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

Native Americans Blendspace

Use this Blendspace to fill in your graphic organizer about natural resources used by the Inuit.


https://www.tes.com/lessons/MdGRIduq6jCrog/the-inuit-tribe.

Fun week

This week was awesome we synergized  together with  a person that we haven't really hung out with a lot  and we figured out our similarities and differences with a Venn Diagram. Then we figured out we weren't so different after all!😊

   This week we had to write about emojis and their view of life. It was super fun. We got a prompt had to write about it with an emoji sticker. #Emoji 😎😍😃😘😜🤓😎☺️😊 This helped us to practice using the trait of voice in our writing.

We had also had a Crazy Hair and PJ day. 😋 We earned this because of all of our donations to Tiger Trek! 

 

  

Region researching

This week we reserched on different regions. We worked very hard and hope to continue that.🤓

We worked on murals. We made different regions including the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Midwest.

Our teacher made this activity so much fun! We love our teacher!😘

 

 

This is one of our murals. They were so much fun! We all had a blast!😋

Word It Out Homework

Your homework for the next several nights is to make a word cloud for each region as we study it. That means you are going to use the knowledge you gained in class to create a word cloud using the names of all the states in the region as well as 10 or more words to describe the region you learned about in class that day. States that are 2 words like New York will have to be typed without a space. For example, NewYork. Use the following website to make your word cloud. https://worditout.com/word-cloud/create Print it out and bring it to school the next day. If you cannot print, send me the word cloud via email by clicking "Save" on the lefthand side of the screen and sending it to jennifer.whitley@oldham.kyschools.us. I will print for you if you cannot print at home. **Another option kids seemed excited about was to design the word cloud on a piece of paper using markers or colored pencils rather than using the computer. This too is absolutely fine. The purpose here is to reaffirm the learning we’re doing in class each day in a fun, creative way.

Tuesday: Make a word cloud about the Northeast region. Use words to describe the region's characteristics.

Wednesday: Make a word cloud about the Southeast region. Use words to describe the region's characteristics.

Thursday: Make a word cloud about the Midwest region. Use words to describe the region's characteristics.

Friday: Make a word cloud about the Southwest region. Use words to describe the region's characteristics.

Monday: Make a word cloud about the West region. Use words to describe the region's characteristics.

Learning Events @ the Start of School

This week we had a blast😄! We used synergy

 and  teamwork to create a mission statement for our class.

 

We also learned about needs and wants. We each got a slip of paper that had multiple activities we needed to accomplish. We had to use the iteams in front of us to make the objects that we were given on the slip of paper.  We learned about scarcity as we found out that we did not have enough materials to successfully make each item listed on the paper. 

 

 We also did a stem activity where we had to create a stack of Dixie cups and popcicle sticks to hold chapter books. Some of us went a little crazy🤣! When they fell there was and explosion of chaos! All of us worked hard to acheive our mission!   

Some of us were a little camera shy📸. We had to build a free standing structure using straws. It was difficult to accomplish. But we eventually we got it standing. We had to stick the straws inside each other or use a small amount of tape to tape it together. We noticed that tape did not hold together very well.  The other complicated part of this nation was that we could not use the tape to secure the structure to the table. 

We worked very hard this week and we  guarantee  we will work even harder next week.😉

Welcome!!

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 on Monday, August 14^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 12 years now. I absolutely love teaching and 5^th grade is my favorite. I’ve actually taught 5^th grade for 10 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 1 year so far (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 16^th! Rest up and enjoy these last few days of summer!

Traveling the Oregon Trail

Today we played the classic computer game, The Oregon Trail and the kids LOVED it!! Their reactions to hardships along the trail were hysterical! In fact, they were so funny I've included some pictures as well as some actual quotes from the kids! Enjoy! :)

 

Student quotes overheard while playing the game...

 

Tough Choices:

"Mrs. Whitley, this is such a hard choice--one ox for 370 pounds of food?!"

 

Game Frustrations:

"Oh my gosh! Why is it doing this to me???"

 

Celebrations:

"I'm actually doing good here! No one is dying yet!"

 

Major Hardships:

"Someone has the measles and I don't have enough food!"

 

Hunting Woes:

"Why do deer run so fast? They're faster than my bullet!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I killed a deer!...It was only 14 pounds."

 

Dilemmas Amongst Your People:

"Chandler needs to rest! Too bad Chandler!"

"Mrs. Whitley, I just might let you die [on the trail]."

"Chandler has dysentery!"

"Tanner fell under the wagon and broke an arm!"

 

And sometimes you have even bigger problems and surprises...

"I swear I have the dumbest group! Some people are eating poison berries and some people fell under the wagon!"

"What?! My people are cannibals?!"

 

 

Here are some pictures of the fun!

 

Sometimes you react with disbelief when facing the troubles of the Oregon Trail...

 

Sometimes the game in so exciting you just can't sit still...

 

Sometimes the game can be intense and frustrating...

 

But every once in a while you'll have a great victory along the trail!

 

No matter which version you're playing (the old school one...as pictured below) or the newer version, there's no doubt about it, The Oregon Trail is treacherous journey!

Week of April 17-21

Upcoming Test

Social Studies (Westward Expansion)-Friday, 4/21

 

*Please make note of the dates below. We have a lot of important things coming up! The end of the school year is just weeks away!

 

Dates to Know

Today~Student-Led Conferences 4:30-5:45

4/18~Field Trip to South Oldham Middle School (We will be walking.)

April 21~Auction Items to Mrs. Whitley & Career Day Presentations for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades

April 28~Spring Carnival 6-8pm

May 5~No School

May 17-23~KPREP Testing

May 25~Camp HiHo Field Trip

May 29~No School

May 31~5^th Grade Promotion @ 6:00pm

June 1~Students’ Last Day

 

Related Arts Rotation

We will be switching to art for our next rotation starting tomorrow. The kids will be working with charcoal which can be very messy, so if your child does not already have an art shirt, it would be a good idea to send one in tomorrow.

 

MAP Testing

Math will be taken today and Language is on Wednesday.

 

Student-Led Conferences

Please plan to attend your child’s student-led conference on Monday, April 17^th from 4:30-5:45. You are welcome to come and go as you please, but know that you will need about 15 minutes for your child’s conference. I will be there to facilitate and answer basic questions, but if you wish to have a lengthy conversation about your child, please let me know and we can meet at another time.

 

Auction Basket

We have filled almost all of our spots on SignUp Genius for the Auction Basket! You all are awesome! Thank you so much! We only have 1 item left on our list and that is 2 more movie tickets! Any takers? J

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094aa4a92da5f85-2017

 

This Week’s Learning Plan:

Reading: How do I participate in a book club? Meetings on Thursdays!

Writing: How do I publish my historical narrative? How do I work towards my cold write goal?

Math: How do I classify polygons?

Social Studies: What were the impacts of Westward Expansion?

 

Have a great week! Hope to see you tonight! J

Polygons

Week of April 10-14

Upcoming Test

Math Test on Wednesday, 4/12

 

Dates to Know

4/17~Student-Led Conferences 4:30-5:45

4/18~Field Trip to South Oldham Middle School

April 21~Auction Items to Mrs. Whitley

April 28~Spring Carnival

 

Related Arts Rotation: Technology

 

MAP Testing begins this week. Reading will be administered on Wednesday. Math will be next Monday, and Language on the following Monday.

 

Student-Led Conferences

Please plan to attend your child’s student-led conference on Monday, April 17^th from 4:30-5:45. You are welcome to come and go as you please, but know that you will need about 15 minutes for your child’s conference. I will be there to facilitate and answer basic questions, but if you wish to have a lengthy conversation about your child, please let me know and we can meet at another time.

 

Auction Basket

We have filled almost all of our spots on SignUp Genius for the Auction Basket! Woohoo!! We only need someone to sign up for 2 more movie tickets, ribbon for the basket, and the basket itself. Any takers? J

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094aa4a92da5f85-2017

 

This Week’s Learning Plan:

Reading: How do I use suffixes to decipher word meanings?

Writing: How do I edit and revise my historical narrative?

Math: How do I review coordinate grids and identifying patterns? We will segue into our final flexibly grouped math unit on geometry and volume beginning Thursday.

Social Studies: How was land in the west acquired by the United States?

 

Have a great week! J

Learning Fun for March 20-24

We had a lot of fun in social studies and math this week! We got to shoot Nerf guns at coordinate grids in order to locate and identify ordered pairs! The kids LOVED this! We also got to do lots of acting for social studies! The kids acted out the Bill of Rights, performed raps, made posters, and made skits about how state and local governments work to promote the common good.

 

 

Check out the links below to see the kids' skits and songs about how state and local governments work to promote the common good! They did a great job!

 

Local Common Good Skit:  https://youtu.be/y7JgfPDun9g

 

Local Common Good Song:  https://youtu.be/mIhmjIzaThc

 

State Common Good Skit:  https://youtu.be/51BSRlmrccY

 

State Common Good Rap:  https://youtu.be/v3Tlam3wh7M