Manic Monday

We had a great Monday!

We began the day with a scientific inquiry into classifying objects.  Students worked to classify rocks based on the physical properties.  This inquiry will lead us into a discussion about how scientists organize and classify organisms found in our world.

Additionally, we started working on how our number system is organized.  We began to inquiry into the impact multiplication and division by powers ten have on the place value of digits.

Students received their red folders today.  Each folder contained two important items that should be reviewed and returned:  information about iPad expectations and author visit order forms.

Here is some information from Ms. Smith about our author visit.

Author Visits!

Decatur Book Festival

We are excited to announce our 4th & 5th grade author visits scheduled for Friday, September 2nd!

5th grade will see Jewell Parker Rhodes, Coretta Scott King Honor winner and author of a new novel, Towers Falling. Ms. Rhodes is known for taking tough subjects and helping upper elementary kids understand them through novels. Her last book, Ninth Ward, was about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her current book, Towers Falling, is about a 5th grade girl. Deja, who knew nothing of the events of September 11, 2001. Deja is homeless and living in a shelter, going to a new school as she learns about what home, family, and community mean to her.

Both authors will present in assembly format to each grade level. After the assembly, students who brought books by that author will come to media center to meet the author and get their book autographed. If you would like to purchase books through F.AVE, 20% does go to the media center, however, students are not required to pre-order their books through us. All F.AVE orders are due to the media center by Friday, August 19th.  Your child has one in their Monday Communication Folder. 

Friday, I'm in Love

We spent more time today working in groups and developing our classroom community!  We played some more fun games and we began evaluating what we know about processes and procedures.  We also read the first chapter of The Giver.  We are analyzing the different examples of the learner profile that we see in the main character of this novel.  

Here are some pictures from math centers and UOI word sorts.  Thanks for all the hard work this week.  Have a great weekend!

Paper Planes

Today was a super busy day in Room 181!  We started the morning with iPad 101.  We learned/reviewed all the essential agreements for iPad usage this year.  Be on the look out for iPad agreement forms in our red communication folder on Monday.

We also collaborated in small groups to answer the following questions:  What helps me learn? What hinders my learning?  Why is it important to learn about each other?  What questions do you have about this year?  Students traveled around the room doing a graffiti, gallery walk.  There were some very interesting responses, but these ideas helped us to form our classroom agreements.  We will also answer the questions students have about the year over the next few weeks.


Students were also very excited about our first inquiry project of the year.  Students were instructed to create a paper airplane.  Their goal was to create a plane that flew further than all of the others in the class.  One member of each group had to record every word that was said during the construction of the paper airplanes.  This was a great opportunity for students to develop relationships with peers, but it also showed students how easy it is to get distracted.  We were able to see that students that remained on task for the activity had a lot more success than students that did not.  We had some great laughs about the recorded dialogue!

Finally, students worked to develop a deeper understand of the IB attitudes.

Tomorrow we will begin to look at rights and responsibilities of citizens in the United States.  We will also begin our read aloud book The Giver.

Lovely Day

We had another great day in Room 181!  

We spent today working to develop classroom agreements about independent reading.  Students were able to share things that will help them maintain focus and improve as readers! 

We also discussed how we feel about math learning.  Students were asked to write their feelings about math on a sticky note and then place their sticky note on the chart below.  This chart was a great way for us to discuss how feelings about a subject often drive how we perform.  We also talked about how we want to make positive changes and continue to strive for our best.  This lesson directly connected with some of the goals that we have set for this year.  We will revisit this chart throughout the year and see how their feelings may change.  

Tomorrow we will be focusing on developing our overall classroom agreements by answering a series of questions.  This is an important part of organizing our classroom community.  Students should think about the things that help/hinder their learning, as well as any questions they have about our class or 5th grade.  

Also, our daily agenda comes back from summer vacation tomorrow, so please be on the lookout for student assignments in their planner.  

Have a great night.

What Did You Learn in School Today?

What a wonderful second day of school!  We spent more time getting to know each other, and we started to look at what it means to be an IB learner.  Students also spent time learning to work in small groups and with partners today.

This afternoon students worked on a puzzle to find out facts about their classmates.  Our classroom community is beginning to develop strong relationships and students are working well together!

We inquired into representations of the IB learner profile in literature today.  We read a book called The Empty Pot by Demi and students worked together to determine how the main character demonstrated all the traits listed in the learner profile.  We also made posters to represent each of the traits.  See some excellent examples below.

Thank you so much for your flexibility with dismissal this afternoon.  Please make sure you check my email from Ms. Newton for more information.  It is important that all students have a rainy/severe weather plan for dismissal.

I am looking forward to seeing you and your families at the F.AVE Picnic on Friday at 5!

Have a great night!  I'll see you tomorrow.

First of the Year

What a great way to kick off a new year in Room 181!

We had a great first day of learning about each other and the procedures of the classroom.  It was a great way to begin looking at how we organize ourselves!  Be sure to ask to see your student's Reflection Blog.

Tomorrow we will be spending some time designing paper airplanes!  Be sure to bring your best design ideas!  Have a great night.

Welcome Back!

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone during our Meet and Greet on July 29 from 3 - 4.  Be sure to check out this blog daily to find out what we've been working on.