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Click here for the November 2009 school calendar.

News from the 5-6 Class

It is hard to believe we have completed two months of school and November is here which means Thanksgiving is near!

During the month of October the 5/6 class was very busy as they completed many units of study.  The students finished their first genre study on realistic fiction, concluded a comprehension unit on The Great Gilly Hopkins, published their first personal narrative, completed a unit on land, air, water and noise pollution and went on two field trips!  The 5/6 students had the opportunity to visit the Darrow School’s Samson Environmental Center.  The Darrow School’s facilities include 22 National Historic Landmark buildings and it provided us with a chance to see an environmentally conscious approach to sustainability.  Using a natural ecosystem as a model, the “Living Machine” provided a unique hands-on learning opportunity to gain a broad perspective of sustainability in our world today.  The students also went to the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy to take part in a community art activity.  The 5/6 students worked in leaf-making production lines to help create 10,000 leaves for the artist Fischer’s, Electrical Forest:  Made in Troy, exhibit.  We were very fortunate to go on these two amazing field trips.

In November, we will begin a comprehensive unit on the novel, Island of the Blue Dolphin, by Scott Odell.  This wonderfully written story coincides with our new genre study on historical fiction, and I am sure it will capture the students’ interest instantly.   The students will continue building spelling and word skills as they create a classroom A-Z homophone book and charts, and learn about prefixes and how they alter the meaning of base words.  Also in November, the students will be completing their second writing unit on personal narratives.  They will be learning how to draw on what they already know about writing personal narratives, applying those skills, and learn new strategies to lift the quality of their writing.  Finally, we will be beginning a two month unit on the American Civil War, a conflict that raged for four years, and for many reasons changed our nation’s destiny.

The month of November is going to be a lot of fun! I look forward to guiding the students through another exciting month of learning.

Lianne Adams