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

Friday, February 27, 2015

Valentines fiesta

On February 13th we had a Valentine's party! We did experiments with gobstoppers with water, it ended up just like this. Four squares of color. Not all of the trays worked. Some people shook the table. But it still turned out looking cool, like a racetrack. Of course Tyler figured out a cool way to wear a window sticker. Um.... Ok. On the 3rd picture were playing with an exploding valentines ballon.




Symbols of America

We were making Popplets and uploading them onto a Padlet, which you can see at http://padlet.com/jenwhitley/ussymbols. Here, we are putting a picture of a U.S. symbol and the importance of them on the Popplets.  ~Matthew W & Gigi (reporters)

Animal care visit

We fought hard and strong to see some animals from the Animal Care Society, but only 2? Yeah. We invited some kindergarteners to come with us. The dogs were so sweet. In the competition we won first place. We collected lots of supplies for the Animal Care Society!  ~Matthew W & Gigi (reporters)

Knot game

In this picture Matthew P has a really weird face. Wonder why? We were playing a (to Matthew P)death defying game, the Knot Game, for a brain break. Well it was not death-defying to the rest of us. You would put your arms in the middle and grab 2 different peoples' hands. Then you would untangle without letting go. ~Matthew W & Gigi (reporters)

Weekly Update for March 2-6

And our newest Leaders of the Week are...
Kendall & Tommy!!!
This week I chose two outstanding leaders to represent our class! 
           Kendall is such a hard-working student!  She is a master at using habit 1.  She is proactive each day with her schoolwork.  If there is something she doesn't understand or directions are unclear, she will not hesitate to ask for further clarification.  She is also a master at habit 4.  Kendall often puts others before herself.  She is polite and courteous, a pro at thinking win-win!
          Tommy is another fabulous leader in our room!  He is a pro at using habit 2, putting first things, first!  Tommy is also very hard-working student.  He does a great job of making sure he finishes all of his classwork in a timely manner.  Then, as soon as he is finished, you will almost always find him with his nose in a book!  This leads me to the other habit he uses well.  Tommy enjoys sharpening the saw as he is an avid reader who read each of the 10 BOB books in no time!
 
Cereal Boxes
Please send in empty cereal boxes next week.  We will need 29 by Thursday for a project we are doing called "Celling Cereal."
 
Animal Care Society Visit
This afternoon I will update our blog with recent pictures including those from the visit we had with furry friends!   The kids got to snuggle and pet 2 sweet pups from the Animal Care Society on Wednesday!  They were SO excited!
 
Contest
As I was listening to the radio after school the other day, I heard about an interesting opportunity. KY Telco Federal Credit Union is hosting a Teacher of the Month Contest.  I researched it and found that kids can go online and nominate their teacher.  The winning teacher will get $100 to spend on her classroom, a Bearno's pizza party for her class, and a spa gift certificate.  This is 100% optional, but I told the kids about it and they were interested, so I am sharing the link with you in case your child wants to participate. 
 
 
Progress Reports
Progress reports will be coming home on Wednesday March 11 along with a letter about conferences which I will be scheduling at the end of March.
 
Here's what's coming up in next week's curriculum!
Reading:  In order to deepen the kids' reading comprehensions skills, I've decided to focus a few lessons on practicing a few of the thinking strategies.  We will work on determining importance, synthesizing, and inferring during class next week.
Writing:  We will work on our transfer task for the America in Conflict ELA unit next week.  This task requires that students create their own historical narrative set during the Civil War.  We began brainstorming and preparing for this already, so next week they will be writing their narrative.  Skills we will be learning during the week will include how to write and correctly punctuate both internal and external dialogue.
Word Study:  We will continue to study Greek and Latin roots.
Math:  We will be wrapping up our unit on fraction and mixed number computation next week with a test on Friday.
Science:  We will do a short unit on cells next week!


Thursday, February 12, 2015

ChatterPix Bull Run Characters

Check out the videos below!  The kids created these using an app called ChatterKid!  They read about both fictional and real characters from the Civil War and then wrote a script as though they were one of these characters.  In the script, they were to explain how the character changed as a result of the conflict.  The kids did a great job and they really seemed to enjoy it!  Here are a few examples of their work!




Sunday, February 8, 2015

Week of February 9-13

This week's Leader of the Week is...


Riley!!!
          Recently, Mrs. Hammons came into our classroom to do a lesson in which each child was asked to write about their "One," the one person they knew they could count on and go to anytime they needed them.  Most children wrote about adults, but two different children chose Riley as their "One."  I think this is such a special honor, as it shows that Riley is the truest kind of friend.  Riley is definitely a pro at using the habits of Think Win-Win and Synergize!  She is the kind of friend everyone would like to have and that is why she was chosen as our newest Leader of the Week!  Way to go, Riley!

It's BOB time!!
Our class BOB competition will take place tomorrow!  The winning team from our class competition will have the opportunity to compete against the winning teams from the other 5th grade classes on Tuesday.  Also, any child who has successfully read at least 7 BOB books this year will have an opportunity to try out for the district competition which will take place in early March.  Below is a list of the BOB books and authors if your child needs these to review.

Midnight Magic by Avi
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck
Crash by Jerry Spinelli
Kizzy Ann Stamps by Jeri Watts

Animal Care Society Donations    
Our school is collecting donations for the Animal Care Society throughout the rest of this week.  The class who collects the most will receive a visit from some furry friends!  The kids are very excited about this!  If you would like to donate, please send in donations by Friday.

Valentine's Party
We will have our Valentine's party on Friday at 10:30.  Please send in Valentines for each child in the class.  These may include stickers, pencils, erasers, tattoos, but no candy or food please.  Your child may also bring his/her own tasty drink and snack to enjoy during the party.  I've attached to this email a list of all the kids' names for Valentines.
 
Here's what's coming up in our curriculum next week!
ELA:  This week, we will finish up the Civil War essays and begin a character study of various characters from the book Bull Run​.  We will be exploring these characters' traits and how they change as a result of conflict.
Word Study:  During word study, we will continue exploring root words and prefixes to help the kids expand their vocabulary and decode unfamiliar words.
Math:  In math this week, we will be learning how to multiply and divide fractions.  Believe it or not, this is usually easier for the kids than adding and subtracting them!
Social Studies:  In social studies, we will continue to learn about the Constitution and the 3 branches of government as we do simulations using a great website called iCivics.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Leader of the Week


Our Leader of the Week is...


 Landon!!!

 Landon does an awesome job of utilizing the 7 habits at school each day!  He is a very kind person who gets along well with all of his peers.  He synergizes well when working in groups and partnerships.  He is proactive when he has a question about an assignment, even sending emails from home when he has a problem.  Overall, Landon is a kid who knows how to put first things first.  He is a great 5th grade leader who makes good choices on a daily basis!