"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

Thursday, April 25, 2013

US Salt Maps Project

For the past few days we have been making salt maps to review the US regions and the geography and climate of the U.S. In order to make it more hands-on, we made and painted salt maps. Then the kids flagged them with toothpicks and sticky notes to indicate the various industries, climates, and landforms in different parts of the U.S. Once the maps were complete, we invited Ms. Howard's first grade class to come over so the 5th graders could share their knowledge. The kids did a wonderful job and seemed very proud of their work. These will be on display in the hallway so come take a peek if you come for Lunch with Someone You Love next week! :o)































Monday, April 22, 2013

Some 5th Grade Fun :)

Lately, we've done some pretty fun things in class that the kids would like me to share.  Below you will find a link to a recording of the kids' new favorite brain break (inspired by the 5th-6th Grade Dance at NOMS) and our building of the Transcontinental Railroad in our hallway!  Enjoy!

The Kids' New Favorite Brain Break





Week of April 22-26

Happy Monday! Here are the things you need to know this week! There is a lot going on as the school year is quickly coming to a close, so please read carefully.

Upcoming Test!

There will be an economics test in social studies tomorrow. The kids have been learning about economics for the past 2 weeks and they have a list of terms taped into their agenda from last week which they are expected to know tomorrow.
Save the Date!
Please mark your calendar! Our class' 5th Grade Recognition will be on Thursday, May 23rd at 9:15am in the cafeteria.

NOMS
All Related Arts selection forms are due no later than this Friday, 4/26. This pink form can be found in the Manila folder your child brought home from the middle school visit last week. It is very important that every child complete one of these. Otherwise, their related arts classes will be chosen for them and they will not get a say.

Earth Day
In honor of Earth Day our school will be hosting activities this Friday to improve our grounds. The 5th graders will be pulling weeds and mulching our flower beds. Please send your child to school on Friday with gardening gloves if you have some and of course, clothes that can get a little dirty. There will also be a tree planted in honor of this awesome crew of 5th graders. To contribute to the tree, please send in a $1 donation.

Relay for Life
As you know, our school is collecting money to fight cancer with Relay for Life. Students who bring a $1 donation this Friday may wear a hat to school. The relay will take place the evening of May 10th at Oldham County High School. My family and I will be there from 7-9pm. Feel free to come out and walk with us.

Lunch with Someone You Love~April 29
Our final book fair is taking place next week and we are hosting our annual Lunch With Someone You Love event. This afternoon, your child will come home a with a form inviting you or a loved one to join them for lunch on Monday, April 29. After lunch loved ones are invited to stay and join our class to shop at our last book fair of the year.

Guest Speaker
Next week, our class will be studying Kentucky and this Friday they will have the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker, a farmer, who is coming to speak about the equine industry in Kentucky. She will even be bringing her horses to show the kids!

Zoo Field Trip~May 21
Please return all Zoo field trip forms as soon as possible. We will need several chaperones as I usually break the class into small groups to tour the zoo. If you are interested in chaperoning, please let me know by checking one of the boxes on the field trip form. In order to walk with a group, you must have completed confidentiality training and a background check.


Social Studies:  This week we are wrapping up our Economics unit and reviewing the U.S. regions.
Math:  Many children have expressed to me some confusion over fractions, so I am going to review fractions and mixed numbers with the kids this week and next.Word Study:  I've noticed many of the kids misuse apostrophes in their writing, so this week I am teaching a unit on singular and plural possessives.
Writing:  This week we will continue our ELA unit on coming of age as we read about how our country came of age through the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement.  Students will also learn to effectively answer reading extended response questions as they read about these topics.
Reading:  Students will engage in free reading time and writing reflections while I administer the DRA to each child in class.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Week of April 15-19

Hello kids and parents! Here is what you need to know for this week. :)
 
Extra Credit for Immigration Stories
Last week I sent out a request asking for parents to send me any stories you may have about when/why your family immigrated to the United States. I've decided to also make this an extra credit opportunity for the kids. Friday I explained to the kids that if they put together a short essay or power point about how their family immigrated they could receive 10 extra credit points in Social Studies. They have until Tuesday because Tuesday afternoon, we will be sharing our stories.

Edmodo implementation
Some of you may have heard of a new classroom technology some teachers in the district are implementing called Edmodo. It's a wonderful website I just found out about this week. Think of it as an academic Facebook for our classroom only where all kid talk will be monitored by me. You can also view the page as well using a code from your child's page when he/she logs in. I plan to use Edmodo to do a few things including review quizzes, class polls, small group and whole group discussions, and homework assignments. As I said, I just learned about it this week, so we will be testing this out together. Please know that it is perfectly safe and I've already done a lesson with the kids outlining expectations for Edmodo use including what is appropriate and what's not. Many of the kids had the opportunity to join on Friday, but I still need to sign a few up. By Monday afternoon however, everyone will be a member. This tool is of course, dependent on your child having Internet access, so if that is a problem please let me know and I'll come up with an alternative way for them to do Edmodo assignments. Not all homework will be on Edmodo, just a few assignments as we begin getting used to it.

Reading Assignment (Outside lit circles)
This week I plan to assign a book to each child to read so we can do another round of lit circles. This lit circle however, will take place outside of class and we will try our hand at having our discussion via Edmodo. This means your child should be reading an assigned book at home each night so we can discuss.

Math test
There will be a test over 2-dimensional geometry this Wednesday. I will send home a study guide tomorrow and there will be a quiz for practice on Edmodo Tuesday night.

Field trips
This week we have lots of field trips. Thursday we are going to NOMS for 5th Grade Day, followed by our 5th Grade Picnic at Creasey-Mahan Nature Preserve. As of now, there is rain forecast, but we're hopeful that might change. If not, there will be a rain plan.
On Friday we will travel to the Oldham County Arts Center to watch "Alice in Wonderland" and compare it to the storybook version we read in class.

Relay for Life
Please remember to send in donations for Relay for Life. Your child also received pink cards which can be used to honor loved ones who've fought cancer. These cards will be displayed in the school to honor those who've battled cancer.

This week we will be learning about the following:
Social Studies: Students will continue to learn about economics.
Math: We will review and test over 2-D geometry.
Word Study: We will review geometry and economics vocabulary.
Writing and Reading: Students will be reading and writing about immigration in our ELA unit about coming of age. Right now the focus is on how our own country has come of age.



Have a fantastic week and cross your fingers that the rain holds off this Thursday!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Week of April 8-12

Good morning, parents! Well, we are definitely in the home stretch now! You will see that things are getting very busy this week!

MAP Testing
Over the next 3 weeks, we will have our spring MAP Testing sessions. These are the final MAP tests of the year.

TCR Lessons
This week and next we will begin doing lessons over Thinking Changing Rearraning with Mrs. Hammons. These lessons are fantastic because they teach kids to rearrange their thinking to improve their self awareness and their interactions with one another, which is so important for the transition into middle school.

Scrimmage Testing
Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we will have scrimmage testing to prepare for the K-PREP Assessment that is coming up in May.

NOMS Visit/5th Grade Picnic
Today you will receive a new field trip form for a walking field trip to both North Oldham Middle School and Creasey-Mahan Nature Preserve. This field trip is very fun and valuable. The kids will be given the opportunity to tour and learn about the middle school, followed by our annual 5th grade celebration picnic at Creasey-Mahan Nature Preserve. Lots of volunteers will be needed to help with the picnic! If you are interested in helping out, please contact Tracey Mitchell at Tracey_Mitchell@yahoo.com.

Creasey Mahan Request
As mentioned above, coming up on April 18th we will be having our annual 5th Grade Picnic. Creasey-Mahan often asks large groups to help the Preserve defray some of the utility costs by donating from the following list of suggestions. Our school has been very generous in the past with these donations. As a non-profit organization, these donations are priceless and very appreciated. If you would like to donate, please send any of the following items to school prior to April 18.

· Paper towels
· Paper plates
· Paper cups
· Plastic spoons
· Napkins
· Toilet tissue
· Zip lock bags
· Copy paper
· Poster boards
· Bird seed
· Cracked corn for squirrels and deer

Blog
Please remember to check out the class blog. I will update our calendar with important dates and you can also find out what we're learning this week. Have a great week!
 
Here's what we're learning this week!
Social Studies:  This week we will begin a unit on Economics.
Math:  We will continue our study of geometry with a focus on coordinate grids.
Word Study:  Word study over the next couple of weeks will be devoted to working on geometry and economics vocabulary.
Writing:  Today we will go over the kids' recent on demand practice and later this week we will work on perspective in writing.
Reading:  We will explore the Industrial Revolution and Immigration to America through reading.