Native American Tribes writings-Mrs. J's class

Tribe writings

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Check out the groups Native American Tribes we have been studying.

This is a pdf version of the Native American Tribe writings that the groups completed last week.

GoogleDoc plus Edmodo equals an Adjective Wordle!!

Check out the Wordle that we created using a Goggledoc that was linked to our Jurgie Crew edmodo page. See if you can guess which words were the most popular (hint: look for bigger words).

Dress Up in Words!!

Every year the 5th graders, Dress Up in Words!! This year was no exception and we were impressed by the new adjectives we saw. The assignment was to pick your favorite adjective and create a hat, shirt or sign to showcase that word. We gave a prize to the 3 adjectives represented by these categories: Most Fun (Magical), Most Elaborate (Sick) and Most Unique (Festive). Check out the last picture to see our 3 winners!!

Pumpkin Seeds

On Friday in Exploration Alley the classes worked together to complete one more science experiment from start to finish. We wanted to give them one more chance to complete all of the steps before their Science Fair Projects are due on November 14th. Since it was so close to Halloween, we wanted to give them a easy, fun and cool experiment so we decided to have them compare the amount of seeds in a orange pumpkin and a tiger stripe pumpkin. The results were surprising. We found that the tiger stripe pumpkin had many more seeds than the orange pumpkin and we felt the reason was that the tiger stripe had less guts inside which allowed for more seeds to grow. Whiles the orange pumpkin had less seeds but more "guts" which would allow for someone to make flavorful pies.

Edmodo.com

Last week during Exploration Alley, all of the classes were introduced to a new website. This site is www.edmodo.com and is a great tool to help foster online discussions. The students are enrolled in two groups. One group is Rocket Scientists which has ALL of the 5th graders as active members. The second group is their own class group, either Jurgie's Crew or Peterson's Peeps. This groups allows Mrs. Peterson and I to post questions specifically for our classes. We are hoping that this site will allow us to take learning outside our four walls and make connections to the real world. Continue to check out the site for new tasks, questions and announcements.

Check Out Our New Apps!!

How do you dial up someone with the name that sounds the same but is spelled differently? With your IPhone homophone app that's how. Students were given a set of homophones that they had to put into app boxes. They were to include the definition, a sentence and of course an awesome illustration.

Which Liquid Dissolves a Chocolate Cream Cookie Fastest, Let's Put it to the Test!

Oreo cookies and No Name chocolate cream cookies were the test subjects in Exploration Alley. The students tested what type of liquid: soda, water or apple juice would dissolve these cookies the fastest. Who knew apple juice packed such a punch!!

Do You Know Whether an Oreo Brand Cookie Rolls Farther Than a No Name Cookie?

WE DO!!! We sure did have fun finding out. The students took part in this experiment in Exploration Alley. They were to roll an Oreo brand cookie down a ramp from the height of 6 cm. and then 10 cm. three times. Then they had to try it with the No Name cookie. Want to know what happened, well just ask your child!!

Moon Phase Fun!

This week we used Oreo cookies to make models of the moon phases. The trick was trying to make 5 phases out of 4 cookies. The students were not opposed to eating their way to success on this one!

Order of Operations Review Video

This is a video reviewing the Order of Operations steps.

*Thanks to Yourteacher.com and You Tube

Yum, Yum Bubblegum!!

So what happens to the mass of bubblegum as you chew it? The triple beam balance scale will give us the measurement we need. Ready, Set, Chew!!!

Tree-Mapping the Main Idea of "Grossology"

What better way to find the main idea of a passage then to use the tree map, it let's us collect those "Oh So Important" supporting details to describe what, how, or even why!!! These tree maps are TOP NOTCH!!!! Could there be a better reward for a tree map on Grossology then candy buggers-YUM!!!

Making Mini Science Fair Boards

This past week in Exploration Alley the classes took their Alka-Seltzer experiment form and created a mini-board. We have been working on the science process since the first week of school and we have completed several cool experiments. We have used popcorn, bubble gum, pennies and now Alka-Seltzer. All of the classes have completed these experiments from start to finish, in order to get our students ready for the Science Fair. Check out our kids at work!! It was great to walk around and hear them discuss the different results, comment on each others pictures and offer advise on making the boards better.

Popcorn experiment

This was our first visit to Exploration Alley. Last Thursday and Friday we worked through the scientific process by completing our first experiment using popcorn. The purpose was to determine which brand of popcorn had the most unpopped kernels. All four classes worked together to complete this experiment. Each student had to complete their own mini science board. They had a great time and the cafeteria smelled AWESOME!!

Pep Rally Fun 2011

Wow, what an exciting end to our second week of school. We have completed our second science experiment, The Penny Drop along with The Popcorn experiment we completed last week. The classes have been running smooth and the kids are adjusting to life as 5th graders. The work is harder, we are on time constraints and our schedule is always packed but many are making the transition with flying colors. At our pep rally, we had a special guest show up to help with the program, Mrs. Anderson. She joined me up on stage to be the MC's. We had a blast!! The games were fun (congrats to 4th), the kids got pumped up to Stay in the Zone and everyone got to celebrate a great start to the new school year. Check back regularly for activities and projects that we are completing in class and in Exploration Alley.

Welcome All 5th Grade ROCKETS!!

We are very excited to welcome you back to school for the 2011-2012 school year. Mrs. Peterson and I have be working along with Mrs. Gold and Ms. Butler to create amazing lessons that will teach, challenge and inspire you. Listed below are a few of the more important items that we use on a daily basis and are needed for class. Please refer to the paper sent home at the end of 4th grade for other items.

-2 in binder (science journal)

-supply box (crayons, pencils, pen, scissors, etc)

-RED 3-prong folder (HW Planner)

-ream of copy paper

-wipes, tissues and germ blaster

Also Mrs. Peterson and I are extremely fortunate to have extra technology in our rooms in the form of iPod Touches. We are always on the look out for free apps but unfortunately not all of them are free. I know that every year we have families that are able to donate extra items for the class so if you are able to donate an iTunes card that would be GREATLY appreciated.

Parent Night!!

Don't forget to attend Parent Night on Tuesday, August 23 at 5:45 in the cafeteria.

Reading Counts

For the last two weeks we had an RC challenge. They were to earn 25 points in those two weeks to enjoy a special treat during lunch (chips, cookies and candy). There were 5 students who were able to meet the challenge. Congrats to Sam, Caid, Spencer, Emily and Danielle. You guys ROCK!!!

Freedom anyone?

We started our Civil Rights unit at the start of January. We have had the kids studying and researching important civil rights, contributors and the impact specific people had to help make a positive step towards civil rights for all. Martin Luther King, Linda Brown and Ruby Bridges are the three we have focused on. Last week in Social Studies,each group member created a tree map about Ruby Bridges life. During reading, we enjoyed the story Henry's Freedom Box. After completing the story, various thinking maps and having GREAT group discussions they were to then create their very own "freedom envelope." In this envelope they wrote a paragraph describing who they were, where they would mail them selves, to whom and why. Once they were done they then created themselves as a slave (think Flat Stanley). Also in the envelope they were to include clothing, drink/food, and a cherished item that they would need to take on their trip to freedom. These turned out amazing.

A New Discovery....

To round up our adaptations unit Mrs. Peterson had a great idea of having the students create a new animal. First they were given a specific ecosystem, outlining its weather, location and possible food sources. Then they were to write up a paragraph explaining what animal they were going to create and include several adaptations that their animal will need to survive in that specific ecosystem. After this they were given a piece of clay and they created their "new" animal, including all of its adaptations. Once they were done our wonderful art teacher Mrs. Fernandez fired them and they were then painted the following week. While the students were waiting for their animals, they then created a 3-d model of their ecosystem. Above are just a few examples of the finished products. Everyone's animal had some very cool adaptations and they all turned out amazing.

Competition, Camouflage and Symbiosis

Over the last few weeks we have been working with animals and their adaptations. We first studied camouflage, competition and symbiosis. During Exploration Alley the classes created boxes showing various combinations of these vocabulary words. This picture shows what one group created with only the instructions: Bird/Competition. They created two male umbrella birds fighting over their mate.

Pep Rally Number 2

Wow our second Pep Rally was a HUGE success!! All of the kids had a great time dancing and cheering. The SGA rocked the stage again with another flash mob dance to Dynamite. Mrs. Anderson led the crowd while the SGA members danced on stage and then filtered out on to the floor to dance with all of the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. As you can see Mrs. Vaughn was excited and dancing along. Mrs. Schrader and Mrs. Sydeski were helping out to pick our contest players and to start it all off Mrs. A and I were on stage getting the crowd pumped up along with our SGA VP, dancing while in a cast.

Spirit Week

This week to ring in the new year and to start off our second chance at field day we have had our Spirit Week!!! Monday was crazy socks, Tuesday our favorite sports teams, Wednesday mismatch/nerdy and today was a flashback day. We have had so many students participating in our classes along with the whole school. Mismatch/nerdy and flashback days were the most interesting ones with Mrs. Peterson being a peace loving hippie and I brought back hip hop from the 90's with a Kriss Kross inspired outfit. This whole week leads up our ZONE Pep Rally on Friday. Our fabulous SGA kids will be leading our "flash mob" dance with Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Peterson and myself participating. Remember to Stay in the Zone!!!