Where the Red Fern Grows

We had a great time watching this movie and even played a little "Heads Up" while we waited for the bus.  Before the movie we previewed some questions that I had the kiddos think about while they were watching.  We had an impressive discussion after some writing reflection time here back at school.  We discussed foreshadowing, the most admirable characters, and differences between the movie and book.

Science--Models

We wrapped up our work with the black boxes this week.  Students used extra materials (empty black boxes, tape, rectangular or triangular shaped foam pieces) to try to create a physical model of their designated black box.  Most students were convinced that they had matched it perfectly after comparing the two.  Here are some of our drawings of our physical models.  We ended with an online black box activity in which students were using a laser light to identify hidden shapes.  They can log into this activity at home. 
1.  Go to fossweb.com
2.  Click on Class Login
3.  Username is wescience
4.  Password is wescience

Friendship Groups

In Friendship Groups this week we played a fun candy cane game that ended in everyone enjoying a delicious treat!  We also colored Christmas cards for veterans, residents of nursing homes, etc.  Friendship Groups are such a special time!

Parkview Carol Sing

Nothing is sweeter to listen to than children singing Christmas carols!  The residents had many requests and fun was had by all!  We all started in the main room, but then split into groups to carol throughout the different units in the nursing home. 

Literacy

The past two weeks we have been working REALLY hard to make inferences when we read as authors often have readers fill in the blanks as they are reading.  We make inferences when we use what we already know and combine it with clues the author has given us.  This can be such a difficult skill so we used some picture books to work through it and I also provided the students with some thinking stems to help them with this work.  This was also our focus in small group guided reading.

Most students are doing a GREAT job of keeping track of their own reading goals and adding up their pages.  Just a reminder that reading goals are due January 11, 2017. 

We have wrapped up our informational reports and students are working to prepare their presentation to the class.  We are also going to make 3-D representations of our topics to trace, cut, stuff, and hang from our ceiling.  The students have worked really hard on their informational reports so we are going to wrap up with a little bit of fun!

Math

Today brought the end of Unit 5 (Fractions, Decimals, and Percents).  Because Unit 6 (Addition and Subtraction of Fractions) is so closely related, we as a 5th grade team of teachers, have decided to wait to give the test as a whole at the completion of Unit 6.  Again, great Everyday Math Online games that can be utilized to practice current math skills are:   Fraction Percent Concentration, Frac-Tac-Toe, Fraction Top-It, and Fraction Of.  This would be a great alternative if you would still like your child to practice when there is no homework assigned. 

Chinese

This week in Chinese, Mrs. Hussey talked with kiddos about a Chinese tradition of making dragonflies that hang on Christmas trees.  This seemed like a very intricate process for which the students had to use a lot of patience to get to their final product!  Fun!

Science

Woven into our current science unit, Mixtures and Solutions, are components of the Next Generation Science Standards, including engineering and the use of models.  So while we are still in the Mixtures and Solutions unit, the past few science classes have been spent looking at, observing, developing, and improving models.  The students have learned that models are explanations of objects, events, or systems that cannot be observed directly.  After careful observation, collaboration, and analysis, students created a physical model of a "black box" with the other scientists in the room.  Our "black boxes" are sealed and students do not know what is inside.  This has driven them crazy!

Google Expeditions

MPCSD currenty has access to a Google Expeditions kit.  This is a virtual reality teaching tool that lets you lead or join immersive virtual trips all over the world.  Mrs. Beachy "took" the students to Machu Picchu after studying about it during Spanish class.  The kids absolutely LOVED it!  And I did, too!  So cool!

Elves. . .

Today we took some time to respond to 1st grade Santa letters.  This is one of our favorite things to do--the kids have a lot of fun with it and we enjoyed listening to some of our favorite Christmas songs!

Grandparent's Day Photos

Cans, cans, cans!

We continue to accept cans and bottles all year long.  These help to fund all of our trips and fun things that we do.  On Wednesday of this week we walked to the car wash to collect cans.  It was a beautiful day and Ms. McAtee and I believe it is important for the students to do their part and contribute to all the activities we do. 

Gray Wolf Presentation

On Monday of this week, we enjoyed a presentation by Laverne Logan on gray wolves.  Laverne came from Western Illinois University and is a graduate of Mid-Prairie.  He has spent some time in Ely, Minnesota at the International Wolf Center tracking wolves and helping to raise wolf pups.  The kids were VERY interested and really enjoyed this presentation.  He told them to check out the link from the Wolf Center:  http://www.wolf.org/

Literacy

In writing, we are working to put the finishing touches on our informational reports.  Many students are finding graphics that support the text and creating a basic reference section.  Others are working on revising and editing with peers.  We hope to share these with grandparents on Grandparent's Day.

In reading this week our focus has been on fluency, specifically pausing when we come across a comma, semicolon, colon, etc.  We have put this skill to use when practicing our Reader's Theater, Tornado!, which we will aslo share on Grandparent's Day.  We also learned about idioms and discussed several examples. 

Please encourage your kiddos to keep reading at home!  Goals aren't due until January, but time seems to go quickly as we approach the holidays.  Happy reading!

Math

Our new unit is Fractions, Decimals, and Percents.  We actually will be spending the next several weeks on this topic as it is a huge part of the Iowa Common Core for Mathematics in 5th grade.  Simple activities like measuring and baking are a great way to practice these skills at home!  Double or halve a recipe for a batch of cookies. . .this would be a delicious way to practice using fractions!  Have the students help measure for a home improvement project.  Have your child help figure the tip the next time your family goes out for dinner.  Also, there are a few games on Everyday Math online that your child can practice at home.  Those games include Fraction Percent Concentration, Fract-Tac-Toe, Fraction Top-It, and Fraction Of.  Your child knows their necessary log in information to access the site. 

Mixtures and Solutions

This week we started our Mixtures and Solutions science unit.  We learned that a mixture is when two things are combined.  A solution is a special type of mixture in which a solute is dissolved in a solvent.  The three solid materials we worked with were gravel, powder, and salt.  We learned we could use a wire screen to separate the gravel and a filter to separate the powder, but we could not seem to separate the salt from the water so we will be taking a look at that next week.  The kids have loved the hands-on activities thus far!

FREE Thanksgiving Meal

Please Join us for a
    Free Community

 Thanksgiving Dinner

     Thursday, November 24th
          11 am – 1 pm

Hosted by:

     Holy Trinity Parish

         571 Howard Street

             Richmond, IA
 
Deliveries available in the Kalona area

For reservations, phone: Joyce Mattes
656-3276
by: Tues. 11/22

Dinner is Free. . .Donations will be given to local organizations helping local families.

Iowa Wildlife History

Pam Holz, Washington County Naturalist, was at school today to present the program Iowa Wildlife History.  Students learned about animals that were and are part of Iowa's history.

Reading

I did touch base with all students on their 2nd quarter reading goals today.  The genre goal for this quarter is fantasy OR historical fiction.  In large group reading we focused on the realistic fiction genre by identifying the characteristics of the genre and reading short and long examples of the genre.  In small group reading we finished up our informational books and the strategy focus of main idea and details.  Next week, we will move onto our fluency week and will work on pausing, specifically short pauses, while preparing our reader's theater, Tornado, for Grandparent's Day.

Veteran's Day

We have spent some time learning about military families and about veterans this week.  I read aloud the book H is for Honor, which is an alphabet book that describes different facets of the military.  We also created Veteran's Day cards, which Ms. Meier delivered to local nursing homes as well as the VA hospital in Iowa City.  Lastly, we had a Veteran's Day assembly on Thursday and were fortunate enough to have local veterans talk to our students. 



                                                       

Math

We tested on two division standards today--division with whole numbers and division with decimal numbers.  Units 5 and 6 will focus on fractions.  Along with division, fractions are a large part of 5th grade math.  The two standards we will be focusing on are:  I can add and subtract fractions AND I can solve fraction word problems.  Both of these will include like and unlike denominators. 

Raking Leaves

We had a beautiful morning to rake leaves!  All of the kids did a GREAT job--they were focused and worked the whole time.  Thank you to the City of Wellman for donating the leaf bags and for picking up full leaf bags from the homes where we raked.  Again, this fit perfectly with the pillars of character that we are discussing in health.

Informational Reports

Now that we have finished our research for informational reports, most students are in the drafting stage of writing.  A few students have wrapped up their draft and have moved on to editing and revising.  The last mini-lesson this week focused on including graphics.  More importantly, graphics that directly support the text that is written.  I hope to have these wrapped up by Grandparent's Day so the students can share them. 

Reading Goals

Just a reminder about reading goals. . .these sheets should have come home on the 27th of October.  I am still missing a few so please return these as soon as possible.  Goals are due on January 11th.  The genre goal for this quarter is fantasy OR historical fiction.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

Science/Health

The end of the quarter ended our first science unit, Sun, Moon, and Planets.  We are currently reading and learning about emotional and mental health in our health books.  We will continue this health unit until mid-November when our new science kit, Mixtures and Solutions, arrives.  The Mixtures and Solutions Module has five investigations that introduce students to fundamental ideas about matter and its interactions.  Last Friday I was in Cedar Rapids at Grant Wood learning about and exploring this science kit--the kids are going to love this one!

Division continues. . .

Division, including division with decimals, is an important standard in 5th grade math.  This week most of our time was spent on problems with two digit divisors and division with decimals.  Homework has started up again and this repeated practice will help students solidify this skill. 

Halloween Party

Our Halloween party committee did a super job of planning snacks and games--we had a lot of fun!  The kiddos enjoyed bobbing for apples, a Minute to Win It game, and lots of yummy food!  They even used our circuit set to set up a disco ball and did some dancing. There was also a dance off between Batman and Superman!

Writing--Informational Reports

We have concluded our research for our informational reports.  This week we tried to group our facts into categories which will naturally help us develop paragraphs as we begin to write.  Several of our mini-lessons focused on author's craft this week.  Some of these included:  using conversational language, using advanced nouns, and using questions to vary sentence structure and drive the text. 

Divison, Division, Division!

This week we started the process of learning and reviewing division!  We will be learning how to use the partial quotients algorithm and also traditional long division.  Feel free to help your child at home with traditional long division.  Here is a link to how to complete the partial quotients algorithm:
http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/teaching-topics/computation/div-part-quot/

Science

This week in science our focus was the interacting parts of the solar system.  Using solar system cards the students did some open sorts (sorted into categories they chose) and some closed sorts (given the category).  They love these cards!

Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States.  We will be observing Red Ribbon Week at Wellman Elementary next week. 

 

Monday, October 24th:  Super Hero Day--Have the power to say no to drugs!

Tuesday, October 25th : Tie Dye Tuesday--Peace out to drugs! and Friendship Groups 

Wednesday, October 26th: Hawaiin Day--Lei off drugs!

 

Thursday, October 27th:  Wear MP Clothing--Our school is drug free!

Friday, October 28th: Wear PJ's for $1.00/ Stuffed animal for $1.00 to raise money for the Duvall family whose baby has liver cancer.

Parkview

Miss Wendy and Jacob showed us how to make origami pumpkins that we will give to our Parkview residents.  We travel to Parkview again on Monday, October 24th.

Makerspace

We shared our challenges today:  to design a paper made from newspaper that will hold 5 paperback chapter books.  Several of the tables met the challenge, but we went on piling heavy books until we had a winner.  We also quickly discussed the design of the winning table in comparison to the other designs.  We also have, on loan from Grant Wood AEA, the xylophone that goes along with the Dash robot.  The kids are able to compose their own songs and then have Dash play them--pretty cool!

Iowa History

On Thursday of this week we had a guest speaker, Bill Kinneer.  Bill grew up in Burlington, Iowa.  He shared the history of Burlington along with some other Iowa history.  The students learned that flint was important to the Native Americans in the area, the importance of the river and river towns, and much more!

Hat and Gum Day

I know I shared a picture with you earlier in the week, but I just want to say again how proud I am of these kiddos!  They very responsibly carried out all aspects of this project down to helping the cashiers at the bank sort the money!  We had a little bit more cash come in after we went to the bank so our final total was right around $1,100!  So proud!!