Happy Holidays!

     We are about finished with our last week of 2012.  It has been a great start to our year.  We have had a very busy week.  The kids did a great job in our Christmas program on Tuesday night.  It was great to have so many of our kids there!  We have had a lot of kids absent this week so we hope they all get rest over break and come back ready to tackle 2013! 
     The students gave their Indian group presentations this week.  We had a lot of wonderful projects.  We have chosen 2-3 from each group to present after break to a panel of guests.  They will pick one project form each group.  It was great to see that not the same people are chosen each time.  Everyone is having their time to shine and it is great to see. 
     We hope to each and everyone of you has a wonderful and restful break.  We can't wait to see what 2013 brings.  This group is very special and once again we thank you for sharing them with us.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

 Christmas program

 Watching presentations

 Indian presentations

 Discussing display

 Dress up presentation

 Cool house

Three ladies took he initiative to dress up! 

What a Caring Group!

      This week has been just as hectic and busy as most December weeks are in a fifth grade classroom.  This week has also made us realize once again what a caring group of kids we have this year.  We took on the task of adopting two families and with your help and your children's we have been able to provide these two families with a Christmas they will always remember.  We wrapped several outfits for each of the four children as well as, boots, shoes, snow pants, toys, books, socks etc.  We gave each family two boxes of food and were able to give them gift cards to the grocery store and we gave each family a Martin's coupon book!  At the time of writing this post one of the families came in and the mother could not believe when Miss Cobb told her that all five boxes were for her family.  She cried when she realized that we had provided them with so many needed items.  Thanks to all of our families, whether you sent in one item or many they were all appreciated and you helped teach your children a great lesson about helping others. 
     We have been in 'build' mode for our latest PBL project this week and it has been a bit stressful and very messy.  We had a few days where we were questioning this entire project but, after some refocusing the kids have rallied and they are looking pretty good.  The kids will be presenting to each other next week.  We are excited to see how it turns out.  We are all learning in this process not just the kids. 
     We are happy to report that a lot of the kids on our team are signed up for PBL next year.  If you have not applied but would like to it is still not too late.  Applications will be available online until December 21.  If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact one of us and we will do our best to answer or find the answer for you. 

 Working on our build early in the week.

 sketching out our regions

 Double checking that we are right on our design.

 Group discussion

 Making a long house

 Hard at work.

 Making sure we like what we see.

 Taking shape.

 Helping wrap presents.

 Gifts for one of our families

Taking gifts to the office for pick up!

First Week of December!!

     What a busy week for us here at Riverside.  The first Rocket Night is now over with and it was a big success.  We collected a bunch of food for the Neighborhood Center Food pantry and the kids had a great time.  It is a crazy hour and a half but the kids love it. 
     On Wednesday night we had a PBL information night and a gallery walk with some of our students presenting some of their projects.  We are so proud of these kids and what they have been able to do so far this year.  There was a pretty big turn out and our students did a wonderful job answering questions.  Remember if you are wanting your child to learn in the PBL environment next year you need to fill out the online application that is on the Plymouth Website.  The application goes "live" on December 10th at 8:30 am and will remain "live" until December 21.  If you have any questions about where this is available ask your child as Mrs. Dennie showed each class where the application was on Thursday.  
     The students have been working on their Indian projects and most are finished with what we are calling "Phase one" and are beginning their building which is "Phase Two".  Ask your student about their Indian group and what they have learned so far.  Students will be finishing up their building next week and we will have them present to each other the 17th to the 20th.  Then after Christmas Break the top projects will be going to Washington Discovery Academy to present to some students there.
     We are planning on having a Christmas/Winter "party" on December 21.  We will get more details out next week.  We will probably show a movie and have food.  
     The items for our two families that we have "adopted" are due by next Tuesday, December 11th so we can have time to wrap the items and get them to the Neighborhood Center.  We have had a lot of items brought in already and hope to see the rest after this weekend.  We love the giving spirit of our students this year!  It has been neat to see them bring items in and be so excited about what they bought from boots to food!  We are truly blessed this year with your children.
     In our classes this week we have been busy as well.   We have been multiplying and dividing fractions in math.   We have been working on commas in language arts and reading our trade books.  We have finished up our animals in science and we have been learning more about Native Americans in social studies.  In art class the Graffiti walls turned out really well and are hanging in the halls when you come for the music program you will have to take a look. 
    We hope you have a great weekend and we look forward to a good but busy next two weeks!