Your Favorite Chapter Book (5th grade)

Take a minute and add your favorite book to our list! I'm looking to help my students choose some books to read over the summer. Add your favorite to the list and tell us why you like it!

Padlet- Favorite Books to Read

Week 36 & 37- End of 2014-2015 School Year

The last 2 weeks of school have rushed by in a hurry! Last week we did a little dissecting. We started with sheep hearts.

The following day we dissected cow eyeballs. This one is my favorite because you can remove the lens and take a look through it. 

The kids loved it and we were able to look at some of the things they had learned about this year in science. 

I also had the students write on 2 different posters. We made one that said "What we learn in math" and the other said "What we learn in science."

I'll be using these at the beginning of the school year next year for my hallway display. That way all the parents and students in my upcoming class can see what they will learn. 

This week we did the index card engineering challenge. The students were given a pack of index cards and 12 inches of tape. They had to make a structure that was at least 2 feet tall and it had to hold my little stuffed Hello Kitty.

The one below is the only one that held the animal. Great job guys!

We also had a retirement party for our principal, Dr. Davis. She is going to retire the end of June and we will all miss her dearly. She is the only principal I've ever worked for. I am going to miss her!

Tuesday was graduation for my 5th graders. After the ceremony we had our final walk. 

All the 5th grade kids line up and walk the hallways through the school. 

All the teachers and younger students stand in the hallway and cheer for the 5th graders. They will not be returning to the elementary school since 6th grade is in the middle school. We play music over the intercom and there are lots of tears shed. 

We wrapped up the end of the year with a school dance for 4th and 5th graders. This year we had a disco theme and (as you can see) even the teachers had a great time. 

I can't believe the 2014-2015 school year has come to a close. I plan to blog some this summer about what I'm planning for next year. 

I have a few topics I'd like to learn more about:

STEM/STEAM

Interactive Notebooks for Grammar

Real-World Math Practice

Teacher followers- if you have any suggestions for professional learning books I'd love to hear about them. I'm trying to decide which books to order so I can read and learn this summer. 

Week 35- Skittles Math, Soared Awards, MMS, & Field Day Celebration

Wow! This was a busy week! In math, we learned about mean, median, mode, and range. We made cootie catches but I forgot to take a picture. We wrote mean, median, mode and range on the outside. Then the kids rolled dice to create a set of data inside each.

Then we did a fun activity with Skittles. I purchased the Mean, Median, Mode, & Range bundle from Teaching with a Mountain View.  The kids loved the skittles activity. I gave each of them a cup of Skittles and they calculated the numbers based on their cup.

Then they partnered with someone else and did the same thing. Finally, they combined those groups to make a larger group and did it again. 

I loved this because it was lots of practice without just doing a worksheet! My new hashtag is #morefunthanaworksheet. 

We also had some of our atom art on display for the STEAM show at our school this week before the PTA meeting. 

Have you see the Together We Soared Awards by Deb Hanson? When I saw this I loved it and couldn't wait to use it with my class. 

I randomly assigned each student a classmate to write about. They were able to choose the type of award they were giving and then they had to write a paragraph to tell about what the award is and why they are giving it to that person. 

Next week I plan to let the kids share the awards they gave to their classmates. As I read through these I almost started to cry. I am so glad to see that my speeches about us being a family have really connected with my students. 

Each one of these is so thought out and I'm so proud!

We also took a trip to the middle school for my students to see what they are going to be a part of next year. 

I always love going because I get to see my former students! I sure do miss these sweet kids!

The end of our week was wrapped up with a celebration and field day. 

We celebrated the fact that our school was awarded the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Lighthouse Award and the Leader in Me Lighthouse Award. 

Field day was full of fun relay races and water fun. 

STUDENTS: We had a lot going on this week! What was your favorite part of the week? Start making a list of everything we have learned this year in math and science. I have a plan for next week! Have a great weekend. 

Week 34- Civil War, Integer Battle, & Mixtures

This week we started studying about the Civil War. Each student has been assigned a different historical figure to research and present to the class. We used a little class time to get started on this assignment.

We also learned how to add integers this week. I had several games lined up for us to play but the students loved this one so much they begged to play Integer Battle every day. We divided into teams and started with the X. One team moved up & down from the selected number and the other team moved left & right from the selected number. We decided if the highest or lowest score would win the game. Then they added integers to earn their points for the team. 

There was so much discussion between teammates about strategy and planning what the other team would pick. It only took one round for them to start developing a strategy to help their team win!

Our class had our Box Top celebration party this week. We collected the most Box Tops in the school so we were rewarded with a snow cone and popcorn party. It was a beautiful day so we took advantage of it. 

We concluded our lesson about mixtures and solutions by creating our own mixtures (iron filings, salt, sand, and beads). The students had to observe the properties of each material and then mix them together. We used this TpT file- Mixtures and Solutions Interactive Notebook Bundle- to add pages in our interactive notebook (see one page pictured)

Each group developed a plan for separating the mixtures and started to work. It was great to watch them all talk about the different ideas and come together to make the plan happen.  

Have you used the Lab Team Roles by The Science Penguin? I love using these cards when students work in groups for science labs. Each card has a different role and their responsibilities. It helps with group work and makes sure everyone does their part. You should check them out!

STUDENTS: It is so hard to believe the school year is coming to a close. What is the one end-of-year activity you're looking forward to? Why?