Friday, October 12, 2012

A Week in Review Oct 8 - 12


A Week in Review
October 8th – October 12th

 

WOW!  The Walk-A-Thon was a HUGE success J  I’m very proud of all the virtues displayed this Wednesday when our 5th graders took to the field; whether they were showing integrity by honestly counting their laps, friendliness by helping the younger students not get run over in the “jogging” lane or perseverance by collectively walking over 150 laps!  Amazing! 

 
Virtue Awards:
Kate O. for showing the virtues of RELIABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY by completing ALL of her assignments on time and with quality work! Thank you Kate for modeling excellence EVERY DAY!

Declan R. for showing the virtues of JOYFULNESS and RESPONSIBILITY by consistently being willing to help keep our classroom clean and organized! And he does it all with a smile!
  
Literacy: 
We were busy in literacy this week, but the highlight was when we viewed a live webcast of an interview with the talented and popular author, JK ROWLING. Scholastic hosted to the interview and invited classrooms worldwide to participate. Mrs. Bethel's class joined us as we learned more about JK Rowling, her new website Pottermore, and my favorite part - we listened to her read a scene from the first book in the series, The Sorcerer's Stone. Listening to the author talk about how she wrote the series fit nicely with our Writing Workshop as student use the writing process (brainstorm, rough draft, revise, edit, publish) on a daily basis. Hearing Rowling talk about different drafts and where she kept her ideas was a perfect example of how what we're doing in the classroom matches what a published author does!
 
Math:
Hurrah!!  We’ve made it through our second Math Unit – Perimeter and Area; students worked diligently to convert from inches to feet, feet to yards and much more.  5th grade brains were put to the test this week as they were asked to solve a story problem, much like this:

“Mrs. Hatlestad wanted to build a fence around her organic veggie garden.  Her garden box is 3 feet wide and 8 feet long.  Mr. Hatlestad helped her carry 8 yards of mesh wire fencing home.  Do they have enough?”  Yikes!  In this story problem, students would need to solve the following:

·         Am I solving for perimeter or area?

·         What is the perimeter?

·         Convert from feet into yards

·         Compare the yardage

·         Do I have enough?  Why or why not?

Students will take the end-of-unit math assessment on MONDAY! Have them study, study, study over the weekend!!
 
Science:
Students worked with their teammates to conduct an experiment that simulated how the Grand Canyon was formed. We investigated water flow over earth materials in a stream table. We observed the process of erosion and knew that the 1-liter of water used in our experiment, simulated at least 1 million years of water flowing over the Colorado plateau.
 

Social Studies:
We started Chapter 4 and began investigating why Europeans left for the new world. Our first focus was on the Social Studies terms that we will use throughout this Chapter. We also watched a BrainPop! video on Christopher Columbus (on Monday, October 8th - Columbus Day).
 
In addition, to Social Studies, we also had a lesson from our two Virtues Parents, Karyn O. (Kate) and Gina M. (Katie). They showed an awesome 'wordless' video that demonstrated October's Virtue, "Responsibility". Students were also given a "Virtues Passport Book" to complete throughout the year, this booklet provides a place for them to reflect on how they are using the District wide Virtue of the Month in their daily lives.
 
Reading Buddies
Our 5th grade leaders have been paired up with students in Miss Muller's second grade class. We started our first Reading Buddy meeting by interviewing our little buddies as a way to get to know them. Since we met downstairs in their second grade classroom, we also received a tour of their room. Then, we read with our buddies. The second graders were so excited to show off their classroom and read with us! This is such a great way for our 5th grades to model excellence and leadership for the younger students in our school. I was so impressed with their focus and caring attitudes! We can't wait until next time!

Cocoa and Current Events: 
Don't forget to send in a COFFEE MUG with your student! We will be starting Cocoa and Current Events next week! Look for the information and assignment to come home with your student on Monday!
 
Thanks again for another fabulous week!
 
~Mrs. Hatlestad
 
Important Dates:
Wednesday, October 17th:  GRC (Global Reading Challenge forms due)
Monday October 22nd – Friday, October 25th:  Fall Conferences
Friday, October 25th:  Picture RE-Take Day
Monday October 28th - Friday, November 2nd:  Scholastic Book Fair
Wednesday, October 31st:  Halloween (Celebration 10:30)

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