How to Stop Worrying and Love the Test

Today was a pretty good day! We kind of bailed out on most of our plans, but we took care of a whole mess of dangling threads that had been causing some of us anxiety, including me. 

First of all, we had quite a bit of science to get caught up on. Everyone was somewhat done, but very few were completely finished. I showed the kids how to make lists of what they need to do, and how to cross them off once they are finished with each one.

Don't forget that we have a Science test on Thursday! Study guides went home last Thursday, so I told the kids to make sure they are working hard and studying each evening. 

Spelling homework and some preliminary milk research were the other bits of homework for this evening. I told them just four or five facts for or against chocolate milk in schools is all they would need to get started. 

Everybody have a great evening!

Supernova Express

This week, we will be doing a lot of government work (okay, learning about the government), scientific work with microscopes (and don't forget, test this Thursday!), language arts, writing argumentative essays, and of course continuing on with chapter eight in Math.

According to my calendar, this week is one where we don't have anything peculiar going on. The next week is when the time-leeches start attacking with their parasitic, soul-draining mouths.

Talk soon!

Little Monsters

Today was lizard day. They all went home, and then some. Special thanks to everybody who took one home, and especially to Cole and Connor, who took one for the team and got their own.

We had a lot of fun raising them, observing them, and raising them and observing them some more.

We have a lot to finish up on Monday, but this was a great week. 

Old and Moldy

Well, the best news of all today is that we finally finished ISTEP. I wish I could say it's for the final time of my career, but I have been around long enough that I know they have been buying "one more year" for at least five years now, so I'm not counting my eggs. I am at least happy to know that at least 85%+ of the population of Indiana agrees with me, and that only the new corporations that control the... okay, never mind. We all know it doesn't count.

As evidenced from the picture above, we started an experiment today involving the decomposition of formerly-living materials. This is a twelve-day experiment, so it will be interesting to keep it updated as we go on.

Well, today was the hump, and we did at least get a little bit of sunshine today, so it looks like we are on the bend. I hope you all have a fantastic night and a great rest of your week.

Changing Colors; Changing Dates

I need to make an alteration for the permission slip I sent home for the students who want to take home a lizard. I copied it from an old permission slip, and it said the date for take-home is on May 18th. That is way too long for us to keep these creatures in our classroom! I meant to change it to FRIDAY, APRIL 27! I apologize if this is a big problem!

Anyway, you can see that the kids are having fun with them still.

More to come. Tomorrow is the final day of ISTEP! I am ready to be back in a normal groove for what's left of our school year. 

First Lady

I know I'm late to the game here, but here it is.

Back in 1998, a friend and I put a project together for the 75th anniversary of Camp Tecumseh. For this project, we sent letters (snail mail) to various famous people, asking them to contribute an autographed picture congratulating Camp Tecumseh and wishing it a happy birthday. Of course, we heard back from about 10% of the people we sent to, but that's what expected. We received letters from a wide variety of people like Mr. Wizard, Bill and Hillary, Henry Winkler, Bob Saget, Florence Henderson, Terry Bradshaw, and Richard Simmons (44 altogether).

The picture I can still recall well from memory is the one above. She had written, "Happy Birthday, Camp Tecumseh" in her beautiful grandmotherly script, and signed it "Barbara Bush." She was always such a dignified first lady, and no matter your politics, you have to give a special shout out to someone who lived a life like that.

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Bush. 

We Go Together Like This

                          

 

Woodbrook Peanut Butter & Jelly Drive

Benefitting the Hamilton County Summer

 Lunch Program

Collecting from May 1st – May 25th

Last name beginning with please bring:

A-M:  A jar of peanut butter

N-R:  A jar of grape jelly   

S-Z:  A jar of strawberry jelly 

Spring Pruning

Today we served day six of our eight-day captivity by the ISTEP people. Now we only have two more to go! I think we will all be nice and happy when this is done.

ISTEP doesn't mean we aren't doing any learning in class, though. Today we did a whole lot of work with our anoles. The kids had to mow back the grass growing in them first off--it's amazing how quickly that grew for us.

Whew, I'm tired today for some reason. I hope you all have a great evening; stay dry!

Kenzie

Happy Birthday, Kenzie!

First off, I am one day late. Second of all, I apologize that I do not have your picture to put up today, because I still haven't figured out how to do the whole download a picture thing onto this new one. It's driving me nuts.

Anyway, onto what makes Kenzie so special. She is always the level-headed one in the class, I have to say. She is Miss Mellow, and that is so welcome in a classroom like 5-1.

She brings that mellowness to the class in very helpful ways. She is easy to pair up with anyone. She is an excellent role model to those who need a good one. Plus, she always has her assignments finished on time, which is going to serve her very well in middle school.

Kenzie is our resident postmaster. She is always in charge of putting mail into students' mailboxes, and I never ever have to ask her to do it! I just leave a pile of papers by the mailboxes, and five minutes later, they are in the boxes miraculously.

That's just a tiny bit of what makes Kenzie an awesome part of 5-1. It definitely wouldn't be the same place without her.

Hope you had a great birthday, Kenzie! You deserve it!

I promise we'll fix the picture situation tomorrow.

(Monday morning edit: Woohoo! Picture's up!)

It Came In Like a Wrecking Ball

Well, the Discovery Channel has Shark Week, but in 5-1, we have "Lizard Week", and this was it.

This week was more than just Lizard Week, though. We had a week that was full of things like ISTEP, cuttlefish, prepositional phrases, biology terms, the milk wars, and lessons in starting a business... This week is always one of the best (because we get to work on fun projects) and the worst (because we get so far off of our norm). I'm happy to report that this one was more good than bad.

Next week, we will have to finish up our work with the anoles, but at least we will finish up ISTEP as well.

Have a great weekend.

Look, Up In the Sky!

I have to admit that I didn't realize it was Superman's 80th birthday yesterday until I saw someone tweet it. For someone with so many pictures of the big guy in his classroom, I would be more on top of things like that.

He looks pretty good for 80, I'd say.

Happy birthday to the Man of Tomorrow, the Last Son of Krypton, the Man of Steel. 

Camouflaged Critters

Once again, sorry I didn't post last night, but I did want everyone out there to know (in case you didn't hear!) that our lizards came in yesterday. It was quite an exciting day in Area 51.

We look forward to spending more time with these reptilian rascals, their cricket food friends, and our underground pals below the soil. 

The Sound of Crickets

Well, testing day, ISTEP round two part two is past. We had quite a few kids not finish today, and that seems to be the overall report from my colleagues, so if your child didn't quite finish it, they're not alone.

We also introduced earthworms and crickets into our terrariums today. We have been making observations, and are looking forward to the anoles coming within the next couple days.

Lastly, we took a look at some arguments for and against chocolate milk in schools. This is going to dovetail into our persuasive essays.

I thought we had a great day today--if only the kids can keep quiet for ISTEP tomorrow!

Hope you all have a great evening, and I'll see you all tomorrow.

Regardless of What Folks Say

Sorry I didn't get anything blogged yesterday. I just bought a new computer and I was trying to get everything set up and broken in. This was my class on Friday as we enjoyed our extra recess for Wellness Week. I had fun just listening to them interact--it's a lot more fun when it's just your class out there, for me at least.

As you know, this is ISTEP week--again. Actually, we are just at the beginning of our first week of ISTEP weeks. I don't try to pretend it's fun, but at least my kids all know to give it their best. It's one of those things that ISTEP makers, administrators, ISTEP police, state legislators, school counselors, and the school board all love. Teachers and students? Not so much. We endure and we do our best with awesome attitudes, and I'm more than happy to report that this is the way 5-1 does it.

Parents, don't forget that it's cold outside! I know it's unseasonable, but that's okay. We will still go outside for recess if the temperature is above 20 degrees. I've told the kid that I love the way nature doesn't pay attention to people's complaints and does what it's going to do regardless. A few of the kids think it's the end of the world, but here we are, still holding up.

Have a great week, everyone!

The Pointer Fool

Man, we got all the way through the ISTEP practice test today. It was a whole lot of out-loud and redundant reading for this very tired dyslexic brain. It's all good, though, because at least the kids now have a good understanding of how to use the tools (it was all review) in order to take the ISTEP test properly.

In Math, we talked "rates of change", as in the change between the weight of a dog at birth and its weight at three years.

I'll let you know later if we were able to dissect owl pellets today or not. 

Blue Skies; Blue Days

Tomorrow fifth grade is going to wear BLUE for our spirit week/Wellness Week.

We will also have a spelling test and a math quiz (Mathcabulary books will be allowed). 

Smells Like Team Spirit

Don't forget: Tomorrow is JERSEY DAY! Come on, 5-1. Let's really do this one.

Full Spectrum, Man

I was only there for a half day today because of a meeting--my last meeting of the kind for this school year, I found out today. We were able to get quite a bit in there, though, mainly learning and reading about earthworms. The slime-covered crawlers are pretty interesting, as it turns out.

Don't forget, tomorrow 3x each is due, 20 minutes of reading, and Math homework.

Have a great evening! Come back tomorrow for TIE DYE DAY.

Cole

Happy Birthday to Cole!

Cole turned eleven at exactly 1:00 this afternoon, he informed me. I asked him if he had ever woken up to seeing the ground covered in snow on his birthday before, and he didn't believe he had.

To say that Cole is a well-liked kid would be an understatement. He gets along with everyone, and he is always the life of the group. He can even make me feel better when I realize I've screwed something up, including today when I realized I forgot about our ISTEP practice. In fact, just today, I realized that I won't hear him tell me that the "sun's getting low" for that much longer.

He's a good man whose default mode is to be in a good mood. He has a smile that brighten anyone's day instantly, and for that, 5-1 is lucky to have him.

Happy Birthday, Cole. You definitely deserve it, man!

Rub a Little Dirt On It

If your child came home today with a little dirt under their nails, there's a reason why. We made our terrariums today so that we can grow grass (whoops! I need to go get some grass seed...) in anticipation of welcoming some earthworms, crickets, and finally some anoles into them next week. Anoles are also known as American chameleons, by the way.

Hope everyone has had a great Monday. A little sunshine would sure help, but we'll take what we can get.

Down and Dirty

Tomorrow is BLUE & GOLD day! Don't forget!

I will post more later, including Cole's birthday post, and the start of a very fun and interesting unit on the life cycle, food chains, and animal adaptations. If your kids came home a bit dirtier than normal, there is a reason for it.

More to come!

Light It Up

I hope everyone has had a great spring break. Hard to believe we are now on the countdown to the end. We have copious amounts to accomplish in the meantime, though, so don't even think about coasting toward the end.

Don't forget--not that I would blame you if you had--that tomorrow is NEON DAY. It's Wellness Week at Woodbrook.

More to come. I have a lot to do to prepare for this coming week.