Newsletter May 25, 2012

Math – Unit 12 test was today and we do the end of the year test Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  Overall, I am impressed with the growth in skills and confidence I have seen in all of my students this year in math.  Math facts will be huge in 6^th grade so if they are not secure, I urge them to be practiced.

Social Studies – We finished our simulation on how a bill becomes a law and the only one that made it past all three legislative branches was the law that we should have a la carte at the elementary level.   What impressed me the most was the debate the two chambers of congress had over the bills; way to do some quick thinking.  We are finishing the final chapter in the social studies book as well and will present our biography extension projects starting Tuesday.

Science – We tried to hatch brine shrimp but they died right away.  A very sad day for science observations, indeed.  We get to discuss why we think they didn’t survive as well as present our biomes.  I cannot wait to see how the students will be as teachers and how they will assess themselves.

Reading – Reading time has been dedicated to script writing or our biography projects.  I have ordered books for summer from the recommendations of the students and our library committee is itching to get started on the annual library clean up, which will happen next week.   

Writing –The final blogging challenge has been posted and is due next Sunday.  With more than 2,000 comments and over 650 posts created, I would say that it has been a successful year of blogging!  Students have started filming their videos for the incoming 5^th graders and I love the enthusiasm with which they attack the challenges.  There may be only 10 days left of school but we still have a lot to do.    

Special Notes –

* Students voted on their top 10 in Mrs. Ripp’s room and as always it is fun for me to see what really stuck out to them. A committee will be creating the poster for display for next year.

*  Advanced math testing has taken place for the year, if you have any questions please contact Amy Weber.

*  The lock out takes place on Wednesday, June 6^th.  Students do not need to bring anything with them as lunch will be at Rocky Rococo’s.  I am really looking forward to this fun day.

*  All library books were due today so now would be a great time to sweep your house for any missing library books either from our classroom library or from Mr. Powers’.  Thank you for your help!

* I have some dates for you to put on your calendars: No school Monday, May 28^th, Sub in the afternoon Wednesday, May 30^th, Lock Out Wednesday, June 6^th, 5^th grade graduation Friday, June 8^th 1:30 PM.

Jacob's Stop Motion

For Innovation Day, Jacob did a stop motion video n battle tactics of WWII. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Innovation Day 2012

Picture from the track meet

The Epic Egg Drop

Pictures from Art Club

Mrs. Hyland was nice enough to share some pictures from art club, looks like a lot of fun!

Newsletter May 18, 2012

Math – The final unit of the year will be wrapped up next week with the test scheduled for Friday.  It has been wonderful to see the mathematical concepts taught throughout the year come together to form new meaning.    We will also do the end of year test but not until after Memorial Day. 

Science – We were busy building our egg drop contraptions, check out the video of the build on our website.  A video from the actual egg drop will be recorded and posted on our website as well.  As always the ingenuity of the students was wonderful and especially those that realized midway through the build that their device would fail and then changed it. 

Social Studies – Students and I have met to discuss their first drafts; what growth in writing we have seen.  A common problem is the amount of details needed for the report, either too much or too little, so we are working on finding a balance.  Depending on how many students I get to confer with, the deadline may be moved to give everybody more time.  We also started our simulation, “How a Bill becomes A Law,” with students acting as both concerned citizens and the Chamber of Congress.  It definitely deepens their understanding of why the Constitution is such a big deal.

Reading – We use reading time to work on scripts and social studies.

Writing – Great blogging this week on what a principal does.  Next week’s challenge will be posted later today and comes from a Journaling prompt we did two weeks ago.    I hope to have students print out all of their kidblog entries and create a journal of their year, as their accounts will be deleted come August.

Special Notes –

* Please make sure to send in the two photos needed for the 5^th grade graduation bulletin board by Monday.

*  All of our box tops have been going to Mr. Getz, we hear there is a very good chance he gets a pie in the face, wahoo!

*  Doodle for Google winner was announced today, unfortunately none of our students won, however, it was a 2^nd grader from Wisconsin who did.  It can be seen today on Google’s homepage.

*   We will finish Junior Achievement and Guidance next week, where has the year gone?

* For graduation, students are being asked to wear their tie-dye shirt or West Middleton shirt.  A note is going home today with more information.

*  New on our website: a couple of pictures from the talent show taken by Mrs. Hyland, a video of the egg drop build, top 10 free educational game websites for kids, biome project information, as well as a list of different reading summer programs that have incentives for the kids.

* Technology party will be next Friday after lunch.  Students are solely responsible for whatever tech device they bring in.  For more information see our website.

* I have some dates for you to put on your calendars:, Junior Achievement Tuesday, May 22^nd 1:10 PM (final one), Technology Party Friday, May 25^th 1:00 PM, No school Monday, May 28^th , Sub in the afternoon Wednesday, May 30^th, Lock Out Wednesday, June 6^th, 5^th grade graduation Friday, June 8^th 1:30 PM.