Monster Smartie Party!!!

Today we earned our 30th SMARTIE! This means that tomorrow we will celebrate with a Monster Smartie Party- with a Christmas theme!! Plus, we will enjoy a pizza lunch as a reward for reaching our Read-a-thon goal. For the Monster Smartie Party, students may bring treats to share among the class. I will provide drinks, and of course, the Monster Smartie Cookies! Students are also invited to bring their favorite board games to enjoy. Way to go, 5M!

Candyland!

Yesterday was a fantastic day! In the morning, we worked on "How-To" writing pieces. We practiced by creating together, "How to Make an Easy Gingerbread House". This was quite helpful when it came to actually making our gingerbread houses (more on that adventure later!).

After recess, Elasti-Girl came to 5M, along with the members of the Official Committee. The Committee listened to the Incredible science presentations. It seems too difficult to eliminate any one of the body systems- they are all FAR too important!

Gingerbread house making was a definite highlight of the day. One of our goals for the activity was to apply the Golden Rule in "thinking of others before ourselves". It was encouraging to see how well students shared their candy treasures- they did a fine job and we had a lot of fun together.

Here are a few pictures, including a picture of our "Pop Can Carolers" craft that we finished last week. Thanks for your help in sending supplies!

Christmas + Math

Looking for some seasonal practice with math? There are great ideas here!

A Broken Heart...

That describes the heart of the cow we dissected yesterday in 5M! It was so interesting to learn about how blood flows through our heart by examining a real HUGE cow's heart. We even learned about the tricuspid and bicuspid valves! Everyone was very brave! :) I learned a lot, too!

God's Gift Day

On Monday it was "God's Gift Day". A pair of Moses, Angel Gabriel, Joseph, Ruth and Naomi, Mary (and baby Jesus), David (featuring a sling shot), a Wise Woman, and Jesus (the older version) all showed up! It was fun to interview each guest! Great job, 5M.

Camp Pictures

Camp Was Awesome!!!

Here is a group photo! More to come soon!

Science Project Link

Here is the link for your Incredible Science Project!

Canadian Hero Link

Here is the link for your social studies project!

Star Site of the Week x 2!

I missed out on last week's Star Site, so I'd better catch up with two this week!
The first is a site for extra support for our novel study, Number the Stars. We are into Chapter 3, and for extra practice or to extend your learning, you can go to this website.

We've also started learning about the INCREDIBLE Human Body! I found a great game to practice what you know about the various systems we are learning about. Try it here!

Book Day!

Our Reading Paradise

Have a look at our new "Reading Paradise" in 5M! A cozy corner to dive into a good book....just in time for Read-a-thon!

Hooray for Reading!!! Day One of Readathon!

Today was the first day of this year's Read-a-thon! We did a quick photo shoot in honor of the big day. 5M loves reading!

Star Site of the Week!

This week's Star Site is National Geographic for Kids. This website gives readers a chance to view videos, play games and learn about everything from how to make slime punch (mmm) to learning about how to conserve our oceans. There are brain teasers to challenge you, and plenty of interesting activities to try. This might even be a place you could use for your W5 assignment in Social Studies! For another excellent spot for research, try the National Geographic Homework Help. You can spend a lot of time on this site learning about a wide variety of topics, and have fun, too! Check it out!

Chemistry Link

I came across this site that supports our chemistry lessons this week. For an extra challenge and to learn more about the difference between physical and chemical changes, go to this site.

Star Site of the Week

I'm going to challenge myself to find one "Star Site of the Week" to post on The Chalkboard. This week's Star Site is easy! I've already shown it to the class, but go ahead and give it a try at home. BrainPop is loaded with excellent videos on hundreds of educational topics. Some of the movies are free to watch, while others require a subscription. However, you can watch any video when you sign up for a 5-day trial. Have a look!

Super Sports Day!

We had a Super Sports Day on Thursday! Here are a few pictures that I took from my event- the 400 meter run. Also, Mrs. Ewy (Jeanette's mother) has kindly shared her pictures with us, as well. You can have a look by clicking here.
A big thank you to Mrs. Ewy, Mr. Jang and Mrs. So for being fantastic volunteers at Sports Day! We appreciate you.

Mathletics Link

Here is the link to mathletics.

Animal Day

Awesome spirit from 5M! We're animals! Click to enlarge the image.

The "Pic" of the Month

What a smile! (It's Valerie!)

The First Smartie Partie!

We made it! The smartie meter has been filled for the first time! We celebrated by eating smartie rice krispie cake, and playing basketball together outside! It was a great time! Congratulations 5M, for your hard work, enthusiasm and positive attitudes in the first month of school.

Element Sales Poster

Here are links you can use to search for information on your element:

Wikipedia
Chemicool
Chem4Kids
Los Alamos

What's Happening?

Thanks for asking! Here's what happening in 5M:

-Christian Ethics: Students are putting together Powerpoint presentations to represent the story of God's creation. He is truly a God of Wonders! Students are enthusiastically finding "awe-some" pictures to give a glimpse of God's amazing creation.

-English Language Arts: We're in the midst of our first writing piece- a personal memoir. After reading through examples of memoirs, students are now working through the writing process to create their own memoir.

-Teacher Read Aloud: Now this is a definite highlight. We're in the heart of a fantastic book by Canadian author Deborah Ellis. The title of the book is "The Breadwinner". The book tells the experiences, adventures and struggles of a young girl living in Afghanistan.

-Science: Our first unit of the year is focused on "Matter and Its Changes" (something like an introduction to basic chemistry). We've had some exciting experiments conducted by a most unique classroom visitor, and today we will gain familiarity with the elements on the periodic table by playing "Element Bingo".

-Social: We are continuing on our journey through Canada. This week we worked on our Canada maps, as well as learning how to sing a Canadian folk song. Next week we'll learn a bit about the Canadian Maple Leaf, as well as focusing on the physical regions of Canada.

-Math: We are wrapping up our first unit on place value with review activities, as we prepare for our test on Tuesday. Next up is a unit on addition and subtraction.

-Health: We have been discussing what it means to be healthy- not only in the physical sense but social, spiritual and mental health. At the moment we are creating collages that represent what it means to be a "healthy temple of God".

There you have it! That's the latest from 5M! Our year is off to a great start.

Online Games!

Here are a couple sites with games that connect with what we are learning in 5M:
Proton Don- Test your knowledge of the periodic table!
Place Value Puzzler- Practice your place value skills!

The Day We Flew To Canada

AC Flight 1202, departed for Airport YVR in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at 12:45PM, September 6, 2007 from Room 401, CAIS. All 38 passengers (as well as one fantastic Flight Attendant and one Captain) were accounted for and boarded the plane, followed appropriate security checks (keep those liquids in ziplocs!), and found their appropriate rows. Buckled in, and having viewed the safety procedures, we were ready to take flight! We enjoyed inflight entertainment (images from our destination- Canada!), and a midflight snack (Maple Leaf cookies!). We also prepared to speak Canadian, so we practiced adding "eh" to our sentences!
We're ready to learn about the Great White North, and proved it by proudly singing the National Anthem.
We safely landed and continued on to learn about Canada's geography. It was a marvelous trip- here are a few pictures from the flight! Don't worry, we'll keep the updates coming as we journey through the vast land of Canada! First stop, British Columbia!

Don't forget your boarding pass!

Our lovely flight attendant- Mrs. Fleishauer! She makes delicious cookies!

Crazy Hat Day!

All the Crazy Hatters!

Yesterday was Crazy Hat Day! Fantastic participation from 5M!