Sunday, February 6, 2011
Way to go girls!
I am proud of two of my students today for competing with our school's Mini Mu team this weekend. They are smart chickies and they are going to go real far in life. Thank you to Mrs. Berry for being our Mini Mu sponsor and fostering the love of math and making it cool to be smart!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Around here
Last week our class opted for a little change of pace. We all participated in a novel study on the 1977 classic, Bridge to Terabithia. A sad, but great tale about friendship. We read, learned new vocabulary words, disucssed, reflected, and more.
Students made friendship trees. All the leaves had adjectives used to describe friendship.
They also designed secret places.
In science, teams were given a bag of items and had 40 minutes to construct a bridge.
We raised almost $100 for the children of Tree House.
We are beaming with pride because Hannah came in second in the district wide Tropicana Speech Contest.
Oh and our class mascot, Mack, added squash to his favorite foods this weekend! He doesn't look so happy here, but trust me he was THRILLED to try something new.
Students made friendship trees. All the leaves had adjectives used to describe friendship.
They also designed secret places.
In science, teams were given a bag of items and had 40 minutes to construct a bridge.
We raised almost $100 for the children of Tree House.
We are beaming with pride because Hannah came in second in the district wide Tropicana Speech Contest.
Oh and our class mascot, Mack, added squash to his favorite foods this weekend! He doesn't look so happy here, but trust me he was THRILLED to try something new.
Friday, January 28, 2011
What's the Word? Word Up!
We are "wording up" today! Click on Wordle to create your own design. Use words from our novel study on Bridge to Terabithia to create your friendship inspired collage.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A walk on the creative side
This past week my students were able to express their individuality and creativity through many different classroom activities. I like to think of myself as creative, but at times that characteristic seems to be all but fading. Teaching the same grade for many years can do that to you. That is why I pride myself on rarely looking back to lesson plans from years gone by. Instead I try to teach with a brand new perspective on concepts each year. This can be challenging. That is why I rely on my students to show their creativity in different ways and inspire me each day.
During our center time this week the students drew self portraits using similes and metaphors about themselves. The portrait below says my hair is as cooper as a penny and she used pennies to make her hair. Get it? We took it up a notch and brought in Christmas cards that might have gone in the trash and made mosaic frames out of them. Beautiful work!
Speaking of reinventing Christmas items, we used silver glitter (my least favorite classroom item!) ornaments to make a decorative writing piece about our New Year's resolutions a couple weeks back.
We finished up the week using our creativity to produce television commercials. My students were given the task of using their persuasion skills to sell some popular items that were made with the help of chemistry (we were studying about chemical reactions). The commercials ranged from a rap about rubber to scientist selling vitamins. Here is Max showcasing his guitar playing skills. He is great!
During our center time this week the students drew self portraits using similes and metaphors about themselves. The portrait below says my hair is as cooper as a penny and she used pennies to make her hair. Get it? We took it up a notch and brought in Christmas cards that might have gone in the trash and made mosaic frames out of them. Beautiful work!
Speaking of reinventing Christmas items, we used silver glitter (my least favorite classroom item!) ornaments to make a decorative writing piece about our New Year's resolutions a couple weeks back.
We finished up the week using our creativity to produce television commercials. My students were given the task of using their persuasion skills to sell some popular items that were made with the help of chemistry (we were studying about chemical reactions). The commercials ranged from a rap about rubber to scientist selling vitamins. Here is Max showcasing his guitar playing skills. He is great!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
It's a mathematical playground!
Build and stregthen your math skills at this great website, Math Playground. A great excuse to play on the computer each night!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Happy Friday to you!
We are coming up on a long weekend. Which means great things to a fifth grade student, and a fifth grade teacher! Our family is trying to recover after spending one night in the hospital with this little pistol as he suffered through having the flu at only four months old. I think we are on the up and up by the looks of things...
You might not know it, but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also the National Day of Service. Our class had some candid conversations this week about laws, rules, protesting, government, etc. in light of the Tuscon tragedy and in reference to our civics lessons. It is hard to persuade an 11 year old about the need for laws and rules, but even they could see that as Americans we allowed to civily disagree and have a voice as long as we don't hurt our neighbor. Why don't you spend the day helping a neighbor?
If you and your family are looking for a way to lend a hand on Monday or in the future, check out Serve.gov. This is an easy way to find volunteer opportunities in our area. Can't actually get out and volunteer on Monday, here are some quick and easy ways to help one another...
*head to a local park and pick up trash as you play
*donate used towels and blankets to the Leon County Animal Shelter
*round up your gently used books and take them to the library or Senior Center
*ask an elderly neighbor if you could rake their yard or sweep their driveway
*make thank you cards and drop them off at the Armory
*bake some cookies and take them to the fire station closest to your home
*drop off some coloring books and crayons to the pediatric floor at the hospital (2nd floor at TMH, we were just there)
*call a grandpa or family friend and thank them for volunteering to serve our country
Enjoy a day off, but more importantly enjoy serving others!
You might not know it, but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also the National Day of Service. Our class had some candid conversations this week about laws, rules, protesting, government, etc. in light of the Tuscon tragedy and in reference to our civics lessons. It is hard to persuade an 11 year old about the need for laws and rules, but even they could see that as Americans we allowed to civily disagree and have a voice as long as we don't hurt our neighbor. Why don't you spend the day helping a neighbor?
If you and your family are looking for a way to lend a hand on Monday or in the future, check out Serve.gov. This is an easy way to find volunteer opportunities in our area. Can't actually get out and volunteer on Monday, here are some quick and easy ways to help one another...
*head to a local park and pick up trash as you play
*donate used towels and blankets to the Leon County Animal Shelter
*round up your gently used books and take them to the library or Senior Center
*ask an elderly neighbor if you could rake their yard or sweep their driveway
*make thank you cards and drop them off at the Armory
*bake some cookies and take them to the fire station closest to your home
*drop off some coloring books and crayons to the pediatric floor at the hospital (2nd floor at TMH, we were just there)
*call a grandpa or family friend and thank them for volunteering to serve our country
Enjoy a day off, but more importantly enjoy serving others!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Ahhh...Chooo!
It's that time of year, and the ahhh...chooos are everywhere. Little man Mack had his first sickness this past week and he is pitiful. To learn more about the science behind colds check out this very interesting site about kids health!
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