New Project!!! Excitement!!!

     You could not have told me a year ago that I would have kids so excited to start a new project.  We were in between projects for about two weeks and everyday I had a few students ask what our next project was going to be and when we were starting.  As I was walking around yesterday I noticed one of our very shy students sitting with his new group and talking excitedly about the new project.  This is one of the wonderful things about PBL!  It is so exciting to see the kids growing in how the communicate with each other.  We did not let the students pick their groups this time and we tried to mix them up quite a bit.  Not all groups are perfect but they are learning to accept others even if they are not their "friends".  These are great skills and we really feel that our discipline problems have been much less this year due to the fact that these students are working together and really getting to know lots of different people on our team.  Fifth graders tend to group themselves with their "friends" and don't venture out much.  This year we really see them caring for each other not just their friends.  This is a great group of students and it has really made this new adventure easier to start!!

     Hopefully, you are aware of what our new project is all about.  Our "Driving Question" is How can one person or group of people change history?  We are learning about the Civil Rights Movement and hoping that the students will be able to see how we all can make a difference.  The students have a Tic Tac Toe to help their group in this project.  The students are excited about this and we have heard some wonderful conversations already and we have only just begun.  We hope that the students will share with you what they are learning.  We are covering a lot of language arts standards in this project and we are hoping to make the kids more aware of the history of our country. 

     In math, we have begun to study geometry.  This will be the main focus this quarter in math.  We will also continue to work on the standards we have covered so far this year to get the students ready for the ISTEP.  Please encourage your students to practice at home their facts if this is a struggle.  Also, IXL math has great practice and they are all registered for this.  All students are also registered for SumDog and we are now participating in a contest so any encouragement you can give at home is helpful. 

     In language arts and social studies we have been working on things we will need for our project.  Studying civil rights and how to write dialogue have been a focus this week.  The students also took Aims Web tests this week in the areas of reading comprehension, fluency and math. 

     We hope that you have a wonderful weekend and that the students are ready for the next two busy weeks of working on their new projects. 

    

Quick Week!

     We just finished out first semester and wow did it go quickly.  This week we had out semi final presentations on our Indian projects.  Twelve groups presented to a panel of administrators and they all did a fabulous job.  There have been four groups chosen, one per Indian group, to go and present at Washington Discovery Academy in the near future.  We will get that information out to parents as soon as we can. 
     In classes, this week, we were reviewing and finishing up first semester items.  Students need to keep working hard on some of the skills that are giving them trouble.  Report cards are being sent home on Monday.  Please look for these in the Red Folders!  We will be Aims Web testing next week.  These are the tests that we give to test reading comprehension, oral reading and math skills.  Please help us by encouraging your students to do their best on these tests! 
     We will be kicking off our next PBL project on Monday.  We will be investigating how one person or one group can change history.  We will be investigating this through learning about the Civil Rights Era.  The kids should learn a lot and we hope they enjoy this project. 
     We hope you have a great long weekend and remember there is school on Monday.  This is a make up day from the fog day earlier this fall. 

    Here are some photos of our Indian presentations this week.  Students got to use some new technology for presentations and they did a great job!

Welcome to 2013!

     Wow! I can't believe it is 2013!  Time sure does fly!  This school year is going so quickly and we have great plans for the remaining half of the year.  We hope the students are ready to work hard and learn a lot! 
     This week we got back into the swing of things with a "regular" schedule.  We do have some students polishing their Indian projects so that they can present to a panel of administrators next Thursday.  The students did a great job on this project.  We will be starting our next PBL project in a few weeks. 
     The students have begun to research an explorer that they will be doing a written report on next week.  It is a language arts requirement that the students write research papers and this is the first one we are working on.  We decided to tie this into what we are studying in social studies.  So Mr. Hunter has been giving the students explorer background.  The students have chosen which explorer they want to learn more about.  Please ask your child who they are studying. 
     In math we worked on converting common percents, decimals and fractions.  The students made flip charts with the different steps and examples and they have done a nice job.  Reducing fractions is the hardest part of this.  Most students are getting so much better at this skill.  We still have a few that do not know their facts and this makes things difficult for them.  Encourage your child to review their facts.  They can do this online or with good old fashioned flash cards.  (Dollar Tree had some last time I was there!)
    The last day to get AR points for this quarter will be next Thursday, January 18th.  This was a very long grading period especially with Thanksgiving break and Christmas break so a lot of the kids have their goals already.  Just a heads up the next two grading periods are a little bit shorter so even if they have their goal they should be reading and take those test on January 21st.
     Have  a great weekend!  

    

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!

Last week of November!! Wow!!

     As this is being written we are in our last day of November.  Wow, has this year flown so far.  We are really enjoying working with these kids so much this year that the days and weeks are really flying by.  As we get ready for the holiday season we want to let you know a few items. 
            *We had such a great response by our kids for the one family that we added a second family to adopt this Christmas.  We thank all of you for your help with this.  There are a few tags left if you still want to participate.
             *Our team's will be performing in the Holiday Music program at 5:30 on December 18.  Students need to be here by 5:15.  ( a paper is coming home in the Monday folder with details)
             * If your student has enjoyed working on the PBL projects and would like to continue next year please consider coming to one of the information meetings.  The meeting here at Riverside is December 5 at 6:30.  Some of our students will be here with some of their projects.  Applications open on December 10th and there are only a certain number of openings at each grade level so if you want to make sure your student can be apart of this next year please go online and apply December 10.  More information about this process will be given at the informational meetings.
              *Rocket Night is December 6 and this is a night for all Riverside Students.  This is not a family event this is just a time for Riverside kids to hang out and have some fun.  The only cost is an item for the food pantry.  Pizza, pop, and cookies will be available for purchase.  (We could use a few more helpers if any of you would like to help (tdennie@plymouth.k12.in.us)  and could use some more small wrapped candy bars for prizes)
               *School get's out for winter break on December 21.  We return to school January 7, 2013.  The end of this grading period is January 17th.  This is different then we have done in the past so we wanted to make sure you were aware.  
     
      In classes this week we have been working on fractions in math, our trade books in language arts, and our life cycle project with our critters in science.  For social studies we have been working on Indians and continued that in our PBL work.  We took an Acuity test in math and language arts this week as well.
     We hope you have a great weekend and we are sure December will be a busy month and fly by as well!!!