Science Fair - Totally Student Driven!

 We have been a little busy this week working on our own personal Science Fair Projects! Totally designed, tested, built, and reported by students! I must say it was very, no, extremely hard not to get involved and make some corrections- BUT the purpose of this week was to allow them to experiment with the Scientific Process and then walk them through the steps (and needed corrections) when they present. In asking probing questions, they were able to see the error of their ways, and tell me how they could do better!

 I've never seen girls eat melted chocolate so fast!!

 This was the hardest part! Letting them assemble their boards! But.. all the parts are here, and we will work on perfecting this process for our school Science Fair!

 I loved how professional this group was! When you walked up to them, they explained their survey, the steps you were going to do, and the flavors you were tasting!!!

 Another great board put together only by the students!

 Who does not love a jolly rancher? Would you prefer hard or soft?

 Another student built board!

 Melted crayons anyone? Let's see which brand melts the fastest!

 Does the container in which you place ice cream make a difference on how fast it melts?

 Making the data chart! I'm positively impressed by the computer skills of my kids! They are PROS!

 Working on "framing" for our boards!

Ready to survey ... "Which sport do you prefer?"

We have 4 projects yet to present. It has been CRAZY with our testing schedule! But do not fear.. we have made it to the end and will be going full steam ahead on Monday :)

For a bit we will be combined in an effort to catch-up and make sure everyone is on the same page. Don't worry .. we will still have a 50/50 split on our dual language!

It's going to be an exciting year!

The Third Thrilling Week of School

It's hard to believe we are almost at the end of the 3rd week of school! I don't know about you, but it is flying by! We have been super busy taking baseline benchmark tests! We still have to take the Iowa Reading Test and then we should be finished for awhile.

Regardless of all the testing, we have still been able to dive into our curriculum. I think students are having the most fun with our Science fair projects! These small projects will help us think like scientists all year long!

Upcoming Events

** Book Fair begins next week. Students should have brought home the flyer Wednesday. If you allow your student to purchase a book, those profits come directly back to our school!

* Family Skate Night - Friday, September 13th (Mandarin Skate Station) $6.00 for skaters

** PTA Beach Party Back to School Dance - Thursday, September 19 (Free with PTA membership ($5.00 and permission slip) or $7.00 day of dance with signed permission slip

Housekeeping

Attendance is critical!! Please make sure your student is on-time and present every day! 

Have a GREAT day!

Open House

Don't forget 

Open House 

is tonight!!!

6:00 pm in our rooms! We will have 2 presentations (that are the same)

6:00 - English

6:30 - Spanish

See you tonight!

Week At A Glance 8/26/2013

Week at A Glance 8/26/13

ELA  -             Establishing Rituals and Routines

Leveled Readers A Boy Called Slow

                      Data Chats

                      Begin Reading The Lightning Thief

                      Selection Test  (ABCS)

                      Iowa Test

SS-                 Establishing Rituals and Routines

  What is geography?

                      World Maps

                      Longitude and Latitude

                      Continents

Math -             Establishing Rituals and Routines

                      Solving and Representing Division

                      Sequencing a list of multiples

                      Solving Division and Multiplication Problems

                      Comparing Strategies

Science-          

Establishing Rituals and Routines

                      Banana Experiment

                      Paper Airplane Experiment

                      Collecting and Interpreting Data

                      Starting Investigations

                      Baseline Assessments

** Resource Calendar Begins!

On the third day of school!

The first two days of 5th grade must be rated a success!! Thank you so much for coming to school prepared. We have been able to start instruction DAY 1, and even have completed some homework assignments.

If you have not purchased your journals, please do so quickly. The County is requiring that each student have a total of 6. We are also requesting an additional 2 for Social Studies.

The next few days we will start baseline assessments in Reading, Math, Science, and Writing. Please be patient as we move through this phase of testing. When we are finished we will have a positive understanding of the needs of each of our students.

We will begin reading The Lightening Thief on Thursday. If you are able to purchase this book, it would be a tremendous asset for your student.

Thank you for being present the first two days of school!!! We have a lot to learn this year and your attendance means EVERYTHING!!!

Orientation

Well Hello To YOU!!!

We will have an opportunity to meet

Friday, August 16th

10:00 - 11:00

See you Then!!

It's almost time...

Wow! What a fast summer! I hope you enjoyed yours as much as my family and I enjoyed mine. It seems like in some respect we were just eating donuts our last day of school and talking about summer plans, and now here we are 2 days before teachers have to report back!

There have been a lot of good changes at Beauclerc and I am ready to start working with many of the changes. The biggest change for me of course is moving out of STAR and into the Dual Language Program. I could not be more excited to be the 5th grade teacher of the first group that started in our Dual Language Program. I will be busy preparing our room next week for our new adventure.

I have not yet met with Mrs. Ryan, so I do not have a complete supply list, but I know to start you will need 6 journals, crayons, colored pencils, markers, paper, and pens and pencils. When Mrs. Ryan returns from Peru we will be able to provide you with a complete list.

Our first nine weeks in Reading we will have a novel study on the Lightening Thief. If you are able to purchase this book, I would highly recommend it as we will only have one set for our class to share.

I look forward to seeing you all at Orientation on Friday, August 16th. Enjoy your last week off!