Tuesday, February 6th

Hello, everyone!!!

I apologize for the amount of time that has passed between blog or email updates.  I am still reorganizing after missing most of last week, but I am caught up now and ready to share a bit of what we've been doing.

We enjoyed a fun presentation from Addy about light.  She shared the effects of ultraviolet light on molecules and showed us some possibilities with her model.  Thanks for sharing!

We had a fun experience with the Atlanta Opera!  They presented Magic Flute.  The kids were so engaged and entertained.  They laughed and loved the expression of beliefs through songs and acting.

We began exploring sound.  Students watched a video of a man shattering a glass with his voice, created hypothesis, and models to represent their new understandings.  We experienced sound waves with tuning forks today.  We worked to make observations, ask questions, and "see" sound waves.

Tuning Forks in Class

We are currently exploring the purpose of the Bill of Rights, and what it states for the people.  The kids had great conversations and questions about the rights and how they impacted our community.  They may ask you your perspective on a couple. ;)

We continue working with fractions.  We are using addition and subtraction with mixed numbers.  Students are using regrouping strategies and number line models.  We also began using creating a frequency distribution using a line plot.  Students are organizing data in order to respond to questions about the data.

We will have a small Valentine's Day exchange in class.  It will not be a party, and participation is voluntary.  We do ask that if you choose to send in Valentines, please send one for everyone.  We have 25 students.  You can find a list of names here if you wish to personalize them.

Check the upcoming events section.  It has been updated!

Have a great night!!

Wednesday, January 17th - SNOW DAY!

Hello, everyone!!  I hope you are enjoying the snow.  It is beautiful, but we are inside because it is waaaaaaay too cold!

If you need something to do today, I have just thing!
Check out this website!  It has great information about the exploration that we completed yesterday using flashlights, mirrors, convex lenses, and concave lenses.  You can do a short write up about something that you learned about the different lenses and curved mirrors (like the funhouse picture we saw).  Bring your short write up in to class when we return to school.

You can also check out some of these poems!  Choose one, and try to think about the different topics about theme that may be present.  Here's a little picture to remind you what some common topics may be: You can then make a statement about what the author is teaching us about the theme.  You should also bring this with you to school when we return.

How about some work with equivalent fractions!!! Here is a practice page that will be great review from our lesson yesterday using tape diagrams and multiplication equations.  Want a challenge?!  Try this one!!

You can also review this reading passage about the Articles of Confederation and describe its weaknesses to your parents.

Don't forget, you can always log on Compass Learning.  Your username is your lunch number, the password is go, and the school should be Decatur.

Hopefully we will see each other tomorrow, but if not.....I have more activities ready for you!!! :)

Friday, January 5th

Welcome back!!!

A Heartfelt Thank You

Mr. Robillard and I truly appreciate the class gifts. We can't thank you enough for thinking of us. We appreciate your support thos year and are looking forward to the second half of the year. Have a restful break and happy new year!

Tuesday, December 20th

Happy Tuesday!

We've had a great week!  Don't forget that you can still send in donations for Adam Smith!  The Shear the Beard campaign is doing amazing things for Adam and his family, so thank you so much for your donations.

Tomorrow is our Revolutionary War assessment. 

We've spent the early part of our week designing weather maps and writing forecasts based on our designs.  Students are using their understanding of weather fronts and pressure systems to design predicable forecasts for the United States.

Today, we added borax to boiling water to inquire into processes of change.  Our hope is that by adding liquid to a solid and dissolving it, we will see it turn to a solid again when the water cools.  We are letting them sit over night and will eagerly see our results tomorrow!!!

We are excited to see you Thursday at 1:45 for our Celebration of Learning! 

Have a nice evening!

Friday, December 8th - SNOW DAY!!

We had such a wonderful time yesterday!  The kids worked hard and did so great.  They were, however, keeping a close eye on the windows, and when the first flakes began to fall.....

We couldn't wait to take our weather lesson outside to experience some frozen precipitation....

My Freddy couldn't wait for a snowball fight.

And my Luke was not too sure about his first snow. :)

The snow sure did make our house look beautiful though.

I hope you have a great time in the snow today!!  I would love to see pictures of the kids, so feel free to email them to me.  Have a great weekend!

Monday, November 27th

Welcome back!  We had a good start to our week.  Check out some pictures below from our week before break.

Here is our MAP Testing Schedule:
12/12 at 9:10 - Math
12/13 at 9:10 - Reading
12/14 at 8:20 - ELA