Writing

 We have been working since the first week of school on how to write our thoughts down concisely onto paper. This is easier said than done! I have been working them up to our process of writing using the format RACES. This stands for:

Restate

Answer

Cite evidence

Explain

Sum it up

When students write this year I am looking for ALL of this! We have been writing opinion pieces so far, and it did bring up the question of how you don't need the "c" for cite evidence for something about yourself. However, if your evidence comes from something else, like a story, you must cite it. 

Example using RACES for the question, "How did Alice Coachman persevere?"

Restate: Restate the question in your sentence. "Alice Coachman persevered in many ways."

Answer: Answer the question. "Alice didn't stop running even when her father wanted her to stop, Alice didn't quit when people treated her differently because of her race, and Alice worked hard even when her teammates lost."

Cite Evidence: "According to page 33, it states that Alice's father wanted her to quit running. The text says, "...."

Explain: "When Alice decided not to quit, she won a gold medal. It proves that persevering pays off."

Sum it up: "That is how Alice Coachman persevered during the hardships she endured trying to do what she loved."

This is a really thorough example, but I am working up to them being able to do this. I want them to write down the information that they read and synthesize, then cite their sources from the text. It is a delicate balance! Some children want to only pull out quotes from the text, and others only want to write down what they read and comprehended, with no direct text evidence.

Why RACES? Why does it matter? When students take the ACAP at the end of the year this is what is expected. We want them to be successful. This also prepares them for middle school and beyond!

EXTRA RACES WRITING PRACTICE:

Vocabulary Help

 While your child is reading, we want them to comprehend and think deeply about what is read. Vocabulary is a huge part of this process! This year I will be working hard on getting students to pause on unknown words. You can help your child with this at home by talking about complex words you notice with them. This can be while you are watching a show, listening to a song on the radio, or reading. "Hey, did you hear them say 'expeditious'? What do you think that means? What clues did you use to come to that conclusion?" Together you can talk about the roots, prefixes, suffixes, and context. Modeling our thought process on how we pause on tricky words will help them think deeply about the vocabulary in their books and the world around them. We want them to be curious!

Here is a vocabulary word map you can use to help your child work through and dig deeper into the meaning of words. If your child is struggling to figure out what words mean in context or through breaking the word apart independently, this helps walk them through that process. It is a guide that will help them externally until they internalize the process of looking at all the parts of a word to determine the meaning. Remember, we are exploring morphology more, which can then be applied to a plethora of words. This includes: prefixes, roots, and suffixes from many languages that make up English. 

Online Storybook

 To access your child's online storybook, they can do so through their CLEVER, which can be accessed via the MCS bookmarks on the Chromebook. 

1. Click "Clever"

2. Click "McGraw Hill"

3. Find our story! :)

I will also send out a copy of the story every week. In fifth grade, we do a mixture of cold reads and Open Court story tests. Some weeks, their story may not be exactly like the Open Court story. The themes and literary elements in the cold read will mirror what they learned about that week.

Helping Your Child Read

This year, my goal is to help your child enjoy reading! We will read many short stories and books while we explore various genres! 

We are going to work on vocabulary, writing sentences with correct grammar, and digging deep into words to determine their meaning. If your child is struggling with syllable patterns, syntax, or morphology, just remember that repetition is key! We will be working all year! Morphology is our big focus with vocabulary and meaning in fifth grade.

One thing you can do at home is point out instances where you hear or read an idiom, metaphor, or simile and tell them that's what it is! See if they can figure out what it means on their own first, then help them if they need it. 

Always ask your child after they have finished reading a book about the story elements. You can even have them write out the plot. I'll attach some resources below. We want them to start thinking deeply about what they read. Reading news articles and comparing information can be good practice as well. Pointing out glossaries, indexes, and other text features, then modeling how to use them, is an important part of reading.

Most importantly, keep them reading every night! Have them read books cover to cover. Great research I just read about recently showed that students comprehend better when they have more knowledge. For children to gain more knowledge, they need to read more books! 😊 These processes are reciprocal.

Remember: they can never read too much!

Games

 Here are links to games that will help improve many 5th grade literacy and language skills! If you are asked to pay, please don't feel like you have to! There are plenty of free games available.

IXL 5th Grade

Splashlearn

Education.com

Starfall

READING GAMES:

Sir-Read-A-Lot (context clues)

Slime Lab (main idea and supporting details)

Cell Shock (figurative language)

Cannonball Cats (figurative language)

Rough Riders (vowels, compound words, syllables, digraphs)

Reading Raiders (cause and effect)

Vocab Vik (vocabulary)

Wiz Kid (homophones)

Splash the Sub (inferences)

Fact or Opinion

Prefix Popper (prefixes)

Jumpin' Jack (author's purpose and figurative language)

Author's Purpose (comprehension and author's purpose)

Analogies (spelling and word forming)

Cause and Effect

The Reading Ninja (lots of skills)

Kid Heroes Theme (theme and comprehension)

ANTonyms

GRAMMAR GAMES:

PREPOSITION QUIZ

Preposition Sort

BE VERB Game (to be)

Beach Jeep 

Grammar Police

Kid Heroes Verbs

Say What?

Grammar Gladiator

Base Word Blaster

Word War

Word Ninja

Bounce

Wordyloo

In Other Words

Bango

Spelling Bee

Bad Apples

Fool's Gold

Falling Stars

Egg Heads

Guessing Game

More will be added as I collect more resources. Thank you so much for helping your child succeed!

Welcome

 Welcome to the class blog! Check in regularly to see what we are doing in class and how you can support your child at home. I will upload content regularly that follows the skills we are learning. Sometimes the material is complex, so I will break it down here so you know how to assist your child. This is also a safe space for your child to find learning games that I approve and upload. I can't control where they go from there, so it is always recommended that you monitor your child anytime they are on a device. This is NOT a place for social media, questions for me, or finding friends. This is just an extension of the classroom from me to you. I always welcome questions and comments, but please email those to jmrobinson@madisoncity.k12.al.us, where I can assist you further. Thank you for checking out the blog! Together we are a team!