What do you use Borax for?

Well, until 5th grade Science, I am not even sure I knew Borax existed! In fact, I didn't even know what it was! But, for Science, .... WOW did we make some cool stuff today. For the next week we will be working on Chemical Reactions and understanding what occurs during that process! The kids love hands on Science.

In other exciting news.. our Social Studies Projects look great! Students are being working hard to create realistic dioramas for their region. The student reports look just as good- so we are glad to see that they have some basic research skills. Our next big Social Studies Project is a Living Museum that we will be creating. Students may pick any famous person and research interesting facts. Then we will take that information and display it on a 3 panel backboard. Students will deliver a "live" 1 minute speech about their person to other students in our school. We are very excited and will begin sharing with students as we wrap up the dioramas. If you have time stop in Friday to see the "Handy Work"

*** Parent Help Needed *** If you have some time, we need parent volunteers on October 23, 2008 as we end the 1st nine weeks. We have some great things planned, so let us know if you have some time that day.

The new reading series is great. The stories are very interesting and spark high reader engagement. We are going to start taking two weeks for each story as there is so much to cover, and we want the students to go deeper! So, we will alternate Spelling and Vocabulary Homework for our stories.

Math - Can you say Cluster!! We are finishing up Building on Numbers You Know and will be entering into Name that Portion. (More to come.....)

If you can come out Thursday, we will have our Parent Reading Night- It starts at 6:30- It should be a night of Reading Information.

Students received their first paycheck today, and will be meeting with their "personal" bankers tomorrow. Be sure to ask your student about their check, fines, and bonus money! Our auction will be held Thursday. We are looking forward to that! Many students received new jobs today as well, and some (Lakia, Alexandria, and Lauren) even got another raise! WOO-HOO

It is hard to believe October is here! Oct. 8th and 22nd will be early realease days, and Oct. 24th is the NEW Teacher Planning Day.

Happy Fall!

Chemical Changes in Room 138/ Ask your child what they did today!

We began our inquiry of chemical change today. Students designed experiments to find out if the amount of baking soda added to a constant amount of vinegar affected the amount of carbondioxide produced OR if a larger amount vinegar with a constant amount of baking soda affected the amount of carbon dioxide produced. We are not only experiencing chemical changes, but we are developing out expertise in the scientific process. Remember, no fun in school!

More Social Studies Group Work

Students are learning how to work collaboratively in a working group! They have created some amazing rough drafts based on the essential questions students came up with.

Social Studies - Chapters 1 & 2

Students are busy working to finish up Unit 1 in Social Studies. We have divided into teams of two, and these teams are researching a Native American Tribe. Each group will prepare a report and present their report through a diorama that represents the region from which they come. We have been busy learning about how our environment manages our lives.

Reading, Spelling, and Vocabulary tests are tomorrow! Study!

Volcano Website

Calvin found this website about a volcano in the Philippines. www.mayonecotourism.ph/mayon_volcano%
Thanks for sharing this with rest of the class Calvin.

Terrific Tuesdays!

It was a busy day today! This is our resource day and the students have Art or Music for the first hour of school. When they returned we worked on our math quiz, and then started our DRA's. We are almost finished with those.
Social Studies was quite exciting today as our groups met and started researching their projects. They loved using the encyclopedias and other reference material.
Science was also squeezed in - we made paper! That was a process, so be sure to ask your student how that worked.

Zelma, Cinnamon, Klaudia, Lauren, and Crystal working out some math problems.

Alexandria, Lauren, and Crystal work on morning Math!

Brittney joined our class today, and was glad to see she already knew one of our students! (Sorry, no pics yet!)

Progress Reports came home today- please sign and return within 3 days. Students also are bringing home a math quiz for a redo- Please ask your student to explain the problems they missed. We will be spending a few more days covering remainders, towers, and clusters.

We are really getting into the swing of things, and it seems time is just rushing by! Between Art, Music, PE, and Early Release the days just pass so quickly.

The Fall Fundraiser will come home Thursday- If you prefer, you can just make a donation to the PTA-

Remember WEDNESDAY is Early Release!

Hands on Heads Thinkers!

Working hard to "find" the right cluster!

Clustering, Clustering, and More Clustering! Serious workers here! Notice the new window seat!

Man, who would have thought so much thinking..... in 5th Grade!

Getting a mind workout!

It is funny how different pictures on different days capture some of the same things! We are thinking hard in Room 138!

Remember and Study this!

There are two birds in this pond- How will the ecosystem change if the water leaves the pond? And... how can that water leave the pond? Also, will there be any erosion?

Does anyone know where this is? It will be something you study in Science in the coming weeks- in fact, it may not even look like this- but remember what it looks like now because it will give you more to think about when we actually "get to it!"

A Heartfelt "Thank YOU!"

Mrs. Rowan and Mrs. Yadon would like to thank our 2007/2008 students and their families for a year of dedicated and hard work last year! Because of their growth over time on district assessments and FCAT we were recognized as part of the top 25% of teachers in Duval County! It is really a great honor for Mrs. Rowan and Mrs. Yadon to teach students everyday and to push their academic limits. To see students blossom under our tutelage is just amazing! Of course, we give much credit to the teachers before us, and the great community of learners and teachers at Beauclerc. We will continue to work as a team with each other, our students, our families and our fellow teachers! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing your students with us, believing in us, and working with us to achieve great things for your students!

We have great faith in our students of 2008/2009! We will continue our journey of academic excellence!

Physical Changes--What are they?

Students have investigated physical changes of matter this week. On Wednesday we smahed, broke, shaved, melted and froze crayons. We thought of 13 different physical changes we could make to a piece of paper for homework. I bet there are even more! A physical change is a change in the size, shape or state of matter. Next week we will investigate chemical changes. Don't be surprised if your fifth grade scientist wants to start baking or mixing things together.

We spent 30 minutes thinking of physical changes we could make to ice cubes. Many students harnessed the Sun's energy to create a phase change. Science is so much fun!

Bring the Rain!

Well, it looks as if the thunderstorm finally came tonight! It goes perfectly with our story this week "Eye of the Storm". If Mrs. Rowan wasn't in the middle of papers for her personal schooling she would go outside and take some pictures of the severe weather that is moving through our area! (Maybe I will send Mr. Rowan out!) If any of you happen to catch a few, email them to me and we will add them to our BLOG!
Students brought home Science tests that they could correct for 1/2 credit. That will raise many scores and is a great way to learn and remember what you missed..... BECAUSE STUDENTS... you will see it again!
As our clustering begins we will again be flipping minds with new math concepts! Look for a parent clustering worksheet soon!

Don't forget your vocabulary homework- the storm tonight provides great ideas for a story!

A big thanks to Mrs. Parker for coming in Wednesday for Mrs. Rowan while she attends Reading Training at the Schultz Center. Look for great center activity as a result of this training!

We are off and RUNNING!

More brains working during the Science Test! Notice "all" the hands on the head!

And as you can see, there is never a reason for a blank planner!

Students that did not make an "A" on their Spelling Test may select 4 of these items to help with their spelling words this week- All HW is due: Friday

This 3rd week Science test made us think!!! We are confident in our "skills"!

What a busy day today was. First, 1 1/2 hours of MAP (Music, Art, and PE) testing. Then, our three week Science Benchmark, followed by new spelling, new vocabulary, and a new reading skill - text structure. As if that wasn't enough we then divided into 15 groups of 2 to get our Native American Projects under way- and boy was that exciting! It really generated a lot of interest the first day. I know our students are going to do great! We finished off with math learning about Zennies and Ringles. This strategy will help us cluster as we move further into this unit.

We've been FLOCKED!

Well, the teachers of Beauclerc "flocked" to our principals house Friday for a time of food, fun, and fellowship! We had a great time! A group of teachers without any students...??? Go figure!

This week we will continue with MAP (Music, Art, and PE) testing, and then take our Science Benchmark. We will also start our 2nd story.

See you Monday!

The classroom BUG is UPON us!

Good evening! It seems we have a little nasty bug running through our classroom this week. It started with a bit of coughing and cold like symptoms, but now is just a big YUCKY mess! If your students of a headache, sore throat, etc. they are probably in need of rest! Hopefully our clean-up crew is doing a great job of wiping things down, and getting us back to healthy!

We have been busy with Benchmark testing this week- We completed Reading and Math and will take MAP (Music, Art, and PE) tests on Monday. We are still waiting for Science to be printed. After Science we will be finished until December, and then another round will start.

Please make sure you are signing your students agenda each night, and talking to them about their reading. Our first Reading Story Test is tomorrow, along with our Spelling and Vocabulary test.

As we move into our 4th week of school we will continue to work on rituals and routines. Please encourage your student to do their very best at school everyday. With your help, we will create successful students!

We really WORKED hard today ....

Cinnamon and her table work hard to discover the true secrets of condensation. Crystal is really thinking about the possibility of water in the air.

Ayanna's table is writing their thoughts down, so they can produce the correct answer.

Eduardo is leading his table to find the true meaning behind condensation.

Stewie and Jason are quick to write their answers.

These little bubbles of water have really caused us to discuss condensation. I mean we all know what it is (on the surface) but not one student could clearly describe its origin-- This led to a detailed scientific inquiry---

Dante, Boris, and Morgan using their pencils to secure their ideas.

Day 2 - We are getting to the bottom of this!

In the morning we will weigh again when our Blue Ice is not frozen. This may provide clues....

Stay tuned .......

SAC and FCAT Explorer

Hi Parents- Beauclerc is looking for a few good families to join our SAC. SAC helps our school at the district level by looking out for our needs and taking care of our students. They meet once a month (usually the first Monday @ 6:00pm). If you are interested, they are meeting this month, next Monday (9/15) at 6:30pm.

FCAT Explorer stickers were put in student planners yesterday. This is a good daily activity for students. They can work in Math and Science to help sharpen their skills. We will be viewing their results to see how they are doing. Students without the Internet can access this site from the Public Library.

No Distractions!

Today was our first full day with ZERO distractions... It went by so fast, that the students were surprised when we told them to get ready for lunch! They could not believe the day was over!

Spelling Words: bunk, staff, dock, slept, mist, bunch, swift, stuck, breath, tough, fond, crush, grasp, dwell, fund, ditch, split, swept, deaf, rough, trek, frantic, summit, rustic, mascot

We had a very interesting conversation and video today about phase changes in water- We still are a little unsure and will need to continue further investigating Tuesday (with scales)
Today Mrs. Yadon brought in 5 frozen Blue Ice packs. Each table received one frozen Blue Ice Pack in a plastic container and were told to watch and record their pack for several hours. When Science rolled around we asked students to explain where the water droplets on the outside of the Blue Ice Pack came from. I wish we would have recorded that conversation! Many students believed the water "ESCAPED" from inside the Blue Ice Pack- we sort of blew that theory when I told then if I had a glass of ice tea, it wasn't tea on the outside of the cup....



Needless to say, their minds were jumbled with trying to figure out the SCIENCE of the water droplets, especially since they were gone in the afternoon! So like all good scientists.. we are going to really take this a step further tomorrow! Mrs. Yadon took the Blue Ice Packs home to freeze again and students will weigh them in the morning and then through out the day!

We will take pictures and have our students explain this concept tomorrow.... Stay tuned!

BOOK FAIR REMINDER: Remember students may purchase items from the book fair on Thursday. The book fair will be open Thursday night for parents, and we are also selling PRE-Paid pasta tickets for dinner. They are $7.00.

Trick or Treat?

We had an an edible Science lab on Friday. Be sure to tell your Mom and Dad what we you are learning (or ask your student what they've been up to lately).

The Angel Chicks are hard at work determing why a solution is a special type of mixture. It's hard to write like a scientist but we are learning.

Who knew science was so tasty?

It just looks like snack time in Room 138. Students were busy thinking about scientific things like mixtures and solutions. Just wait until we begin exploring chemical reactions!

New Season, New Look

Does it feel like Fall? Maybe this nice Fall background can help us into this season of Thanksgiving and reflection. It was great news that Hannah sailed on by, and we actually did not have to miss any more school! We have been very busy this week, and next week we start our Benchmark tests, so please make sure you are here every day and ON TIME!!

We have been putting some work in our folders, so you might ask your student to show you their Math or Science folder. We have even had time to take our first Calendar Math quiz. We will these each week to measure our skills! This activity is completed every day in class with all students- it should be an easy "A"

If you haven't already done so, please return the Entertainment books that were sent home as part of the Patrol fundraiser. Please consider buying one- they have some great deals in there.

PE is tomorrow so make sure you wear some appropriate PE clothes and shoes. Coach Scott and Coach Streeter prefer tennis shoes- no clogs, sandals, etc.

We are working on getting the music back up- check back soon!


Beauclerc's fine patrols lead us in the Pledge!

Waiting for the activities... The parade starts.. To unlock the treasures of Florida we are sending JJ off on a boat tour with two lovely pirate ladies! Good thing Florida is a peninsula.

The girls look to see what is coming!

Read and Feed

Mark your calendars now! Beauclerc's annual Read and Feed (Pasta Dinner and Book Fair) night has been scheduled for September 11th. This is a great night to come out, have dinner at school, chat with your teacher and friends and shop the Book Fair.

With the weather days, and start of school it has been kind of hectic. However, we did complete the 8th day of school today, and hopefully the storms brewing will stay in the Atlantic!

Don't forget tomorrow, Wednesday, is our reading kick-off. Remember to wear your reading hats, a red shirt, and a big smile! I know many of you have already completed several books of your 25 book goal.

Jobs were assigned today- Be sure to tell your parents what your job is, and don't forget about FINES!
Enjoy your night-