Exhibition Sign Ups

Reminder at Exhibition, student will be presenting ONLY their interest project. Afterward, we will meet as a learning team. Use the form below to select a time:

Taking Control of Learning in Science Class

Students are in charge of the learning for the next few weeks in science class. Each group has a topic to explore (they got to choose) and then they'll demonstrate their learning. In education circles this is called "Student Directed Learning." I call it a great way to teach and learn in the 21st century.

So here's what I did...

The Michigan state standards for 5th grade that have to do with the topic of our unit, "Objects in the Sky," include the following big ideas:

• Revolution and Rotation of the Earth
• The Sun
• The size of objects in the solar system
• Gravity's effects on planets and the moon
• Phases of the moon
• Constellations & stars
• Lunar and Solar Eclipses
• Tides
• Planets and the Solar System

Here's the search engine they're using to help their research. Using this will help narrow down the results. It only searches sites that I've picked out.

I can't wait to see what the students do with this. I think it will be tremendous.

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Two November 30 Items to Remember

The fall music concert will be held November 30. Students should report at 5:30. The concert will start in the gym at 6:00. I can't wait to hear what the students have to share and I look forward to seeing you there.

Also November 30, we are kicking off what I hope will be an annual event from now on...a holiday food drive. Please send in non-perishable food items so that UPA-Ellen Thompson can donate them to families in need this holiday season.

Come on in!

You should definitely stop by to visit any time you want. But if you come in soon, you'll be able to see our two new bulletin boards.

It's a lot more exciting than it sounds...

One board has each student's pledge about how they're going to help keep our classroom and school bully free. The other is our Great Team board. Students will use the GT board to recognize acts of kindness and positivism that they observe. It's starting out empty, but it will fill up soon.

I'll post some pictures when I get the chance!

Onward with Learning!

Lots of new stuff is coming up in all subjects. Here's an update..

MATH
There has been so much improvement in math this year! Couldn't be more proud of all the hard work so many students have been putting in. We continue to press forward with word problems. These are so enormously important--that's why we're giving them so much attention. We'll continue to do so and continue to find new ways to help students "dominate" these problems as we move forward. We'll also be moving into fraction territory coming up in the second quarter.

READING
This will depend somewhat on your child's reading teacher, so stay tuned for updates on that. I can tell you that (as I blogged about before) I'm sponsoring a new "Book of the Month" club featuring the theme Books from a Series. All students are invited (not required) to participate. Our first meeting will be Wednesday during lunch. There will be a small assignment to complete Wednesday morning that will serve as their "ticket."

WRITING
We're going to get around to writing fantasy stories sooner or later. The 5th grade teachers and I have been looking for a good model to base this off of and it's proving a challenge. But I think we're close, so hopefully those will start soon. Also starting up soon will be this year's version of the "10 Things" project, which is titled "10 Places." Stay tuned for details and a complete handout. This will be something we work on in December and January.

SCIENCE
Social Studies has wrapped up, with students covering the early history of North America. Now we're back into a science unit--Objects in the Sky. We'll be exploring the solar system and other fun and interstellar places.

EXHIBITIONS
Will be held in December! Details and sign-ups to come. But ONLY their interest project will be presented.

Poetry on Twitter

We are sharing lines from our latest poem on twitter today. The poem that inspired ours is an amazing one and I want to share it with you here:

Where I'm From by George Ella Lyons

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
          from Imogene and Alafair.
I'm from the know-it-alls
          and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul
          with a cottonball lamb
          and ten verses I can say myself.

I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee. 

From the finger my grandfather lost
          to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments--
snapped before I budded --
leaf-fall from the family tree.

Pretty awesome, huh? The kids are doing a great job writing, too. Check out some of the lines from our poems on our twitter page!

Problem of the Week Vodcast #3

This week's Problem of the Week is a toughie. Hopefully this vodcast will help.

Here's the problem if you haven't seen it yet:

Find digits A and B in the number below so that the following conditions are true: The 5 digit number must be divisible by 4, it must be divisible by 9, and digit A cannot be the same as B...


12A3B


Student have to write the number they came up with, show their work, and explain in writing the steps they took to solve the problem.

Here's the vodcast: