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!!

Bus Safety

Teresa Hartley, Assistant Transportation Director, came to 5th grade today to review bus safety.  We also practiced a bus evacuation.

Reading

In addition to small groups in reading, each day we have a whole group lesson.  This week we read and analyzed a longer informational text about Inuit traditions.  Close reading is a strategy we use to thoughtfully and critically analyze a text, usually focusing on significant ideas, details, or patterns.  This leads to a deeper understanding of the text.  We focused on key points and provided evidence from the text to support our answers.  I got these fun, transparent sleeves that helped us with our close reading work--the kids loved them!  We also did some word ladders today.  Word ladders challenge (and even perplex!) students as well as increase their vocabulary.  Some new words we learned today were perspiration, tine, sane, and dame. 

Math

We spent a lot of time learning about and reviewing properties of polygons this week.  One way we practiced was to play the game Polygon Capture.

Walk-A-Thon

We had a sunny, warm day for our Walk-A-Thon!  Students raised over $6,000 for our Wellman Elementary PTO, all of which, gets put right back into our school for our students!  Way to go!

Math

This week we started Unit 3:  Geometry Explorations.  Angles and using a protractor and compass were our focus this week.  Using the compass was a big hit, of course! Next week we will delve deep into identifying properties of polygons, which is a standard all 5th graders are expected to meet by the end of 5th grade.  Also this week in math, Mr. Poock came in to teach us a game, Contig, that he loved having his students play when he was a teacher.

Writing

We have started learning about information reports.  So far, we have looked at and read mentor texts so that we can see what a good information report looks like and what characteristics they have.  For example, they include graphics like pictures or charts, accurate information, and primary sources.  We brainstormed a list of topics we might want to write about; later, we will narrow our topics down and choose one to move forward with.

Cardboard Challenge

WE 4th and 5th grade students participated in the Global Cardboard Challenge earlier this week.  Students used collaboration, communication, and creativity to create their projects and were very proud to display them for others to see!  The inspiration for this world wide project was inspired by Caine's Arcade.  http://cainesarcade.com/ 

Mr. Zahs

We had a beautiful morning with Mr. Zahs!  He is such a wealth of information and the students absolutely loved it--be sure to ask them about it! 

Des Moines Pictures