West Central Area Fifth Grade

January 30-Feb 3

2012-01-30T13:14:00.002-06:00

5th Grade Reading, Language & Spelling

Reading

Weekly Story: The Yangs' First Thanksgiving

Targeted Skill: Compare & Contrast

Novel Unit: School Story by Andrew Clements

Read aloud: The Year of Miss Agnes

Language

Skill: Adjectives pgs 77-81

Spelling: Homophones pgs 61-64

Writing: Finish and publish Haikus, write descriptions; use adjectives

Monday: Aims Reading Check for grades 5 & 6, Mock Spelling Bee at 2:30

Tuesday: Spelling Bee 1:30, Oral Reading Due (Your Remarkable Body)

Grade 6 Language & Spelling

Spelling: Just Enough Letters pgs 61-64

Language Skill: Adjectives pgs 77-81

Writing: Writing Instructions

5th Grade Science for

January 30 – February 3

Websites for studentsto use this week to reinforce concepts on forces and motion:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement_fs.shtml

http://www.kidsknowit.com/educational-songs/play-educational-song.php?song=Sir%20Isaac%20Newton

Monday: 5N – Swingers Lab - We are investigating how different variables

effect the number ofswings (cycles) for pendulums.

1. Review class results on length ofstring

2. Test the last two variables: weight (#pennies) on string

3. height string is dropped from

DISCUSSION TO WHAT WE OBSERVED QUIZ ON WEDNESDAY

Tuesday: 5S - Swingers Lab - We are investigating how different variables

effect the number ofswings (cycles) for pendulums.

1. Review class results on length ofstring

2. Test the last two variables: weight (#pennies) on string

3. height string is dropped from

DISCUSSION TO WHAT WE OBSERVED QUIZ ON THURSDAY

Wednesday: 5N – QUIZ on swingers lab

May use graph and notes

Startinvestigating – flippers lab

Thursday: 5S - QUIZ on swingers lab

May use graphand notes

Startinvestigating – flippers lab

Friday: 5N - Flippers lab

Vocabulary sheet -HOMEWORK

January 23-27

2012-01-24T15:35:00.003-06:00

Monday: No School

Tuesday: No spelling list until next week!

Wednesday: NWEA math test 8:25, Oral reading is due, New oral reading sent home

Thursday: NWEA reading test 8:25, Passport January Check 10:00

Friday:

Due to testing and a short week, 5th grade will not have a spelling test/new story until next week.

6th grade is testing on Unit 3, so we will use that time to catch up on English and do some extra writing.

5th Grade Science

Week of January 24-27

Tuesday: 5N - Chapter 13, Forces in Motion

Lesson 1 and part of2 (pg 401-411)

Demonstrate :Swingers Lab (on pendulums)

Wednesday: 5S- Chapter 13, Forces in Motion

Lesson 1 and part of2 (pg 401-411)

Demonstrate :Swingers Lab (on pendulums)

Thursday: 5N - SWINGERS LAB – controlled experiment on

pendulums. Question we are trying to answer

is – What makes adifference in the number of

swings (or cycles)a pendulum makes in 15 sec.?

VARIABLES tested include: length ofstring, weight on string, and

height string isdropped from.

Friday: 5S - SWINGERS LAB – controlled experiment on

pendulums. Question we are trying to answer

is – What makes adifference in the number of

swings (or cycles)a pendulum makes in 15 sec.?

VARIABLES tested include: length ofstring, weight on string, and

height string is dropped from.

5th Graders Deck the Halls

2011-12-30T12:37:00.001-06:00

Thank you Jerry and Candace for helping us get them way up there!

We hung three rows of flakes in the commons and it took a LOT to fill up that space. We spent about 10-15 mn each morning for about a week making snowflakes and some kids came in during their recess. A few of my 6th graders helped out too. We used only recycled paper from various recycle boxes around the school. Don't you love it when beautiful things are FREE!

These darling little singers took about 30 mn for the fifth graders to make. I actually found the music paper in the copy room recycle box and they happened to be the songs they all sang at the end. Perfect!!

Did you know that anything hung in the big windows must be backed with white paper? Black absorbs heat and causes the glass to expand and crack! Yikes!!

These turned out so well! This group of 5th graders are a creative bunch.

Before the Concert

2011-12-30T12:19:00.000-06:00

Christmas Concert Pictures

2011-12-30T12:07:00.001-06:00

Comments

2011-11-17T23:25:00.001-06:00

My comment settings are set to anyone but it appears that only anonymous comments are being accepted. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. Thank you!! Mrs. Smith

Great Group Effort!!!!

2011-11-17T23:01:00.001-06:00

They did it! The fundraiser for the Grant County Humane Society was a huge success, just over $180.00 was raised by the WCA 5th Graders. I'm so proud of their dedication to this cause. They've been working on this since September and there's already chatter about what they can do next to help another worthy cause. Click on this picture to get a closer look at all those smiles!

Shared Literature

2011-11-17T22:56:00.001-06:00

The 5th grade just finished this novel, only 12 left in the series but many are continuing on their own!

My 6th grade English class finished this a couple of weeks ago. It's surprising how much grammar you can cover when you are reading a novel together.

Babe, the Gallant Pig was my first read aloud to my homeroom and I finished this autobiography last week.

This is the current read aloud in my homeroom.

November 14-18 Plans

2011-11-13T17:57:00.001-06:00

Grade 5
Reading
Weekly Story: Missing Links
Shared Novel: The Bad Beginning
Read Aloud: The Tarantula in my Purse by Jean Craighead George

Language pg 47-50 Commas with nouns in series and direct address
Spelling: List is in student planners posted at Spellingcity.com

Grade 6
Language: Pg 47-50 Subject-Verb agreement
Spelling: List is in student planners and posted at spellingcity.com

5th grade Humane Society Fundraiser
It was a huge success!

Halloween Fun!

2011-10-30T21:32:00.000-05:00

Readers!

2011-10-04T21:11:00.002-05:00

Reading Rotation

This is my reading rotation group. We have only one day left to read together and then they will move onto a small math rotation group. We read Sarah, Plain and Tall and are about to finish There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. We are loving this book! Both are AR books so students are earning points for their goal of 12 this quarter. We split the quarter in half so that students get both math and reading with a 5th or 6th grade teacher in a small group. In the second quarter they will have art with Mrs. Babolian throughout the entire quarter, then Keyboarding and finally Spanish in the 4th quarter.

Dreaming of Paris, perhaps?!

It's fun to see kids so absorbed in their reading.

They pretty much ignore my camera by now.

We keep track of our books and all the pages read in our reading logs. It's adding up!

Some kids like non-fiction.

So many books, not enough minutes in the day!

Plans for Oct. 3-6

2011-10-04T20:54:00.003-05:00

October 3-6

Grade 5

Spelling List for Unit 1-5: Posted at Spellingcity.com and in student planners

Reading: Unit 1-5 Story: Eloise Greenfield

Vocabulary Mon, Read Tuesday, Read Wed, Comp ? Thursday, Test Friday

Leveled reader: None this week

Novel Unit: Frindle

Zone/AR Self selected reading 15-20 mn daily

English: Writing ideas in journals, things we love idea, interesting events,

sentence fragments and run-ons

Writing Journals: 3-4 times per week or in lab, pick first writing topic, make a simple paragraph outline, prewrite, edit and publish in lab on Word. This will go into next week.

Oral Reading Homework: Last Day goes home on Wed-due following Tuesday

(Should be read aloud to an adult and signed)

Read aloud with homeroom: The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

Grade 6

Spelling List for Unit 1-5 Posted at Spelling City and in planners

English: Combining Sentences, Paragraphs

Novel for Language practice: Tuck Everlasting

Writing Journals:3-4 times per week or in lab

Paragraph outlines for narrative writing projects, use the lab to edit and complete project with Word.

Try to finish this week.

Last of the Homecoming Pictures

2011-09-25T20:11:00.000-05:00

Favorite Holiday

(The boys with a napkin tucked in their shirts like Thanksgiving!)

Waiting for opening bell...

WCA Spirit Day

The 5 Mouseketeers!!

2011-09-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

Spelling Information

2011-09-21T21:23:00.001-05:00

On Monday, my 5th and 6th grade spelling classes take a pretest. They are graded quickly so that students can see their words to study for the week. These words are highlighted in their planners. Your child can put just those words into the homepage at Spelling City instead of studying the entire list that I publish each week. Your child can test whenever they are ready and more than once to get the best score possible. Friday is the last possible day to test unless they are absent. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Disney Day

2011-09-21T21:12:00.001-05:00

Disney Character Day

We had no princesses in our room but there were plenty to be found in the halls of WCA today! It was fun to see some prom dresses getting a bit more use too.

Homecoming Week-Fashion Disaster Day

2011-09-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

Here are the 5th grade girls and boys who participated in Fashion Disaster Day. I asked them to strike a pose and they were pretty good sports. Yesterday was "Multiplicity Day" which meant you could dress like someone else. Who comes up with these names?? Pretty creative! Our class decided to dress the same in blue jeans, black tops and pony tails for the girls. I had my camera with but put off the picture and all of a sudden, the day was over and the kids were gone. Our days are busy and fast and I learned my lesson...take the picture when you are thinking of it!

I told my students about this little cutie. I rescued him from under our deck. He was crying so loud and couldn't see out of his mattery eyes. I called to him and he blindly ran out to me from under the deck. No mama to be found anywhere and it was going to drop into the twenties that evening. I called the Elbow Lake Humane Society and they had room for him, thankfully! In a few weeks he may be ready for adoption. If you are in the market for an adorable new family member, please check him out.

2011-09-19T19:22:00.003-05:00

Sept 19-23

Grade 5

Spelling List for Unit 1-3: Posted at Spellingcity.com and in student planners

Reading: Unit 1-3 Story: Looking for a Home

Novel Unit: Frindle
Zone/AR Self selected reading 15-20 mn daily

English: Subjects and Predicates, 4 Kinds of Sentences
Writing Journals: 3-4 times per week or in lab

Oral Reading Homework: Sea Biscuit, goes home on Wed-due following Tuesday
(Should be read aloud to an adult and signed)

Grade 6

Spelling List for Unit 1-3 Posted at Spelling City and in planners

English: Subjects and Predicates, Independent and Dependent Clauses

Novel for Language practice: Tuck Everlasting
Writing Journals:3-4 times per week or in lab

2011-09-11T13:08:00.003-05:00

Sept 12-16

Grade 5

Spelling List: Posted at Spellingcity.com and in student planners

Unit 1-2 Story: Faith & Eddie

Novel: Frindle

English: Sentences, Punctuation, Subject & Predicate

Oral Reading Homework: Goes home on Wed-due following Tuesday

Grade 6

Spelling List for Unit 1-2 Posted at Spelling City and in planners

English: Sentence review & subject predicate

Novel for Language practice: Tuck Everlasting

The comment section was blocked on my blog and is now open. Feel free to post comments on this blog but remember that everyone can see your post. Please send me an email if you only want me to see it. I do check this blog a few times a week.

Framed!!!

2011-09-06T22:03:00.001-05:00

Here are our first day pictures! I had them printed after school and after they are laminated I will trim around each frame and attach a magnet. We will use them for attendance and lunch count as the kids check themselves in each morning. It was a wonderful first day and I can't wait for Day 2!

2011-09-05T13:56:00.004-05:00

Happy New (School) Year!!!

Thank you for checking out our blog. I just updated Spelling City with the first spelling lists for grades 5 & 6. We use this website in the lab and I hope your child will use it at home too. It's a fun way to practice and no more lost paper lists. The title of the spelling list is the name of our weekly story. Our spelling test will be on Friday.
Grade 5 From the Diary of Lee Botts

Grade 6 Tony and the Snark

Language
Grade 5
Sentences
Writing: Descriptive Writing

Grade 6
4 Kinds of Sentences: Interrogative, declarative, imperative and exclamatory
Writing: Descriptive Writing
Novel Unit: Tuck Everlasting
We will use a class novel to study language and writing skills.

Reading Grade 5
Weekly Skills: Sequencing, Making Judgements, Locating Information
Vocabulary Words: cafeteria, demonstration, diary, racket, switch, triggered

Grade 5 Novel Unit: Frindle by Andrew Clements

Since this is our first week of school, we will be spending a lot of time with getting to know you activities, learning classroom/school procedures & getting all of our materials ready for the school year. Our reading and writing notebooks will be organized and we will get back into the routine of using our planners. We will begin using the computer lab this week and hopefully take advantage of the new mobile lab as soon as possible. Our rotation this quarter is small group instruction in math and reading with the 5th and 6th grade teachers. Please check in often! Mrs. Smith

March 21-25 Plans

2011-03-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

5th Grade Reading Story
Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride
5th GradeNovel Unit:
The School Story by Andrew Clements
Chapter 11-20 (2 ch per day) Comprehension sheets for independent chapters
Oral Reading Homework: Tazio Nuvolari, Racing Legend -due Friday
Language: Subject/Object Pronouns and their referents pg. 109,110,111,112,113,114,
Spelling: pg 89,90,91,92 (Suffixes) List and activities at spellingcity.com, test on Friday, lists in planner

6th Grade 2:25-3:05

Language: Pronouns & their referents, prepositions pgs. 111-115
Spelling: Opposite prefixes pgs 89-92 lists are in planners, activities at spellingcity.com, test on Friday
Journals: Write about Wolfridge Memories

January 17-21, 2011

2011-01-18T19:53:00.001-06:00

Both 5th grade classes finished The Report Card by Andrew Clements and have begun My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. It's a Newberry winner and the kids are enjoying it. It's about a city boy who runs away to live in nature utilizing skills he's read about from library books. He gets some friendly advice from a few people he meets along the way too, such as how to start a fire. He makes his home inside a huge sycamore tree. It's a great winter story as that's when he meets his greatest challenge; the weather. We can relate!

We finished The Mostly True Adventures of Homer Figg just after Christmas break and this is the new read aloud I'm sharing with my homeroom. You can see from the picture that Summer of the Monkeys is from the same author who wrote Where The Red Fern Grows. Wilson Rawls weaves another wonderful tale in this story, hopefully it won't be the tear jerker that Where the Red Fern Grows is.

This week, we are wrapping up Unit 3 with the end of unit test. There is no spelling this week or language. Instead, we are figuring out who will be the three students to represent us in the WCA Spelling Bee in a few weeks. There will be three representatives from each section, grades 5-7.

On Thursday and Friday the 5th graders have their math and reading NWEA tests in the morning.
Each test last approximately 30-40 minutes and takes place in the computer lab.

We've already had 2 late starts this week, so that has put us in a little time crunch for the end of the quarter which is THIS Friday. Hard to believe! We'll be planning conferences again very soon.

Plans for December 13-17

2010-12-12T20:06:00.000-06:00

Plans for Dec. 13-17

5th Grade Reading
Novel Unit: The Report Card by Andrew Clements
Basal Story: The Marble Champ

Skill: Story elements
Zone: 20 mn self selected reading daily

Read Aloud: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P Figg

Homework: Oral Reading assignment-given on Monday-due on Friday.

Daily Reading: Students are asked to read a minimum of 20 mn outside of school in self-selected material.

Language: Verb tenses T,W,F pgs 61-65
Journal writing, finish bird descriptions, Christmas interviews

Spelling: posted on spellingcity.com and glued in student planners

Worksheets on Monday & Thursday

6th Grade
Language: Verb Tenses-perfect and progressive T,W,F pgs 62-65, journals,

Spelling: posted on spellingcity.com and glued in student planners

Plans for Dec. 6-10

2010-12-07T20:09:00.001-06:00

5th Grade Reading
Novel Unit: The Report Card by Andrew Clements
Basal Story: Kate Shelly: Bound for Legend
Zone: 20 mn self selected reading daily

Language: subject verb agreement T,W,F
Journal writing, Santa letters, finish bird descriptions

Spelling: posted on spellingcity.com and glued in student planners

6th Grade
Language: Verb Tenses, finish animal descriptions

Spelling: posted on spellingcity.com and glues in student planners

Author Visit with John Coy

2010-12-07T18:41:00.000-06:00

We had 4 students wait for John to arrive. C came up with the chauffeur sign idea-very fun!

John spent an hour with each reading class, both classes are pictured here.

John told us all about the process of writing a book and what seems to be the most difficult part of the process; getting it published! I was extremely proud of both classes. They were great listeners and had thoughtful questions. John also read from one of his stories, he writes novels and picture books. He was an excellent presenter and we were very fortunate to have him at WCA.

5th Grade Reading Lists

2010-12-01T21:15:00.001-06:00

The fifth graders have been reading A LOT in the first three months of school. Each student posted an individual reading list from September-November out in the hallway near the offices. Quite a few of these books were 500 pages or more too. This week, I'm going to have each class add up their selections and we'll post the total count in the hallway and on this blog. They are very proud of their accomplishments and so am I! My secret goal was that each child will read 40 books this year but I decided not to tell them until they could see for themselves that it was not insurmountable. I'll tell them pretty soon. :)

Plans for Nov. 30-December 4

2010-12-01T21:00:00.001-06:00

5th Grade Reading
We finished Because of Winn Dixie right before Thanksgiving break. All students tested on AR and we completed character charts for all the characters-animals too!

This week, our new novel unit is The Report Card by Andrew Clements. We will read 1-2 chapters every day together and independently. We discuss as we are reading and do various group activities to enrich the story and support our basal reading reading target skills.

Basal Story: Going With the Flow-Target Skill: character

Zone Reading: Students read for 20 independently in self selected reading materials. Students are to to read 20 mn every night for homework as well.

Language
Continue to research and begin to write bird descriptions in the computer lab.
Skill: Predicates

Spelling
Spelling list for this week is located in each student's planner. The list is also published at spellingcity.com where various activities allow for fun practice.

6th Grade
Language
Final publishing of animal descriptions in the computer lab.
Skill: Verbs

Spelling

Spelling list for this week is located in each student's planner. The list is also published at spellingcity.com where various activities allow for fun practice.

Short Animoto Video

2010-11-09T21:32:00.001-06:00

5th Grade Moments

I can't wait to read this again!

2010-11-01T22:20:00.001-05:00

This is one my favorite books to read with students. It will be another novel unit so every child will have a book in their hands as we read together, listen to the teacher or audio, or read independently. Both 5th grade sections recently finished The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. The kids were so-so on that Newbery winner from 1987. By the end, they seemed to get into the zone with it. Because of Winn-Dixie (Newbery Honor) is always a sure fire hit right from the start. We're moving through our novel units more quickly this year because I am heeding the advice from my summer reading; don't kill the novels with so many activities, reports, worksheets etc... We discuss often as we are reading and always take the AR comprehension test if there happens to be one. We enjoy keeping book lists in our reading journals and rating the novels and stories that we read, this includes our basal reader too! We write quick summaries together for our novel units and place them in our journals too. I hope the students see the journals as a neat way to record their reading experiences in 5th grade. It would be great if some of them kept it up on their own in the future.

Inpulse

2010-11-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

Just before the Halloween party, grades 5-8 enjoyed listening to the music of Inpulse. They're a popular a cappella band from the Twin Cities area. The kids loved them and were pretty surprised by some of the cool songs they knew! Check out their website at www.inpmusic.com

Halloween Party

2010-11-01T21:49:00.001-05:00

The Halloween Committee-they did a great job!

Third place for the pumpkin carving contest earned T $15!
Thanks Mrs. Canneen & Student Council!

Kids in costumes...

and some without-all had fun!

Minnesota Twins Day

2010-10-06T22:52:00.003-05:00

N won best dressed Twin in Grade 5!

Twins fans in our class.

L must have won honorable mention.

Mrs. Nelson's fans

5th Grade Teachers love the Twins!

5th Grade Reads

2010-10-05T20:45:00.004-05:00

Both 5th grade sections are reading Frindle together. They read along with me or the audio. This is the first of a few Andrew Clement's novels that we will be using this year. I have class sets so every child has a book in their hands. During their "Zone" reading, students read in their own self selected materials. My goal is that most of our reading time is actually spent reading. If we're not reading, we might be updating our reading journals. Every week, we read another story in our reading books, complete the vocabulary work and take the vocab. and comp. test for the story.
The Bad Beginning is the first novel unit that we enjoyed together this fall. Again, both classes read it and then took the Accelerated Reader comprehension test for it. This is always a popular book with my students and many continue reading through the series that goes to the Miserable End which is book #13.
This is the read aloud that I am currently sharing with my homebase. It is a humorous and touching story about a boy who shows tremendous character development throughout the story. My group is LOVING it! I will have to see if Mrs. Nelson would like to share it with her homebase too.
I used Sarah Plain & Tall with 5N in reading. It was an AR book so they all should have tested on it by now. It's a beautifully written novel and is quite short. Some of the students commented that they could really "see" what she was writing about. Having that visual picture in your head helps you to comprehend.

I also used this novel with my small reading group during their rotation time. My 5th graders are the first section to have their rotation working in small groups with the 5 & 6 teachers. We are half way through the first quarter already so tomorrow the kids who have been in small group math will be in small group reading. Mrs. Schoenbauer and I are working with reading students and Mrs. Andreason and Mrs. Nelson are doing math groups. The small groups of 5 to 6 help us to strengthen and enrich our students with direct and specific instructional methods that meet their needs.

Take a look at our room!

2010-09-14T20:28:00.004-05:00

Another Great Read

2010-09-09T22:41:00.004-05:00

I LOVE this book and will be purchasing my own copy ASAP. I have already implemented some of the author's techniques and have shared it with a few colleagues. I found some good parent pages to share too.

The Book Whisperer (see earlier post) is getting passed around our school. If you are interested you can check it out at Thorson Public Library. The BW has made an impression on everyone I know who's read it. My sister bought her own copy and is totally changing the way she teaches her novel units in 4th grade. (So am I!)

The Reading Zone is another must read for anyone teaching reading or English. How are we helping or hurting our middle school/high school students as readers? The three books that I've recommended in this blog make it quite clear.

The Reading Zone

The Book Whisperer

Readicide

Open House

2010-08-26T20:54:00.003-05:00

I want to thank all the families that came to the WCA Open House this evening! There was so much positive energy all around it left quite an impression on me. I know it's going to be a wonderful year!

Workshop Days

2010-08-25T17:12:00.003-05:00

We are in the middle of workshop days and then one more week of summer vacation. I hope all of my students are enjoying their last days and will be excited to begin on September 7th.

The highlight of workshops definitely came today when all the districts met in Morris and had the opportunity to listen to motivational speaker, V J Smith. Most of his stories centered on a man he met who worked at Wal-Mart and eventually changed his life. The story is told in The Richest Man in Town. If you ever have a chance to hear Mr. Smith speak, you are very fortunate. He brings you to laughter and tears and his inspirational message applies to everyone. He reminds us to appreciate what we have and to always remember to say thank you!

Readicide

2010-08-25T16:51:00.003-05:00

This was another very good book. It definitely made me think about some of my methods and how I can make my reading class better this year. You can request this book at Thorson and they will order it for you. The author is a senior high English teacher and will be speaking in Plymouth, Mn at the end of October. Let me know if you'd like information on that workshop. Next on my list is this book....

Reading

2010-08-04T16:52:00.003-05:00

I am so excited to be the reading teacher for both 5th grade sections this year! I seriously can't imagine a better job in the world. I just finished reading The Book Whisperer and I highly recommend it for all elementary and middle school reading teachers, principals, anyone who works with young readers or reading teachers. This book really spoke to my heart and I read the entire book in one day. There are two copies at Thorson Public library. The author laments the decline of pleasure reading and offers suggestions to turn this trend around.

Readicide by Kelly Gallagher is another book I will read in the next week and The Reading Zone by Nancie Atwell after that. These are the kind of books that get me excited about being back in the classroom in September.

Happy reading, everyone!!!

Mrs. Smith

New Look!

2010-07-19T08:05:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. It's the middle of July and people are already saying the summer is almost gone. I say there's plenty of it left to enjoy and students are usually ready to come back in September anyway so why fret.

I have been spending some time collecting new books for the classroom and planning new novel units to use this year. Hopefully, there will be 4 new sets if my order was successful.

The classroom blog will stay this year and I was excited to see that Blogger added new templates. When I saw the books, I knew that had to be the one!

One last thing, I was in Target and noticed that the grade 5 & 6 supply list is missing. Hmmmm, something will have to be done about that.

Good-bye for now! :) Mrs. Smith

New Websites

2010-04-08T11:43:00.003-05:00

By the end of 5th grade, students are expected to know where all 50 states are located and their capitals. Here's a new and fun website to study your states and capitals: www.sheppardsoftware.com

Just click on the American flag and you'll be at the right spot. It looks like there's plenty of good educational practice here. When I have more time, I will delve in.

Here's a photo puzzle website just for fun!
www.befuddlr.com

Snowshoe Class

2010-03-01T18:35:00.003-06:00

It was a perfect day for snowshoeing! This was a very popular class. We used traditional Ojibwa snowshoes.
Our leader encouraged the kids to go off the icy trail into the deep soft snow.
The only class I didn't get pictures from was Team Play. They turned out too dark. In this class, students were required to work together to complete a task. It was frustrating and rewarding at different times. It was very fun for me to watch that one.

Picking out the perfect pair....

At least the snowshoes stayed on!

Off they go.

Herps Class

2010-03-01T18:34:00.000-06:00

Survival Class

2010-03-01T18:14:00.002-06:00

Priority #1 was getting the shelter set up, but I bet you can guess what the kids were most excited about!! It's not as easy as it looks, even when you have 5 matches and some newspaper.

Field Trip-Lunch

2010-03-01T18:07:00.003-06:00

Finally....lunch!!!!

5th Grade Band

2010-01-11T16:49:00.002-06:00

Whole band practice for 5th graders is on Thursday at 9:45. Please remember to bring your instruments every Thursday.

Plans January 11-15

2010-01-11T16:34:00.002-06:00

Grade 5
Story: Babe to the Rescue
Skill: Summarizing
Language: Contractions
Spelling: Possessive Nouns
Novel Unit: My Side of the Mountain
Teacher Read Aloud: How to Steal a Dog

Social Studies
Lesson 3 The First Colonies
Lesson 4 The 13 English Colonies
Unit Review/Test

Grade 6
Reading
Story: Night of the Pomegranate
Skill: Theme
Spelling: Homophones
Language: Verb Agreement, Direct and Indirect objects, subject complements
Novel Unit: Rules

Spelling City-5th Grade

2010-01-11T16:33:00.003-06:00

The 5th grade list will not be entered on Spelling City this week. The possessives would be too confusing and would not work well with most of the activity games.

5th Graders in the Morning

2010-01-10T21:50:00.004-06:00

I have other pictures I planned to share but noticed their name tags were evident, which violates privacy issues. I'll have to crop them out and post them later.

Reading

Plans for January 4-8, 2010

2010-01-05T21:00:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year!!

Grade 5

Story: From Bees to Honey

Non-fiction

Language: Correct Verb Tenses

Students are writing stories about themselves for Student of the Month. We took pictures on Monday and will publish the stories/pictures in the hallway 4 at a time beginning in January.

Spelling: Cities and States

Social Studies: Lesson 1 pg 160 Jamestown

Lesson 2 New European Colonies pg 164

Lesson 3 The First Colonies pg 168

Novel Unit: My Side of the Mountain

Teacher Read aloud: How to Steal A Dog

Patricia Polacco: Author study

(We're close to the end of both novels)

Grade 6

Casey at the Bat

Classic Poem

Language: Verb Tenses/Irregular Verbs

Spelling: Vowels in final syllables

Patricia Polacco: Author Study

Novel Unit: We are waiting for our books to come in the mail. We will soon be reading "Rules" by Cynthia Lord. It's a Newbery Honor book & Schneider Family Book Award winner. I can't wait for the 6th graders to read this one!

Spelling City-Improved!

2009-12-07T11:36:00.004-06:00

I registered at Spelling City today and posted this week's spelling words for grades 5 and 6. I will show the kids how to find their list so they can have fun practicing without having to enter all their words. If you click on Mn and then Barrett, you will find our classes and lists. This is the same list for Mrs. Nelson's classes too!
SpellingCity

Collecting Warm Clothes

2009-12-01T20:38:00.002-06:00

The National Honor Society has challenged us to donate articles of clothing for all ages. We have a collection box in our room and the class that collects the most items wins a class ice cream party.

Nov. 30-Dec. 4 Plans

2009-12-01T20:24:00.002-06:00

Grade 5

Story: Going with the Flow-Realistic Fiction

Target Skill: character

Spelling: s and es endings

English: Linking & Action Verbs

Writing: Journals and autobiography stories

Novel Unit: My Side of the Mtn

Teacher Read aloud-How to Steal A Dog

"Going With the Flow" is a story about a boy who is deaf. Mr. Poore, our hearing impaired instructor, is going to visit with the class about communicating with the deaf or hearing impaired on Thursday or next Tuesday.

Social Studies

Unit 2 Chapter 4 Spain Builds An Empire

Lesson 1 Voyages of Columbus pgs 134-139

Latitude and Longitude pgs 140-141

Voyage of the Mimi-The Incas

Grade 6

Story:Elizabeth Blackwell-Medical Pioneer Drama-Biography

Target Skill: Setting

Spelling: ent,ant,ence,ance endings-these are tricky!

English: Linking and Action Verbs

Writing: Journals & Autobiography stories

Novel Unit: Tuck Everlasting

Teacher Read aloud: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Thursday Night Conferences

2009-11-12T21:04:00.000-06:00

100% attendance at tonight's conference!! Not many schools can boast that. Way to go, parents! It was a very productive night and I look forward to Monday's conferences next week.

New Novels in November!

2009-11-12T20:48:00.001-06:00

The 5th Grade is now reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Yes, she is the same author who wrote The Tarantula in My Purse, that the 6th graders had as a read aloud. She is one of my favorite authors and has selections in both the 5th and 6th grade basal readers. This story is a classic and the kids are loving it! It's the story of a boy who runs away and lives on his own in nature in a burnt out tree with his trained pet falcon. Every 5th grader has a copy of this book in their desk to read along with.

I inherited this book set from a former 6th grade teacher. I read it years ago and enjoyed it very much. It happens to be one of Mrs. Hanson's all-time favorites for young adults. Every 6th grader has a copy of their own. We're in Chapter 5 and things are getting VERY interesting. Many students have seen the movie, but only one has read the book.

Nov. 10-13 Plans

2009-11-12T20:36:00.000-06:00

Grade 5

Story: Everglades

Skill: Author's Viewpoint

Spelling: Basewords

Language: Possessive Nouns

Read aloud: How to Steal A Dog

Novel Unit: My Side of the Mountain

Social Studies

Lesson 3

Unit 2 Test

Grade 6

Story: The Day of the Turtle

Skill: Visualizing

Spelling: Compound words

Language: Commas with Nouns

Novel Unit: Tuck Everlasting

Special Events This Week:

Veterans' Day Wednesday

Conferences -Thursday 3:30-7:30

Nov. 2-6 Plans

2009-11-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

5th Grade

Dwaina Brooks Narrative Nonfiction

Target Skill: Fact & Opinion

Spelling: Compound Words

Language: Plural Nouns

Novel Unit: The Bad Beginning (AR)

Teacher Read aloud: How to Steal a Dog

Social Studies

Lesson 3 Southwest Desert pg 88

Lesson 4 Northwest Coast pg 95

Chapter 2 Test

6th Grade

Storm-a-Dust Realistic Fiction

Target Skill: Setting

Spelling: Compound Words

Language: Possessive Nouns

Teacher Read Aloud: Tarantula In My Purse (AR)

Book Adventure

2009-11-01T14:30:00.000-06:00

The 5th graders are now registered at Book Adventure.

New Novels!

2009-10-25T22:06:00.001-05:00

This is our new 5th grade novel unit. We have copies for everyone and a fantastic audio from our library. This is the first of thirteen in this series, so if your child loves it, there are plenty more for them to look forward to.
I am reading this aloud to the 6th graders. Last week, the crow stories were the featured story in our basal readers. It's a wonderful autobiography. Jean Craighead George is best known for Julie of the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain.

This is the read aloud we're enjoying at the end of the day. The kids come back into the room for the final 15 mn of each day. They write in their planners and listen as I read. This book was highly recommended by my sister Shari, who teaches 4th grade.

Book Adventure

2009-10-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

My 6th Graders have been signed up at Book Adventure. This comprehension site is an alternative to Accelerated Reader. Their scores will be saved in my account and students can check their scores at any time. There are many titles that we may not have on AR and it's FREE! I plan to sign up my 5th graders this week, perhaps with the help of the 6th graders. Your child may test on the same book at AR and Book Adventure if the book is on both sites. It might be fun to compare the questions.

More Websites

2009-10-20T18:52:00.000-05:00

I posted 2 more websites on my blog. Free Rice is a great website that allows you to practice skills and contribute to a good cause as well. It began as a website to expand vocabulary and they keep adding more content. My 5th and 6th graders practice English grammar and vocabulary at this site, but you can find much more here. I love this website!

Primary Games has been around for a long time. It covers a wide age level and skills to practice in a fun setting. We go here to play "Flip Words." It's under the language arts category. You make words and guess phrases at the same time. The kids love it when I give them a few minutes in the lab for this game.

Plans for Oct. 19-23

2009-10-20T18:34:00.000-05:00

Grade 5

Unit 2 Lesson 1

The Diver & the Dolphin "A true story"

Narrative-nonfiction

Target Skill: Steps in a Process

Grammar: Nouns

Writing: Finish early memory stories

Spelling: Words with consonant sounds

Social Studies: Begin Unit 2

Lesson 1 & 2

Study for October Passport Club

Grade 6

Unit 2 Lesson 1

A Trouble Making Crow

Autobiography

Target Skill: Making judgements

Grammar: Proper & Common Nouns

Writing: Finish personal narratives

Spelling: words from other cultures

Oct. 12-14

2009-10-11T22:25:00.000-05:00

Grades 5 & 6

Unit 1 Skills Test Reading

Writing: Personal Narratives

The Landry News: Both groups finished this Andrew Clements novel and will be testing on AR. It's worth 4 points if all 10 questions are answered correctly.

No spelling list this week!

Lesson Plans for Oct. 5-9

2009-10-04T17:54:00.000-05:00

Grade 5

Language Arts

Story: Eloise Greenfield

Target Skill: Author's Purpose

Language: Fragments & Run-ons

Writing: Personal Narratives

Spelling: sounds in rule, use, off

Social Studies

Lesson 2 pg 62 Anasazi & Inuit/Review

Lesson 3 pg 66-71 Rise of the Empires

Lesson 3 Review Chapter 1 Test

Novel Unit/AR Selection: The Landry News

Grade 6

Language Arts

Story: The Telephone Call

Target Skill: Character

Language: Combining Sentences

Writing: Personal Narrative

Spelling: complex spelling patterns

Novel Unit/AR Selection: The Landry News

6th Grade Mn History is now being taught by Grade 6 Homeroom teachers.

Big Kitty

2009-09-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

My 6th graders have requested pictures of Big Kitty, so here she is. They have heard a few stories about her and know that she is our attack cat. She attacked a black lab last summer and chased a little rat terrier, poor little guy, almost scared him to death. She was adopted from the Humane Society in Elbow Lake and her official name is Nola.

Great Spelling Website

2009-09-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

Looking for a fun & easy way to practice those spelling words? Check out Spelling City! I introduced the 5th and 6th graders to this website with our Smartboard and they entered their own "tricky" words in the computer lab. This website allows kids to practice their words with a variety of fun and educational games. If you have computer access at home, you will want to try this. Your child can show you how it works. Click on the highlighted link above or go to www.spellingcity.com

Plans for Sept. 28-Oct. 2

2009-09-27T19:26:00.000-05:00

Grade 5

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 4 Meeting Mr. Henry

Target Skill: Cause & Effect

Spelling: long sound of a, i,o

Writing: Compound & Complex Sentences

Novel Unit: The Landry News by Andrew Clements Chapter 14

Social Studies

US History Unit 1 Early Life, East and West Lesson 2

Grade 6

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 4 Hot Dogs & Bamboo Shoots

Target Skill: Generalizing

Spelling: Vowel sounds with r

Writing: Compound & Complex Sentences

Novel Unit: The Landry News Chapter 11

Social Studies

Mn History Ch 3

Special Events this Week

It's Homecoming Week!

The bulb came for our Smartboard last Friday. It works again!

Lesson Plans for Sept 21-25

2009-09-20T20:23:00.000-05:00

Grade 5

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 3 Looking for a Home

Target Skill: Generalizing

Spelling: sounds of oy, ou

Writing: 4 Kinds of Sentences

Novel Unit: The Landry News by Andrew Clements Chapter 11

Social Studies

US History Unit 1 Early Life, East and West

Grade 6

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 3 April's Mud

Target Skill: Cause/Effect

Spelling: words with rule and view sounds

Writing: Ind & Dep. Clauses

Novel Unit: The Landry News Chapter 8

Social Studies

Mn History Ch 2

Special Events this Week

Golf & Cross Country classes at Tipsinah Mounds Golf Course on Tues. afternoon

Lab is available again and we hope the Smartboard bulb comes this week!

5th Graders at Work

2009-09-19T15:09:00.000-05:00

Click on the picture to see a large version of the photo.

NWEA complete!

2009-09-17T13:01:00.000-05:00

We are finished with our fall NWEA progress tests. We tested in math, reading and language arts.

Please remember to sign your child's planner each day. We are getting into the routine of using them, slowly but surely! Thank you! Mrs. Smith

Plans for September 14-18

2009-09-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

NWEA Tests this week.

Grade 5

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 2 /Faith & Eddie

Spelling Short e and long e

Subjects & Predicates

Novel Unit: The Landry News by Andrew Clements Chapter 6

Social Studies

US History Unit 1 Early Life, East and West

Grade 6

Language Arts

Unit 1 Lesson 2 Story Teammates A biography of Jackie Robinson

Spelling words with ie

Subjects/Predicates

Novel Unit: The Landry News Chapter 5

Social Studies

Mn History Ch 1 What is Mn?

Why a Blog?

2009-08-25T18:25:00.000-05:00

Why does our classroom have a blog? For me, this blog will be another way for us to communicate and an easy way to show what is happening in our classroom. In the past, I have shared many classroom pictures/information via email and many parents have told me that they really appreciate that. Some pass pictures along to other family members such as grandparents. They love seeing what their grandchild's classroom looks like and what they are learning about. I think this blog can help us all stay connected. I hope you will enjoy checking it out often. ~Mrs. Smith

Classroom Update

2009-08-25T17:35:00.001-05:00

After unpacking and organizing 78 boxes, this is what our classroom currently looks like. It's a pretty big change from the last post. I have always enjoyed putting a classroom together and trying to create a warm and inviting environment. Taking it all down at the end of the year is not fun at all for me. I guess I like beginnings better than endings.

Here's a little science corner. We'll have fish and plants here too.

Lots of books waiting to be read!

An Empty Room

2009-07-29T08:37:00.001-05:00

I snapped these photo's in early June. Believe me, after unpacking 59 boxes so far, it does not look like this any longer. There are about 20 boxes left to unpack and then I can do some serious decorating here. I've already been informed about the use of tape on the walls-not allowed! That's okay, as there are better ways that should not destroy the walls.
This is a nice big classroom-plenty of room for 28, which is the largest class so far. I love all the open counters and the storage is great. I also like having a storage room that I share with 4 other teachers. I have my own column of shelves inside and there's still plenty of room there-probably not for long. :)
Last week, in the middle of July, the SMARTboard was installed right in the middle of that gray board up there. It's not a white board or a chalkboard, what do we call it?! Anyway, I'm so excited to have new students, a new classroom and a new Smartboard!!! You would have blown me over a year ago if you told me this is what I would be doing in the fall of 2009. That's one of the things I love about teaching; everything changes-always fun new beginnings to look forward to. Every day is completely different from the one before. If you are bored in the field of education, it's time to take a serious look at what you are doing.

A new beginning!

2009-05-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

I recently found out that I will be teaching 5th and 6th grade reading, language arts and social studies. I am very excited about this new path in my career!