Language Arts
· In language arts class this week, we worked more on making inferences, understanding what we read, highlighting key details, and briefly summarizing new knowledge.
· We also worked on finishing our first drafts of our writer’s workshop stories. Next week we’ll be revising, editing, sharing, and publishing!
Science
· In science class, we continued working on research skills. We spent quite a bit of time learning to search for information and evaluate websites for quality. We also practiced taking notes (through highlighting) when online.
· Next week, we’ll be working on:
o science fair procedures
o hypothesis
o materials lists
Social Studies
· We learned how Sir Walter Raleigh lost a lot of money when the colony he funded (Roanoke) failed. In fact, the Roanoke colony is known as the Lost Colony today.
· We learned the difference between Sole Proprietors and Joint Stock Companies. As part of a game, we made our own colonies, decided whether to use a joint stock company or sole proprietor to fund the colony, and created colony goals. Then our colonies learned their fate: some were attack by natives. Some traded with natives. Others grew lots of crops and made money, while some colonies went hungry. In the end, most of our colonies did not make much of a profit, but also did not suffer big financial losses. A few colonies did end the game without any money, and one colony struck it rich! 5th graders, share with your parents how your colony did, and whether or not your choice to be part of a joint stock company (or be a sole proprietor) was a wise choice.
· We also played a simulation about Jamestown. In this activity, we needed to select a smart settlement location, determine how to interact with the Powhatan Indians, plant crops, and decide who would do the work. We learned how the different choices we made affected the success of our colony.
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