Week 12- Mad Scientist Day

Every year we have Mad Scientist Day on Halloween. It is always so much fun so I wanted to share some pictures from today. Before I do I thought I'd share the directions I created for each rotation for my parent volunteers. 

We started with one of parents doing a demonstration. The kids are always excited when there is fire and they always want an explosion. 

Here are a few girls holding the rag after it burned. Doesn't even look like it has been on fire! So cool!

This year I had enough parent volunteers to set up rotations. I love when I have enough parents for this. We had a great time and I was able to circulate and visit each rotation. 

Check out all these parent volunteers! They rock! I want to thank all the parents who sent in supplies and those who also came in to help today. We couldn't do it without your support. 

We wrapped up the day by walking on raw eggs. The kids were so funny and everyone got a chance to walk on them. 

I even jumped in and gave it a try!

STUDENTS: Which experiment/activity did you enjoy the most during scientist day?

Week 11- Student Lead Conferences & Data

I thought I'd share a new board I've recently added in my classroom. I love the National Geographic Weird But True books. I created a board where I can share those facts with my students. I have also added a joke at the bottom of this board. 

I've also been graphing our attendance and math test data. I showed this board back before school started but this is how I've displayed the graphs. I've been using the web site piktochart.com. This is a great site that makes creating graphs easy! If you are graphing data in your classroom and haven't seen this site you have to take a look!

Wednesday we had student lead conferences. Our students each have a leadership notebook where they graph their test data for reading and math. 

We had a great turn out and parents loved hearing from their children about how they are doing in school. 

I love using lamps in my classroom and I've added 2 more this week. I now have 6 lamps in the room and we don't turn the overhead lights on very often. The students love that I never turn the lights on. 

I had to share a success story from this week. One of my students noticed another struggling with long division this week. So when we were doing small group rotations he asked if he could help his classmate. They worked together and he showed her the way he divides. I'm happy to report that she made a 100 on her math test Friday! They were both super excited and so was I. I love seeing my students help each other. 

I also wanted to share a picture I took this weekend. All my students know how much I love insects. I'm probably the only teacher they know who is excited to get new bugs in ziploc bags! I went to take out the trash at home today and look at this gigantic bug I found. I didn't put him in a bag, instead I just got the camera with the macro lens and took this shot. 

STUDENTS: What did you learn this week? Were you able to help someone else learn something new?

Week 10- Roanoke, Important Questions, & Padlet

We have been exploring the different theories about what happened to the Roanoke colony. 

Student have been working together to explore those theories and we will be discussing which they believe might have happened. Every year my students are amazed that no one really knows what happened to the colonists. They always say, "OK, so what really happened?"

I found the Roanoke: Cold Case Investigation on TpT and that's what we have been using. 

After watching the Kid President videos I posted last week, I had my students answer the important questions that could change the world. 

What are you not okay with?

What do you have?

What can we do about it?

Each Wednesday our school has a classroom community meeting time. We discuss concerns of students and talk about what we can do to change things. So my plan is to discuss some of these issues and have the students develop a plan to figure out what we can do about what they are not okay with.

I created a Padlet for my science classes to use in order to keep all their notes digitally. We make interactive notebook pages but this is another option, in case they forget their notebook at school. Please take a minute to see what we've added so far.

Layer of the Earth Padlet

STUDENTS: What are you not okay with? What do you think our class can do about it?

Fall Break- #Socktober

When we return from fall break I'll be sharing this with all my students. Out 5th grade will be collecting socks for the homeless shelter in our area. Here's the information I'll be sharing with my classes.

MES 5th Grade Socktober Drive

MES 5th graders will be collecting socks for Socktober. This October, SoulPancake and Kid President want 2 million people to prove that even the smallest acts of love, like donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless. Please send new socks to Mrs. Reasner or Mrs. White by Friday, October 24th. We will donate all socks collected to the Downtown Rescue Mission. 

We'll watch the Kid President video below and discuss the 3 important questions.






I can't wait to share this with my students and get our entire school involved!

Week 9- Math Relays, 3 Free Apps, & Newton's Laws

We started our math this week with a relay race. I love these relay races and the kids really have to work together to get the right answer. It is also a great way to warm up before jumping into multiplying decimals. The relay races are from Lorraine Salmoe on TpT. Check out her store for the math relays. 

We finished up our study of Newton's Laws of Motion so I wanted my students to use the iPad minis to create a project to show they understand the laws. I gave them an option. They could pick Sock Puppets, Tellagami, or Yak It Kids to create the video. 

Sock Puppets (free)

Tellagami (free)

Yakit Kids (free)

I loved hearing them work together and brainstorm ideas!

Some groups even used iMovie to combine each of the 3 laws videos into one. I told them to play with the apps and see what they could do. I'm familiar with each of these apps but I've learned not to limit the kids because I don't know how to do something. Normally someone will figure it out and share with others who want to use the app. 

Here are just a few of the finished projects. 

STUDENTS: This week is our fall break. What are your plans for the week?