Hi Everyone!
Welcome to November! Here are some highlights you need to know this month...
Language Arts: We are doing an integrated study of Native Cultures. Students are reading literature novels based on the Navajo Long Walk and the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Melissa, one of our amazing student teachers taught a variety of lessons based on the Cherokee Trail of Tears. We also had a guest presenter, Brenda Brainard from the Natives Program come and present to the class. She brought an impressive collection of furs for the students to learn about, and she brought a variety of foods from different Native Tribes. A big thank you to Kay for organizing this event last week!!
SPECIAL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR NOVEMBER:
NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORICAL FAMILY/WRITING PROJECT
DUE NOVEMBER 30th, 2010
DEAR PARENTS AND STUDENTS,
To honor the Native Cultures across this land, I am asking 4th and 5th grade students to create a Native American Project. Please work with your student to identify their preferred learning style, and create an appropriate project. All projects should be labeled with the tribe they represent and be accompanied by a written assignment.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
4th Grade projects must be accompanied by at least two paragraphs. One paragraph explaining the significance of the piece/project, and one paragraph explaining where the tribe/group is today.
5th Grade projects must be accompanied by at least three paragraphs. One paragraph explaining the significance of the piece/project, one paragraph explaining where the tribe/group is today, and one paragraph expanding on how the students feels about the way Native tribes have been treated throughout history.
~EXTRA CREDIT FOR ALL STUDENTS~
• Created a cover page for your report including the title, date, your name, and a photo or drawing.
• Compile a bibliography, citing your sources you
Here are some ideas grouped by learning preference:
Mathematical / Logical –
Create a graph of a particular tribe illustrating:
• fluctuations in population over the years.
• land area owned by the tribe over the years.
• any statistics that are of interest to you.
• Classify and/or categorize information comparing/contrasting two tribes/nations.
Tactile / Creative
• Create a small model of a housing structure used by a particular tribe/nation before European settlement.
• Craft a representation of a toy or game used by the children.
• Create a weaving representative of a particular tribe/nation.
• Create a collage representative of a particular tribe/nation.
• Create a piece of artwork representative of a particular tribe/nation.
Verbal / Linguistic
• Write a poem.
• Create a poster board themed around your selected tribe/nation.
• Create a timeline of historical events occurring within a particular tribe/nation.
THESE ARE JUST A FEW IDEAS! I AM SURE YOU HAVE MANY, MANY, MANY, MORE!!! BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN EXPLORING THE RICH CULTURE OF THESE UNIQUE CULTURES.
Here are a few of the Oregon State Standards addressed with this project:
* Identify Native-American groups in Oregon and the Western Hemisphere before European exploration, the regions in which they lived, compare their ways of life.
* Identify and understand the groups living in the Oregon territory before European exploration, their ways of life, and the empires they developed.
* Understand the impact of early European exploration on Native Americans in Oregon.
The tribe/nation I would like to research is:_____________________________________________________
OTHER HOMEWORK:
Language Arts ~ 1. Read 20 minutes 5 nights this week
2. Complete your quick write:
If roads and streets turned into rivers how would this change the world?
Math ~ Week 7
Important Dates:
No School November 11th & 12th
Picture Retakes November 19th
No School November 25th & 26th
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Classroom Happenings ~ September 23rd
Good Evening!
Welcome to another week of school!
I have to start with a great big THANK YOU to all the parents who have graciously donated snacks!!! At this rate we will be snacking well through Winter Break! Your generosity is much appreciated!
I'd like to give a a great big THANK YOU for the three refrigerator boxes which arrived in the classroom last week. If you haven't heard, we are going to attempt to construct our version of a space station! Students have been designing plans and brainstorming ideas on what our version of the ISS should look like! I have a feeling this will be an ongoing project taking many weeks. Wish us luck!
Another great big THANK YOU goes to Andrea for coming in and helping students start our 'Space Mural' Thursday afternoon. It is always helpful to have an extra set of hands helping out in the classroom. Speaking of volunteers, many of you have been asking about it! On curriculum night I will have a sign up sheet for all interested parents!
Finally, another great big THANK YOU goes to Tom for coming in and doing a solstice presentation today. He took the kids on the playground and did a wonderful job of explaining how the tether ball pole and the sun helped the second best mathematician of all time, Eratosthenes, discover the approximate circumference of the earth, 2300 years ago!
Happenings by Subject:
Reading ~ This week we completed our district reading and vocabulary testing. Students have also been engaged in self-selected reading material. I am impressed with the challenging reading materials most students are self selecting.
Writing ~ Using a multitude of non-fiction space literature we found fascinating space facts this week. These facts will be used to enhance our expository writing experience next week. Students are also working on legends to match the constellations they are painting in art block. Finally, students learned about 'great grabbers'. These are hooks authors use to pull readers into their stories. Students are encouraged to recognize great grabbers when they read, and to use great grabbers in their original compositions.
Social Studies ~ Melissa has been doing a wonderful job of giving students the opportunity to explore the world through geography. Students are in the process of creating a huge global map using an 'old fashion' overhead machine to project outlines of the continents for tracing onto butcher paper. We are excited to hang our world map up soon!
Science ~ We continue to explore the final frontier of space! This week students viewed quick videos explaining how the ISS (International Space Station) was constructed while orbiting the earth at 17,500 miles per hour!! Students also learned astronauts orbiting the earth look like they have swollen faces because their body fluids shift to the top part of the body while in orbit. It is a similar feeling to hanging upside down for an extended period of time. Students also viewed the shuttle docking onto the space station and learned about the airlock door opening to allow shuttle astronauts onto the ISS.
Art ~ Student sculptures are nearly complete. Many have been painted. We hope to have these on display for curriculum night next week!
Math ~ We continue to explore arrays. This week students created 'Area Bots' on graph paper. Students are building on the concept of arrays by calculating the dimensions of the robots, and using the calculations to find the total area of their robot. We are also working on memorizing the doubles. (3x3,4x4,5x5,6x6,7x7,8x8,9x9)
HOMEWORK ~Due September 28th
Reading Log ~ Click here to download a reading log! :)
Writing ~ 4th graders need to compose 4 great grabbers to put into their portfolios
5th graders need to compose 7 great grabbers to put into their portfolios
***Please encourage students to choose grabbers of stories they would be interested in continuing at a later date in the school year.
Special Science Projects Due September 28th ~ Click here to download a copy of the assignment!
Math ~ No homework this week
Have a wonderful week!
~Ms. DuBois
Welcome to another week of school!
I have to start with a great big THANK YOU to all the parents who have graciously donated snacks!!! At this rate we will be snacking well through Winter Break! Your generosity is much appreciated!
I'd like to give a a great big THANK YOU for the three refrigerator boxes which arrived in the classroom last week. If you haven't heard, we are going to attempt to construct our version of a space station! Students have been designing plans and brainstorming ideas on what our version of the ISS should look like! I have a feeling this will be an ongoing project taking many weeks. Wish us luck!
Another great big THANK YOU goes to Andrea for coming in and helping students start our 'Space Mural' Thursday afternoon. It is always helpful to have an extra set of hands helping out in the classroom. Speaking of volunteers, many of you have been asking about it! On curriculum night I will have a sign up sheet for all interested parents!
Finally, another great big THANK YOU goes to Tom for coming in and doing a solstice presentation today. He took the kids on the playground and did a wonderful job of explaining how the tether ball pole and the sun helped the second best mathematician of all time, Eratosthenes, discover the approximate circumference of the earth, 2300 years ago!
Happenings by Subject:
Reading ~ This week we completed our district reading and vocabulary testing. Students have also been engaged in self-selected reading material. I am impressed with the challenging reading materials most students are self selecting.
Writing ~ Using a multitude of non-fiction space literature we found fascinating space facts this week. These facts will be used to enhance our expository writing experience next week. Students are also working on legends to match the constellations they are painting in art block. Finally, students learned about 'great grabbers'. These are hooks authors use to pull readers into their stories. Students are encouraged to recognize great grabbers when they read, and to use great grabbers in their original compositions.
Social Studies ~ Melissa has been doing a wonderful job of giving students the opportunity to explore the world through geography. Students are in the process of creating a huge global map using an 'old fashion' overhead machine to project outlines of the continents for tracing onto butcher paper. We are excited to hang our world map up soon!
Science ~ We continue to explore the final frontier of space! This week students viewed quick videos explaining how the ISS (International Space Station) was constructed while orbiting the earth at 17,500 miles per hour!! Students also learned astronauts orbiting the earth look like they have swollen faces because their body fluids shift to the top part of the body while in orbit. It is a similar feeling to hanging upside down for an extended period of time. Students also viewed the shuttle docking onto the space station and learned about the airlock door opening to allow shuttle astronauts onto the ISS.
Art ~ Student sculptures are nearly complete. Many have been painted. We hope to have these on display for curriculum night next week!
Math ~ We continue to explore arrays. This week students created 'Area Bots' on graph paper. Students are building on the concept of arrays by calculating the dimensions of the robots, and using the calculations to find the total area of their robot. We are also working on memorizing the doubles. (3x3,4x4,5x5,6x6,7x7,8x8,9x9)
HOMEWORK ~Due September 28th
Reading Log ~ Click here to download a reading log! :)
Writing ~ 4th graders need to compose 4 great grabbers to put into their portfolios
5th graders need to compose 7 great grabbers to put into their portfolios
***Please encourage students to choose grabbers of stories they would be interested in continuing at a later date in the school year.
Special Science Projects Due September 28th ~ Click here to download a copy of the assignment!
Math ~ No homework this week
Have a wonderful week!
~Ms. DuBois
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Classroom Happenings ~ September 14th
Dear Parents,
It has been an amazing first week of school. The students are fantastic, the curriculum is engaging, and the energy level is through the roof! Everyone seems very happy to be back at school and we are beginning to settle into our routines. I can't express how impressed I am with each and every student this year!
As the month of September progresses, there are a couple of things we could use in class.
SNACK DONATIONS:
Each child is encouraged to bring a snack everyday. By recess time, we are getting quite hungry. A simple morning snack of fruit, cheese, or crackers helps a lot! Not all children remember each day, so I like to have some extra snack items on hand. If you are in a position to donate snack items for our class, we would VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT! Some healthy snack suggestions from our district wellness policy include: Graham Cracker based items, Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, Wheat Thins, Cheese Nips, Goldfish, Ritz Crackers, and Pretzels. These items also store well. Thank you for your kindness!!!!
REFRIGERATOR BOXES:
Do you have any idea where we can get some VERY LARGE boxes? I have a very special project in mind and would love to get 2 or 3 refrigerator boxes brought to our classroom! Please Contact me if you can help!
RECYCLED ITEMS:
Thursday and Friday we are beginning our recycled space sculptures. If you have clean items in your recycling at home please send them in as soon as possible so we can begin creating. Items we need include, clean plastic bottles, containers, lids, corks, boxes, unusually shaped items, etc... Any item you have which can be turned into a rocket, alien, space station, or planet will be very much appreciated!!!
HAPPENINGS BY SUBJECT!
Reading ~ This week students are continuing to read self selected chapter books. Students are keeping record of the books they read and identifying the genre, as they fill in their reading logs. In our Treasures Reading Anthologies, 5th grade students learned about Space Camp in Alabama, and 4th grade students learned about our solar system. All students are working on summarizing information.
Writing ~ All students were given a writing portfolio this week. The portfolio is where students will keep all writing compositions for the entire school year. The Young Writers Association of Lane County is sponsoring a scary story writing contest. Some students have decided to write a scary story. Other students are working on Alien stories, comic strips, and/or choice writing compositions.
Social Studies ~ We have started a geography unit. We will be working on distinguishing between continent, country, state, county, and city. We started this week by identifying countries of the world and listing which continent they are located in. Students are encouraged to bring in small objects/artifacts from around the world for our 'Where in the World' bulletin board. It would be amazing to obtain one item from every country in the world!
Science ~ September is the month of Space exploration! Our classroom wall now has many planets hanging among the constellations. It looks stellar!
Speech ~ Students continue to present their '3 things in a bag'. The presentations have been very well done. Everyone is enjoying telling about themselves and we are learning a lot about the members of our classroom community.
Math ~ This week we are reviewing the vocabulary words product, factor, and array. Students have created arrays using puffy stickers, dots, pencil drawings, and each other! In the coming weeks we will be working hard on memorizing our multiplication facts. Practicing at home every night will help your child become fluent with their facts. Students who are fluent may want to extend themselves by learning 12's and 15's!
Art ~ Art Smart vocabulary this week included, Color, Mood, Line, Sketch, Horizon Line, and Action Lines. Students have been sketching aliens and working on choice sketching art. I hope you come by and see our amazing alien art work. It is out of this world!
Wow... all that work and we have only been in school 5 days! It IS going to be a great year.
~Ms. DuBois
It has been an amazing first week of school. The students are fantastic, the curriculum is engaging, and the energy level is through the roof! Everyone seems very happy to be back at school and we are beginning to settle into our routines. I can't express how impressed I am with each and every student this year!
As the month of September progresses, there are a couple of things we could use in class.
SNACK DONATIONS:
Each child is encouraged to bring a snack everyday. By recess time, we are getting quite hungry. A simple morning snack of fruit, cheese, or crackers helps a lot! Not all children remember each day, so I like to have some extra snack items on hand. If you are in a position to donate snack items for our class, we would VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT! Some healthy snack suggestions from our district wellness policy include: Graham Cracker based items, Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, Wheat Thins, Cheese Nips, Goldfish, Ritz Crackers, and Pretzels. These items also store well. Thank you for your kindness!!!!
REFRIGERATOR BOXES:
Do you have any idea where we can get some VERY LARGE boxes? I have a very special project in mind and would love to get 2 or 3 refrigerator boxes brought to our classroom! Please Contact me if you can help!
RECYCLED ITEMS:
Thursday and Friday we are beginning our recycled space sculptures. If you have clean items in your recycling at home please send them in as soon as possible so we can begin creating. Items we need include, clean plastic bottles, containers, lids, corks, boxes, unusually shaped items, etc... Any item you have which can be turned into a rocket, alien, space station, or planet will be very much appreciated!!!
HAPPENINGS BY SUBJECT!
Reading ~ This week students are continuing to read self selected chapter books. Students are keeping record of the books they read and identifying the genre, as they fill in their reading logs. In our Treasures Reading Anthologies, 5th grade students learned about Space Camp in Alabama, and 4th grade students learned about our solar system. All students are working on summarizing information.
Writing ~ All students were given a writing portfolio this week. The portfolio is where students will keep all writing compositions for the entire school year. The Young Writers Association of Lane County is sponsoring a scary story writing contest. Some students have decided to write a scary story. Other students are working on Alien stories, comic strips, and/or choice writing compositions.
Social Studies ~ We have started a geography unit. We will be working on distinguishing between continent, country, state, county, and city. We started this week by identifying countries of the world and listing which continent they are located in. Students are encouraged to bring in small objects/artifacts from around the world for our 'Where in the World' bulletin board. It would be amazing to obtain one item from every country in the world!
Science ~ September is the month of Space exploration! Our classroom wall now has many planets hanging among the constellations. It looks stellar!
Speech ~ Students continue to present their '3 things in a bag'. The presentations have been very well done. Everyone is enjoying telling about themselves and we are learning a lot about the members of our classroom community.
Math ~ This week we are reviewing the vocabulary words product, factor, and array. Students have created arrays using puffy stickers, dots, pencil drawings, and each other! In the coming weeks we will be working hard on memorizing our multiplication facts. Practicing at home every night will help your child become fluent with their facts. Students who are fluent may want to extend themselves by learning 12's and 15's!
Art ~ Art Smart vocabulary this week included, Color, Mood, Line, Sketch, Horizon Line, and Action Lines. Students have been sketching aliens and working on choice sketching art. I hope you come by and see our amazing alien art work. It is out of this world!
Wow... all that work and we have only been in school 5 days! It IS going to be a great year.
~Ms. DuBois
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)