Analysis Unit

I have really started to love all of the Character Study we have been doing. I think the depth in which my kiddos are thinking is just amazing!!

One of the lessons we started with was on Inside/Outside Character Traits. We talked about how you often have to infer and use Text Based Evidence to justify inside character traits. We practiced by reading Amazing Grace and making the foldable picture below that came from HERE (I forgot to take pictures so here is the blog that shows the orginial). The site even has the printable frame to make this!! My kids listed the outside traits on the outside and the inside traits WITH TEXT BASED EVIDENCE on the inside. I made them realize they had to SHOW ME how they know what the character is like on the inside.

amazing grace

Up next we did a project where they were the character and they had to describe themselves using TBE. Here is some of their work (only a couple bc I don't have time to blur out pictures-which I don't have to, but feel as though I should). Also I always take their picture on that day to print so that if they save the assignment it will show how much they have changed!



Now we have started an AMAZING novel by a Missouri author called The Man Who Loved Clowns. It was written by June Rae Wood. She is a Missouri author and the book is set in MO and has locations that my kids can relate to throughout the book. I am loving it.

We are reading the novel as a part of our character analysis study. We are taking everything we have learned about characters (which is more than what I have listed above- I will post more later!) and are applying it to the characters throughout the novel. We are doing an in-depth analysis.

The students have packets of organizers for note taking that can be seen here on TPT. We are working up to creating something that looks like this:


It is the character analysis project from Teaching With A Mountain View. She is AMAZING and I use her blog and ideas almost daily!! There is even the rubric and instructions for this project along with her completed pictures. The picture above is my model for my students. 

Here are some of the pages from their packets for notes available at my TPT STORE






So we are taking notes about everything character related throughout the novel. We will work on the characterization project and a written character analysis at the conclusion of the novel. My kids are already loving it and are really thinking deep! 

*Note- The TPT link above is linked to the The Man Who Loved Clowns edition of these organizers. There is a generic version too that did not get uploaded yet, but I will hopefully get it next week. This version does include blank pages though and would work for any novel. :) 

Enjoy your weekend!! 




Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Character Changes

We have been working on studying characters. We read both Amazing Grace and Boundless Grace this past week to work on inside/outside character traits and changes in character traits. I will post more on that tomorrow! BUT for now...I took a lesson/foldable idea from HERE about using a Patricia Polacco book to teach character changes. I think P.P. by far has the best selection of upper elementary read alouds! Here is the foldable we made (picture from HERE) THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE!!! SEE THE LINK ABOVE FOR THE SITE IT CAME FROM!! I WILL POST MY PICTURES TOMORROW!!



I used a newer Patricia Polacco book titled Bully. And it was absolutely PERFECT for my group of kids!! I could not have randomly picked a better selection for my 5th graders! This hit the reality of social media on the head! Not to mention it show character changes perfectly!! I will even use this when we dive into character conflict later this week!



An upper elementary read aloud MUST in every classroom!!!!!!!

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Valentine's Day Metaphors! (FREEBIE)

I have so much to get caught up with on here, but for now here is what I am giving you...

We have been studying similes and metaphors this week. Since Valentine's Day is coming up quickly I decided that my students should write a metaphor for love!!

So here is what I created...

We will hang these in the hall on our bulletin board, but you could make a class book out of them as well! I had originally thought of just using it as a writing prompt, but then had a light bulb moment *METAPHORS*!!  I always love to hear what 5th graders relate love to! Stay tuned for the finished product!!

Click the picture above to get your Love Is... Freebie!!