LOOKING AHEAD

It was great to meet with families last week.  Ms. Sweeny and I have come away with helpful ideas for this last trimester of 5th grade.  I think we all know it will fly by!  We also know there will be a ot to enjoy in our last three months.

In reading, we will finish our Ecodioramas this week.  Students have made plot connections to ecological elements of their setting and they are now creating a scene form their book to share as a book share.  Their scene will include their plot connections and nonfiction facts which they are researching this week.

In writing, we will draft our researched based opinion articles and start the revision process.

Students will complete their learning of the American Revolution this week.  We will have a day to study before a final assessment on this topic next week.

Students will complete our moon activities too.  We will have a day to review before a moon phase assessment next week.  On Tuesday we will collect more data on our plants.

This grainy movie of Snow Geese across the road from my house are reminder winter is still here (as if we need a reminder!).

REPORT CARDS GO HOME TODAY!

Most students have completed their portfolio and they are ready to view.  I encourage students to come to conferences if they can make so we share their great work and discuss 3rd trimester goals.  Below is a picture showcasing students who increased their report card marks in one category or another.  All of our students do excellent work but I wanted to praise those who worked to improve their performance in one area or another on the progress report. Way to go, kids!

MONDAY?

Mondays at school have been scarce this month - either I've been out or school has been off.  Anyway, this Monday we focused on reflecting about our second trimester work for our portfolio.  Students are looking for work that matches their first trimester goals.   We also found time to discuss more moon phases and practice some fraction addition as well as share some book shares.  Check the button designs below for our Read-A-Thon buttons.

 Design by Stella Will and Adelaide Becking

                      Design by Elizabeth Henderson

HAPPY READ A THON

Below you'll notice the Mad Hatter and Alice invited Junie B. Jones and Sky Penderwick over for tea and reading.  The group was celebrating the kick off of Read A Thon!  Please use the envelopes in the Friday Folder to help us with our yearly fund raiser. We cannot express enough thanks for your support.  The kids and I promise to keep reading and we look forward to celebrating on March 7th.
In other news today, students did really well on the American Revolution test.  We also finished up our lit journals, worked on Book Shares, did a little more opinion research and started to organize our 2nd trimester portfolios.  Have a great weekend!  Remember we will have our student garden survey graphs displayed at the ARC from 12-2 at the Community Garden Coalition Spring Thaw!  You can meet other community gardeners here and pick up some seeds for your spring garden!

BEEING LEARNERS

The title is not a typo - it is a reference to the fantastic bee presentation we received from Maggie Science today.  It was inspiring and educational.  I linked her Prezi presentation below and the kids can tell you about the BEEHAVIOR movie she made with other students from her UMC entomology class.

Our morning was spent as readers and writers working on our Ecoliterature book groups and researched based opinion articles.  Students also prepared for an American Revolution quiz we will have tomorrow.  The essay type questions are listed below so students can practice framing their answers tonight with the study guide and their notes.

Maggie Science Bee presentation:
http://prezi.com/_1mklfdyjobs/bees-and-pollination/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

American Revolution Essay Questions:
1. Compare and contrast the New England, Middle and Southern Colonial regions.

2. Choose one of the events below and explain how a Patriot would feel if they read about it in a newspaper.

Boston Tea Party

Boston Massacre

Townshend Acts

Sons/Daughters of Liberty

3. Why would an American colonist remain a Loyalist?

Good luck!  

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY

Today's schedule started with a math variables test that students rocked!  Readers today worked on finishing their books and writing plot connections.  Writers did more research on their opinion topics.  Historians compared Loyalists and Patriots.  Scientist looked at our plants to document changes and we graphed results from our garden survey.  I included pictures of them all below because, well, they are super!  These graphs will be shared at the the annual Community Garden Coalition Spring Thaw scheduled for Saturday, February 22, from noon until 2:00 p.m., at the ARC, 1701 West Ash.

ECO EXCELLENCE

We are certainly living up to the Ecoschoolhouse vision with our ecology learning right now.
In reading, students are writing ecology connections to the plot of their book for their Ecoliterature diorama.
In writing, students are choosing ecology topics to write research based opinions on.
In science, we are already taking data on our chard plants and we have a bee presentation on Thursday.

Student thoughts:
Allen noticed more plants are growing in the worm soil.  In fact, 11/24 pods of vermicompost pods are sprouting, 8/24 pods of the mix are sprouting, and only 3/24 pods of the seed starter are sprouting. Check out the way we used grids to locate sprouts in our plant trays by clicking on the Gardens as Ecosystems link.

Jordan N wants folks to know a 6th grade counselor from Gentry came today to help us start choosing classes for 6th grade!

These students are sorting through research for their opinion writing. There are links to the topics and the research to the right.