8-24-11

Wow, today flew by! We have so much to do and so little time! We got our new vocabulary words today. The test will be next Friday. They are written in the back of the reading notebook. They are also posted on the wiki. The link to the wiki is on the right side of the blog page.

In science we are learning about the characteristics of a scientist. We did 2 small experiments today. Tons of fun! I think I'll like teaching science!!

Homework today:
Reading log- read 20 minutes each night and fill out the reading log. A parent signature is required to get credit!

Writing- they wrote "most important things" in their planners today, but we didn't get to it. I told them to cross it out, but in case they forgot....

I sent the following note home with the kids today regarding science equipment that we need. Thanks in advance!

Dear fifth grade parents,
I will be teaching your child science this year. In order to help them learn, I will be doing MANY experiments. In order to do these I am looking for a hand in finding supplies. If you have any of these things readily available at home, and if you are willing to part with them, please send them to school whenever you can. I do not want you to go out and buy things. Just look around the house and see if you have extras! Thank you so much for your help.
Your partner in education,
Mrs. Haugen
* Cupcake liners * tin cake or pie pans
*funnel * sand (a bucket full)
* bendable straws * small glass aquarium
* various types of rock * sandpaper of various grit
* measuring spoons/ cups * egg cartons
* clear plastic cups * small paper cups
*toothpicks * playdough or clay
*rock salt * ice cream bucket with lids
*goggles or safety glasses * notebooks with lined paper
*paper towels *white vinegar
*cooking oil * baby food jars
* stop watch * craft sticks or plastic spoons

First day of school

What a busy day! The kids had lots of things to accomplish in the organization area today. We labeled folders and notebooks. Each folder has a side for things that need to go home, and a side for things that need to be kept. They may be feeling a little overwhelmed today. It will get easier each day! They were very well behaved and I was very impressed. It was one of my favorite "first days" yet! There is no homework today! The kids checked out books and are able to begin at home reading. It isn't assigned yet, because they don't have their reading logs. We'll get those tomorrow or the next day.

Our first unit in science will begin tomorrow. It is "The characteristics of a scientist".
We will begin reading tomorrow as well. This first reading unit deals with the fury of nature.

Please feel free to call or email if you have ANY questions!

How many minutes should a fifth grader read?

How many minutes should a fifth grader read each day? That question comes up a lot in the first couple of weeks of school...

Most fifth graders would like the number to be...HMMM...like 5 minutes a day. Sorry kiddos, the correct answer is more like 40-45!

According to the former president of the International Reading Association, Richard Allington, in his book about struggling readers, there is a direct relationship between reading volume and reading test scores. For example...a fifth grader that reads an average of 40 minutes per day is likely to score in the 90th percentile on reading assessments. They read an average of 2,357,000 words in a year. A fifth grader who reads and average of 13 minutes a day is likely to be near the 10th percentile on the same test, and read only 51,000 words per year.

That is a HUGE difference! Where do you want to be (students)? Where do you want your kids to be (parents)? Practice makes perfect, in sports, occupations, and yes...reading!

Let's get ready to excel in reading my soon to be fifth graders!

Summer post #5

I'm sitting here on this rainy, thundering day working on activities for school. I went to school this week and got our room all ready to go. The desks are arranged and the bulletin boards are set up. This is always an exciting time for me. Each year is like starting a new job. I am so excited to meet all of my new students and see all of the students from last year. Next week, Mrs. Dickman and I are going to the "teacher store" in Ankeny to buy some new stuff and do some planning for fall!

Reading update: I hope you are all reading like crazy in your free time. I know I am. My son made fun of me the other day. I was laying in bed at 6:30 a.m. reading a book. Once I get into a good book I can't put it down. Remember to bring back that summer assignment I handed out at the end of last year. If you read the number of books on your sheet, you can trade it in for a new book for you to keep! I've been buying them here and there this summer and have a good selection for you to pick from!

One more month of vacation to go. Enjoy yourselves and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Summer post #4

Wow...the things you find on the internet! I have been doing lots of "blog" reading this summer. There are so many ideas out there that others are willing to share. I've been participating in different chats dealing with reading and fifth graders. One of the cool things that I discovered was a group of videos about books. They are kinda like a sales pitch for different books. This site is put on by Scholastic. If kids are looking for an idea of what to read next, these book commercials might be a good place to start. These books are for all levels, so the kids would have to weed through the "little kid" books to find the one appropriate for them. Some of the videos that would be good for fifth graders to check out would be...39 clues, A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Deep Dark and Dangerous, Maybird, Percy Jackson...and others! To access these videos, follow the steps below!

Click here first to open the Scholastic web page
Then click on Exploring books and flip through the videos to find books that might interest you!
There is also a place to click to watch author interviews. These are also pretty cool!

Keep reading and having a great summer! June is nearly over!

Mrs. Haugen

Summer post #3: fun and games

I hope all of your are enjoying your summer and reading like crazy. I know I have been doing quite a bit of reading. I finished the series on the "Shadow Children" and am going to start the Hunger Games next. I have also been working on some fun science activities and units for next year. I haven't taught science in the past, so this will be a new, fun experience for me! I will also be teaching reading/language arts as I have for the last 6 years. I have also been working on my hobbies of gardening and FISHING! I just got back from a really fun walleye fishing trip on the St. Louis River. It is a river that flows into Lake Superior. I posted a picture so you could see my "BIG ONE!"


Instead of putting more information about books to read, I decided to post some good online games and activities to do over the summer. Click on the link to take you to the pages.







Fifth grade reading/language skill builders: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills-5th-langbuilders.htm





Science fun: bone practice http://www.abcya.com/skeletal_system.htm


Keyboard practice: http://www.abcya.com/keyboard.htm


Book reviews for kids by kids: http://www.spaghettibookclub.org/


Cool things to make and do at home: http://www.education.com/activity/fifth-grade/

Summer post #2

I just got back from my vacation to Wisconsin. It is time to start working on two of my favorite things....gardening (flowers and veggies) and reading. I get to start my things to read list! I'm going to start with the Shadow Children series. Margaret Petersen Haddix wrote a series about a world where families were allowed to only have 2 children. The children that were born to each family after number two had to remain hidden (Shadow Children). The first in this series is Amoung the Hidden. The link to the author's website is http://haddixbooks.com/books.html, in case you are interested in reading this series as well. These are GOOD fifth grade level books. Happy reading!