We have finally picked a winner for the Legacy Crop. 5th graders have chosen to plant Kandy Korn and Snowball pumpkins. We used a “Hot Dot” method to choose our crops. It was too close to call. We’ve decided to throw in a larger variety as well for fun. These will be placed away from the classroom beds.

Currently, kids are planning out irrigation for our garden beds. This has given the kids great opportunities to learn logical reasoning, computation with decimals and measurement.

Next steps, planting those pumpkins.

Recently, I came across a nice video that showcases a young man that is working hard to become an artist.  More specifically, he wants to create and document with videos.  He’s a bit unsure about how to do this, or where his journey will take him.  He comes up with an idea about how he might use skills he’s already mastered and incorporate them with the artistic skills he’s trying to learn.  Watch the video…

What skills did he have mastered? How have they helped him to achieve more?

I showed this video because I think it’s important to work on things that we’re truly passionate about. This adds value to what we do. It keeps us motivated. By focusing on the things we love and are good at, we can learn even more. I’ll bet for Kevin, it even makes going to work that much better. Think of something you’re not finding value with. How can you make it more meaningful?

 

The 5th Grade Teachers would like to know your thoughts about math class.  We’ve already had you respond to a correlation chart.

Now, we’re hoping you can take a few moments and fill out the survey at the link below.  Just click on the link and get started.  If you have any questions, ask your teacher for help.  Thanks for helping us make your math class better.

5th Grade Math Survey

The survey will remain live for the 3/18/16 school day.

 

 

Sometimes things get in the way of our success.  These are setbacks.  Another way to describe them are failures.  For instance, you might get your math test back and learn that you missed most of the problems.  Maybe you were absent for most of the math unit.  You never really caught up with the class, and then you failed your test.  Another example could be that you are training for a BMX bike competition and you wreck and break your wrist.  Ouch!  What now?

It’s really important that we don’t let these obstacles stop our journey to improve.  It’s been said many times, “Success doesn’t come easy.”  Those that understand this idea are able to persevere.  This is being able to overcome the desire to just give up.

These are the stories we need to celebrate.  Check out the video below about a surfer from Brazil.

What connections can you make with your own life?

Wow.  The trimester is over.  The school year seems to be picking up speed.  I’m really impressed with all of the efforts the students have made.  Here are a few picks from the trimester that I wanted to share.

It wasn’t very long ago that students were working on cooperative games and building our classroom community.  Our record for the Hula Hoop Challenge still stands at 1:03 minutes.

Students made good use of our classroom resources, new and old.

Scientists have begun to emerge as we learned a little about Environments.

We finished the trimester, and 2015, with a special project to decorate the classroom in a festive fashion.  It really seemed to renew the values we set at the beginning of the school year for our classroom.

Some people got a little carried away.  I suppose that’s normal in 5th grade.

Stay tuned for more posts on classroom events.  Soon we should have students sharing their own news stories as they become contributors to the blog.

 

 

Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated every year in classrooms around the world. What did he do that’s made people stop and think about our society? In the US, it’s so significant that schools must provide an assembly for students at their school during January. This makes me think about 2 Essential Questions.

Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

Why do we remember him?

Use the following link to process these questions.

http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/mlk-day-gradesK-5.html

 

Recently, your teachers have been asking you to dig deeper into the texts that you’re reading.  They’re not just asking you to identify the setting of a story, or the main character.  Now, they’re pushing you to answer a question and support it with evidence from the story.  For instance, after reading about Warren Faidley in the “Eye of the Storm” you might be asked to explain why Warren moves to different parts of the country depending on the season to take photos.  How would you answer this question?  That’s right you’d need to go back and reread the text.  Then, you’d have to use the text to explain your answer.  Recently, NPR did a story on some 5th graders doing this in their class.  Go to the story and listen to these students in action.

NPR: “Common Core Reading: Difficult, Dahl, Repeat”

Is this really any different than what you’ve had to do in the past?

Maybe it’s new, or perhaps you’ve been doing this in other classrooms too.  Now, the Common Core Standards are demanding you to do this more often.  Why?

Here’s an example of what it might look like.

Try it with partners.  Look back in the story “Eye of the Storm” to answer the following question:

Do you think Warren would face any danger in order to get a spectacular storm shot?  Use facts from the selection to support your answer.

 

Recently, we started a Book Club for Radio 5th Grade, by Gordon Korman.  Yesterday we started to talk more about this story in a small group setting, a book talk group.  We thought about what that would look like.  There were certain things we would look for during a Book Talk.

It would look like….

• Students are facing each other in a circle.
• Students would be taking turns with talking.
• Students would use non verbal skills for communicating thoughts.  For instance, students might nod to show they agree with something.  A smile might demonstrate that you like what someone is sharing.
• Eyes would be on the speaker.
• Hands are in your lap, your book, or reading/writing journal.
• Use a signal to show who’s turn it is to speak.  i.e. bean bag

It would sound like….

• Kids are sharing with a regular talking voice.
• Positive/polite responses are given.
• Kids make sure to listen actively.  You might start by saying, “It sounds like you’re saying….”
• Kids take care not to talk over others and wait for a turn.
• Kids ask questions to dig deeper when a thought has been shared.
• We ask to make sure everyone has had a chance to add what they want.  For instance, I might say, “Does anyone have anything else to add to my thought/question?”

Here’s a video that shows one way a group might proceed during a Book Talk.

The volume for the students sharing isn’t great, but if you pay attention to the subtitles, it gives you an idea of how a Book Talk process might flow.

Yesterday we spent time watching the above motivational video.  The video was sports centered.  I asked kids to think of connections they have with it.  We listened to the narrator talk about the risks you’re willing to take to get better even when it seems like it’s impossible.  Here’s a question I posed to them.

“What’s your impossible at school?”

I wanted them to think about something they really struggle with.  Some students wrote the following:

“I feel like I will never get better at math.”

“Speaking in front of the class.”

“Passing my division math facts.”

“Right now I feel pretty confident about school.”

“To get a higher reading level for my reading.”

I explained that we all come into a school year much like a sports season.  We’re all at different levels for performance.  However, we can all practice and improve to meet our common purpose.

Many times it simply takes an effort and practice, but other times we have to overcome our fear and constant disappointment from failure.  Remember, if we have a never give up attitude, we will improve.