Welcome to the 2018-2019 School Year!!!

Welcome, 5^th graders! I cannot wait to meet you! You will have an opportunity to come meet me, check out our classroom, an drop of your supplies between 5:00 and 6:30 on Monday, August 13^th!

Just to share with you a little about me, I am a mother of 3 boys, I’m an Oldham County native, and I’ve been teaching for 13 years now. I absolutely love teaching and 5^th grade is my favorite. I’ve actually taught 5^th grade for 11 years now. I taught in Shelby County for 2 years at the start of my career (4^th grade and 3^rd grade), at Harmony Elementary for 9 years (5^th grade), and at Kenwood Station for 2 years now (5^th grade). If you are new to Kenwood Station, welcome! We are so happy to have you and you will love this community and this school!

I want you to know that in my classroom we strive to have fun and to make friends while learning, so come in each day ready to be challenged and ready to use the 7 habits of happy kids! My favorite quote is: “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

I hope to see you Monday evening and I look forward to our first day together on August 15^th! Rest up and enjoy these last few days of summer!

February - March 2018🌷🌹

We had so much fun protesting about king Georges new taxes!

We had a blast sharing and making stories about donuts using text strucures. We had a laugh when the kids shared their zany stories.      

Get your "neon read on!" The kids had a great time using highlighters and black lights to complete this task. It helped us to find the text structure of the text.😀

 

We had two scientists aka. Brooklyns Mom, Grandpa, and her Grandma. They did some pretty awesome science expiriments with us.🤓😁

We had the Leader of the week award.  Congratulations to Connor Cecil. What a great job!😁      

Weekly Update 1/22-1/26

Good morning, parents! I hope you had a nice weekend and got to enjoy some of the warmer temperatures! My kids were so excited to play outside yesterday! I am looking forward to finally having our first 5 day school week of 2018! Here’s what you need to know for this week…

Dates to Know

Tuesday, 1/23~Reading MAP Test

Friday, 1/26~Classroom Guidance (Bullying Lesson) with Mrs. Moore

Friday, 1/26~5^th Graders vs. Teachers Basketball Game at SOMS at 7:00pm

Thursday, 2/1~Social Studies (American Revolution) Study Guide Due

Friday, 2/2~Social Studies Test (American Revolution)

Thursday, 2/8~Math Study Guide Due

Friday, 2/9~Math Test (Adding, Subtracting Fractions & Mixed Numbers, Line Plots, & Metric Conversions)

5^th Graders vs. Teachers Basketball Game

Be there or be square! Please come support our 5^th graders as they attempt to take on the mighty Kenwood staff in an exciting game of basketball this Friday! Admission is only $5/adult and $2/school age child. Children younger than kindergarten age get in free. Hope to see you there!

Battle of the Books

The Battle of the Books competition is getting nearer. Though I don’t have an exact date yet, it will take place sometime in February. Has your child read at least 2 books? Does your child wish to compete at the school level? At the district level? Please be your child’s biggest cheerleader and encourage him/her to read at least 2 of these titles. They are wonderful books! Reminder…Quizzes are also linked on our classroom blog for anyone who wants to test their comprehension.

Study Guides

This week, your child will receive 2 study guides. One is for math and the other is for social studies. I am sending these home early in an effort to give students plenty of time to complete them. Many of you requested before that I break the math study guide into separate due dates. It is a BIG one…10 pages, so it will come home on Thursday and one page is due each day from then until 2/8 (the day before the test). Kids are welcome to work ahead if they wish to do so and we will complete some of the definitions in class to get them started. The social studies study guide is much shorter and it will come home on Tuesday. It is due on February 1^st as the test will take place on the 2^nd.

Here's What We’re Learning This Week:

7 Habits: How do I set goals to better myself as a learner?

Math: How do I add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers?

Social Studies: How/Why did the colonists declare independence from England?

Writing: How do I write a strong thesis statement with a universal idea for an opinion piece?

Reading: How do I identify the text structure and find key details to write a summary?

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a great week! J

Technology and Exploration

Go to the following link to learn about technologies that inspired exploration long ago.
https://www.tes.com/lessons/_5Nt1ciGaIqYFg/technology-in-the-age-of-exploration

Idioms and Native American Cultural Regions

This week we studied the cultural regions of Native Americans.We had to guess which Native American houses existed in which regions based on their natural recources. It was SUPER FUN and we got to use Chromebooks.

 

 

 

                                                  

 

We also learned about idioms this week and we got to write a Halloween story using idioms. The Halloween stories were so fun because we turned down the lights and listened to creepy music while we wrote. Mrs. Whitley even tried to pull a prank on us to spook us! I bet this will be the icing on your cake today.

 

 

   

Blendspaces for Native Americans

Blendspace for Northwest Coast Native Americans
https://www.tes.com/lessons/GeFXmjaz3EfJFw/copy-of-northwest-coast-native-americans

Blendspace for the California-Intermountain Range Native Americans
https://www.tes.com/lessons/C6Wk0x6PHXfYIA/native-americans-of-the-california-intermountain-range

Blendspace for the Southwest Native Americans
https://www.tes.com/lessons/pHWylWwrKzAhdg/copy-of-southwest-native-americans

Blendspace for the Plateau
https://www.tes.com/lessons/sLejeAVUqvixfQ/the-native-americans-of-the-plateau

Blendspace for the Great Plains Native Americans
https://www.tes.com/lessons/oi5JKQSvMM6IEg/native-americans-of-the-great-plains

Blendspace for the Eastern Woodlands
https://www.tes.com/lessons/kiSXOHTlt7sJ6w/eastern-woodlands

Blendspace for Native Americans of the Southeast
https://www.tes.com/lessons/LOalgHuREjnTMA/native-americans-of-the-southeast

Week of October 2nd

Dates to Know

Friday, 9/29: Field trip to Farnsley-Moremen Landing

Monday, 10/16: Fall Festival 6-8pm

Thursday, 10/19: No School (Teacher Work Day)

Friday, 10/20-10/27: Fall Break (No School)

 

Regions/World Map Quiz

Several students needed extra practice on either the regions, the world map, or both from our previous social studies test. Please check your child’s take home folder tonight. If your child needs extra practice, I’ve included a simple study guide to help them. Please help them prepare for a quiz this Wednesday. *If your child does not have this in his/her take home folder, a quiz will not be given to him/her on Wednesday, but an alternate activity will be offered. 

 

Conferences

This year we are having a Parent-Teacher Conference Day rather than doing them after school. Therefore, I will be here from 8am-4pm on Monday, November 6th hosting conferences. Please sign up for one time slot per family. We have 28 kids in class so I can only host one conference per family. There simply isn't enough time to schedule multiple conferences for one student. If you are unable to make it to conferences on this day, please send me an email and we can schedule a phone conference. I hope everyone is able to sign up and I look forward to meeting with each of you! Please use the Sign Up Genius to select a time slot for your child’s fall conference:   http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094aa4a92da5f85-fall

 

Field Trip

We had a blast on the field trip today! The kids seemed really excited to learn about archaeology! They enjoyed digging at the site, making their own bricks, and even touring the old home. Check out the photo link below (courtesy of Holly Miller) and ask your kiddos about the trip!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5xb81adqe0evoui/AADC3GazOS_TjxhvST0cXr_ya?dl=0

 

Class Pumpkin

Once again it’s that time of year to decorate a pumpkin for our class! I will brainstorm with the kiddos today and if you have some ideas please send them my way. I would love some parents volunteers to come in and help us decorate in the afternoon next Thursday, October 12^th!

 

Substitute Next Monday & Tuesday

Just a heads up that I will have a sub next Monday and Tuesday because I will be out of town at a conference graciously sponsored by the PTA called Get Your Teach On. My friend, Jill McClay has been subbing for years and she will be stepping in for me on those two days. I am so excited for this opportunity to learn new and exciting ways to engage students in learning and I plan to bring a lot of new ideas back to share with the teachers. If you need to reach me, please contact me prior to this Sunday or after Tuesday of next week. Thank you!

 

Our Guiding Questions for the Week:

7 Habits: How do I set wildly important goals (W.I.G.s)?

Math: do I use the order of operations? How do I interpret mathematical expressions?

Social Studies: How did Native Americans adapt to various environments? What are the unique characteristics of the Native American cultural regions?

Reading: What are idioms, adages, and proverbs?

Writing: How do I use figurative language in my writing?

 

Have a wonderful week! J