What's on Your Menu??

This week we rounded out our unit on adjectives with one of my favorite activities. The students were asked to design a menu for a restaurant of their own. In their menu they were required to include 4 adult meals and 4 kids meals. The adjectives came into play in the descriptions of their menu items. The students were to tempt us into wanting to choose their restaurant and their menu items to enjoy!!

A Web of Wicked Writings!!

This web of short stories was created using story starters. Each student wrote a different story using a story starter. They were able to blindly pick two and then narrow it down to the one they wanted to use. It was a super fun activity and produced some spooky results.

Finally...back online

Wow, the last few weeks have went by quickly. We have been working on so many projects, with our Science Fair Projects to our Dress Up in Words this past Friday. The Science Fair Projects were due last week and they were great, congrats to those Top 5 who will represent us at the County Science Expo later in the year. Also we have wrapped up our Native Americans unit and our totem poles were amazing. Finally this Friday, our annual Dress Up in Words adjective costumes were AWESOME!! The shirts, hats and necklaces turned out great. We had three that stood out and Devin, Spencer and Caid gave us the whole package. They made us laugh all day with the sounds coming from Caid, Devin's moves and Spencer's "Steve Urkel" impressions. We all had a fun time Friday. Thanks also to Mrs. Gold (grouchy), Ms. Hoch (lucky), Mrs. Peterson (angelic) and to those parents who donated breakfast items or their time to help us during Exploration Alley. We had a blast!! Mrs. J (prickly)

Texting and Snack Chips..What could be better?

This week we have been busy. First Monday was picture day and everyone looked great. Then we moved on to our class work and that included adjectives. The class was able to text in adjectives using our Activexpressions to describe various photos. The photos ranged from a beautiful and calming beach to a cute, scary and amazing aye-aye. They were super excited to be able to use the Expressions to send in their adjectives. I also printed them and they are displayed around the room. On Friday in Exploration Alley, Mrs. Peterson came up with another cool activity and this one involved snack chips. What could be better than that?? The classes were divided into groups and they were given a variety of snack chips. They were to use the physical properties (one of our Einstein words) to come up with 4 categories that would help to classify the snack chips. Once the groups were done classifying they were to then pick two of the snack chips and create a double bubble (comparing/contrasting) and write a written response either explaining the similarities or differences or a combination of both. The posters they created will be on display in the hallway next week.
*As we were wrapping up the lesson, Cole and Xavier made an observation about their snack chips. They said that the pretzels must be the lowest in fat because they have not left any grease on the napkin and the cheese puffs were the highest in fat because of the grease the soaked into the napkin. We thought that was a great inference based on what they saw. Check out the photo below and see what they were observing.

Take a Trip to a Football Game

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This past weekend my family and I went to see the Florida State Seminoles play BYU in Tallahassee (our state capitol). Along with the Noles playing football, the college also honored all of their ACC division winning teams. The ladies tennis, golf, track and basketball teams were introduced as well as the mens tennis, golf, track, diving and baseball teams. They were recognized for their achievements along with their sportmansship. The ROTC color guard had a moment of silence for the current and former soldiers serving the military.

Do You Know What Happens to the Mass of Your Bubblegum while You Chew It?

Students learned about mass in a most yummy way! Students were asked to hypothesize about what happens to the mass of their gum as they chew it. There were lots of different educated guesses. The results: the mass decreased, every time for every student. Want to know why? Here's a hint: think about sugar when it's put in water. That's all we'll give away, try it for yourself!!

Hands on Equations!

We had a special treat this week. A visit from Mrs. Smith and her Hands-On-Equations! The students learned how to do algabraic equations with pawns and number dice to solve some challenging problems. All enjoyed the lesson. Mrs. Smith has challenged the 5th graders to make their own problems to see if she can solve them. I hope she's ready, challenge on!!

Density and Science in a Snap!

This week "Exploration Alley" took us on an experiment with density. We layered different types of liquids to see their densities. We decided to add some objects to our liquids to see what the density of each liquid would allow the objects to do. Some thought the thickness of the honey would not allow any object to get through, but low and behold the little paper clip shot right through to the bottom. The raisin and the grape decided to team up and hang out at the bottom of the sprite on top of the honey for a little bit. Some then saw their raisins and grapes take flight and dance around in the middle layer of soda. The experiment was so fun and enlightening for us all!! We LOVE "Exploration Alley!"

Main Idea and Supporting Details with the Help of the Tree Map!

Main idea and supporting details can be a tricky task for students. This week we used an article on the Gulf Oil Spill to just that. The article was very interesting. The students did a great job with this activity as you can see!!!

Exploration Alley's First Experiment was a Success!!

Mrs. Peterson organized this weeks "Exploration Alley" experiment. There were two experiments being completed during this time. The purpose for the first experiment was to determine: How long it would take an Oreo or Kmart Brand Chocolate Cookie to dissolve in water, soda and apple juice? The second experiment was to determine: Which brand of cookie, Oreo or Kmart Brand would travel the longest on a ramp set at a height of 6cm and 10cm? The whole fifth grade was involved in conducting these experiments. Throughout the experiment they were each completing a science experiment form. Next week we will take their data and they will each create a science "mini" board. Be on the look out for those pictures!!

Homographs and Double Bubbles

This week in reading we worked with comparing and contrasting two subjects, Coniferous and Deciduous Forests. The kids were to create a double bubble along with illustrating the forests and writing a 4pt answer. Also this week in Language Arts we worked with homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings depending on the sentence). They were to pick 4 words and create 8 sentences and illustrations.

Pep Rallies Rule!!!

The Zero Referral Zone is the place to be!! How do you get in? Easy, just stay referral free and enjoy "Zone Fun Days," "Zone Activity Time," and "Zone Pep Rallies." All the coolest people are in, how bout' you?

POPCORN - YUM!!! DOES SCIENCE GET ANY BETTER?!?!

The first science experiment of the year was scrumptous!! The students worked through the scientific process, with one (well maybe two) questions in mind. One: what brand of popcorn would have the most unpopped kernals? And two: Can we eat the popcorn? The class did a great job on the first experiment. Wait till you see what we do next week.......

Science is in Full Bloom!!

A wonderful science display was brought to class to share with the other students and teachers at Read-Pattillo. Compliments of Cole we have some wonderful rocks, minerals, bones and fabulous feathers to observe. Stop by and Check it Out!!

Flowing with the Scientific Process

Last week our classes worked on the Scientific Process. This was the start of our unit and each class created a "flow map" illustrating each part. These are now on display outside our classrooms. If you are on campus swing by for a look.

Division, Division and More Division

This past week we have been reviewing some math skills from 4th grade that will help with 5th grade work. We reviewed rounding with decimals, greater than/less than with decimals and multiplication with multiple factors. We are also working on division with 1-digit divisors (see video below from Yourteacher.com). Next week we will step it up to division with 2-digit divisors. This is a VERY difficult skill especially if your child does not know fluently the multiplication facts up to 12. Please practice with your child. This tends to be a skill that many struggle with and any extra help is greatly appreciated.

Starting the Year with the Scientific Process!!

The students have gotten right to work on the scientific process. We made flow maps to show the how the scientific process flows. They were 3-D, included vocabulary, definitions and illustrations of the different pieces to the process puzzle. The results were fabulous!!

Welcome Back 5th Graders!!!

Welcome Back!! We are very excited to get the year started. This year we will be working with a new math series along with starting our labs. Mrs. Gold will be teaching the Language Arts/Social Studies lab, Mrs. Peterson will be teaching Science Lab and Mrs. J will be teaching Math Lab. We are excited to be able to work with each fifth grader. Please continue to check out this blog for weekly posts. We are looking forward to adding pictures of student work, class projects along with student posts. GO ROCKETS!! Stay in the ZONE!!