http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/index.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut

http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm

http://www.earlyamerica.com/independence.htm

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/revolution/revolution.htm

http://libertyskids.com/

http://library.thinkquest.org/4536/

http://library.thinkquest.org/5954/

Hello all!  I know everyone is excited and anxious about the spring field trip to DC and you all want to know if you’re chaperones or not.  Please be patient, I’m still waiting on a few parents who have filled out the volunteer clearance information to be cleared.  I should have the final list next week.  The deadline for the first payment ($80) is next week.  This information was on the yellow sheet that went home before trackout.   Chaperones will also need to pay $160.oo, but we don’t need that next week.  If you are chosen as a chaperone, I will send an information sheet home with your child.  Please know that as a chaperone you will need to ride the bus, be staying with children in the hotel room and be responsible for them throughout the trip.   I realize that some of the other classes have already announced their chaperones, but to be fair, I really feel I need to wait on the clearance for these last couple of parents.  We only have 13 spaces, and there are 22 parents who have volunteered, so it will have to be a random drawing.  Thank you all for being patient throughout this process!

In classroom news our new behavior system has been a great success!  They’ll be bringing their treat bags home today, and they’ll get new ones on Monday for the month of November.  We’ve had much better reports in all of our specials, transitions in class have gone smoother and the overall chattiness of the class has decreased!  YAY!

We have 2 projects coming up in the next few weeks.  We are finishing up our Weather brochures and starting a Revolutionary War research project next week.  The Revolutionary War project will due before Thanksgiving and an in-class assignment once again.  Some research can be done at home but the project itself will be done completely at school.

I’ve met with many of you for conferences in the past few weeks.  If we haven’t already had our first conference, I’d like to have one before Thanksgiving.  Please let me know what works best for you, and I’ll do my best to accomodate you. 

Thanks for all your support!

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/

http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather

http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/weather1.htm

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/

http://www.wildwildweather.com/

http://www.fema.gov/kids/dizarea.htm

(Emma’s link) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods-profile.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/flood.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods-profile.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/natural-disaster

Welcome back track 4!  We’ve had a great couple of days.  Most of the kids have really come back focused and ready to go!  I decided to try a “Treat Bag” reward system this quarter.  I’ve stapled a treat back for each child on our bulletin board in the classroom.  Whenever a student or students are caught doing what they’re supposed to be doing, they’ll get a treat placed in their bag.   They’ll get to take the bags home at the end of the month. 

 I need your help to collect treats for the bags.   If you are able, please send in individually packaged candies, small erasers, fun pencils, stickers or small toys. 

This quarter in science we will be focused on weather.  Students will need to go to the library and check out some books on weather or do some research on the internet  at  different times during the quarter.  There will be quite a bit of book work as well, some of it will come home as homework.

Currently in math we are focused on comparing and ordering decimals from the tenths place to the thousandths.  From decimals we will move to geometry and graphing.

In language arts we will be conducting research and writing pamphlets and essays, as well as writing friendly letters.

Please let me know if you’d like a conference.  Please email me at akaiser@wcpss.net

Parents,

While many of the CROP-QV posters were very nicely done, many were rushed through, incomplete or just sloppy.  I think it is important for students to take pride in their work, and produce a quality assignment.  Neatness was a factor in the grade, but it was not a huge component.  If you and your child think that the poster is of the quality that should be displayed, please send them back in and I will hang them in the hallway.  If you’d like to take part of the track out and have them to recreate this project, taking their time and putting a bit more effort into it, I’d be more than happy to put it up when we return.

Parents and students,  it is official, our trip is on!  Our dates are March 25-26 (right before we track out!). 

I will be sending a form home tomorrow with the information and an itinerary.  Please return it on Friday.  No payment is due yet, but we need to know exactly who is going and who  wants to chaperone.  We will have a limitend number of chaperones,  so I cannot gaurantee that if you sign up to chaperone, you will go.    The cost for each student and chaperone will be $160.00.  

Parents if you have questions about the trip, please hold off until you recieve the forms tomorrow, and then send an email to make it easier for me to respond. 

THANKS!

I  recieved a few emails and comments about spelling sorts last night.  All students should have a spelling contract, so that they know what to do each evening.  This contract will change next quarter.  All work should be done in the spiral notebook that was given to them in class.   The other fifth grade classes do not give the students the sorts at the top of the spelling list, and expect that the kids will figure out the sorts themselves.  However, most of the kids in this class have not had spelling sorts since they were in first or second grades, if they’ve had them at all, and I feel that they need the sorts as a guide until they’re comfortable with it.  For the DC group, did a quick search on Yahoo, and the first three links gave me the information below that was very helpful in explaining the sound very well.   I hope that this clarifies the spelling from last night.  Please let me know if there are more questions.

From wikipedia.org

• like the ‘a’ in about
• like the ‘e’ in taken
• like the ‘i’ in pencil 
• like the ‘o’ in eloquent
• like the ‘u’ in supply
• like the ‘y’ in sibyl

and from englishplus.com

The schwa is the vowel sound in many lightly pronounced unaccented syllables in words of more than one syllable. It is sometimes signified by the pronunciation “uh” or symbolized by an upside-down rotated e. A schwa sound can be represented by any vowel. In most dialects, for example, the schwa sound is found in the following words:

 The a is schwa in adept. The e is schwa in synthesis. The i is schwa in decimal. The o is schwa in harmony. The u is schwa in medium. The y is schwa in syringe.

For a bit more information, follow the link below:

http://www.atozphonics.com/schwaphonics.html

Sorry AG parents, but Mrs. DeAlberdi handed me the stack of work samples on Friday to go through for grading purposes, so I’d have comments for report cards.  However, I placed them on my stack for Friday Folders and they were passed out.  Please send them back in tomorrow, so that I can give them back to her.  SORRY!

Parents and students,

At the very beginning of the year, I noticed that this group of kids is pretty chatty.  I really thought it was the excitement of a new year, adjusting to new expectations and new experiences.  However, it’s continued, and gotten worse.  Now students are being disruptive, making poor choices during work time, forgetting homework and losing assignments.  We have even had a few poor reports in Art and Music.  Often times, I’ll have to raise my voice to get the attention of the class, something I don’t like to do, and something that is very uncomfortable for the kids who are following instructions and working hard.   The past few days have especially been rough, which is unfortunate because these are wonderful kids. They are creative and funny, and get along really well.  I don’t want their behaviors to escalate to the point we have real problems.

Making the most of classtime is another problem we’re having.  I have morning work on the board for them each morning, or I tell them to work on an assignment that needs to get done.  This Friday our CROP-QV project is due (they’ve had it for weeks), and many are scrambling to finish it.  During morning work time, when they have opportunity to work on them or during language arts time when they have time after the focus lesson, some are choosing to talk or play around.  I know that AG and ALP students miss 2 days of language arts a week, but many are not using the time they do have in class wisely.   I can give a short extension, but grades do go home next Friday!  

In class today, we discussed ways to help improve these problems.  One suggestion was that students should earn Fun Friday, rather than have it taken away when they do something wrong.   Wednesday recess is optional, so that is something else that can be earned.  I’m not really crazy about that option, since  even on Wake Wednesdays – kids need to be kids and run around a bit with their friends. 

I’m open to any suggestions.  I am new to 5th grade too, and I am still trying to figure it all out, so please don’t simply complain or criticize, but let’s be constructive and try to make things better!  This is a GREAT group of kids and we all want to see them successful and happy.  

On a really fun note – I’m planning on adding a section of the blog to showcase classmembers pets.  We were all really excited about seeing Josh’s new kitten, and I want to make sure others have the same opportunity.  Please email me cute pics of your pets, and I’ll post them!