It was nice to see so many people at our Curriculum Night! And it was good to be able to answer questions.

At the same time, I know several people were not able to come. Here are the notes from the evening.

We did get asked about the money for the piggy banks. I sent a note about our piggy banks in an email the first week of school, but here is the letter from Kristy Dressler with more information.

also So far we've spent a lot of class time on pre-assessments and STAR testing. We've done some writing and an art project. The most exciting thing we've done so far, according to the students, is the beginning of our simulation for social studies.

Judge Dalton will be in our class today for Constitution Day to share about how the branches of government work together to solve problems.

If your child is one of those who comes home and doesn't talk about what's happening at school, use these posts as a way to ask questions and get a conversation started!

Here it is, the week after school is out, and I'm busy in B-9 finishing getting ready to move out to the portables. This fall you will be able to find me in the room Kristy Dressler had last year. 

Meanwhile, I've done some planning for next year. The Calendar for the year is on my Parent Resources page. So is the Supply List for my class.

​Here is an important note for my supply list--please do NOT buy a 3-ring binder for your child. I did that already!

In and around testing this spring, we have celebrated Poetry Month by doing poetry readings nearly every morning. Students are gaining confidence and speaking with more animation and use of natural gestures. In addition, we are reading a wide variety of poems together in class. I hope the students are sharing the poems with you at home. Look in the reading section of your child's 3-ring binder! Finally, this week we started writing some poetry inspired by images created by a local artist, Yoshiko Yamamoto.

​Our social studies unit on the colonial period continues with students using colonial manners and the simulation progressing with all four groups surviving so far. The students read the relevant chapters in the text and take OPEN-BOOK TESTS.

Meanwhile they are doing the Science a Closer Look OPEN-BOOK TESTS at home. To get them all done in a reasonable time--and before the SBA science test--I said they should have chapter one turned in last Friday (April 27),

• chapter 2 on May 4,
  
• chapter 3 on May 11,
  
• and chapter 4 on May 18.

(That's a literal checkpoint, by the way.)

I've read the body section, at least, of every CBA. I've written corrections, comments, and suggestions on every paper--sometimes on every line! Now they can use that input to improve their CBA before they they do their final presentation. Here's the stunning news--I haven't given any grades yet. The students will not get ANY grade until they complete their presentation. (Of course, I know what I've told them to do, and I expect them to fix their papers!)

Aside from the List of Works Consulted which we will correct in class, I won't be doing anymore fine-tooth-comb reading of the student work before they present their CBA.

At this point you might want to do a checkpoint of your own. Print a copy of the rubric and have your child predict with you what kinds of scores they think they will be earning.

I've given directions for how to prepare the presentations. Students may create either an exhibit or a website. If they choose to do a website they must use weebly. (It's a free web-building site. All National History Day sites are built on weebly.) I showed a Power Point in class of exemplary examples of NHD exhibits. On the right hand side of this page you will find exemplary examples of NHD websites. Just to inspire ideas. 

We have no more time in the lab at school. The rest of the project is HOMEWORK.

CBA = Classroom Based Assessment

We don't have a standardized SBA test for social studies (or music or art). In fifth grade we have a social studies CBA, an independent research project. 

Students chose a topic at the beginning of January, and they have been taking notes during their library time all month, starting with print sources before moving to any online sources. (I really appreciate how Mrs. Upton works with me on projects!)

They should be finishing up the hunt for notes by now.

Starting in February we will have an hour a day in the lab so children can organize and write several well-developed and well-organized paragraphs about what they learned:

• introduction
• before--the causes
• the conflict--who, what, when, and where
• after--the consequences, the effects
• conclusion

All the paragraphs for the body--there should be two to three typed pages--are due February 21.

The introduction and conclusion paragraphs are due February 28.

If you want lots more information about the CBA, how it is organized, and how it will be graded, please go to the social studies section of the Elementary Stuff page.

BTW, we had a class discussion once the Great Thinker presentations and the poetry readings were done about "How to Make Next Time Even Better." Check out our class notes here!​

Come January, students will present the projects they have been working on in the library for weeks now, all about Great Thinkers. You should ask your child about his or her Great Thinker, and you should ask them to do a practice presentation for you.

We signed up before vacation so everyone has a due date for their project presentation.

But wait, there's more! Also in January, we will do our first poetry readings. Students already signed up for the dates their poetry readings, too.

Here are the directions for the poetry readings:

Find and read a book of poetry at your reading level, one you haven’t read before. (If you’ve read Shel Silverstein before, you need to find a different book of poetry for this assignment!)
 
          Pick poems to read out loud, usually about three to five. 
​          ​          If you pick very short poems, you will need to read more.
​          ​          If you pick a very long poem, maybe one is enough.
          ​          (You should read for about five to seven minutes.)
 
Practice reading your poems fluently and with expression. 

Before you read your poems to us, tell us a little about them—tell why you picked those particular poems, tell what they mean, or explain what makes them good. You might point out lines you really like and why you like them. Prepare that part of your presentation ahead of time too.

You can see the evaluation forms for the poetry readings on the Elementary Stuff page.

Students have been hard at work in the lab all week, working on writing up part two of their science projects:

• Experimental Data
• Graphs
• Analysis of Results
• Conclusion

Once again, I have detailed directions for how to do each piece of part two. You can find the directions in the Elementary Stuff section of the site, under Science.

You can help your child in several ways. Check over their work.

• Ask them if they followed ALL the directions, and point out any places they might have forgotten or missed an element.
• Suggest places they might need to expand on an answer.
• Help with formatting and editing. They are just fifth graders and still need help with detail work. 

If they object ("I know what I'm doing," "I don't need help," "Leave me alone, I'm done," make them read this post!

I prefer to have all the science project part two work turned in to me by December 8.

If the science project work is not turned in by MARKET DAY, Friday, December 15 (which would be a week late), I told kids I would let them sell their items through their business partners, but I would send them with a computer into another classroom to finish their science project that afternoon.

FIRST

Science Projects!

We spent several days in the lab so kids could write their Question, Hypothesis, Procedure, and Materials and Equipment List. At the same time, I worked with them on how to follow MLA format. I did a project with them in class and wrote all the parts with them as a sample. That work is on my website. They should use that document as a sample, not just for content, but for format as well.

Your child can take the work they've completed so far home to get your help revising and editing. Then they need to print it and hand it in by Monday, October 23. 

Now students are working on their experiments. These need to be done at home, and they need to be finished before Thanksgiving.

SECOND

We've been working on the Variables kit. So far we've worked with Swingers (pendulums) and Lifeboats (buoyancy).

THIRD

Just this week we started reading the fifth grade science text, Science: A Closer Look (SACL). Each trimester we will be reading the chapters that most closely align to the trimester's science kit. After we read each chapter, I will give the students an open-book test. Before I set them loose on the first chapter test, we did about a third of it together. I showed them how to use different features of the book, from the vocabulary boxes to the chapter headings and subheadings to the index. By the time we were done exploring how to find answers, they realized that using the tools the book offered made an open-book test much easier than they had expected!

We have finished growing plants for our class science experiment, which we did as a model for the student projects. Now it's time for the students to pick the topic for their own projects. I told them to look for ideas in three places:

• the library has many books
• the Kragen class folder has links to many pages with suggested topics
• parents have ideas too!

Please talk with your children this week to help them come up with good ideas for their own project, one that tests a single variable in a valid experiment.

What an amazing Friday! The weather was gorgeous at the Long House. Eating lunch on the lawn and looking out over the Sound was such a treat.

Ask your child about the best part of the first week of school. I asked the class and got a dozen different answers. You should hear what appealed to YOUR child.

Please go to the Parent Resource page. I have updated the calendar for the year as well as the two documents: "Teaching and Grading Writing" and "Teaching and Grading Math." You want to read those. If you haven't read them before, you will also want to read the AGATE expectations (on the same page).

For those who didn't make it to the Parent Curriculum Night last night, I have a couple of other housekeeping items:

• Every student should have their dividers for their binder by now and the dividers should have their labels all done in order. If your child hasn't finished doing that, could you help them get that done over the weekend please? (See the supply list on the Parent Resource page for the way to organize the dividers.)
• There are some items I am looking for--a DVD of The Secret Garden; Before/After ads from magazines/newspapers/internet ("Here I am at 300 pounds, and now here I am at 185 pounds, all because of NutriAmazing!"); plain white tissue paper (like you use to wrap around presents); and magazines to cut up (but I don't want you to send them to school until I ask for them--I don't have any room to store them). Thanks!
• I need to remind everyone that I sent home the Free/Reduced Lunch forms last Friday. The office would like them back from everyone, even if your child does not need Free/Reduced Lunch. If you already threw yours away, you can email me and I will make a note that you don't need yours. 
• Last night I asked for help in the classroom. I always ask for parent volunteers because there is no way I can do this job effectively without your assistance. This year I have 30 students, so it's even more necessary. I had lots of people generously sign up last night (bless you all!), some to help in the classroom and some who could do things at home. If anyone else is willing to pitch in, please send me in email about that too.

And have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy the last of the sunshine!