Thursday

Last day before holiday vacation.
Try this out: Your Inner Animal.

Friday December 10th

Good Morning Fifth Graders!

You have an awesome Friday planned for you.

~First you will learn all about reindeer, exploring facts and myths regarding these fantastic creatures. Then, current events and yes, you will be writing notes :-P. Next,  art, recess as usual, followed by TFK-2010 Cool Inventions. If you have extra time, think about what's next. What will kids like you want or spend money on? Who knows maybe your invention could be the next big thing!
~The substitute will also be giving you the Unit 4 Math test, don't freak out, just try your best. I'll be back on Monday and if any of you still have areas that need extra practice, we'll get to it then.
~DON'T Forget to transfer your old work into your new work folder and show it to your parents this weekend. Make sure to write that down in your agenda books (I forgot to tell the sub).   
After lunch you will have buddies and then the pep assemble. What a fun filled Friday! Have a great weekend! Continue to challenge yourself via IXL, blogs, reading, etc.
Lots of love to you all-BE GOOD!
Your teacher~Mrs. Smith :-)

Tuesday 12/7/10

Today we remember Pearl Harbor. We learned about the history of this day. 
In the computer lab, we focused on IXL math (Allen is in the lead with Nick only 21 minutes behind, Karina-3rd, Sara-4th & Melody-5th and student blogs. Melody, Victor, Madison, and Nadia have also joined the blog world. The race to see who has the most places on their Revolver Globes continues. So far, Allen is in the lead with 19 locations total. 9 more days left! Who will win?

Reading/Writing- Spelling packets & Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (focus on WW2)
Math-Focus on ending the unit on long division and beginning a unit on fractions
Geography- Final Today! 
Science-Daily observations on our growing pumpkins-we're testing the question; Does the size of  a pumpkin's seeds affect the rate & size at which it will grow?

Homework

1. Read 30 minutes-pick at least 3 sources to read for your standards' log

2. Math-Unit 4 review green packet due Friday

3. Spelling-packet/ study words (focus on holidays & abbreviations)

4. Science-Do you have a unique experiment idea?

5. Any unfinished home/classwork assignments-all due by Friday :-)

Thursday December 2nd

Point to a nonrenewable energy source! 

Our class began the day with reading, writing, science & social studies! 

We read about the North & South Pole, discussed Pangaea, and reviewed the following vocabulary words:

Resources (renewable & nonrenewable), conservation, & environment. 
After PE & recess, we continued our focus on business and entrepreneurship skills (Thank you Jason), we discussed jobs of the future, filled out a resume and played a job skills game and learned about Sylvan Goldman, the guy who invented the shopping cart.
What a great short day, full of learning! :-) 


*Homework :-)
1. Read, update reading logs-due tomorrow

2. Math practice-Division pg 392 & IXL OR page 393

3. Geography *Final is next week please refer to green Geo. folder!

*What did you learn today? Comment!

Last day of November!

Wow, this school year is passing quickly!

We began the day with art where we focused on tessellations. Then we went to the computer lab to practice IXL math. So far, Nick is in the lead. Go Nicholas!

During reading/current events, we read an article called, Learning Chinese. It was really interesting. Some of the vocabulary words for today, include; bilingual: adj able to speak two languages, immersion-adj: method of instruction where only the language being taught is used, assurance-n: promise or pledge, blockbuster-n: a hit movie.

In math, we are focusing on long division and review of place value.
In Geography, we had our quiz on 4 locations (Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran & Iraq)
We concluded the day with the school spelling bee. Devon & Ani represented us well! Great job girls! :-)
**HOMEWORK: Don't forget to update your reading logs (multiple sources), each day after school by reading for 30+ minutes each night, study for geography final, your math study link and any unfinished class work/assignments. :-)
~What was your favorite part of today? Comment! 

Communicating With Our Burmese Students

Burma Refugees

Melody's Biome

Thanksgiving week:

We are learning all about colonial history. We read/discussed pg 130/131 of our social studies book and began our KWL chart which will be ongoing this week. 

Tuesday Computer Lab:  
1.  Web Quest

2. Thanksgiving History

3. Mayflower Voyage

Mountain View, CA

Our class says hello to bloggers in Mountain View, California.

November 16, 2010
Our class began the day with nonfiction reading comprehension about magnets and insects. For an additional morning challenge, we collaboratively brainstormed answers to brain teasers and wrote them in our journals. At about 9:15, we transitioned to our morning meeting where we discussed current events. We continue to think about, discuss, and relate daily current events to our Environment/Biome Projects- understanding geographical features, environmental and human impacts.
Computer Lab Options: 1. Work on final presentations 2. Create an X-tra Normal or Toon Doo about your Environment to link to class blog 3. IXL Math Practice
Math-Watch this video on Partial Quotients Division
Geography- New countries of study include; Mediterranean Sea, Israel, Egypt & Lebanon

ENVIRONMENTS PROJECT!
Review your list of biomes.  Working in a group of 2-3, you will choose/research a biome and its environment, and then report your findings to the class in the form of a 3 dimensional display box/poster.  Complete your research using the Internet, books (including textbooks), encyclopedias, magazines, etc.  Be sure to keep track of all of the references you used. Write/attach to your project a list of references (websites, books, additional sources). 

 *Don’t forget to use your rubric as a guide.                                                         

Math- Log in at IXL Math and gain some extra practice!

World's BIGGEST Pumpkin!!!!!

10/26/10

Today we bgan the day with fact/opinion practice & Cause/Effect relationships. Then we teased our brains with the riddles: 1. What do you call a fish without an eye? 2. What is as big as an elephant, but weighs nothing? Think you know the answers? :-)
Computer Lab-Today we received our usernam/passwords for IXL Math Practice. This is a great website to increase math abilities and it's fun!

10/22/10

Today's Focus 10/22:

Antonyms-Words that mean the opposite. Become and Antonym millionaire

Synonyms-Words that mean the same. Try Synonym Sam's Lab game.

Art-Focus on Story Telling Dolls 

Math-Adjacent/Vertical/Opposite Angle review

Writing-Creating Slogans for Fall Festival Poster Contest.

Afternoon-Buddies & Pep Assembly

Upcoming events: Legos & Lollipops- TONIGHT!

10/29-Fall Festival 5-8-wear costumes, buy tickets early next week Monday-Friday 7:30-2:00-3 for $1 in the front office. 
                         *Have a great weekend! 

Thursday, 10/21/10

YEY! Mrs. Smith is back! Our teacher was pleasantly welcomed back by loads of hugs and fall break adventure stories. We began the day learning about synonyms and practiced using a thesaurus. We caught up with the latest news with our morning meeting where we discussed current events and optional, oral presentation fall break summaries. Our teacher showed us two websites that helped us learn about the places we are studying in geography and the places Mrs. Smith happened to be at during her fall break, London and Ireland. In math we are learning about angles (right, acute, obtuse, adjacent, vertical & opposite). In science, Mrs. Elena, our former UCAT from the University of Arizona taught us about the human body. We'll miss Miss Elena. ;-( but we are getting a new UCAT next week  :-)
Today was a short but great day. Our fifth grade class is learning a lot.
Homework: Don't forget to update your standards based reading logs, math study link, study for geography quiz, and finish any unfinished assignments.

Flight Tracker

Update

Hi everyone! My family and I are on our way back to Tucson. Thank you for commenting on the last post. Ani, I haven't been able to post pictures because I had very limited access to Internet in Europe. It's very slow and expensive in most places there. Can't wait to see you all on Thursday. Continue to enjoy Mr. Matchett, behave and learn well. Cheers (they say that instead of goodbye in London). :-)

Posted from Blogium for iPhone

Fall break

I hope everyone is having a pleasant fall break. Hopefully Chicago, Illinois will now appear on our 3-d globe. Have fun!

Posted from Blogium for iPhone

Computer Lab 10/5/10

  Let's study for our geography final and update our biome notes from Monday afternoon.      Geography Bear    1.    Biomes    2.  Virtual Biomes

School AFTER School!

Yes you read this right! Now, who is up for an additional challenge? You? GREAT! Learn anything you want, visit this sight: Khan Academy
* Great job working hard, continue to go above and beyond fifth grade expectations daily!

Tuesday 9/28/10 Computer Lab

http://www.diigo.com/user/mmmiller/lab?type=all
Goal: Globalize yourself by visiting other classroom blogs. What do they have on their blogs? How could we relate it to our class instruction? How will it benefit/challenge us as learners? 

Welcome NY, CA, FL, Canada, Germany, Russia, Kuwait دولة الكويت, UK & IRL! Thank you for visiting! WOO HOO!

If you are visiting from another state/country, please comment and tell us how you heard about our class blog.  

To comment: 

1. Press the Comment link (below) 

2. Write a few lines  

3. Click the "Name/URL" to leave your name or "Anonymous" section if you don't have a Google account. 

THANKS!

K. Smith & Class! :-)

Group 5 Shares Their Organizer

Jonathan discusses book situations & characters

9/21/10

Today:
1. Reading-LOTS of  nonfiction text & Brain Teaser Activities
2. Geography/Current Events- Student News for Kids
3. MAP testing for Math (pre-assessment)
4. Time For Kids
5. Continuous focus on our environment unit Build Your Own Creature!
6. Collaborative Group Activity Saving the Sea Turtles
7. Geography Locations Quiz
8. Emphasis on Study Skills-learning effective ways to study
*Daily Challenge-to get as many people to visit our class blog from other countiries as we can, especially the ones we have been studying!

September 14th

Our class is becoming experts on the eight parts of speech. Yesterday was, "Pronoun Day", and today was "Adjective Day", both comparative/superlatives. Understanding these will help us become better writers.
We took the NWEA MAP test for reading, and then focused on number stories in math.
We read National Geographic Magazine for Kids and discussed the planet Mars. Students participated in virtual simulations on the SMART Board-Understanding the atomic Structure of Metal & the Phoenix Rover MARS Mission (UofA) project . We concluded the day with our MAP Quiz and progressed with our geography studies. What a full day!

2010-2011 School Year!: Remembering 9/ 11/01

http://www.classbrain.com/artfree/publish/cat_index_17.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/world_trade.html/

Remembering September 11, 2001

Our class learned more about the history of September 11, 2001. We read and discussed a book called, The American Spirit. We wrote letters of appreciation to our local heroes. In addition, we also learned about the science behind the construction of the Twin Towers. 9/11 was a very sad day that most will never forget.

Geography Video Clip

Geography Review & Issues @ Yahoo! Video

SchoolTube - Between the Lions: Vowel Boot Camp: rip-ripe

SchoolTube - Between the Lions: Vowel Boot Camp: rip-ripe

Today, August 18th

Today was a day full of learning. Our class began with reading/writing,then morning meeting. We discussed current events and then www.cnn.com/studentnews/ went to library and checked out books for the first time this year.
Our class also reviewed genres, specifically, myths, folktales, fables, & faiytales. We also reviewed arrays, factors and products in math.
For geography, we worked in groups on continents posters. Each group will present their posters to the class on Friday afternoon. It was a good day.

Dancing Badly Around Walker School

http://got.im/Kdc

Beginning of the school year.

How does it feel to be a fifth grader?