Four Day Week...Equals...Busy Week

    Those four days sure went quickly.  We are working hard at gaining the knowledge we need to compete the current project.  We spent some time this week going over our beginning Need to Knows and moving quite a few items to the Know column.  This process takes some time but the students were excited to see all that they have learned already and that they are close to having all that they need to complete this project.
    In math, fractions are the area we are currently working in.  We have had to slow down and regroup but more and more are catching on.  On Thursday of last week and Monday of this week we are teaching each other how to add mixed numbers.  It is neat to have the students explain the steps to each other and o see the light bulb go off when they realize their own mistakes.
    In science, students made predictions on whether certain objects will sink or float as they work on weight and mass of objects.  They had a good time experimenting with different objects.
    In Humanities, students were very excited to bring in their individual projects on the place they would like to explore.  Their visual aides were a lot of fun to look at.
    Achieve 3000 is still a weekly requirement as well as reading for 30 mins per night and recording it on the reading calendar.  These are things that will make our students stronger readers and writers.
     The week of November 17th is our first Explorations classes for this school year.  This is a fun time for all of our students to try different activities.  This week we will also be having our United Way Penny War between the classes.  Students will be able to bring in pennies to start the week to gain points for their classes and then silver later in the week to take points away from other classes.   This is always a fun time.  We are also having some other activities that week dealing with Bully Prevention/Awareness and concentrating on each of our strengths.  It will be a busy one!
    Have a great week!

Riverside Innovation Academy was recently named a New Tech Demonstration Site!  We are excited about what this will mean to our school!  

November is Here!

    It is so hard to believe but November is already here!  This year is going by so quickly.  This was a fun week at Riverside with our Red Ribbon Dress up days.  (Mrs. Dennie had some technical difficulties was not able to get photos to load, sorry)  This group has a lot of spirit and we appreciate their willingness to participate!
    We continue to work on our latest project and are reading the City of Ember and will be done with that in the next week or two and then get into the bulk of this project.  Students have learned all about the sun, moon and shadows in science time and will take that knowledge along with what they learn from the book and we can't wait to see what they come up with to help our 'friends'.
    As a school we have had a change in the Achieve 3000 policy,  We are still giving a grade on their average on activities and their thought questions but now to get a ticket and qualify for the Riverside Roster party students have to complete two activities at a 75% or higher.  This should help some students who have a rough article here and there, we hope!  We all believe if students take their time they should be able to do two articles each week and achieve both of their goals.  We continue to stress that students need to go back into the article and find their answers.  Each article is at each individual students exile level.  We appreciate all of the encouragement that you are giving at home.  We have seen great growth from this program.
     In math we are tackling fractions and learning how to apply what we learn in the real world.  We still have students struggling with their basic math facts and any help at home is greatly appreciated.  Xtramath.com, MobyMax Fact Master, Multiplicaiton.com are great sites to have students practice their facts (we do some of these at school but they can do it at home as well)  Also, good old fashioned flash cards are always wonderful.
     In humanities students should be working on their individual Explorer projects on the place they would like to explore.  We are excited to see what they come up with for this individual project!
     Have a great week!
     

Fall Break

     A quick week here at school.  We hope this finds all of our students well rested and ready to work hard!  We have a lot to get accomplished during these next few months and we need everyone ready to go.
     Our team looked awesome in our new shirts on Wednesday at our first award convocation.  This was the first time we have done this type of award convocation.  PRIDE awards were given to two people from each homeroom who demonstrated the characteristics of respect and perseverance.  Each month we recognize a different characteristic.  We also were able to give one "On a Roll" award for each homeroom for this grading period.  These are students who we feel are working hard and doing better in some area of school.  We would like to recognize everyone but this is what we are able to do.  Each month/grading period different students will be recognized.
     As we enter this next full week, please encourage your student to continue to do their very best.  Remind them to do their Achieve and to make sure they are completing their reading calendars.  We really appreciate all of the help you parents give to your students!

Playing a Game in Math Class on Mean, Median, Mode and Range

Awards day-Looking good!!!

Another Busy Week in the Books!

     This was a very busy week in the fifth grade Innovation Academy at Riverside! We kicked off our latest project on Monday.  Students got into new groups on Tuesday and worked on their new group contracts.  We started reading a new book together to learn some information for this latest project.  We also checked the weather forecast and we tie dyed our shirts as well!  We were afraid to wait any longer as we did not want it to be too cold to complete the process.   The shirts turned out great and we can't wait for our first chance to wear them as a team.  This was a celebration of our last project being complete.  The students helped design the front of the shirts and we are so excited about the results.
     We are reading the City of Ember in our PBL groups to learn about the time capsule that was "discovered" earlier this week and the letter that we received.  This project will have the students taking what they learn in science about the sun, moon and shadows to help the people of Ember survive in our environment.  The is a simulated project and we think the students will enjoy this topic.  Later in the project we will need parents to come in and take on the role of the people of Ember and help us evaluate the students projects.
     This next week is parent/teacher/student conferences on Monday and Tuesday evening if you have not already attended a conference in the past two weeks.  We really appreciate those of you who were able to attend earlier, it is very helpful to us all.  If you are not able to attend your selected time please contact the homeroom teacher and we will reschedule.
      There is no school on Thursday and Friday of this week for Fall Break.  We will be having a small celebration on Wednesday afternoon and we are allowing students to bring in their own snack and drink and we will be getting together to watch a movie together.  We will then be heading to the gym for a school wide celebration.  We will all be wearing pink to support cancer awareness, Mr. Schmidt will be getting his haircut to donate, Achieve 3000 Kindles will be given away, our new Riverside Pride awards (one per homeroom per month), On a Roll awards (one per homeroom per quarter) and some other things we will celebrate.  We hope to start a new tradition at Riverside.
     Have a great week and a wonderful Fall Break.

First Quarter is Over!

    It is hard to believe it but the first quarter of the year is over.  This first part of the year has flown by.  Report cards will be available at conferences after this week.  If  you have a conference scheduled before we get the printed report cards they will be sent home with your student.  We appreciate those of you who have scheduled early conferences with us, it really helps us with 25 students each.  Those two conference days are just not enough time to see everyone.
     We finished up our first project this past week and will be kicking off our new project on Monday. We are excited to start something new with the students.  We hope they come home excited about this new, fun projectile  Stay tuned for more information!
     Our shirts arrived on Friday and we will begin our "Tie Dye" process shortly, weather pending.  We hope to have them all done and ready to wear by fall break!  They look great now and they are just black and white!  We can't wait to see how they look after the kids are done with them!
     With the new quarter beginning tomorrow we want to remind you that each week two Achieve 3000 articles with a goal of 75% average are required with two Thought Questions as well.  Also, students should be reading for 30 mins. a night and recording it on their reading calendars.  As soon as they get 20 days they can turn it in to Mr. Premetz.  This is an easy 20 points in Language Arts!
     We are encouraging the students to do their best on all of their school and homework and we appreciate all of the great support we have received from home!  Together we will help the students make great gains this year!
     Have a great week!
     

October, Already??

   Well, it sure does feel like October outside.  Not quite sure I like the drastic change in weather!  Time is sure going quickly!  We will be through our first grading period at the end of this week.  That is really hard to believe.
    Students had their first presentations this past week.  We had some very good presentations and we also had some that need some work.  The students are very aware of what they need to work on.  We are working on having a "Growth Mindset" this year.  We want the students to always be working to make things better.  We are looking at how far they grow from this first presentation to the final presentation at the end of the year.  We expect great things from this group!
     We will be wrapping up this first project this week with the students working on their advertisements for the Blueberry Festival.  We will then dive into our next project!  The students and the facilitators are all ready for a new project!
     We hope we have all of the technical issues fixed and we are going to try and finish the ACT Aspire testing this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  We hope to get some good data from these tests to help us prepare for the new ISTEP in the spring!
     Don't for get that students need to be reading for 30 mins daily and recording it on their reading calendars.  Also, Achieve 3000 is something they have to do every week, all school year.  Any help you can give to make sure your student is completing these requirements would be greatly appreciated!  Also, be sure to check in Echo and see if your student is missing any work.  The students know what to look for and can help show you their classes.
     We start our Parent/Teacher/Student conferences this week.  We have sent notes home with the students on times.  These conferences run from Monday through Tuesday, October 21.  Each teacher has different times for the next two weeks be sure to check your paper on your time!  Thanks for being prompt to these conferences so that we can stay on schedule.
     Have a good week and keep warm.