Williamsburg Call and Response Songs

          Below you will find the call and response songs written and performed by students to the tune of an African-American slave song called "Juba."  I asked the students to create and perform these songs to show the different aspects of colonial Williamsburg during the 1700's.  These turned out great!  I was so impressed with their creativity and their rhythm!

This first video is about the Governor's Palace and government in colonial Williamsburg.

The Dame School and the education of girls in colonial times.

Life as a craftsman, specifically a shoemaker in Williamsburg.

Church life in colonial Williamsburg

Life as a student at the College of William and Mary which wasn't really a college at all, but a school for boys.



Week of December 12-16

Upcoming Test:
Social Studies Test over Williamsburg (chapter 9) on Wednesday
Please encourage your child to take the online to tutorial.

Sing-a-Long
We are having our annual holiday sing-a-long on Thursday.  Our class will be joining Mrs. Stump's class in a round of "Feliz Navidad," so I am requesting that students bring in sunglasses and a scarf to go with our dance moves.  Please send these items tomorrow if possible so we can have a "dress rehearsal."

Holiday Party
Our holiday party will be on Friday at 1:00pm!  Mrs. Purdy and Mrs. Lossin are working hard to make it a blast and I can't wait to see what we end up doing!

Winter Break
Enjoy two weeks at home with your kiddos after Friday!  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here’s what we’re learning this week!
Social Studies:  We are wrapping up our unit on colonial Williamsburg.
Math:  We are beginning our annual holiday shopping spree this week!  This is a fun, realistic way to have the kids do pretend shopping on a budget.  They will learn to calculate tax, make economic decisions, and determine what percentage of their money was spent on each person.
Word Study:  Some of the kids are still confused about possessives so we are doing some review over these rules.
Writing:  We are continuing to write genre pieces and we are beginning to draft them on the computer this week.
Reading:  The kids will be having their final lit. circle meetings, working on literature circle projects and presenting them later this week.  :o)

Week of December 5-9

Husky Helping House Reminder:
Please send in any purchased items for Husky Helping House no later than this Friday, December 9th.  Once again, I'd like to thank you all for your generosity!  Our child is going to have a wonderful Christmas!  If you happen to have any clothing boxes or unwanted wrapping paper at home, please send those in as well.  We are going to have a wrapping party with Ms. Poteet's kindergarten class next week.

Girls' Night Out:
This Friday is Girls' Night Out from 2:30-4:00pm.  If your daughter signed up to attend, we will be staying after Friday to paint nails, eat pizza, and make friendship bracelets!  It's going to be a lot of fun!  If you have not signed up, but would like to the cost is $25, as this was my Harmony Harvest auction item. 

Upcoming Tests:
Facts Quiz on Friday
Word Study Quiz over Possessive Nouns on Friday

Here's what we're learning this week!
Social Studies:  The kids will be given the opportunity this week to experience the daily life of a colonist in colonial Williamsburg by visiting stations that are set up around the room which require them to do activities colonial people would have actually participated in during the 1700's.
Math:  We are still plowing through fractions.  I am working hard to review each concept over and over as we go because this has been somewhat intimidating for the kiddos.  This week we will be delving into how to convert fractions to decimals and percents, which will set the stage for a fun project next week!
Word Study:  Our focus this week is on possessive nouns.
Writing:  Upon the completion of our recent open genre study, I have noticed that the kids need a lot of practice on paragraphing.  Therefore, we are going to do another genre study where we really focus on using paragraphs effectively.
Reading:  Literature cirlces are in their final stages and by the end of the week, each student will be assigned a literature circle project to complete to demonstrate their understanding of the novel they read.

Week of November 28-December 2

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving Break!  I want to tell you how thankful I am for such a generous group of parents and students.  I have gotten an overwhelming response for the Husky Helping House this year.  If you still wish to donate, we no longer need anyone to buy items, but any money you send will be shared other classes so that their children can also have such a nice Christmas.  Thank you so much for your care and generosity!

Upcoming Tests:
Social Studies, Chapter 9 (Slavery)-Friday
Facts Test-Friday

Here's what we are learning this week!
Social Studies: We are currently into one of our most intense social studies units of the year, slavery.  After just two lessons the kids are already intrigued and full of questions.  Throughout this unit they will be creating a slave journal in their reflection notebooks where they will write as though they are experiencing the hardships that the West African slaves experienced.
Math:  With the completion of division, we are now moving on to fractions.  This is a major unit of study in 5th grade.  We will be learning about fractions from now through the better part of January.
Science:  We will do a mini-unit on body systems this week.
Word Study:  Word study will be interrupted a lot this week, so we will be reviewing skills already learned.
Reading: Literature circles are going strong!  Each group has a meeting this week, so you may see some extra work coming home if the kids don't get finished in class.
Writing:  We will be celebrating the completion of our first open genre pieces on Friday!  Allowing the kids to select their own writing piece has been a huge success because they were so excited about their writing!  I will send home a copy of the completed piece with your child for you to view.

Week of November 14-18

Happy Monday!  Here is what's coming up this week!

Tomorrow is our last parent-teacher conference day for the fall.  If you were unable to sign up for a conference and I have not yet spoken to you on the phone, please contact me with a good time to chat.  I like to touch base with everyone.

Squanto Movie
The entire 5th grade will be viewing the movie "Squanto" on Monday, November 21 in the library in culmination of our unit over the colonies.  Please send your child a snack and a bottled water to enjoy during the movie. 

Thanksgiving Break
Please remember that Thanksgiving Break is Wednesday, November 23-Friday, November 26.  Have a happy Turkey Day!

Upcoming Tests:
Homophones Quiz:  Friday, Nov. 18 (Check out extra practice under my links)
Social Studies Test:  Friday, Nov. 18
*Please have your child take the chapter 7 tutorial and print his/her score both Wednesday and Thursday night.  The more they practice, the better they do!

Math Test:  Next Monday, Nov. 21
*This test will be over division.  Please help your child as needed each night with the division homework.  Division has so many steps sometimes kids get confused.  You might also encourage your child to check his/her work using multiplication, which I've modeled in class.

Here is what we're doing this week!
Social Studies:  We will be creating colonial billboards to encourage Europeans to move the colonies and wrapping up our unit over the colonial regions.
Math:  Division, division, division!  We will learn to estimate quotients, divide with 2-digit divisors, and how to divide decimals!
Word Study:  Homophones are our continued focus this week.  These are words that sound the same, but have different spellings and different meanings.  The ones the kids struggle with most are your, you're, there, they're, their, to, too, and two.
Writing:  We will be sharing our open genre pieces with the high schoolers for suggestions on revision techniques and we will hopefully revise and publish before Thanksgiving so parents may also see the final product!
Reading:  Literature circles!  The kids will begin reading books in literature circles.  The work is intended to be complete mostly in class, but any unfinished work will become homework because the students will have weekly deadlines for their reading and written assignments.  Completing the reading and other jobs that go with it are necessary in order to be ready to discuss in the literature circle group.

Week of November 7-11

Question for Parents
Please respond by commenting on this blog post. 
What would you most like to see at your child's parent-teacher conference?  (e.g., notebooks, open responses, student feedback on strengths and areas of growth)

Progress Reports & Conferences
Well, it's progress report time!  Progress reports will be in the Wednesday folder this week and parent-teacher conferences are Thursday night and next Tuesday.  If you haven't gotten to sign up for a conference, please call the office.  I still have 2 spaces left next Tuesday.  I am also happy to do phone conferences if it is inconvenient for you to come in or if the two spots on Tuesday fill up.

Field Trip!
Next Tuesday we will be taking a walking field trip to North Oldham High School to meet with Mr. Rauh's Creative Writing students.  They are going to help teach the kids revising strategies to improve their open genre pieces.  Everyone had a blast when the high schoolers came to us, so it will be fun to go over and visit them.  I'm hoping this will also be a meaningful experience for everyone involved.  It is so interesting to watch the kids interact and learn from the older crew.

Facts Quizzes
I have been so impressed with facts scores lately! We have several students who have accurately completed 50 multiplication facts in 3 minutes and a handful who have accurately completed 50 division facts in 3 minutes! The step after that is simplifying fractions. Keep up the awesome work, kiddos! Practice in the car, practice at dinner, quiz a friend on the bus, play games on the computer. Knowing those facts is incredibly beneficial!

Upcoming Tests
Facts Quiz on Friday

Learning Agenda This Week:
Social Studies:  We just kicked off a new unit on the 3 colonial regions.  Parents, can you name these?  :o)
Math:  We wrapped up our unit on geometry and we are now delving into division!
Word Study:  Homophones-The kids are having a hard time with words that sound the same such as, there, their, and they're, so this should be a very helpful unit.
Writing:  Open Genre!  They are doing amazing writing so far!
Reading:  This week we will finish talking about theme and character traits with an open response task on Thursday.  Then we will kick off our first literature circle...one of my personal favorite things to do with the kids!

1st Colonies Videos

Below you will find student videos of the act-it-outs the kids created to represent the first colonies in America.  I think all the students really enjoyed getting to act out history!

This first video is a depiction of Roanoke, "The Lost Colony."  The only confusing part is when Captain John White sails back to England.  The shooting is meant to depict the war going on with Spain in the Atlantic which prevented White from returning to Roanoke as quickly as he had hoped.  The kids did a phenomenal job with their acting and there's even a blooper at the end!  :o)


The next video is a depiction of Jamestown, the first successful colony in the New World.  Again, the kids did a fantastic job with this.  Their script, like the others, was entirely student-written using information from the text.  They did a great job including as many aspects as possible to really show how history unfolded in the Jamestown colony.  Please ignore the giggling.  The kids really enjoyed watching these performances.  :o)


Our last video is a depiction of Plymouth colony.  The narrators in this video asked to use my microphone which added a special sound quality to enhance their presentation.  I also loved their use of props!

Week of October 31-November 4

Happy Halloween!  I know everyone most likely has a busy night planned, so your child is telling you the truth when he/she says there is no homework tonight!  :o)

Reminders for this week…

Early Release:  Please remember that Wednesday, November 2^nd is an Early Release Day.  If your child’s transportation will be different, please send me a signed note indicating that change.  We will release at 12:25pm that day.

Conferences:  Progress Reports come home on Wednesday, November 9^th and conferences will follow.  If you would like to set up a parent-teacher conference, please call the office to schedule.  They will be held on Thursday, Nov. 10 from 2:40-6:00pm and Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 2:40-6:00pm.

BOB:  Over the next couple of months you may hear your child referring to BOB a lot.  Your child hasn’t met someone new; BOB is actually an abbreviation for Battle of the Books.  Each year we participate in this competition to team up in our classrooms and read 10 BOB books.  There will be classroom competitions and a district competition.  All kids will participate on their teams in the classroom competition.  Kids who wish to enter the district competition must read at least 7 of the books and will do so on an individual basis.  Please encourage your child to participate in BOB.  It’s a fun, exciting way to get kids reading.

Word Study:  This week’s word study rules involve making words that end in –ix, -is, and –us plural.  As part of the lessons the kids will be given a list of words and they will have to research in the dictionary to find the correct plural spelling.  Therefore, though they will be learning and practicing the rules here at school, the word study rules will not be taped in their agendas until Wednesday night.

Upcoming Tests:

Math Test on Friday

Social Studies Test of Friday

I try hard not to let big tests fall on the same days, but sometimes I’m stuck with it.  I will not be assigning a reading log this week to allow the kids plenty of time to prepare.

What We’re Learning

Social Studies:  We will be wrapping up our unit over the first three colonies, Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth.

Math:  The culmination of our first geometry unit is Friday.

Word Study:  We are exploring the rules for pluralizing words with less common endings such as –is, -ix, and –is.

Writing:  We are finishing our exploration of different genres and the kids will select a genre to explore during writing workshop for the next few weeks.  Some will write poems, some may do persuasive letters, and some may do short stories.  I’m leaving it open to any type of writing they have experience with.

Reading:  We are continuing our study of character traits and how characters’ traits can be impacted or changed due to other elements of the story such as setting, other characters, and theme.

Red Ribbon Week: October 24-28

Welcome back!  I hope you all had a fantastic and relaxing Fall Break! 

Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week will be the week after Fall Break. Our theme this year is "A Drug Free Life Rocks." Each day in class we will do an activity that encourages children to choose a drug-free lifestyle writing our own drug free song! Students will also be invited to dress up for Red Ribbon Week in the following ways.
Monday: Wear red
Tuesday: Wear sunglasses
Wednesday: Wear clothing inside out
Thursday: Wear tie-dye
Friday: Wear somethiing that represents your future (e.g., a pencil tucked behind your ear if you wish to be a writer, a suit for a future businessman, a football jersey for a high school football player)

Photo Story Autobiographies

Please remember to send in approximately 20-26 pictures that correlate with your child's autobiography. It is best if pictures can be put on a flash drive that your child can bring to school. If you can't use a flash drive, please put the pictures on a CD. I cannot accept hard copies or e-mailed copies of pictures for these. All pictures must be here by Wednesday, October 26 because we are going to the lab to put them on the computers so the students can create their Photo Stories during the Technology rotation that starts October 27. If you do not have any electronic copies of pictures I will allow your child to find images from the Internet that support his/her autobiography such as a UK symbol if they like UK. I know gathering pictures can be a lot of work, but the end product is well-worth it!

Upcoming Tests

Word Study Quiz over Plurals on Friday
Mixed Multiplication Facts Quiz on Friday

Below you will find out what we’re learning this week!
Social Studies:  Explorers’ motives and impacts; 1^st colonial settlements
Math:  Geometry-polygons and angles
Word Study:  Plurals (continued from the week prior to Fall Break)
Writing:  Open Genre (The kids will dabble in some different types of writing this week and then they’ll get to choose which type to pursue!)

Reading:  Responding to Literature-character traits and story elements

Week of October 10-14

Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week will be the week after Fall Break.  Our theme this year is "A Drug Free Life Rocks."  Each day in class we will do an activity that encourages children to choose a drug-free lifestyle writing our own drug free song!  Students will also be invited to dress up for Red Ribbon Week in the following ways.
Monday:  Wear red
Tuesday:  Wear sunglasses
Wednesday:  Wear clothing inside out
Thursday:  Wear tie-dye
Friday:  Wear somethiing that represents your future (e.g., a pencil tucked behind your ear if you wish to be a writer, a suit for a future businessman, a football jersey for a high school football player)

Fall Break
Please remember that Fall Break is next week.  Enjoy it!

Photo Story Autobiographies
I sent a letter home today in the Wednesday folder regarding Photo Stories for the kids' autobiographies.  Please send in approximately 20-26 pictures that correlate with your child's autobiography.  I will have all the kids print a draft tomorrow to bring home.  It is best if pictures can be put on a flash drive that your child can bring to school.  If you can't use a flash drive, please put the pictures on a CD.  I cannot accept hard copies or e-mailed copies of pictures for these.  All pictures must be here by Wednesday, October 26 because we are going to the lab to put them on the computers so the students can create their Photo Stories during the Technology rotation that starts October 27.  If you do not have any electronic copies of pictures I will allow your child to find images from the Internet that support his/her autobiography such as a UK symbol if they like UK.  This is a really great project that the kids enjoy so very much and that I hope to share with you!  Thank you for your help in gathering photographs for your child.

Upcoming Tests:
Social Studies Test over Chapter 4 on Friday
Multiplication Mixed Facts Quiz on Friday

Social Studies:  The kids have been pretending to be archeologists diving for and examining artifacts from a sunken ship to gather information about what sparked the Age of Exploration in the late 1400's and early 1500's.
Math:  We have wrapped up our unit over estimation and computation and now we are delving into geometry!
Word Study:  Pluralization Rules
Reading/Science:  The unit over the 5 kingdoms of living things will culminate this week with a reading comprehension over the 5 kingdoms and an open response.  The kids will also have the opportunity to pretend to be a scientist who discovers a brand new organism for their trnasfer task on Thursday.
Writing:  We are publishing autobiographies and beginning open genre writing this week!

Native American Culture Regions

Over the past few days the kids have been working really hard to learn about the different Native American culture regions.  They have studied the environments, natural resources, the types of homes they lived in, what they ate, and the kinds of artifacts the Native made to help them survive.  After reading, watching videos, and taking notes on each region the kids were asked to make artwork of what they learned.  Each group worked hard to make a mural of their region as well as a scaled down model of a dwelling from their region.  Their hard work paid off and below you will find pictures of their amazing murals and dwellings!  Way to go, kiddos!

by Mckayla, Jeffrey, and Jillian

From Native American Culture Regions

by Maria, Claire, Ali, and Ainsley

From Native American Culture Regions

by. Bella, Connor, and Allison

From Native American Culture Regions

by. Alex, Abby, Trent, and Marlee

From Native American Culture Regions

by. Brennan, Sophie, Lilly, and Tyler

From Native American Culture Regions

by. Mackenzie, David, and Kyra

From Native American Culture Regions

by. Hayden, Logan, and Brandon

From Native American Culture Regions Below you will find a slideshow of the murals and dwellings as well as of the kids hard at work. The next step in this journey to learn about the Native Americans will be to write a real estate ad encouraging others to come and buy a dwelling in their region!

Week of October 3-7

Happy October!  Thank you to everyone who collected and sent in pledges for the Husky Hustle!  As a class we earned approximately $837!  Way to go 5th graders and parents!  The Hustle was also a blast!  The kids loved it and they came back in the room with tons of energy afterward!  Thanks also to those parents and students who attended the Harmony Fall Festival.  It was a huge success as well!  The PTA does such an amazing job putting this event together each year!  My boys and I had a great time and they enjoyed getting to play with my big 5th graders!

On one last note regarding the Fall Festival, if you would still like to sign up for one of my auctions--Boys Night Out or Girls Night Out, please let me know.  I realize that not everyone was able to attend the Fall Festival and the auctions are still open.  Many thanks to all who did sign up...it's going to be fun!!

Coming Up This Week...
I think the kids are really ready to move on to mixed facts.  I've been using the isolated tests to get a feel for which facts they need the most work on, so this week we will have 2 multiplication mad minutes, one over 8's and one over 9's.  The following week we will begin mixed multiplication facts tests every Friday.

On Thursday this week the kids are going to have a really cool opportunity to listen to a real live author speak in the gym.  Tyler Whitesides, the author of the novel, Janitors will be coming at 8:00am on Thursday to speak to the kids.  If you want to check him out or learn more about the book, please go to http://www.tylerwhitesides.com.

Finally, we will be working hard to revise autobiographies this week.  I still plan to have the students create PhotoStories from them, but we're not quite there yet.

Upcoming Tests:
Multiplication Facts Quizzes over 8's and 9's on Friday
Word Study Test over adding ed and ing on Friday

Here is what we're learning...
Social Studies:  We will continue our unit over Native American culture regions.  This week the kids will be designing scale models of Native American dwellings and writing real estate ads to convince other tribes to come settle in their region.
Math:  We are working hard on multiplication.  Several students are having trouble with 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication, so please feel free to lend a hand at home if you can.
Word Study:  The focus this week will be on how to correctly spell verbs when adding ed and ing.  The word study rules will be taped in your child's agenda for extra review at home.
Science/Reading:  We will continue to learn about the 5 kingdoms of living things going even further into the specifics of animal classification.  The kids will be doing lots of non-fiction reading this week to support their learning.
Writing:  Autobiography revisions will be in full swing!

Week of September 26-30

I would like to thank our chaperones, Mrs. Lossin and Mrs. McLellan for joining us on our field trip and I would like to brag on the kids for not complaining about the rain even once!  We had a wonderful time on Friday visiting Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing where we had the opportunity to experience history firsthand. The kids got to discover what it was like to make hand-made bricks, they got to live the life of an archeologist analyzing artifacts found at the dig site, and they got to tour the old house and learn a great deal about how people lived in the 1800’s.  I think it’s safe to say we all had a fantastic time and learned a lot!  The staff at Riverside always take pictures on this field trip for us.  If you would like to see pictures please go to www.riverside-landing.org and type in our school log-on code:  HarmonyE9232011.

…And now begins a whole new week!  Here is a quick preview of what’s coming up.

·        Mrs. Hammons is coming in for classroom guidance Tuesday and Thursday.

·        Pack activity for team building and perseverance on Thursday

·        Husky Hustle on Friday during Related Arts

·        Harmony’s Fall Festival on Friday night 6-9pm  (For the silent auctions, Mrs. Coomes and I are hosting a girls' night and a boys' night after school in December.  Anyone in our classes may sign up for this event.  Just check out the auction tables.)

*Please remember to collect all pledge donations for the Husky Hustle and turn those in by Friday.  For every $50 your child collects, he/she can be entered in a daily drawing to win a $25 Visa giftcard.

Upcoming Tests:

Facts Test over 7’s on Friday

Word Study Quiz over subject, predicate, and the different types of sentences on Friday

Here is a sneak peek at what we’re learning this week!

S.S.:  This week will involve a study of the Native American culture regions including a project where students will work in groups to create a mural of their region.

Math:  We will briefly review of probability and analyzing data followed by several days of multiplication strategies for calculating products of whole numbers and decimals.

Word Study:  Well continue a view of subject, predicate, and different types of sentences.

Writing:  By Wednesday I am hoping everyone will be revising and typing autobiographies.

NOHS Creative Writing Class Visit

         Below you will find a slide show of our shared reading with Mr. Rauh's Creative Writing class from NOHS.  They came over to read children's books that they had written themselves with us.  We had such a good time with them and the kids LOVED it!  In fact, they now want to go visit the high school, so we are working on planning a trip over there later this year to learn some strategies for revising creative writing from the high schoolers!

Check out these glogs!

Dear Parents,
     Below you will find the links to the United States regions glogs created by your kiddos!  These glogs are online posters that include pictures, text, videos, and graphics that the kids researched to make appealing presentations about the U.S. regions!  They look great and they took a lot of hard work!  Please check them out and leave a comment below!  Thanks!
~Mrs. Whitley  :o)

Southwest Region Glog by Brennan
West Region Glog by Trent & Brandon
Northeast Region Glog by Hayden & Logan
Southeast Region Glog by David & Connor
Midwest Region Glog by Lilly & Allison
Southwest Region Glog by Alex
West Region Glog by Mckayla & Mackenzie
Northeast Region Glog by Abby & Maria
Southeast Region Glog by Bella & Sophie
Midwest Region Glog by Jeffrey & Ali
Southwest Region Glog by Ainsley & Jillian
Northeast Region Glog by Marlee & Claire
Southwest Region Glog by Tyler & Kyra

Week of September 19-23

Field Trip
We are going to have a fun week culminating with our field trip to Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing!  This is one of the best field trips we take because the kids will get to have hands-on experiences digging with archeologists,  touring the old plantation house, andmaking their own bricks (like the builders of the house did).  This is such a cool field trip and the kids love it each year.  Please remember to dress your child appropriately.  Right now the weather is predicted to be 68 and sunny, so I would encourage you to send a light jacket since we will be there early in the morning.  Please also pack your child's lunch and send your child in clothes that can get dirty as we will be digging in the dirt.  :o)

High School Visitors
If your child didn't mention it, Mr. Rauh's class came to visit us on Friday to share children's books they'd written.  It was a fantastic visit where the kids got to learn about the writing process first hand from more experienced writers!  Thank you again, Mr. Rauh!

Watch for updates later this week!  I will be linking the students' glog posters that they created about the U.S. regions and I will be posting pictures from our visit with the high schoolers last week! 

Upcoming Tests:
Multiplication Facts Quiz over 6's on Thursday
Social Studies Test over the 1st Native Americans on Thursday

Here is what we're learning this week!
Social Studies:  1st Native Americans (Who were they and how did the adapt?)
Math:
Word Study:  Different Types of Sentences
Writing:  Collecting and drafting autobiographies
Reading:  Reading the story "Charles" from a Junior Great Book & applying the thinking strategies  Estimation and Computation Strategies

Week of September 12-16

Happy Monday!  This week we are wrapping up a few units and beginning some new topics of learning and discussion.  It should be a fun and busy week!

Release Form:  As many of you know, I am working hard this year to earn my National Board Certification.  Today I sent home a student release form asking your permission to videotape your child during lessons I plan to use for my for this process, which requires that the teacher videotape and analyze her teaching.  If you don’t mind allowing me to tape your child for this, please return the form to school as soon as possible.  I would like to record my first lesson this Thursday. 

Math Facts:  On an important note, I’ve been noticing during math class that the kids really need a lot of practice with their math facts.  We’ve had isolated multiplication facts tests so far over the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s.  The 2’s, 3’s and 5’s were unannounced because I wanted to see if they knew them already.  On each of these tests I’ve had kids who demonstrated a need for further practice.  Thus, this week we are taking a break rather than plowing forward with 6’s and just doing retakes of 2’s and 3’s.  

Please encourage your child to learn his/her math facts.  You can quiz them orally in the car, over dinner, in the morning or they can get on the computer and practice on fun websites like www,funbrain.com.  I’ve even suggested to the kids that they call each other and quiz one another to practice.  Learning these facts is so important and helpful to them in 5^th grade because we do a LOT of work which requires the kids to find factors of numbers such as tonight’s homework over prime factorization.   Any support you can offer in helping your child learn their multiplication facts through the 12’s will be greatly appreciated!

PhotoStories:  Today I told the kids they will be making PhotoStories soon using the autobiography they are going to be writing.  Soon they will come home asking for help putting photos on a jump drive or CD because we will be using these photos to combine with their written autobiography and make a PhotoStory.  If you do not have photos on your computer, that is totally fine too.  We can allow the kids to use pictures from the Internet to represent important events.

Upcoming Tests:

Math Test over Number Theory on Thursday, 9/16

Retake over 2’s and 3’s multiplication facts

This week we are learning…

Social Studies:  We will be finishing up glogs over the U.S. regions and presenting, as well as beginning a new unit over the first Native Americans.  Check back later this week to see your student’s finished U.S. region glog!  I will be linking them to the blog.

Math:  Prime factorization including factor trees, factor strings, and writing the prime factorization of a number using exponents.  A review sheet will come home Tuesday to help your child study. 

Word Study:  The parts of a sentence and what makes a good sentence will be our focus this week.

Writing:  We are starting autobiographies this week. 

Reading:  This week we will go over the thinking strategies of visualizing and synthesizing and review all of the thinking strategies that we can use to improve our reading comprehension.

Week of September 5-9

Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!  Though we only have a 4 day week, we have lots of great activities planned.

Here is just a preview of what's coming up this week...
1) We will begin creating glogs to teach about the 5 U.S. regions in social studies.
2) We will also have a "quiz" over capitalization where the kids have to write me a letter demonstrating their ability to apply the capitalization rules and we will begin a competition to see who can use capitalization correctly in their daily writing.
3) Finally, on Friday Mr. Rauh, creative writing teacher at NOHS and dad to one of our students, is bringing his high schoolers to read us picture books they've created!

Upcoming Quizzes and Tests
Be ready to apply those capitalization rules by Thursday!
Prepare for a multiplication mad minute over your 4's on Friday!

Reminders:
Our first field trip will be September 23rd to Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing.

What We're Learning This Week
S.S.:  The kids will begin researching their assigned U.S. region in pairs and creating glogs to share what they learned.
Math:  We will continue to work on all aspects of number theory from divisibility rules to prime and composite numbers to the use of exponents to square numbers.
Word Study:  We will continue to practice the capitalization rules.
Writing:  This week culminates our study of the 6 traits, but we will continue to collect in writer's notebooks with the intent of using the 6 traits of writing in every seed.
Reading:  The metacognition thinking strategies will remain our focus in reading as we learn to attend to our thinking while we read in order to deepen our comprehension.

On a final note, if you happen to be in the building, please stop by and check out our bulletin board courtesy of Mrs. Lossin and Mrs. Purdy.  In a word...AMAZING!  Many thanks to those creative moms!

Week of August 29-September 2nd

             First of all, I would like to extend a great big thank you to all of the parents who attended Parent Orientation last Thursday!  We had a great showing and I appreciate you sacrificing your evening to come and listen to my talk about our 5^th grade classroom.  You were a lovely audience!  Thank you also to each parent who volunteered to help out in our classroom!  This is a very supportive group and I think we are going to have a fantastic school year!

Coming up this week…

Book Fair!  This week marks our first book fair of the year!  If your child would like to make a purchase we will be shopping as a class on Friday.  However, if the kids want to shop earlier, I will be happy to send them down to library in the morning after their morning work is complete.

Upcoming Tests

Social Studies Test over Geography on Thursday, September 21

~Please encourage your child to prepare by taking the chapter 1 tutorial at www.tutorial.historyalive.com.  The kids will also need to be able to correctly label and spell all of last week’s word study words on a map.  I will be sending home another blank map this week as a study guide.  Please look over it with your child and remind him/her to use correct capitalization and spelling because this will also count as a word study grade.

Check out what we’re learning this week!

Social Studies:  On Monday and Tuesday the kids will have the opportunity to complete a transfer task where they have to show me how they can apply what they’ve learned about geography.  They will pretend to be pilots on special assignment to travel from one point to another identifying geographic landmarks along the way, latitude and longitude for starting and ending points, general climate for the areas they will be taking off and landing in, etc.  It should be pretty exciting!  Then we will spend some time reviewing and taking the test before we start our next venture into the United States regions.

Math:  On Monday we will review and I will allow kids to make corrections.  Then we will practice answering a math open response question together to get in the routine.  An open response will be included with each math test.  Then, beginning Tuesday we will jump into a fantastic unit on number theory.

Word Study:  This week we will study the capitalization rules, learn their importance, and practice implementing them in our writing.

Writing:  We will continue our study of the 6 traits of writing and the kids will practice using these traits as they collect ideas in their writer’s notebooks.

Reading:  This week will begin an in-depth study of the use of metacognition (thinking about our thinking) while reading.  We will explore each of the thinking strategies and discuss their importance in reading.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.  Thank you and have a great week!

Week of August 22-26

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Many thanks to all of the parents who have written comments on the video I showed about never giving up.  I love having the ability to communicate with you and to share your thoughts with the students through our blog.

Dates to Remember
Wednesday, 8/25 Early Release @ 12:25pm
*If your child's transportation will change this day, please send a note.

Thursday, 8/26 Parent Orientation @ 7pm

*Please try to attend.  I give out lots of great information on this night, I have volunteer sign up sheets, and I will show you how to navigate some important websites for our classroom.

Upcoming Tests

ü  Math Test over Whole Number and Decimal Place Value on Friday

ü  Please help your child work on spelling the words on his/her word study list (taped into the agenda) in preparation for a test next week.  This will be a social studies test over geography, but I will be looking for correct spelling and capitalization as they label the oceans, continents, and important lines of reference on the globe (e.g., Equator).

Social Studies:  This week we will continue to learn about the geography of our world by learning important geographic terms for land and water as well as identifying important physical features of the U.S.  The kids will even have the opportunity to design their own island by drawing and naming geographic features.

Math:  We are wrapping up our unit on place value this week with a test on Friday.   A study guide will come home Wednesday night.  Please feel free to help your child with his/her math homework in preparation for this test.

Word Study:  We will practice the word study terms by breaking them into syllables and quizzing one another in class.

Writing:  We are starting a unit over the six traits of effective writing.  This week the kids will learn the importance of organizing their writing effectively and of using voice.

Reading:  As we continue to finish DRA’s, we will also be talking about how to build stamina as reader so that we can read more complex books, read for longer periods of time, and deepen our comprehension.

Question for Parents:

Please leave a comment below if there is anything you have burning questions or concerns over that you would like me to address at Parent Orientation.  Thank you!

Don't ever give up! "Success is not just coming to you; you must come to it"

Good afternoon!  Please check out this amazing video below.  I showed it to the kids today during our morning meeting in order to better help them understand our class motto this year, which is:  "Success is not coming to you; you must come to it."  The man in this video has no arms or legs and he talks about the importance of not giving up and trying "100 times if you have to."  It really seemed to have an impact on the students and today after viewing and discussing the video I saw a change in their work ethic.
I would greatly appreciate it, if you would please leave a comment to further motivate the kids to try their best.  I will share these comments in class to allow the kids a chance to see their parents' take on never giving up.  Thanks for your support!

Week of August 15-19

Well, our first few days getting to know each other were a huge success!  I think everyone had fun and it seems we are going to have a great class!  This week we are going to get a bit more into academics.  Some light homework will be assigned as well.  Please checkout the Homework page for this week's assignments.  These will also be in your child's agenda.

A few bits of important parent info...

• Please read and sign your child's agenda each night even when they don't have homework.  This is one of the ways we can easily communicate.  I will check agendas every morning, so feel free to write me a note in the agenda anytime.
• Our first Early Release Day is Wednesday, August 24th at 12:25pm.  Please send a note if your child's transportation will change that day.
• Parent Orientation is coming up on Thursday, August 25th at 7pm.  Please make plans to attend so I can explain how our 5th grade class works and answer any questions you may have about this year.
• Finally, welcome to our class blog!  I will update at least once a week with important dates and to tell you about what we are learning.  From time to time, I will also pose questions for students and/or parents to invite 2 way communication and to expand our learning outside the classroom.

Coming up this week...

Math:  We will begin learning about place value.

Social Studies:  We will begin a study of geography.

Writing:  We will begin collecting ideas and students will also be given a writing invitation each day.

Reading:  We will begin DRA's so I can learn about your child as a reader as well as some important mini-lessons abotu choosing books.

Word Study:  We will play some word study games including Scrabble to get a feel for the kids' spelling abilities.

Science:  We will begin rotate science in and out with social studies or reading throughout the year.  We have some great units planned to make it fun and hands-on!

So, that's what's going on this week in Mrs. Whitley's room.  If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to call or shoot me an e-mail at jennifer.whitley@oldham.kyschools.us.

Welcome New 5th Graders!!

Welcome to 5^th grade!  By now you’ve probably found out that I am your teacher!  You are either excited, curious, or concerned.  Hopefully, you are excited and curious!  If you are concerned, don’t be.  We are going to learn a lot and have fun doing so.  I can’t wait to meet everyone!  I love teaching 5^th grade and I know we’re going to have an awesome school year together!

This webpage is a blog.  Please become a follower so you can catch all of my updates.  If you have questions or comments, please write them on here under the “Comments” section.  I want to encourage two way communication between parents, students, and myself. 

Important dates to keep in mind as the start of school rapidly approaches:

Monday, August 8:  Open House 5-7pm 

Please bring your school supplies and the questionnaires I sent home with my letter to you.

Wednesday, August 10:  First Day of School!!

Wednesday, August 24:  Early Release @ 12:25pm

Thursday, August 25:  Parent Orientation

Enjoy your last weekend of the summer!  I hope to see everyone Monday night at Open House!

Our Mystery from History

We have spent the past week investigating the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart during her attempted round the world flight in 1937.  I've heard lots of great ideas from each of you during this time and now it's time to debate!  Tell me what you think really happened to Amelia Earhart by commenting on this post!

All Good Things Must Come to and End

As they say, "All good things must come to an end."  It has been an amazing year with these kids!  They have made each other laugh and smile everyday, they have learned so much, they have grown physically, mentally, and emotionally, and now I believe they are ready for middle school.  The last remaining days of their elementary school career will be both busy and fun so get out your calendar because here's what's coming up this week and next...

Monday, 5/23:  IOWA Testing
Tuesday 5/24:  IOWA Testing
Wednesday 5/25:  The last day I get a whole regular teaching day with these kiddos!
Thursday 5/26:  Testing Iniative Award Movie @ 12:45  Party @ Stevie's House 3:00-4:30
Friday 5/27:  NOMS Visit & 5th Grade Picnic at Creasey-Mahan

Tuesday 5/31:  Orange Pack Extravaganza & Birthday Book Club Celebration
Wednesday 6/1:  5th Grade Recognition, 5th Grade Showcase, & MegaSkills Assembly
Thursday 6/2:  Last Day of Elementary School:  Jumpies in the Gym & Mustang Picnic

        Please plan to attend 5th Grade Recognition at 9:15 on June 2nd followed by the 5th Grade Showcase.  This is our opportunity to acknowledge the accomplishments and hard work of this amazing group of students!

Harmony Earth Day 2011

        Check out these photos of the 5th graders working on Harmony's landscaping for Earth Day. They really used teamwork and perseverance to dig up several dead bushes and to help Mr. Mike dig a hole for the tree that has been planted outside the art room in honor of this year's 5th graders.  I was so impressed with the enthusiasm they put into this task and with just how much they accomplished in a short time.  I believe we dug up at least 7 or 8 dead shrubs in just 40 minutes!  Way to go, kiddos!

Week of May 2-5

ONE week left until the KCCT begins…

The learning continues!  This week we will still be going strong with only days left until KCCT begins.  Please help your child to eat healthy and get a good night’s rest in preparation for the big test.  It is hard work for them and they do best when they are rested and feeling good. 

Lunch with Someone You Love

This is a reminder that Lunch with Someone You Love takes place tomorrow during our regular lunch time.  You are invited to have lunch with your child and then attend the final book fair of the year afterward.   Lunch begins at 11:53am.  Hope to see you there!

Reminders

ü  No School Friday in honor of the Kentucky Oaks

ü  NOMS Field Trip/5^th Grade Picnic – Friday, May 27 (Kids will need a sack lunch.)1

ü  Don’t forget that 5^th Grade Recognition and the 5^th Grade Showcase are coming up on Wednesday, June 1^st.  Please plan to be here early as our ceremony will begin at 9:15am in the cafeteria.

Math:  We will practice all of the skills and concepts we’ve been learning in math this year as the students practice and play math games to help them refine their skills.

Reading:  The kids showed me last week that they were still struggling to understand the literary devices and how they are used by authors.  Therefore, this week we are doing a mini-unit on literary devices followed by a test on Friday.  The devices and definitions are taped into their planners to help them study this week.

Social Studies:  We are wrapping up our unit over Kentucky this week with a culminating class project that I like to call “A Tour of Kentucky.”  The kids will be working in groups to study various aspects of Kentucky such as industries, agriculture, tourism, geography, and history.

Writing:  The kids have been really excited about developing short stories and this week we will begin to study character traits as we develop their main characters and begin drafting their stories.

Word Study:  Mrs. Hammons will be coming into our class this week to teach TCR – Thinking Changing Rearranging (lessons that help prepare the students mentally for their transition to middle school).