Week 22- Leader in Me Visit

Our school started The Leader in Me program this school year. Athens State University hosted a Symposium and the participants visited local schools to see what they were doing. Our school was chosen as one of the sites to visit so I thought I'd share some pictures from around the building.



We have positive quotes around the school above the doors.





In the front we also have a quote from each grade level posted. This one is the quote from 5th grade.



I also finished my 100 Ways to be a Leader bulletin board. I took pictures of some of the kids and added habits 1-6 in bubbles above their heads.



This is the hallway outside the lunchroom/library. We have our super leader bulletin board and then a display area for each grade level to feature what they are doing!



We also have banners on the ceiling with each of the habits listed.




First grade created a community of leaders wall.






Second grade took pictures of kids and this one says "Second Graders are LEADERS!"




Thursday we had a lot of visitors in the school and we had student leaders as tour guides. Colette and Bella were the leaders selected from our classroom to lead the tour groups.




Mrs. Lawrence, a 3rd grade teacher, dressed up as a super leader. She had her super leader cape and mask as a disguise.




We also went bowling Friday. The kids had a great time! They have been learning to bowl in PE and the PE teachers take each grade level to the bowling alley to practice their skills.











Finally, Friday night we had a Daddy Daughter dance! There were over 250 people who attended.





Yes, I took my daddy to the dance too! I couldn't resist because even as an adult I'm still a daddy's girl!



STUDENTS: Which habit is the most meaningful to you so far? We have learned about habits 1-5 up to this point. So tell me how you are using the habits to become a leader. (7 up sentences get a bonus ticket)

Week 21- Eating Crickets & Thinking About College

Mrs. Hardin brought it some really neat items for us to look at this week. She had a dinosaur print, a tooth, and an imprint of skin!



We have also been working on observing powders in chemistry. We started by recording the properties of the 6 different white powder.



Then we mixed each of the powders with water and vinegar to see what would happen. Each student has a chart in his/her interactive science notebook. They recorded all the results like scientists do!





We were reading Exploding Ants in our reading book this week. It talked about how people eat honey pot ants. So we all tried some flavored crickets.



They all laughed at me when I just tossed one in my mouth and ate it. Tastes a little like a flavored sunflower seed. You can see a few of the reactions here. I don't think they will be eating any more bugs.





Since our school started working to become a Leader in Me school this year, one of our goals in 5th grade was to have the lockers at the end of the hall covered for a display. So this week we wrote about college. The students wrote about what they want to be when they grow up, how they think college will be different from elementary school, and how they will need to use the habits to reach their goal. Want to use this project? Find it on Teachers pay Teachers: It's Never Too Early for College.



I used the app Face in Hole to take the pictures and make them look like grown ups on the job or graduating.



We had parent volunteers cover the lockers and put this together for us. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. The parents worked really hard and the end result was amazing!



Since the Super Bowl is this weekend we made our own football players. The kids had a lot of fun with this project! They wrote about the team they thought would win and then the habit the players would need to use to achieve their goal. I made a football player too and used him to add the title to our classroom lockers. Find the project on Teachers pay Teachers: Football Buddy.



Take a look at some of the football players!







STUDENTS: Are you enjoying the chemistry unit? Why or why not? If you use a 7 up sentence to answer the question you'll earn a bonus ticket this week.

Week 20- 100th Day

We had 4H this week and Kaleigh won first place for the picture frame she made with her dad. Great job Kaleigh!



We have been studying solids, liquids, and gases. This week we mixed together 2 clear liquids, alcohol and sodium silicate. Check out what happened!



The kids passed it around and took turns bouncing the ball. When we finished we put it in a sandwich bag and left it for a while.



When we went back to it the ball was gone. It was flat!



This week was also the 100th day of school. Everyone dressed up like they were 100 years old.



Check out some of the teachers at school!







We are a Leader in Me school so we used 100 sticky notes and wrote 100 ways to be a leader. The kids did a great job listing ways to be a leader. However, something is still missing from the bulletin board I did. I'm thinking a picture or something should go in the top right corner. Any ideas?



Mrs. Reasner shared this idea with me so I did it with my students too. We cut out the number 100 and the kids had to "hide" it in their pictures.







I also had the students draw a picture of what they thought they'd look like when they were 100 years old. I also had them write a bucket list of things they want to do before they are 100.



We then talked about the bucket list fits in our habits. The kids came up with great ideas! These are ways we "sharpen the saw" to stay balanced.



STUDENTS: Share a few things from your bucket list.

Week 20- Solid, Liquid, and Gas

This week we started our chemistry unit! It is my favorite science unit. We started by learning about solids, liquids, and gases.



The kids put each in a bag/cup and spent some time experimenting to learn about their properties.





We have also been singing about solids, liquids, and gases. I love using music to teach and this one was perfect for our lesson this week.



We also added and subtracted fractions with unlike denominators. Do you know about the butterfly method?

























STUDENTS: We have been reading The Watson's Go to Birmingham, which is one of my favorite books. Tell me what you favorite part of the book is so far.

Week 19- Think Win-Win

This week we worked on fractions. The kids played a go fish game of fractions. Before playing, they had to reduce the fractions so they would know what to ask for when playing. We didn't make it past reducing the fractions but next week we'll try again.






Our school is also in the first year of becoming a Leader in Me school. Each teacher submitted their favorite quote along with a photo. The Lighthouse team created this display in the hallway outside the library. I love looking at the different quotes and the kids love it as well! I noticed several of them stopping to read the quote and look at the pictures this week.



We talked about habit 4: Think Win-Win. So today we did a little activity to practice! I grouped the students and they had to stand side by side with their feet touching. Then they had to come up with a way to move around the desks without letting their feet come apart. Most groups came up with a plan and they were able to complete the task. A few had to start over but everyone was thinking win-win.



STUDENTS: This week I asked you to pick one habit to focus on and come up with a plan of action. Share the habit you are working on and what you plan to do. When you list the habit make sure to list the habit number and explain what that habit means.

I am working on Think Win-Win. Since this habit talks about your emotional bank account I'm leaving positive post it notes on student work in the hallway throughout the building. One younger student came up to me this week and she was so excited that I had left a "good job" note on her work in the hallway. She was smiling from ear to ear! I know I was able to make a deposit into her emotional bank account!

Week 18- Ew, Gross!

I guess the week before Christmas break was our "gross out" week. I didn't plan it that way but that's the way it worked out. Several weeks ago we started an experiment with our school nurse. She took the kids around the school and they took swabs of the toilet and water fountain.



After about 10 days this is what we have.



The kids made slides and we examined it under the microscope.



I think I have some kids who won't be drinking from the water fountains now.





We took a break from "gross" and made our reindeer job applications. I took pictures of the kids and they cut them out and added antlers and noses. These turned out really cute!



To wrap up the week, we dissected sheep hearts. We had just finished our unit on the circulatory system. This was the perfect ending.



The kids were able to see the chambers inside a real heart.



STUDENTS: What do you think was worse, the sheep hearts or the toilet/fountain slides? Why?