Wow, these last few weeks have been busy and have flown by! Sorry for the late updates. Students have been hard at work; learning all about adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions, colonial life, the solar system, shadows, main idea and details, drawing conclusions, greek and latin roots and prepositional phrases. They have also been learning how to write a persuasive piece. Their persuasive letters are coming along greatly! Students will begin editing and revising after Thanksgiving break.

      We have also finished the Project Lead program, had two classroom guest speakers, Career Day and concluded our November chapter books, George Washington's Socks. and Hatchet. (The December book will be sent home on Monday.)  

    Through Project Lead, students spoke with various community leaders such as;a probation officer, a lawyer, a police officer and two Indiana State Police Officers. Students really enjoyed this program and learned a lot about laws and rules, careers and government.

   Here are a few pictures from Career Day and Book Projects from George Washington's Socks. Enjoy and have a fantastic Thanksgiving Break!

Jamine's Project

Dakota, RJ and Jasmine- Future firefighter, EMT and Nurse

Emma, Brice, Jordan, and Chelsey
Dressed up for Career Day

Jordan's boat for George Washington's Socks Book project.

Multiplying Decimals into Whole Numbers
Monday, Oct. 20th Math Lesson

  5th Graders Are Busy Writers!

 

  Students have been working on a How-To piece of writing for a few weeks now. They chose a topic that they knew well, drafted the steps, wrote a great lead, added transition words and wrote paragraphs with great detailed steps.  Then to finish the project, students had to present their How-To to the class! This was our first time in front of the class, and students did awesome! We worked on volume, pacing and keeping focused during the presentations. Plus the audience learned many NEAT things!
Topics ranged from making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, to jumping double dutch, to jumping on a pogo stick, to making a monster ring and even How To Make the Best Egg Carrier!
  Here a few pictures from their presentations. 
  Our next writing adventure will be a narrative, with a twist, from the book Hatchet.

Let's take a little trip somewhere....

  

  This is my class' favorite states and capitals song! The song and video takes students on a trip through each state, while creating a visual symbol for the state and sings the state and capital name.  I think they know all of the words , and I think it will help students on their final states and capital test. I love adding a little music to our day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3PMbThhsg by Musical Stew

Weekly Update Brought to You By....

Joanie

      This week in school we’ve been learning about longitude and latitude in Social Studies. Also we’ve been studying our states and capitals. Did you know that the capital of Minnesota is St. Paul? Some people think its Minneapolis. Although, I remember it by saying “St. Paul drank a mini soda in Minnesota”.

     In reading we read a tall tale called, Thunder Rose, which has a lot of big words such as "contemplentations" and "cataclysmic". Our literary term was hyperbole, which means it shouldn’t be taken literally and it’s an exaggeration.  One hyperbole is, “If I eat another bite, my belly is going to burst!” Our comprehension skill was cause and effect and our spelling skill was VCV (vowel, consonant, vowel).

      In math we’re learning adding and subtracting decimals and rounding decimals. It doesn't seem that hard.
      It’s been a great year so far. I hope the rest of the year goes the same way! Have a great weekend!

First Day Fun

   The first day of school went great! Here is a picture of the class doing a "Student Scavenger Hunt".  They had a blast and even learned some new things about their classmates.

 

 

     School supplies are trickling in! Tomorrow is the day. I can't wait to meet my new 5th graders!

 

 

Class Blog... Moving into the Techie World

     Welcome to my 5th grade Class Blog! I teach in a small school in Central, Indiana named Heth-Washington Elementary School. We are the home of the Wildcats.  For the past two years, I have had a "paper" blog board where students have created their personal blogs and students respond using post -it notes. It has been amazing and students always love creating their blog and responding to classmates' blogs. However, I have decided that 2014 IS the year to move the blogs into the techie world! With technology becoming such a major role in our society, our lives, and even in the classroom, I feel that this is the right time to take the leap.