Welcome 5th graders! It was great to meet so many of you at Open House the other night! I know we are going to have an awesome year together! You might notice that this classroom webpage is a blog. I use this blog for 2-way communication. Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. You can also send me an e-mail anytime. Throughout the year, I will use this blog to keep parents and students updated on what's happening in our classroom each week, upcoming events as well as homework, pictures and videos of things we do in class, and I even like to use it for homework. Last year my students really enjoyed having blog debates over articles they'd read! Please become a follower of my blog so you can catch all my updates right away.
In other news, welcome to the first days of 5th grade! There is one important date coming up which I'd like you to make note of. Parent Orientation will take place on Thursday, August 30th. I'd love to have as many parents as possible attend this because it's a great opportunity to gain an understanding of how I run my class and to ask any questions you might have.
Finally, I'd like to share with you my classroom mottos which are quotes I've stumbled upon in recent years that truly capture my beliefs about education. I believe that it does take hard work, but I am here to support all students in their endeavors. The quotes are: "Success is not coming to you; you must come to it;" and "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." In this classroom, I hope that each student will face reasonable challenges and work hard to overcome them. I want to help each child reach his/her highest potential as a learner and that will come with hard work from all of us. Let's enjoy the challenges we face together and refuse to give up! The video below is a moving video that will truly show that with hard work and a refusal to give up, you can overcome any challenge.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Diverse Peoples of the West Talk Shows
Please watch the videos below to see how the kids portrayed the diverse peoples of the west who were participated in or were impacted in someway by westward expansion in the 1800's. This year we decided to portray the different groups of people through student-scripted talk shows based on information they read about each group. Aside from a few minor inaccuracies, the talk shows are pretty great! The kids had fun with them and seemed to really enjoy learning about westward expansion! You may have to turn up your sound though because my recording device does not pick up sound well from the distance I have to stand to capture them all in the video. Enjoy!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Week of April 23-27
In honor of Earth Day, we are doing some great Earth Day activities! Please see below for more information.
Earth Day Activity!
Our school will be celebrating Earth Day on Friday by assigning different activities to each grade level to help improve the beauty of the outdoor area around our school. Our jobs as 5th graders are to:
·
Help with planting 5th grade shrub.
·
Plant annuals/small plants around the bottom of
the shrub and lay mulch around them
·
Pick up litter around the school.
In order to accomplish these tasks and brighten our school grounds, we are asking that families send in the following supplies if possible. Any of these materials will greatly help us in our efforts to beautify the grounds in honor of Earth Day. :o)
Shovels and Rakes (car riders only)
· Small hand shovels
· Gardening Gloves
· Trash Bags
Earth Day Change Wars
We are also collecting money through a change war between the packs. All money collected will go toward creating a butterfly garden outside near the playground complete with a solar-powered pond, plants, the 5th grade shrub, and a solar-powered fountain/bird bath. If you have any spare change, please donate to help beautify our school!
Zoo Field Trip
Don't forget to return your field trip form and money for the school-wide Zoo field trip taking place next Thursday! Thank you to all who volunteered to chaperone! I will be contacting you soon with more information.
Math Placement Test
This week I will be giving the math placement test to the kids. This is only one component to help determine your child's placement for math next year. Other considerations are grades and teacher recommendation.
ESS
This is the last week of ESS.
Here's what we're learning this week...
Social Studies: We will be learning about the 20th Century this week!
Math: This week we will work on measurement.
Word Study: I will be using this time to administer AIMSWeb and DRA's/
Writing: We will practice answering reading extended response questions thoroughly.
Reading: We will be reading about the Civil War.
Zoo Field Trip
Don't forget to return your field trip form and money for the school-wide Zoo field trip taking place next Thursday! Thank you to all who volunteered to chaperone! I will be contacting you soon with more information.
Math Placement Test
This week I will be giving the math placement test to the kids. This is only one component to help determine your child's placement for math next year. Other considerations are grades and teacher recommendation.
ESS
This is the last week of ESS.
Here's what we're learning this week...
Social Studies: We will be learning about the 20th Century this week!
Math: This week we will work on measurement.
Word Study: I will be using this time to administer AIMSWeb and DRA's/
Writing: We will practice answering reading extended response questions thoroughly.
Reading: We will be reading about the Civil War.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Important Dates to Remember
Lunch with Someone You Love/Book Fair
Thursday, April 19th is Lunch with Someone You Love. If you plan on joining your child for lunch that day, please let me know. Parents may eat with their students in the lunchroom and we will shop at the book fair after.
Zoo Field Trip
The annual Harmony Zoo field trip is coming up on Thursday, May 3rd! I will send home field trip forms on Wednesday. Please let me know if you are interested in chaperoning!
Testing is coming up May 7-11. Please have your child get lots of rest and try his/her best not to be absent.
Finally, it's happening...your kids are becoming middle schoolers! 5th Grade Recognition is May 17th at 9:15am!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Biography Podcasts
Biography Podcasts!
Each child chose a person of interest and read numerous texts to gather information around a central thesis.
Each student took copious notes and synthesized the information to create a podcast (talk radio show). Click each of the links below to hear our biography podcasts!
Marlee
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Blog Activity: Banning Best Friends at School?
Please go to the following link to read an interesting article called
"Banning Best Friends at School?"
Read the article and then
comment on this post in response to the following questions. Please number
your responses to each question and feel free to debate with one another.
That’s what makes this fun!
1. How did you feel
when you first read this article?
2. Do you agree or
disagree with the decision to ban "best friends" at some schools?
3. Who should make
the decision about who can/should play together?
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Oregon Trail Activity
Please play the Oregon Trail game at http://westward.globalgamenetwork.com/cgi-bin/westwardtrail.pl. Then write a comment on this blog post explaining what you learned from the game. Try to relate it to Economics. What did the game teach you about scarcity, goods, services, opportunity cost, barter, money, or making choices back in the 1800's? Please leave well thought-out comments at least 3-5 sentences in length.
*If the game messes up, click the box for More Options and Select "Give Up and Start Over."
*If the game messes up, click the box for More Options and Select "Give Up and Start Over."
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