Friction, what is Friction?

Your child has probably been singing that tune at home the past week... is it driving you crazy yet?  The good news is that it's a fabulous way to remember some science comcepts.  If you haven't heard it yet, here it is. 



We have been studying Newton's Laws of motion, and specifically, the concepts of inertia and friction.  Here's an example of what we did in class...



Would the toy cars travel faster on wax paper, sandpaper, or bubble wrap?  Kids made hypotheses and tested out their theories. 

Next, we will be studying speed and how to calculate speed.

Thankful for Traditions?

Each Fall at this time of year, I ask the students to write about what they are thankful for.  This year, the students got to choose between this topic and another-- their favorite family traditions.  We've been having a great time discussing these traditions in class.

The past few weeks, we have been reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.  This is one of my all-time favorite read alouds, and has the kids intrigued from the beginning.  After all, it's not every day that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder and found guilty...

We hope to finish the book before Thanksgiving break and will later use the book to explore how characters change throughout the course of books.  

November News

It's been quite a while since the last post, and lots has been going on in the classroom.  First, a couple of photos. We hosted the kindergarteners for Mix-It-Up Lunch.  Thanks to some tablecloths brought in by the Zietz family and the super volunteer skills of Michele Miller, we transformed our classroom into a cafe, complete with placemats made for each kindergartener.  We learned a couple of lessons during this lunch...

Kindergarteners take a long time to eat.

Some are quiet and some are not.

They need help zipping coats and tying shoes.

They sometimes need help opening packages of carrots.

Even though they looked scared, they had a good time.

Eating lunch in the classroom is much quieter than in the cafeteria.

They had lots of interesting answers to our questions.

 And, they weren't quite sure what to make of our purple money.

And in other news, the iPad has arrived in our classroom thanks to a workshop I attended.  So far a few students have gotten the chance to try it out.  We have used it to practice math facts, learn about explorers and play a few fun games.  

Also, I am please to report that our color behavior chart is a huge success.  Students who move to yellow are quick to be reflective about their actions and rarely move to orange.  This was our hope.  Next week we are instituting a reward for students who remain in green for five days.  We are giving every student in the fifth grade a charm bracelet (much like the bracelets Mrs. C gave out for walking club).  Whenever a student gets five green days--not necessarily consecutive-- they will receive a charm.  Our hope is that they will fill the bracelets quickly.

Polar Caves

Anyone who has ever said chaperoning isn't fun has never been with DBS' Grade 5 to the Polar Caves in Plymouth, NH.  I think most of the trip is summed up by looking at photos of two adults:

Mr. Kehoe squeezing through the Lemon Squeeze!

Mrs. Olsen during the Lemon squeeze... and 

after!

Now, for those of us who had previously heard of how tough this particular route was...

Of course, this trip is all about the kids... and we encouraged them to read the signs along the paths.  This one in particular caught some interest.  

Photos

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Layers of the Earth

We have been eating our way through Earth's changing surface this week.  Make sure you have a conversation about how Milky Way bars are like Earth's surface, and how eggs are like Earth itself.  And check this out:  I can't wait to see what The Crew thinks of this.

How to Prime Factor a Number

We've been doing this in class during math, and the kids love it.  I have to admit, it is one of those satisfying mathematical tasks.  When you're done, you have a nice string of prime numbers.  The students are working on how to use exponential form as well.  Bonus:  can you prime factor 1,500?

Where are YOU from?

This week we have been finishing up our personal renditions of George Lyons' poem Where I'm From.  The kids did and amazing job, and here are a few.  More will come, I promise.  I think they did an amazing job, and the kids' true personalities shine through.

WhErE I'M FrOm

by Eric

I'm from the warm bed in the hospital

To my warm bed at home

From the leaf piles in my yard

To my hot chocolate 

in winter

I'm from my cookies at Christmas

From

Hearing

What

the

Saginaw

Quality is

To 

Clean

In the tub

Where I'm From

by Odin

I'm from Florida or maybe Vermont

I'm from the tree I climb or the rock that says L♥JJ, possibly the hammock

that swings my sister left and right

Maybe I'm from my cousins, my mom, my dad, my brother or sister, the super

heroes that protect me, or it might just be my best friend

Or I'm from the time my pants fell off in a dino museum and said

that dino scared my pants off!

I'm from PIZZA, CAKE, PRETZELS, GOLDFISH, CANDY, GUM 7 of

my favorite foods.

I'm from Lightning Soccer, vacation, snow hills, parties and get-togethers

I'm from feasts at Thanksgiving or presents at Christmas

I'm from mythology, inventing and drawing

I'm from rock'n'roll, or in my sister's case, pop

I'm from fame and the lights that make me shine

or maybe I'm from me, an ordinary kid, just with the coolest life.

Prime or Composite?

Yesterday in math we explored prime and composite numbers.  Prime number are numbers who have only 2 factors (one and itself).  Composite numbers have more than two factors. 

We the People

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union..." The kids in the house might be humming and singing some tunes the parents can't quite put their fingers on...  Yes, it's the old Schoolhouse Rocks videos from Saturday morning cartoons.  We're using them to help us study government, specifically.  We've translated the Preamble to the constitution using THIS VIDEO.  And now we're learning about the branches of government and how a bill becomes a law.  It's all been very musical and lots of fun!
Hopefully we'll have a special video for parents to watch soon.

What a Clunker!

No it's not a car that isn't working.  Today in reading, we began group books.  These books are a unique way for all of us to share our reading thoughts together.  Today we talked about encountering a spot in a book that makes you pause because there is something we don't understand.  "Clunks" can be words, phrases, sentences or whole sections of a book.  Fix Up Strategies are the ways we overcome the "clunks."  When kids are reading independently, there should be very few clunks-- if there are a lot, the book he or she is reading is too hard.

A few more photos to share...

Math Question of the Day

Okay so here is the math question of the day:  How long will it take eighteen fifth graders to get on each other's nerves in a 93 degree classroom during the first week of school?  Exactly five days.  By the end of today, they had all pretty much had it with each other.  However, the day was brightened with cupcakes for a birthday girl... they were YUMMY by the way... popsicles for those students who were willing to pay $5 VCB's for them, and a mini-auction where the students got to see first-hand what kinds of goodies they were in store for.

Here's another math question for today:  How many fifth graders were willing to part with five hard earned dollars in exchange for an ice cold popsicle?  Eight.  Eight out of the seventeen in attendance.  Just to make the economics connection, we talked about what they were giving up in order to buy the popsicle (their opportunity cost), and after we discussed if it was worth it.  We also discussed why some items began at a higher price in the auction than others.  Hmmmm... supply and demand???

Here are a few more photos from the first few days.  In these, we are beginning to explore the heart of the first math unit, patterns and arrangements.  It looks like we're playing with blocks, but really we are exploring patterns, a key step in understanding algebra later on.  The visual, hands-on aspect makes the kids really see the patterns.  Being able to physically manipulate the blocks helps with their understanding of the patterns.

Those little cubes are hard to stack!

Despite the difficulty, arrangements 4 and 5 were built.

We even used 1" cubes, which made the rest jealous!

Height Graphs

One of our first math lessons of the year involves taking measurements of heights, and creating representations to show heights in an organized way.  This lesson reappears in June, and the kids are really amazed how much they grow in one year.  Everyone except me.

The heat is still causing some stir, but the kids are not complaining.  It's only the adults who can't tolerate the heat.

Here are a few more photos from our outdoor work time.  It's nice to be outside, since in a few months this weather will be a distant memory.

JOBS are a topic of discussion lately, as the students really want to start earning a salary.  They are excited to hear about the different jobs tomorrow morning, and they will be asked to choose their top three.  Hopefully they all get what they want.  Bus Patrol with Mrs. B also started today.  That was "HUGE" since many of the kids have been waiting for years to do this.

Welcome Back!

Wow, it's hard to believe summer's over-- especially since temperatures in the classroom reached the high 90's today.  For a break in the heat, we actually went outside.  I think the kids were grateful for the slight breeze, because they worked quietly for quite a while.

This week, the kids are learning the routines of the classroom, while easing a bit into the academics.  Today we read a poem by Judith Viorst called "If I were in Charge of the World."  The kids thought this was hilarious and wrote their own versions, to be published later.  Wait until you hear what your kids would do if they were in charge of the world.