Matter Matters!

Hi all!  Sorry that I (we!) have been MIA.  I assigned the role of guest blogger to a student, and it is taking much longer than I anticipated to get things together.  I haven't wanted to step on any little toes, so I've taken a step back.  However, we've had a lot going on in the last two weeks, so I decided to post! (My guest blogger should be writing to cover the first two weeks of October.)  This is going to cause things to be presented out of sequence, so I apologize for any future confusion :)

Anyway.... A status of the classroom, if you will.  Testing is 100% complete!  WAHOO!!!  This means I have been moving into a more hands-on environment within our classroom.  This is BY FAR my preferred method of teaching!  (I just wish there were enough hours in the day for me to plan/create lessons so the entire day way hands on, but I am only one person.  Bummer.)  While testing, the kids had to work on things independently (and quietly) so I could complete the assessments.  But testing is over for now!

Recently, we have been working on the States of Matter!  I introduced the concept with an inquiry lesson.  Is shaving cream a liquid, solid, or gas?  I gave each pair of students a sheet to organize the scientific method/process. I shamelessly stole borrowed it from somewhere.  I can't remember where and I cut off the bottom.  I will update later to give the owner credit.

After I walked them through the beginning of the scientific method, I let each pair of students develop their own plan for testing the shaving cream.  Here are some of the pictures:

Some kids put their shaving cream in a cup, some poked it with their finger, some held the plate upside down, some put it in direct sunlight, some put it in a Ziploc bag, some put it in the refrigerator, etc... You get the idea.  After their experiment, they had to go back and write their conclusion!

Also, we created a Matter Foldable with Cheerios.  I completely forgot to take pictures while they were doing it, but here are a few finished products:

The Cheerios represent the particles.  They had to explain the properties of each state, and give a few examples as well!  

Our creation is a modified version of something I found on Pinterest!

We also created Matter Books, but they are not done yet.  More on them later!

Coming up in the classroom:

-Election/Government (I have a GREAT lesson planned for the Electoral College!  I am SUPER excited!)

-Human Body Systems

-Multiplication of Decimals

Our Halloween party will be on Wednesday afternoon (beginning around 2:15 or so).  Our first field trip will be Thursday.  We are going to the Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury.  We have an author coming to visit on Friday.  No school on November 5 and 6!

Oh- Class Dojo has been acting very buggy.  I have been emailing them hoping to come up with a solution.  (Their solution is to use Google Chrome.  I can't download it on any of our school equipment.  So, I am kind of at a standstill.)  I will be going back to the punch card for at least next week.  I apologize for all of the flip-flopping around!

Class Dojo & an apology

Sorry for the absence!  We are in the middle of our beginning of the year benchmarking window.  I have been spending every spare second in the classroom benchmarking the kiddos!  These tests take between 45-120 minutes PER CHILD!!!  Needless to say, I have been super busy!  In turn, I have to take all work home to plan and grade, and.... well..... the blog has been put on the back burner.  I'm hoping to be all caught up next week.  I'm also sorry for the turn around delay in Thursday folders. 

Anyway, Class Dojo is up and running!  This is my first time using it, so please be patient while the kinks get worked out.  Here is an Idaho teacher's video that show the program:

Right now, I am requiring the kids to get at least 50% positive per week.  My students are required to get a parent signature when they get below 50%.  Also, Parents, please send me your email addresses!  This way I can email the report directly to you.  It is easier to see in color.

Coming up:
Wordly Wise 2 Test on Thursday
Science Test next week



P.S.- Great news!  They fixed my laptop today!!   YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starting to get it together....

This year has started off pretty rough.  It may not look that way to everyone (at least I think that I am faking it!), but it has.  I use technology A LOT.  A LOT, A LOT, A LOT, A LOT.  My laptop is still out of commission.  My iPad had to be sent back to Apple because the problem is internal.  This means I cannot use my projector and ActivBoard.  EEK!!!!  This is how I teach!  I am going crazy without it!  The good news is that they finally have my desktops and printers up and working.  Baby steps I guess!  Now I have a new problem- I am supposed to begin assessing the class in reading fluency and comprehension.  Well, guess what!  The program we use is computer based.  *Bangs head against the wall*  Sigh.  I do have the desktops, but they would be very awkward to use.  I will stop rambling about my technology woes now.

In other news, I am starting to check a few things off my to-do list.  Remember one of the pictures I posted of our first day?  Well, I have finally had time to drag a ladder in the classroom and hang them up!  First, they turned out super cute.  The kids were quite creative.

Now, this is what they look like up on the wall!  I put them off center because I planned on hanging something else to the right of them, but it was too tall.  So now it is bugging me that it is off center, but I am so not taking them all down and starting over!  I am terrified of heights, and doing this once was bad enough!  I had plans to make them all turned a different direction (because I have symmetry issues and I knew I could never hang them all straight and evenly spaced), but my need to get off the ladder ASAP ruined that idea! 

I'm pretty sure I mentioned before that I am a blog stalker.  The idea is not mine!  I found a 5th grade blog via Pinterest, and I stole found the idea there!  


 

September Currently

I had to take a break from school stuff and do something fun!  Here is my September Currently!  Please note that my text boxes are MUCH better aligned.   It is a minor improvement, but it IS an improvement ;)

Coming up... Week 2!

I hope everyone has had a restful long weekend!  We did a ton of things last week that allowed me to gather data and other information.  I am still reviewing it all, and I hope to share it with you all soon!  In the mean time, I wanted to let you all know what is coming up this week. 

Enhancements start this week.   Mondays will be Music, so we will see Mrs. Shue for the first time next week.  Tuesdays will be Art.  We have a new art teacher this year.  I deleted my email that had her name (oops), so I will share that later. (Sorry!!)  Wednesdays will be P.E. with Mrs. Earnhardt, so make sure to wear tennis shoes!

Our school benchmarking will happen this week.  This determines who needs to be placed into RtI, and also who needs some enrichment. 

Finally, we have a few tests coming up this week.  Thursday will be the Science test over chapter B1.  It was only two lessons about cycles.  They need to know the Nitrogen Cycle, Carbon Dioxide-Oxygen Cycle, and the Water Cycle.    Friday will be our Wordly Wise Lesson 1 test, as well as our Math test.  The math test will include place value and exponents.

Until next time,

First Day

Happy first day of school!  I woke up early, got to school early, and then it all went down hill.  Rapidly.  I needed two sheets of paper laminated.... The laminator was broken!  Then, my laptop wouldn't work.  Neither would my iPad.  Somewhere in the fray, I lost my back-to-school rules and procedures checklist due to the technical difficulties!  Once I discovered that, I ran to the desktop computer and found a generic one.  (We may have to revisit rules and procedures again tomorrow, because I am sure I left something out!)  Then, I plugged my laptop in (I only needed a pages document), and the projector projected everything blue!  I was frustrated and decided that I would just use my phone to project the Class Dojo introduction video.  My adapter was missing.  I had to borrow another teacher's.  Needless to say, it was a rocky start!!!

Once the technology component of our day was done (poorly because you can't see much off of my phone), we moved into some basic things.  First, I had the kids decorate their names.  These will be displayed on the back wall once they are all finished.  They turned out GREAT and I can't wait to hang them and get a picture of them all!  In the mean time....

Then, we decided to define some expectations.  Here is our paraphrased chart of everyone's job:

Finally, we set the ground rules for behavior, expectation, and what our classroom needs to look like/sound like.  I will compile the answers to the questions and post about it later.  But here are a few pictures:

 What you don't see is all the learning style surveys I made the kids fill out.  We are going to be big on data this year, and we are laying the foundation.  (I'm sure they found it terribly boring, but it helps me assess our needs.) 


Overall, I think it was a pretty good first day.  It went buy super fast and I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!  I can't wait for tomorrow when we get into routines!

Snacks and Water (Oops!)

I COMPLETELY forgot to type something about snacks and water bottles in my information packet.  I AM SO SORRY!!!!  Since our lunch is at 10:55, students may bring a healthy snack to eat in the afternoon.  Also, students are permitted to bring bottles of WATER to school.
Again, I am sorry for the oversight!