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

 

Week of March 20-24

Upcoming Tests:

Wednesday, 3/22~Division of Fractions Test (Study guide due on Tuesday, 3/21)

Friday, 3/24~Social Studies Government Test (Study guide due on Thursday, 3/23)

 

Dates to Know *Please keep track of these as LOTS of important dates will be forthcoming over the remaining weeks of school.

Monday, 3/21~Rock Your Socks Day-Wear crazy socks to support Down's Syndrome of Louisville.

Thursday, 3/23~Leadership Day-Our kids are excited to show off their leadership skills to local community members and visiting school personnel.

Friday, 3/31~Last day to order a yearbook! Don't miss out!!

April 3-7~Spring Break

April 28~Spring Carnival

 

Silent Auction

If you have a suggestion or preference for our silent auction basket for the Spring Carnival on April 28th, please let me know. Some ideas I think would be a hit are Summer Fun, Movie Night, or a Craft Basket. Please also let me know if you are interested in heading up the silent auction basket for our class. Thank you in advance!

 

Guiding Questions for the Week

Reading: How does author’s point of view affect their writing?

Writing: How do I address the audience’s needs in order to develop a clear beginning, middle, and end for my historical narrative?

Math: How do I divide fractions? (first half of week) How do I use a coordinate grid? (last part of week)

Social Studies: What are the different levels of government and how does the government work to provide for the common good?

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend! J