Class T-Shirts and Sharkbytes

Students will be bringing home an order form for a really unique and special memento for their last year  at Beachland, their class t-shirt!  This t-shirt has been a fifth grade staple for many years!  Students wear them on upcoming field trips, our annual fifth grade "Class of..." picture, and it is a life-long reminder of great times!  What will make this year's t-shirt unique is that students will be signing their names on a  stencil that will be screen printed to the shirt!!  Thanks to a generous donation from our PTA, the cost of the t-shirt is ONLY $6!!!  That's not a misprint...SIX DOLLARS!!  

Here is this month's Sharkbytes newsletter!!

Sharkbytes Dec 2012

Science Fair Awards

I apologize for the lapse in between blog posts!  This time of the year with science fair and having an intern really keeps things busy (even more so)!  Speaking of science fair, we have FINALLY made it to the finish line..."judgement day!"  Students have been honing their oral presentations, and we'll be setting them up in the media center on Tuesday.  Judging will be taking place Wednesday morning, and  EVERYONE is invited to the awards ceremony Wednesday night.  We would love to have a large fifth grade presence, as it's a time to celebrate everyone's effort into this annual meaningful endeavor.


Science Fair Awards Invite

Science Fair Abstracts & Online Graphing Site

Hi there!  I just wanted to share a handout with you that I gave to students today.  The first page has information regarding a website called "Create a Graph," where students can enter in their data from their experiments and it generates the graph for them.  The next couple of pages show the format for the abstract along with several examples.  The abstract is basically a summary that is no more than 250 words that sums up their experiment and the results they observed.

In terms of the graph, students should make sure their "y-axis" has equal intervals (i.e.-5m, 10m, 15m, 20m, etc.)  not random (i.e. - 1m, 4m, 10m, 14m).  One more thing.  Line graphs show a trend over a period of time, and a bar graph involves counting.  We hope to have science fair boards in by the end of this week!

DON'T FORGET!!  OUR ANNUAL FALL FESTIVAL IS THIS FRIDAY FROM 5:30-7:30 P.M.!

WE NEED FIFTH GRADE PARENT VOLUNTEERS TO HELP SELL FOOD AT OUR TABLE TO RAISE MONEY FOR FIFTH GRADE EVENTS/ACTIVITIES WE'LL BE DOING THIS YEAR!  IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, PLEASE LET YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER KNOW!!

If you have any questions, please let us know!!

Science Fair Graph:Abstract

Sign of the Beaver & Other Things

Chilly!  We hope everyone is having a great week!  We've enjoyed having the opportunity to meet with everyone during parent conferences to discuss students' progress through the first nine weeks.  If you haven't scheduled a conference with your child's teacher, please do so, as this first conference is mandatory as we give out report cards and discuss students academic progress.

As you know, this is a short week due to conference night on Thursday night.

This week we began our novel study of Sign of the Beaver by Eliazbeth George Speare.  This is a class favorite every year!  This novel is an excellent introduction to life among pioneers and Native Americans in the eighteenth-century American colonies. Full of precise detail concerning the tasks and objects that filled everyday life, the novel also contains a good deal of adventure and suspense. Most notable is Speare's insightful and sensitive portrayal of the relations among white settlers and Native Americans. Intertwined with the exciting plot is a strong but not didactic commentary on the tragedy that ensued when settlers forced the Native Americans from their lands. We will also be integrating reading skills and grammar instruction within this novel study.  Students have been given their own copy of the book, which is to remain at school, as these are newly purchased copies.  If students are absent, or fall behind in reading, they'll be allowed to bring home an older copy of the book in order to catch up.  Students should not be reading ahead in this book.

In grammar, students have been learning more about singular and plural possessive nouns.  Plural possessive nouns can be tricky, but students are plugging along!  We are planning on giving a test on nouns (common, proper, singular, plural and possessive) next week.

In math, students have been studying operations and equations in Algebra.  They'll be taking a Mid-Chapter Checkpoint Quiz this week as we're at the half-way point of the chapter.  Students can get extra practice on lessons covered in class by going to Think Central and go to "Online Intervention" in the "My Library" section of their account under math.  This section provides students with short mini lessons re-teaching the skill along with individual practice.  As we discussed during "Meet the Teacher Night," students should be working on FCAT Explorer on the 5th grade math and science modules at least thirty minutes a week.  While we understand that schedules are tight for everyone, this website provides students with essential practice for the "you know what!"

In science, we're continuing our unit on energy.  Students have learned about the different forms of energy (light, sound, thermal, kinetic, potential) and we'll begin our study of electricity.  As a culminating activity in our study of sound, students engaged in a STEM activity where they had to construct headphones out of common household items to see if they could make them more sound proof than a regular set of headphones.  A common definition  of STEM is

an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the global enterprise enabling the development of STEM literacy and with it the ability to compete in the new economy. Students really were excited and engaged during this activity.  We look forward to doing more with them as we move through the year.

We hope science fair projects are moving along smoothly.  Please make sure to pay attention to the dates that were posted on November's calendar!

Bundle up, and enjoy the long weekend!!

Create a Graph for Your Science Fair Project

While students aren't at this stage yet, I thought I'd let you know of this awesome resource after a previous parent asked me about it.

Once students have collected all of their data for their project, they can go to this website, enter their data, and VOILA you have it graphed!!  You can then print it out from home!  Students will either be graphing their data as a line graph (if they're measuring a change over a period of time) or a bar graph (if they're counting).  Mark this in your browser's "Favorites!"

 http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Sea Camp Deposits

Just wanted to remind everyone that deposits for Sea Camp are due Friday, October 26th.  You may recall that forms were sent home a little over a week ago detailing the necessary information.  The trip to Sea Camp is April 3-5, 2013.  The amount of the deposit is $75 and it is non-refundable.  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Mr. Kolesnik.

Fearless Felix!

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but do you know what Felix Baumgartner did?  The 43 year old Austrian successfully completed a jump out of a capsule 24 miles (128,100 ft) about the New Mexico desert Sunday!  In doing so, he set the record for the highest human free fall (beating the previous record of 102,800 ft set by Orlando's own Joe Kittinger in 1960).  Baugmgartner became the first skydiver to break the speed of sound without the assistance of a craft.  During his fall, he reached a maximum velocity of 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24!!!

Study Jams and FCAT Explorer

Happy Monday to everyone!!  I just wanted to share some new sites to add to your "Favorites."  Scholastic Study Jams is a really neat site that has short videos and even quizzes on topics that we'll be covering this year in math and science!  This would be really helpful in reviewing for tests.  Sounds interesting?  You can visit Study Jams and find out for yourself!

Also, during "Meet the Teacher Night," your child's teacher should have gone over FCAT Explorer.  It's never too early to begin practicing for the "you know what!"  Students can use their login information that they use at school to practice both Math AND Science.  The really nice thing about FCAT Explorer is that it provides instant feedback in terms of correctness of an answer and students like it, because they can earn tokens to play games on the site.

Scientific Method for "Dummies"

Okay, the title of this post is a little misleading, but I thought it was funny.  Here is another useful piece of information that will prove useful as students continue to work on their science fair projects.
Scientific Method for Dummies

Tagxedo!

This thing is AWESOME!!  I just had to share it!  Word clouds are really popular now, and we'll be using them in the not too distant future.  I thought I'd give you a taste of what it looks like.  You can go to Tagxedo to check it out yourself!

Science Fair Project Guide

We thought it would make things easier if we made the guidelines and expectations available to you to keep handy by posting them on your fridge.  This will be a useful reference to keep handy as students progress through their projects.  Today, students were given a packet that included a rubric detailing how their research paper would be graded in addition to science fair project expectations and an example of a student's research paper and bibliography.  Mrs. Degnan will soon be going over the process of writing a bibliography with students when they are with her in media during specials.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child's homeroom teacher.


Project Guide 1

COOL E-Learning Site

"Seek and ye shall find!"  It's amazing what's out there when you just spend a little time to look!  I was poking around trying to find some online math enrichment activities and...voila!!  I wanna give a BIG shout out to Mimi over at Fifth Grade Rocks Fifth Grade Rules for sharing this awesome site!  It's called e-Learning for Kids?   This site has fun video tutorials and activities/games for the children to practice.  It has just about everything like math, language arts, science, computer skills, health, and life skills.  It's definitely worth a look!

Science Fair is Coming!!

Yes it is!!  Students have been learning about the scientific method and how it helps us discover more about the natural world!!  It's time to, "walk the walk!"

Last week, students were asked to write down some ideas that they would like to possibly investigate further in their science fair project through the application of the scientific method.  This week, we'll be asking students to come up with three to five measurable questions to be considered for their project. 

As we mentioned during "Meet the Teacher Night," science fair judging for Beachland will be held on Wednesday, December 5.  Students will also be receiving more detailed instructions in addition to a timeline of when certain components of their projects are due.  We'll also offer students the opportunity to order display boards and adhesive subtitles as we get closer.

We encourage students to use their natural curiosity about the natural world to devise their testable questions for their project.  However, if students have difficulty, there is a really neat resource available online through Discovery Education.

You can visit Science Fair Project Idea Board

As more information is sent home with students, it will also be posted in my next blog!  Have an AWESOME WEEK!

Meet the Teacher Night

I apologize for the delay in between postings.  I left my laptop at school and kept forgetting to bring it home!  

TOMORROW NIGHT is "Meet the Teacher Night."  It will begin promptly at 5:30 in your child's homeroom.  There, teachers will go over important and useful information covering what will be happening this year.  The presentation should last around 45 minutes.  We are all eager to see everyone there!!

Also, we'll have the finals of our spelling bee this Friday beginning at 2 p.m. in the cafeteria. The following fifth graders will be competing in the finals: Kasey Lazan from Mrs. Baker's class, Allison Ho from Mr. Smith's class, Clara Martin from Mr. Kolesnik's class, Maysa Shalhoub from Mrs. Brown's class, and Lea Contillo from Mrs. Eby's class.  Family and friends are all invited to attend and support our super spellers!!

We ALL feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a wonderful group of students and their families!  Thank you for all of your help and continuing support in making this, their last year in "the cove," their most memorable on yet!!

Students (and parents) can now view and download our weekly vocabulary lists by clicking "For Students" and then "Vocabulary."  Looks like the weather will be great this weekend!  Enjoy!

Wet Wednesday

So much for being through with the rain.  At least it was brief though.  We hope that everyone is having a great week!

Students began taking benchmark tests this week.  These tests will serve as a baseline that we will use to shape our instruction as we begin the academic year.  Today, students took the reading benchmark test (also referred to as the Holistic Test).  They will also take the math benchmark test on computers.  The math test will be given over a two day period.  Next week, students will be taking the science benchmark, which will also be given over a two day period.  Benchmark tests are not taken as grades.  We use them to assess students academic growth and to guide instruction.

In terms of curriculum, in reading we are continuing with students learning how to identify the main idea and supporting details in informational text.  Today, we also began learning how to use graphic organizers to compose a summary by identifying the main idea and supporting details.  We used a new supplemental text in social studies, The USA Studies Weekly, which appears in newspaper format with content related to our standards to apply this strategy.  Students will be writing summaries across the content areas throughout the year.

In math, we continuing our unit on division.  So far, we have covered division related to multiplication, estimation, solving a simpler problem, and ways to divide.  Long division will be the next lesson we will cover.  Students should be proficient in knowing their basic multiplication and division facts.  For additional practice at home, students can visit our "Links" section, which is located under "For Students" on our home page.  Those who have iPhones, can download "Math Evolve Lite" for FREE on iTunes.  This is a highly thought of app that provides great additional basic math fact practice.  You can also purchase the full version for only $1.99.  It is compatible with iPhone, iTouch or iPad.  Those of you with Android enabled devices can download/purchase "Math Fact Ball Lite."

In science, we're engaged in hands on lab activities that go along with our "Thinking Like a Scientist" unit.  Students are learning more about the scientific method and how to apply it to discovering more about science.  Learning about the scientific method is almost like saying that you are learning how to learn. You see, the scientific method is the way scientists learn and study the world around them. It can be used to study anything from a leaf to a dog to the entire universe.  The basis of the scientific method is asking questions and then trying to come up with the answers.

That's a long post, I know, but we just want to keep you informed with what's going on.  

Language Arts Block & Math Block Letter

Welcome Letter for LAB MB

As some of you may be aware, you can receive an electronic copy of our monthly Sharkbytes newsletter via e-mail.  We'll also post it to our website for you to view and download.  Have an AMAZING weekend!!



Sharkbytes Sept 12

Week One in the Books!!

We made it through the first week, and we couldn't feel more fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such an AWESOME group of fifth graders!  It looks as if Isaac will just be leaving us some breezy days and intermitant rain.

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child into our LAB (Language Arts Block) class this year.  This will be a very intensive program designed to help students reach his or her potential in an ability based setting. Our LAB classes will be meeting Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.  During this time block the students will be receiving instruction in reading specifically geared to their ability.  We will be using our reading, social studies and science textbooks in addition to novels during reading instruction.  Students will be participating in literacy centers, guided reading, and writing instruction and practice.   

In math, students were introduced to Divisibility Rules.  These rules help students in their application of division concepts as we'll be moving through this unit.  As you may have noticed, students have these rules in the "Morning Work" folders that they brought home with them this past week.  We will continue with our study of "Understanding Division," and hope to assess students with a Mid-Chapter Checkpoint Quiz on Thursday in addition to the Divisibility Rules.

In science, we began our unit study on "Thinking Like a Scientist," which will go into depth regarding the components of the Scientific Method.  Students will be engaged in hands on labs this coming week as we prepare for our upcoming science fair projects that will be here before you know it.

Our new website is coming together slowly.  Thanks for your patience as I work out the kinks.  We want to thank you in advance for your support in making this the most memorable and productive year for your child!  It takes a TEAM to make it happen!  

Halfway through the week, and things are going great!  Today, we had our PBS Tour of the school to re-familiarize students, both old and new, with the expectations we have of our fifth grades around school.  They are the role models that other students will be looking up to, and we set the bar high!  Thank you for your ongoing support in making this their most memorable one yet!

Parents, please don't forget to send in your child's baby picture with them soon.  We will be using them for our annual end of the year yearbook collage.  Students will also need to bring in a recent picture to use for our "Guess Who" activity that students are completing independently for us to display to show off our AMAZING students!

In terms of curriculum, we've begun the year learning more about division, and today we talked about the Divisibility Rules and how we can use them.  We'll then be learning how to identify prime and composite numbers and prime factorization.  Homework assignments will reflect what is covered in class.  In science, students engaged in a group activity entitled, "Silly Science," where students were given every items where they had to classify them based upon the observations they made together.  We'll continue our unit on "Thinking Like a Scientist" by going in depth about what is involved with the scientific method through hands on activities.

Don't forget that Fridays are school spirit days at Beachland!  Students are encouraged to wear their Beachland t-shirts.  If they wear their Beachland t-shirts, they may also wear denim bottoms.

Are you ready?

Wow!  It was great to see such a wonderful turnout for orientation despite the inclement weather!  We loved getting the opportunity to meet everyone and welcome new families to Beachland.  Speaking of welcome, we'd also like to welcome the newest member to our fifth grade team, Mrs. Susan Brown!  If you haven't had a chance to say hello, make sure you do when you have the chance.

We would also like to welcome you to our new website!  We look to build upon what we already had with our original site.  If you'd like to receive notifications of when this blog is updated, make sure to complete the "Follow by E-mail" section on the right of this page.  Also, make sure to click on "Homework" to be directed to our homework page where you can also sign up to receive daily updates of homework assignments.

We're all looking forward to a fabulous year and all that awaits us!!  See you Monday!