Good Morning!

Welcome to the final week of school for 2017!  To celebrate the upcoming holidays, we will be doing a few activities throughout the week.  

Students will be working on a STEM activity in science.  They will be given some materials that are usually found in the kitchen around the holidays, and will be asked to build a free standing tower.  The goal is to have the tallest tower that can also support three peppermint candies.

In ELA we will continue learning about different cultures, and also explore how different cultures celebrate the holidays.

In Math, we will have some fun holiday math activities, and in our Mix-Up on Friday we will be doing an Escape Room activity.  We will also spend a little time working on our math projects, which are due January 12th.

On Thursday afternoon, the kids will get to do a flashlight read.  They can bring a flashlight to school that day and we will read in the dark.  They may bring a favorite book from home to read, or they can read one of the ones we have here!

Thank you for a wonderful year so far, and I am so excited to see what 2018 holds for us!

The students are currently working on a project based on decimals.  It connects the concept to real world activities.  I have gone over the criteria with the students and they were given the option to choose which project they would like to work on.  The projects can be found under "Favorite Sites" and there is a button titled "Decimal Math Projects."  I have printed off one copy of the chosen project for each student.  If they change their mind, they will need to print off their own copy.  All projects are due January 12th, and we will be presenting them the following week.  There will be some time in class dedicated to completing these, but students will need to put in some time at home.
Most of these projects require research, so please let me know if there isn't access to a computer at home!  

Let me know if you have any questions about these projects!  I am looking forward to the results!

Happy Monday and welcome to December!

As some of you know, I am working on my Master's degree in math education.  I am focusing on problem solving tasks in the classroom.  To complete my Master's degree, I have to write a paper on my observations and present it to my graduate committee.  This means that I may use some samples of student work, but names or identifiers will never be released.  Also, I am focusing more on the class as a whole and not on individual students.  If you have any questions about this, or any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me!  I am happy to explain it in more detail as well!

On Tuesday, the 5th graders will be traveling to the Yellowstone Art Museum.  We will be leaving at around 9:30 and returning to school right before lunch.  

In math, we will continue to focus on operations with decimals.  We will have an assessment on Wednesday for adding and subtracting decimals, and then we will be moving on to multiplying and dividing decimals!

In ELA we have just finished Unit 2 and will be working on an assessment of all the skills we learned throughout the unit.

This Thursday is the Family Event at Barnes & Noble.  I will be reading Christmas stories from 4:30 - 5:00, so please come visit me!

I am looking forward to another great week!