November 23rd Already?

     It is almost Thanksgiving and wow has the time flown by.  We are finishing up the reading of the City of Ember and the students have really enjoyed this book.  The discussions have been fun to listen to.  We are excited to see what they come up with for the next part of this project.  Students have an individual writing piece due on Tuesday based on the end of the book. After Thanksgiving we will work on the handbooks and kits for the end of this project.
     With November coming to an end students can turn in their November Reading calendars any time that they finish their requirements.  Also, Achieve 3000 needs to be completed weekly.  (This short week we will be requiring one article.)  Students have been working hard on learning their math facts.  If your student brings home a half sheet of paper with math facts they are still working on passing certain levels.  Please encourage them to practice with their flash cards or online!  Practice is the only way they will tackle these facts.
     This past week was our Exploration week and students had a good time learning new games or activities or even just reading.  A nice time to meet other people and other teachers in our building.  Our United Way Penny War has been extended to December 5th so please send in change to help our local United Way.
     Photos included this week come from the November 11th Veterans Day program and a few from Explorations.  Have a great week!

Snow?? Already??? It is November!

      Well, we are hoping for a better winter than last year but the forecast is not looking the best for mid-November!  The cold weather means students need to dress appropriately to go outside for recess.  They go outside unless it is too wet or the wind chill is around 10 degrees.  So, helpful reminders in the morning about coats, gloves, hats etc are appreciated!
     This coming week is our first Exploration classes.  This is a time the students look forward to each year.  They get to go to different classes and be with students from different teams.  It is a fun time to be with some different people.  These classes happen M-Th this week from 2:20 until the end of the day.  Be sure to ask your student what exploration they are going to this week!
     We have been having a lot of issues with students following the Norms for our team.  We feel like out TRUST card system is not working effectively with this group.  We are going to be implementing a new system soon.  Look for some information to come home with week about the PINK SLIP system.  We want everyone to have a successful year and we have to make sure everyone is following the Norms.  We have also had a lot of trouble the past few weeks with students completing homework.  It is very important that students complete their assignments when they are given.  We have been getting a lot of excuses of being too busy with lots of activities.  Students should not have that much to do on a daily basis and if they use their time wisely they should be able to get a lot done here at school.  If your child is bringing home a overwhelming amount of homework please contact their homeroom teacher.  We try very hard to keep the amount of work at an amount that fifth graders can handle.  Thank you for your help.  Students who do not get their work done go to catch up cafe and then if it is still not done it is their responsibility.  You can always check Echo to see if your child is missing anything.
     We will be finished with The City of Ember this week and groups will be working on the next phase.  With Explorations this week work time will be shorter.  We hope to have this project wrapped up right after Thanksgiving.
     Here are some photos of the 5th grade first boys basketball game and of students working on using a scale to measure some different objects.  Have a great week!

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.