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

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Map Making and Unexpected Visitors

We had a lot of fun today doing a hands-on map making activity to demonstrate for the kids how towns grew and changed as a result of the Industrial Revolution.  The kids really caught on quickly to both the positive and negative results of Industrialization and their maps all turned out great!  In fact, I felt like each of their maps kind of reflected their different personalities!


At first the towns were small and rural with just a few small homes, a few roads, a river and a bridge.



Then the towns grew as a result of factories.  Large homes were added.


Factories and pubs were built as well as tenement buildings.



The towns quickly became crowded.  More jobs and bigger homes were created, but workers were often injured and unhappy with the unsafe factory conditions.


Nonetheless, the kids were proud of their little growing towns.



They worked hard and had great discussions about Industrialization.



Yet, many were frustrated.  Ethan did not like how crowded his town became as a result of industrialization.


Riley wasn't too thrilled either.  She liked her town better before all the factories arrived.


The class did an awesome job though and their towns will be on display in our hallway soon along with reflections on their learning.  They were able to see both the positive and negative impacts that came with the Industrial Revolution, and they had fun doing it!


Not only did we have fun making maps today, but in the last 10 minutes of the day, we had some very exciting and unexpected visitors!  There were two UofL basketball players visiting the first graders in our hallway who were nice enough to come say hello to us too!  The kids were SO excited!!
Mangok Mathiang & Anas Mahmoud


Just another awesome day with an amazing group of kids!  :o)

Monday, April 20, 2015

Week of April 20-24


And our newest Leader of the Week is
 

Lily!!!

Lily is a sweet, cheerful, hard-working young lady!  She was selected as our Leader of the Week for her awesome use of the 7 habits.  She is particularly adept at putting first things first and being proactive.  No matter what the assignment, as soon as she receives it, she gets straight to work.  She is careful and pays close attention to her neatness and correctness in grammar and mechanics.  She is also a great listener who uses habit 5, seek first to understand, then to be understood on a daily basis.  Way to go, Lily!!
 
 
Economics Test
We will have a test over Economics this Friday.  A list of vocabulary will come home today.  This will be taped into your child’s agenda so he/she can study each night.
 
KPREP Scrimmage
Today was our first day of our second KPREP Scrimmage.  We will be scrimmaging again tomorrow.  Please be sure to have your child arrive at school on time.
 
BizTown
Our field trip is tomorrow!  If you are a volunteer who is not riding the bus, please arrive at BizTown by 8:30am.  If you are riding the bus, please meet in our classroom at 8:20am.  It’s going to be a fun day!
HELP Project Orders
If you would like to order something from the HELP Project, all orders are due no later than this Friday, April 24th.  All money collected goes directly to Relay for Life.  Therefore, please make any checks out to Relay for Life.  If you prefer not to order anything, but would like to make a donation, those will be accepted as well.
MAP Testing
We will have our last MAP test over Language on Friday.
 
Here’s what’s coming up this week.
ELA:  During ELA, we will be delving further into our final unit, Coming of Age.  During this unit, we will explore what it means to come of age or grow up.  We will analyze characters in books to determine how they come of age.  We will also explore how America came of age through events such as the Industrial Revolution and Westward Expansion.
 
Math:  We will continue to explore geometry this week with a focus on classifying polygons and quadrilaterals.
Social Studies:  We will wrap up our study of economics with our visit to BizTown, a review of what we’ve learned, and an assessment.
 
Have a great week!
 

Monday, April 13, 2015

Week of April 13-17


Mother Son Night
Harmony’s First Annual Mother-Son Night is the Friday from 6:00-8:00pm.  For more details, check out this link:  http://teacherweb.com/KY/HarmonyElementary/HarmonyPTA/mother-son-event-flyer-1.pdf.
 
MAP Testing
We will begin spring MAP testing this week with tests on Tuesday and Friday.

Important Dates
Next week is our field trip to BizTown!  Be sure to send your child with a sack lunch.

WaterSteps
This week the 5th graders will kick off a service project designed to help raise money for safe drinking water all over the world.  This project is very simple.  Basically, we’re asking families to send in used shoes.   All types are excepted.  These shoes are then sold to an exporter and funds received help bring clean water to those in need.  Donated shoes will help to fund water projects and keep tons of waste out of our landfills. 

A Look at this Week

ELA:  We will begin a new ELA unit this week, entitled Coming of Age.  This unit integrates the study of how America has come of age through events such as westward expansion, the Industrial Revolution, and the Great Depression.  This week the kids will be reading and writing about Lewis and Clark, the Trail of Tears, Manifest Destiny, and various groups impacted by westward expansion. 

Word Study:  Our focus this week will be a variety of skills.  First we will begin with learning how to use a and an appropriately.  We will also review the parts of speech, study synonyms and antonyms, and review the use of the apostrophe in contractions.

Math:  During math this week, we will be learning about geometry!  We will learn how to identify and measure angles, triangles, and polygons.

Social Studies:  We will continue preparations for our trip to BizTown.  This week the kids will continue learning how to use checking and savings accounts.  They will also learn how to apply for a job, and how to start up a business.  This week the kids will also receive the job assignments for their BizTown careers!

Have a lovely week and enjoy this beautiful weather!  :o)