Maggie Science shared a presentation with us today on the importance of conservation with and the endangered tiger subspecies.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
ECOSCHOOLHOUSE TOUR
We had our first official Ecoschoolhouse tour today and it was a hit! We sent thank you cards to all our contacts from our community field trips earlier this year. Our thank yous included an invitation to take an Ecoschoolhouse tour. Today we had may guests from CCUA come and learn about the Ecoschoolhouse. You are welcome to take a tour too! Just email Mr. Nies about a time (jnies@cpsk12.org). Here are a couple shots of our guests enjoying their tour. Great job, kids!
Sunday, February 8, 2015
WEEKLY UPDATE
Families, this week I am adding something new to our blog. You will see a page to the right called WEEKLY RESOURCES. I will be adding helpful resources for our weekly focus in each subject on this page. This is intended for kids to have extra resources as needed and also to support appropriate iPad usage at home.
Concerning the iPads, we have had an unusual amount of breakage this year. I put a hold on taking them home so I have a moment to revisit our routine. Most of the time, the breakage is due to a little but of mishandling or just not being careful enough. I am talking to the kids about being All-Stars with these devices and making sure they know they come at a high cost (financially, environmentally, and culturally). We have screen protectors that came with the devices which I will send home to have kids put them on with guidance from an adult. Please help your child attache the screen protector carefully.
Focus for this week:
Reading: Book Shares!
This week, readers can work on a book share for their last book. We will expect 7 completed by Spring Break.
Writing: Explorer Narratives.
We will be drafting our narratives using techniques we drafted in class. Kids will be expected to use commas, quotations, include character thoughts, actions, and words in a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Math: Fractions.
We will connect fractions to decimals and percents this week. There will be a fraction test on February 12. I know this is the Valentines Day party but I want to get the test out of the way before the weekend. If your student has done their best in class and practiced at home, they will be prepared. I will also make sure there is a study guide.
Social Studies: Colonies.
Our next focus will be on the differences of the 13 colonies and their regions. Students will be compiling information about the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies into group websites to share.
Science: Mixtures! After we finish up our tree diagrams on Monday, our focus will be on properties of mixtures. We will relate our activities to our overall them this year of litter and stream organisms. The actual objectives we are focusing on for February are:
Concerning the iPads, we have had an unusual amount of breakage this year. I put a hold on taking them home so I have a moment to revisit our routine. Most of the time, the breakage is due to a little but of mishandling or just not being careful enough. I am talking to the kids about being All-Stars with these devices and making sure they know they come at a high cost (financially, environmentally, and culturally). We have screen protectors that came with the devices which I will send home to have kids put them on with guidance from an adult. Please help your child attache the screen protector carefully.
Focus for this week:
Reading: Book Shares!
This week, readers can work on a book share for their last book. We will expect 7 completed by Spring Break.
Writing: Explorer Narratives.
We will be drafting our narratives using techniques we drafted in class. Kids will be expected to use commas, quotations, include character thoughts, actions, and words in a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Math: Fractions.
We will connect fractions to decimals and percents this week. There will be a fraction test on February 12. I know this is the Valentines Day party but I want to get the test out of the way before the weekend. If your student has done their best in class and practiced at home, they will be prepared. I will also make sure there is a study guide.
Social Studies: Colonies.
Our next focus will be on the differences of the 13 colonies and their regions. Students will be compiling information about the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies into group websites to share.
Science: Mixtures! After we finish up our tree diagrams on Monday, our focus will be on properties of mixtures. We will relate our activities to our overall them this year of litter and stream organisms. The actual objectives we are focusing on for February are:
·
Conduct an investigation to determine whether
the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances
·
Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence
that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or
mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved
WINNERS!!!
Families, I wanted to recognize our Spelling Bee and Geography Bee contestants and winners.
Great job spellers: Margaret Lipton, Micah Loftin, and Isabel Myers
Great job geographers: Lucy Evans, Jackson Kreisman, Margaret Lipton
And here is Isabel with her 3rd place ribbon from the spelling bee:
Great job spellers: Margaret Lipton, Micah Loftin, and Isabel Myers
Great job geographers: Lucy Evans, Jackson Kreisman, Margaret Lipton
And here is Isabel with her 3rd place ribbon from the spelling bee:
Monday, February 2, 2015
GOOD VIBRATIONS!
Wouldn't it be nice to spend your time all day with creative children in a supportive school where kids and staff and families get along? This educator can tell you YES! These Beach Boys thoughts were inpsired Friday morning as we celebrated our water cycle learning so far with a Beach Boys record. Students did an amazing job on their water cycle assessment (few pics below), then they were focused All-Stars during independent work time as they chose to work on literature journals, passports, book shares or writing. We have been booking independent work time into the schedule on Fridays for kids to make responsible choices to work on various projects or finish up assignments. This upcoming week we have another fairly heavy work load so students will want to be responsible with their itme managament thorugout the week and prepare for work due on Friday. We will celebrate our Age of Exploration work with our Passport Celebration this Friday. Students who have earned a cumulative 28 points on their passports will enjoy a 5th grade "journey"! See the focus for each subject below.
Reading: finish "journey" themed lit journals (due Friday)
Writing: more crafting, then drafting of our Explorer narratives (all class work)
Math: focus on fractions, comparing and ordering (homework practice nightly)
Social Studies: continue Discovery game and passports IF NEEDED (due Friday)
Science: focus on Trees to support NGSS objective: Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. (all class work)
INDEPENDENT WORK TIME FOCUS:
CREATIVE PASSPORT WORK:
INDEPENDENT WORK TIME FOCUS:
CREATIVE PASSPORT WORK:
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