Let them be Creative!

This has turned into a really great project for our class! Everyone is working hard and engaged! We have become masters of "gathering" research to support our work.

We "found" some clay this year before school started- thought to ourselves, surely we can use this somewhere! And used it the kids have. It is so great to see kid creativity in action.

Remember, these are works in progress!

We can't wait to see the finished project. Our Computer Resource teacher will come in Friday and teach Key Notes (similar to PowerPoint) to our kids so they can prepare a slide show (with pictures) for their presentation. Who knew Social Studies could be so fun!

See you in the am!

Quick Update

* Your child some bring their reading folder home today. Please review and sign all test papers. It is important to remember that Reading Selection Tests are Open Book. If your child is scoring low on these tests, you may want to review the correct answers with them.

* Students have approximately 3 1/2 weeks to finish their reading goal (7 books). Please make sure to view their log and talk with them about their reading.

* Homework- Planners should never be blank. We will be scheduling conferences in the coming weeks to talk about individual work habits and academic performance.

* Picture post tonight!

Thursday has come and gone!

Say cheese!

All smiles all the time in Room 138!

What a morning... first a fire drill!

This is our ELMO- We use it everyday- almost all day in fact. When we are writing - your student should be writing in their spiral. We do this to model could academic strategies.

Learning about the Peoples of the Southwest!

We are working hard at Math! This division is not easy, but we have learned to identify the number of steps in a problem. This allows us to complete each step, and that assures we accurately complete each piece of the problem!

Getting ready for Social Studies

Antonio is ready to began our next project!

* Progress Reports came home today. Your student has 4 1/2 weeks to improve their grade- These are simply reports that let you see how your student is doing. I would greatly encourage each of you to check ONCOURSE regularly so that you can keep track of what your student is (or isn't) doing.

* PTA sent home membership envelopes today with students who have not joined yet. Please consider giving a $5.00 donation to this organization. They help us in so many ways- field trips, Cultural Arts, Vision Screening, school supplies, clerical work that needs to be done around the school, etc. It is well worth the $5.00.

* Today at recess, the sun was behind the clouds, there was a breeze and it actually felt like it might be FALL! WOO-HOO for cooler weather!

* Please send a daily snack for your child. We do not eat until 1:00, and it is a long day with out a quick snack break.

*Make sure your student brings their reading book home tomorrow- Our test is Monday. That is a Selection Test, Word Study Test, and a Vocabulary Test.

*Planners should never be blank. Make sure your student is getting their homework done :-) It is the launch for our next lesson, and when homework is not done, it puts your student behind!

See you in the AM!

Flying By...

* I left my camera at school, so this will be a no picture post! :-( And I have some really great pics to post!

* Progress Reports will come home Thursday. We would like them returned by Monday. If you would like a conference please indicate on your student's Progress Report. We will try to set-up a conference schedule once all Progress Reports have been returned. We are available most mornings at 8:00.

* Test Corrections- Students had their first opportunity with test corrections last night with their Social Studies test. For test corrections to count, students have to explain the correct answer. They simply cannot just change or write the correct answer.

* RTI - All students are involved in RTI Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2:10 - 2:40. Please try to make all appointments outside of this time. We are working hard to prepare our students.

* Folders - If you are wondering how your student is doing, just ask them to bring home their folders. We now have established folders for Science, Social Studies, Math, and Reading. This is a great way to review student work.

* Have a great evening-

See you in the AM!

A Good Day

Alex is such a great helper in the afternoons! What would we do without you? Thanks for always helping us!!

Our plants (most of them) have done really good. Today we put some in the shoe boxes to see how light will change the growth of the plant (phototropism).

* Today was our last day of testing! YEE-HAW.. The MAP tests did not come in, so we will delay that testing that was to occur Wednesday- which means.... another FULL day of instruction!

* It was our 2nd day of RTI today- the kids are really going great packing up and getting where they need to be! Make sure you ask them who their RTI teacher is and what they are doing.

* The Book Fair is still going on. We are allowing students to go each day during our assigned time. Books are always a great gift!

* Tomorrow is PE- make sure you wear running shoes! No sandals or crocs!

* Literature Circle Packets are due Friday. All AR tests must be taken by Friday!

See you in the AM~

No Picture Monday!

Wow! Today was a crazy day to say the least!
* We took 2 hours of a Math Benchmark
* In between the Math Benchmark we had Music and Art
* We took our Unit 1 Math Assessment
* We ate lunch (could not believe that it was 1:00 at 1:00) where did our day go?
* We measured our plants, made our observations, and recorded our data.
* We started RTI today- some of us went to Mrs. Yadon, some to Mrs. Wright, some to Mrs. Shaaber and Mrs. Laymon, and a big group to Mrs. Rowan! It went pretty smooth! Looking forward to working with all the groups as the year rolls on!

* Tuesday we are taking a 2 hour Reading Benchmark! Please be on time!

Let's see if we can get some pictures tomorrow!

A NORMAL day!

Division rocks is what Christian is telling Nicolas... NOT! But, hey it is better with friends!

Math, Math, and more division in Math. We are working hard- First assessment is Monday - remember TEST CORRECTIONS!! We are really proud of the hard work our students are putting out! We can see improvement!

Poptropica was all the rave today (before and after school). Apparently a new game opened up, and what a line we had to play!

What a great day in Room 138 today! We rocked out a Math lesson for a District Guest and soon to be Math Coach this morning. Let's just say they see the depth of trouble with division clustering as well :-)

It was our first normal day in a long time, and we were able to accomplish quite a bit! We actually got to delve into Math, Science, Reading, and Social Studies! It has been awhile, and yet it is hard to believe it is only the end of the 3rd week of school. Tomorrow we will have another full day of instruction! I can hardly wait. We only have 4 DRA's to complete, and then you will start getting some guidance on what you can do at home to help your student become a better reader.
We will try to listen to our Reading Story tomorrow and test next Friday. Monday, Tuesday, and now Wednesday we will be taking District Assessments (2 hours Monday and Tuesday and 1 1/2 hours Wednesday)- After that we should be pretty normal right up until the holidays.

Be sure to visit spellingcity.com to keep up with the word work for this story.

See you in the am!

Reading Celebration Kick-Off

The BLUE MAN GROUP came out strong today! We rocked out the Blue Shirts! A great time was had by all.... Thanks to Mrs. Yadon for the banner!

We finally made our way along the parade route!

Singing and dancing!

and laughing and playing!

And what a parade we had! We were outside for a little over an hour this morning- It sure did not feel like Fall at all! In fact, when we came in we all took about 5 minutes to just "cool off" with our great AC! The students had a great time! There were lots of neat banners, and books and plays represented!

We switched our schedule around somewhat today because our Math Benchmark has been delayed. It looks like we will not be taking Reading and Math Benchmarks Monday and Tuesday. We were able to work on our DRA's and FAIR testing today, along with some serious Math tutoring.

We are looking forward to having a normal 2 days (Thursday and Friday). We will be pushing to complete some lingering diagnostic testing.

Our first Math assessment is Monday. Please check over your student's Math homework Thursday and Friday so they will be ready on Monday!

See you in the AM!

Thank You- We have Success!

Again, thank you all for taking the time to come out to OPEN HOUSE!! Both our Parents and our STUDENTS Rock! We know that we will be successful this year because we have established a great partnership! We look forward to working with you and your student this year as we continue to Set the Stage for Success!


Stay tuned for many more great productions from Room 138!

Remember Benchmark testing continues tomorrow and next Monday!

See you in the am :-)

What do we want ? TEAMWORK!!

Star Students Rock - Nicolas and Becky!

A very busy week in Room 138-

Tuesday - 2 hours of Benchmark Math Assessments

Wednesday - 80 Minutes of Benchmark Science Assessments

** These are District Mandated- we should get results back that will help us get to know your students areas of strengths and weaknesses a little better!

Safety Goggles... Working with water plants to measure CO2 and O2 levels!

We look super smart in our safety goggles... oh wait.. WE ARE SUPER SMART!

I am just going to say.... Extremely Super Cute!

This next set of pictures show why we in Room 138 - ROCK THE SCIENCE FCAT!

Contrary to popular belief ALL students enjoy working and learning together. We have been very fortunate this year that every one of our students values learning communities. These next few slides will show us working together to identify parts of a plant! It does our hearts good to see "action" work! Mrs. Yadon and I keep saying.. Man- we wish when we went to school (back in the old days of rows and silence) that we were able to work and learn together!

You gotta WORK, WORK, WORK Together....

You Gotta Work together for the Grade.....

4 bodies, 4 minds, 4 bright 5th graders!

You gotta work together for the GRADE!!!

The Grade has many parts....

Drawings, labels, and functions...

But when you join those minds in unity....

It's perfect EVERY TIME!!!!

Oh ... you gotta work, work, work together!

Make sure you check out our finished products on the main 5th grade hall and around the room at Open House! They turned out AWESOMELY FANTASTIC!!

The Scholastic Book Fair Materials arrived Friday! What a load of stuff. We will browse Thursday and students can start buying on Friday. Don't forget the Read and Feed if you want pizza the night of the parent browse.

This is what he looks like when there is no food in the morning-- He stays there until I fill up his feeder- He is like PLEASE.. get with the program lady!!! He usually is very chipper, but obviously he was running low Friday! Maybe I could have him audition for a coffee commercial!

Our very own Zackary and Jacob leading the whole school in the Pledge! Awesome job boys!

Here we are working on another Science Gizmo- Friday's is tough to get laptop day in, but we managed. It seems we are working right to the very end of EVERY day!! Will it slow down?? I don't think so!

A little bit of laptops by our side... a little bit of learning in our brain!

News from the Library... Orders came home Friday- This is a great way to help support the library. Some items are a little pricey, but there are some great books for around $5.00. Of course they have all that "extra" stuff too!

Notice the hand on the head.. this apparently is a common 5th grade tendency that you will see repeated over and over. When I tell you that 5th grade Math is knocking some heads around THAT IS THE TRUTH I SAY!!! We started with division clusters and those who do not know their multiplication facts are having a tough time to say the least. Next Monday is our first real Math Test- so if you don't know those facts you have about a week to practice to flip it over to division.

So glad we started literature circles early.. and that we picked good books to start with. All groups report that they are highly interested and it pays during our work time.

We can't wait to see you at Open House- Make sure you come- we are sure your child wants their Bonus Points! If a parent is not available- send a grandma, aunt, uncle, big sib, etc... We need 100%

If you have not joined PTA we are SOOO close- In the past Mrs. Yadon and I have made up the difference and this year we decided WE ARE NOT- And when I tell you it is one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.. it is... I have had my checkbook out on several occasions, but really it should be 100% class- not teacher paid :-)

Remember - THIS WEDNESDAY IS EARLY RELEASE - Students are released at 1:30. Please make sure you student know how they are getting home!