FIELD TRIPS AND FUN STUFF

This title is appropriate because it describes our week and it forecasts the Spring ahead.  Friday we are sending home a list of all known important dates and activities for the upcoming months.  You will see a general letter about our fun filled 5th grade spring and opportunities to get a head start on our fantastic 5th grade memory book.

On Wednesday, we took an educational field trip to the Winston Churchill Museum in Fulton.  Students learned a bit about the importance of this man and the trying times of WWII and the Cold War.  Pics will be posted below of kids exploring and viewing in the museum and in the oldest church in the Western Hemisphere (brought from England piece by piece)!  Finally, students witnessed a sculpture from the real Berlin Wall and reflected on the expressive contrast from both sides of the wall.

In reading, students have completed research on a solar system object for our solar system nonfiction posters.  After Spring Break, we will have one week to put together our simple poster for our topic.  We will share these posters on a solar system walk through the neighborhood and on the MKT trail.

Writers are reflecting on their opinion drafts.  We are revision for structure and precise language.  We will hand write a final copy in class due the Friday after Spring Break.

Mathematicians are learning multiplication of fraction skills.  We have spent a little time using models to support the concepts while students become proficient with the algorithm.  After Spring Break we will look at fraction division before preparing for the MAP test with some math review.

In social studies, we will finish our read aloud, My Brother Sam is Dead, about the Revolutionary War.  After Spring Break, we will discuss the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution.

Finally, in science, we have entered a new stage of our Garden as Ecosystems experiment.  Students designed an insect experiment using aphids and ladybugs to extend our soil experiment.  Scientists are making graphs in Excel, writing hypothesis and preparing a poster for the GK-12 Symposium. Check out pics of our scientists at work and a movie of a Convergent Lady Beetle feasting on a Green Peach Aphid on our Garden Ecosystem page.

Learning about the Blitz, Pearl Harbor, D-Day and aviation battles.

The oldest church on North America right in Fulton, MO!

This organ was also rebuilt by a famous organist.

Students learned how the church was rebuilt at Westminster.

This pulpit was donated by a church in England to remember the fallen in 9/11.

These shapes were cut out of an actual piece of the Berlin Wall.

Students were able to see the expressive contrast between the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc.

Our class did a super job on the field trip!