9-30-11

Reading Counts Quiz #2 was due today. I told the kids that they had until Monday morning at 8 to get it completed, or they would be staying in for recess.

Homework today:
Read 20 minutes

The kids received a pen pal letter today. They may write their response if they'd like, but it isn't due until Wednesday.

9-29-11

We took some serious science notes today. The kids did a great job! I wondered how they'd do with 20 minutes of straight note taking. I was so pleased.

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Criss Cross your spelling words
Vocabulary Frayer Diagram

Dickman's class: Read the story on page 119

9-28-11

New words are posted on the wiki today! Sorry it took me so long, but we are keeping these words for two weeks. The tests will be next Thursday and Friday.

Homecoming next week: The kids brought home a note today about the dress up days for next week. We also are making locker decorations, pennants, and door decorations. Let's pump up that Bronco Spirit!

Homework: Reading logs
Dickman's group: Spelling families
Both groups: Strengths and Weaknesses paragraphs. Remember there are 2 paragraphs due this week, one for strengths and another for weaknesses.

Reading Counts quiz#2 is due Friday and it is also the last day for our Sept. box tops contest.

Tall tale websites to try

Paul Bunyan story
Paul Bunyan game

We are working on a tall tale unit in reading and we ran across these yesterday. The kids really liked them, so they asked me to post them.

9-27-11

I can't believe I forgot to blog about our new "friends". We finally got our hermit crabs yesterday. The kids were so excited about them. They are learning how to properly care for them. So far, they really like to hide in their shells. The kids named them Rocky and Hermie!

I would like to thank Kendra for bringing in the Praying Mantis as well. My room was even more zoo-like than usual!!

Assignments for tonight:
Read 20 minutes
Writing assignment: 1 paragraph on your strengths, 1 paragraph on your weaknesses (Due Thursday)

9-26-11

We began our tall tales unit today. This is a REALLY fun unit! The kids will be doing a webquest, art activities, reading strategies, plays....

Homework: Read 20 minutes

Grammar: Conjunction paragraph-find 12 conjunctions in the paragraph and circle them.

Writing: Assignment due Thursday. Two paragraphs- one on your strengths and one on your weaknesses. Be sure that each has an introductory sentence, no conjunctions for sentence beginnings, all spelling and grammar correct.

Science: NA

Spelling and vocab: new words will be posted tomorrow. We will have these words for two weeks, as our tall tale unit lasts 2 weeks.

9-23-11

Impressive Science TEST! The kids did a great job on their tests today. 90% of the kids got an A or B on this test. I am so pleased.

Only homework for the weekend...read 20 minutes!

9-22-11

SCIENCE Test tomorrow! This is our first one and the kids have been told they NEED to study tonight! The kids have note cards and a study guide. They also have a spelling test tomorrow. I sent an email to those of you who I had email addresses for in order to remind you. If you didn't get one, please send me your email and I'll get you on the list!

The only other homework we have is read 20 minutes. There are a few kids who have late work. They will need to complete that as well.

Notes for erosion quiz

Click here to go to some erosion flashcards!

9-21-11

http://www.professorgarfield.org/ReadingRing/Strips/strips.html Some of the kids who are struggling with sequencing stayed in today to work on putting things in order and answering questions about the story order. This is the website they went to in order to practice. Some of the kids wanted to be able to access it from home, so I told them I would put it here!

Science: The study guide is due tomorrow. We will play a study game tomorrow and the test will be Friday. Thanks to one of our moms, I will be sending home a set of vocab study cards with the kids tomorrow as well. I explained to them that science tests are something they'll have to study for! No coasting by.

Reading: Read 20 minutes. Study vocab words for test on Monday.

Spelling: Syllable poem and study your spelling words for Friday's test.

Grammar: Worksheet #90

Writing: 9/11 writing assignment is due!

9-20-11

WOW...great behavior today! The kids were really focused today! We got so much done. We wrote several things in our planners this morning, but they had to cross a few out. If they forgot... the only homework that we have for tonight is to finish coloring the erosion/weathering model and read 20 minutes!

Upcoming assignment due dates:
Thursday: 9/11 writing assignment
Friday: Spelling test and Science test!
Monday: Vocabulary test

9-19-11

Read 20 minutes tonight! Some of you are close to finishing your first log. You will be trading that in for another blank one. I will grade the one that you finish, so don't throw it away.

pb9-10 Mrs. Dickman's class

Writing: 9/11 interview sheet due on Thursday

Science: Mrs. Haugen's group finish coloring your weathering model

Canoeing pictures #1

9-16-11

What a terrific way to end my day! Science time was up and the kids had to leave to go to their next class...I had lots of moans and groans and one student even mentioned she'd like to stay in Science all day! Wow! Now, if only they'd get that excited about reading :)

Several students had to stay in today for late RC quizzes. They need to try and read over the weekend! The computers were being updated late this afternoon and some of the kids of the kids did finish their books, but have to take paper quizzes instead. This WILL still count.

Last night was great. The turnout to Literacy Night was amazing. Thank you for being patient as you went in and out of the book fair. The kids really love visiting it, but it is in tight quarters!! We passed out 100's of bags of popcorn!

Homework:

Work on your 9/11 writing paper due next Thursday.

New spelling words are up on the blog! The test over these words will be next Friday.

One of the two classes got their new vocab words today, the other will get them Monday. The test over vocabulary will not be next week. We will wait until the following Monday.

9/11 assignment

We watched a short video clip yesterday about the events on 9/11. The kids took home an assignment today dealing with this topic. This will be done in place of next week's weekly writing assignment. They are to fill out one side on their own and ask an adult to help with the back side. They need to interview two adults who remember the events of 9/11. Thank you for your help with this project!

9-15-11

Homework tonight: Read 20 minutes

Not much homework for tonight because of the literacy night at Jacobson. Please remember you are invited to come from 6:30-7:30. Fifth graders start out in the book fair for 20 minutes. Then it is 20 minutes to decorate bookmarks and get your free book in the classroom. The last 20 will be spent eating popcorn in the lunchroom and listening to a story! I hope to see you all here.

Haugen's group sent canoeing today and it sounds like it was a blast. My photographer, Trevor, took some great photos I hope to put on the blog sometime this weekend.

The first RC quiz was due today. If they don't have one passed by recess tomorrow, they have to spend recess reading.

We took our first skills test today. I was very impressed with most student scores. The kids that struggled in one or more areas will be working with me on those areas in a small group next week.

New spelling and vocab words will be going on the wiki tomorrow.

9-14-11

OOPS...
I forgot to mention the writing assignment due tomorrow!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
The things I am looking for are- topic sentence and does the rest of the paragraph stay with that topic; capitalization and punctuation; NO sentences beginning with conjunctions!

9-14-11

Homework: There is no required read 20 minutes tonight! We did it in class today. If they don't have their first quiz passed, however, it would be a good idea. RC quiz #1 is DUE tomorrow. If they aren't passed they will have to stay in for recess until they are caught up. RC quizzes are due the 15th and 30th of each month.

Thursday night:
Remember tomorrow night is Literacy Night at Jacobson. Please go to the book fair from 6:30-6:50. It is in Mr. Johnson's room (right next to mine). 6:50 Go to the lunchroom and get your free popcorn. Then go to your homeroom to decorate your bookmarks. They will stay here to be laminated. At 7:10 we will head to the gym to listen to a story by Marcia Burt! It is a pretty low key night, but it is so great to get together and show the kids how important it is to be readers!

9-13-11

Read 20 minutes!

Questions 11-30 over Eye of the Storm story. This is only for kids who didn't get 70% on their quiz today. The story was nonfiction and a little longer than the others we're used to!

Vocabulary test tomorrow!

Reading counts quiz #1 DUE Thursday.

Reading fun night on Thursday night 6:30-7:30.

9-12-11

Spelling test tomorrow!

Read 20 minutes

How much is your spelling worth? Use the coin/letter sheet to figure out how much your spelling words are worth. (Do at least 10)

Finish reading Eye of the Storm.

New writing assignment for the week: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? What am I looking for this week? Spelling, Grammar, Capitalization, Does your paragraph all go with your topic sentence?, Did you start any sentences with and, but, or or?

Canoe trip: Mrs. Dickman's class will go Sept. 13 and 19
Mrs. Haugen's group will go Sept. 15 and 21

Thursday night: Please plan on coming to reading night. It is from 6:30-7:30. We'll make bookmarks, eat popcorn, listen to a story, and go to the book fair! The kids will get a free book that night!

9-9-11

CRAZY day!!
My poor computer had an attack at the end of reading class and so...no science. I needed the computer for our science activity today. The kids were really disappointed. They are so into science right now. YEAH! Instead we had more reading/language time!

Homework for the weekend:
Thesaurus activity
Subject and predicate worksheet: both sides
If this is too hard, please have them bring it in the morning on Monday. I will be happy to help!
This is a difficult concept for fifth graders.
Read 20 minutes
We'll wait and get the writing assignment for next week on Monday. The information I wanted to
show them was on the whiteboard...so we couldn't do it :) I doubt they were sad about that!

Next week: Reading fun night is on Thursday 6:30-7:30

9-8-11

Sometimes we could double the school day and still not have enough time to get everything done...today was that day :)

Homework
Read 20 minutes

Dictionary worksheet- side 55 only

The kids wrote subject/pred worksheet in their planners, but we didn't get to it. They may have forgotten to cross it out.

Start studying for the spelling and vocab tests. Spelling Tuesday and Vocab Wednesday.

Things to note:
Book order due tomorrow!
First RC quiz next Thursday (15th)
Next Thursday night- Reading fun night! Check the bags today for a note about this event!

9-7-11

Assignments:
Read 20 minutes and do reading log.
Writing assignment: What I like to do on the weekends is due tomorrow

Reading/Language arts
We got our new spelling and vocabulary words for the week. The wiki will be updated today with the new words. The next story we are reading is about storm chasers, specifically Warren Faidley. We watched a short clip about what he does. The strategy that we worked on today was questioning. I read them a story and they questioned and predicted as I read. They will be filling out a questioning bookmark as we read our next story.

Science:
Today was wind erosion! We did 2 experiments regarding what happens to sediment when the wind blows.

9-6-11

Reading: Read 20 minutes and fill out your reading log
Practice book page 14-15 This worksheet works on the skills of sequencing events.

Grammar: no homework today
They did a great job in class and really don't need extra practice on disecting sentences into subject and predicate!

Writing: The writing assignment is due on Thursday. This week's topic is...My favorite thing to do over the weekend. I am looking specifically for a topic or introductory sentence, cursive writing, good spelling and grammar. This week we are adding NO starting sentences with conjunctions (and, but, or). This needs to be 5-7 sentences long.

Science:
no homework
The links that follow are to two activities that we did today dealing with weathering and erosion. The kids really liked them and asked if I'd put the links here for them to do at home. Any time I can get them to work on school work at home, it is a good thing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyysL02ZvQ8
http://kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/

PETCO grant: I just found out over the weekend that we received a grant from PETCO. It should be coming in the mail in the next 2-3 weeks. They are supplying us with all we need to care for a hermit crab. The grant amount is $150. The kids, and MRS. HAUGEN, are very excited to add a hermit crab to our classroom!

Thank you so much to all of you who have donated items for our science class. The kids and I are loving being able to do some hands on activities along with reading the text book. Tomorrow we are doing a couple of experiments on wind and glacier erosion.

9-2-11

The kids struggled last night, as a whole, gettting their homework done. They came in this morning in a panic trying to figure out how to get it done before 8:10.

Just a reminder to them...you need to check your planner before you go home AND when you get home. Some nights you will have very little to do...some nights it may take an hour. If you don't understand something, come in right away in the morning and ask for help. Don't wait until the class sits down and gets ready to correct!

That said...the only homework for the BEAUTIFUL three day weekend coming up is....
Study your spelling for the test on Tuesday and read your 20 minutes for Friday night.

Book orders and online orders due next Friday.

9-1-11

Lots of homework tonight!

Reading: Read 20 minutes and fill out reading log
Grammar: Exclamatory sentences worksheet
Spelling: Expanded spelling words
Take your spelling word and add a prefix or suffix to make it a longer word. bunk= bunks

Vocabulary: Test over story one is tomorrow! Check the wiki if you need the words.

Science: no homework tonight! We did an experiment on water erosion today. Ask them what
the land at the bottom of the river was called. (delta)

Pictures were today. Everyone got theirs taken for the school records, even if you didn't order.

Stay cool! It's a hot one out there!