Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Technology Tuesday...so another quick day.

Students took their monthly STAR test, practiced typing for 20 minutes and then were able to work on their theme 2 projects.  
Some students that are ready to present began focusing on the extra credit assignment and did a series of choose your own adventures.  

Math:
Converting fractions into decimals and converting decimals into fractions.
We spend a great deal of time addressing this lesson during the first chapter of the school year so 80% of this was a quick reminder.  However the later part of today’s lesson, is a tad new and challenging.
Please see today’s notes for examples since we did all of the evens in our notebook and used the response devices.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/nl39k7ltxd.pdf
**Students had exactly 22 minutes to work on homework today.  

Reading Comprehension and a little talk about Benedict Arnold
We worked on this week’s reading comprehension skill which is two part:
1. fact versus opinion
and
2. Now assessing that someone’s point of view or perspective may factor into facts shared
We read a wonderful little non fiction write up about Benedict Arnold.   The much maligned Patriot traitor and/or hero that brought Peter Brady so much consternation.  
If your son/daughter still have questions or an interest in Benedict Arnold, here is his wiki entry:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold

They ended the day with PE.

Classroom photos went home at the end of the day.  So get them out of those backpacks before they get totally wrinkled.  

Thank you for the generous jog-a-thon participation.  If you still have money to collect or forgot to bring it in today, please feel free to drop off tomorrow.

**We have our first Reading Around the World Hall of Fame earner for the year!!   Matthew W. has read 5,200 pages since August of this school year.   As you would expect he is also our class’ highest A.R. point earner as well.  He is on pace to shatter our former A.R. record.

Homework for the week:
Comprehension:
Read 260-280 by Thursday
Answer two questions on page 280 by Friday.  Only two so make them your masterpiece, complete answers that refer back to the story and completely written.
P.B. 140-141 by Friday
AR test by Friday

Free-Write due on Friday
“This year Santa was on steroids....”

Grammar due by Thursday:
P.B. 149, 150, and 151

Vocabulary Work due by Wednesday:
5 challenge words -- write complete definitions and use them in a sentence
http://www.eduplace.com/spellinglists/lists/sl_g5t03_01.html
P.B. 139, 144, and 148

Graph work due for Mrs. Cargo’s class due on Thursday.
See her if you do not still have your graph

Math for the week:
230-232 1-37 odds due Wednesday
234-235 2-32 evens due Thursday
236-237 1-17 all due Friday must show on a number line
240-241 1-14 all due Tuesday, December 7th
Chapter 10 Version A all due Wednesday, December 8th

Technology Lab on November 30th

Here are the links:

http://www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/game/game.html

http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary/version_2/examples/castaway.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html

Week 15, Monday, November 29, 2010

Happy Post Turkey Holiday!!

Many of the kids complained that today went by waaay too quick.  I think that is great because I like to think we had some serious learning going on.

We had a spirit assembly to kick off our triumphant return.  This month’s character attribute is caring.

After the assembly we took our weekly spelling test.
Here is the list of words:
http://www.eduplace.com/spellinglists/lists/sl_g5t03_01.html

We then kicked off the discussion regarding the new theme, Voices of the Revolution.  I gave some background information about the Revolution and Washington’s risky Christmas eve gamble.  

The students then had 60 minutes to work on their theme 2 open ended project.  Students also could sign up their project presentation.  Here is the sign up list if for some reason your child would like to change their time:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dFp2M2FYclNIUHhuck9KU192R1R4Snc&hl=en&authkey=CMPq--gE

Math:
Fractions -- simplifying them.
We reviewed the concept of using the power of one.
Here are the detailed notes for the first five problems that we did:
http://www.box.net/shared/c90febr235
Page 227 1-32 all **must show the power of one, you can NOT just give the final answer;
Students were given 25 minutes to work on their math.

More discussion regarding the American Revolution while we discussed this week’s key vocabulary.  Many of the students were paying attention so they were able to complete practice book page 144;

After lunch we watched two amazing movies about education that also uses great use of visual learning to better teach or symbolize a lesson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

The first one deals with the future of education and where it is at now and why it must change.  I personally was interested to see what the students thought about this one.  

However we were having much more conversation about the second video about what motivates and drives human beings.   We ran out of time before we started discussing why humans care so much about purpose and being self-directed.

As a friendly reminder the jogathon donations are due tomorrow.  If your son/daughter lost their form, you can collect the donations and send it in an envelope.  Just please make sure to give yrou child’s information and our class information on it.  Also checks should be written payable to Dublin Elementary PFC.

I hope everyone had a glorious Thanksgiving with your family and loved ones.  I personally had a great time with this year being the first year we hosted everyone at our house.  The mash potatoes were a lumpy disaster (I’ve already ordered  a hand ricer through Amazon so it won’t happen again) however everything else came out fine.  

In case you missed it, it was the one-year anniversary of our friend Mr. Tom;  Here are some updates regarding his family:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/25916358/detail.html
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_16693465

Have you ever wondered, why two or three siblings could share the exact same gene pool however be so opposite?  
Well NPR did recently as well.  
Here is a quick read or a quick listen about why sibling A is so so different than sibling B.
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/18/131424595/siblings-share-genes-but-rarely-personalities

Homework for the week:
Comprehension:
Read 260-280 by Thursday
Answer two questions on page 280 by Friday.  Only two so make them your masterpiece, complete answers that refer back to the story and completely written.
P.B. 140-141 by Friday
AR test by Friday

Free-Write due on Friday
“This year Santa was on steroids....”

Grammar due by Thursday:
P.B. 149, 150, and 151

Vocabulary Work due by Wednesday:
5 challenge words -- write complete definitions and use them in a sentence
http://www.eduplace.com/spellinglists/lists/sl_g5t03_01.html
P.B. 139, 144, and 148

Graph work due for Mrs. Cargo’s class due on Thursday.
See her if you do not still have your graph

Math for the week:
227 1-32 all *show the power of ones when simplifying due Tuesday
230-232 1-37 odds due Wednesday
234-235 2-32 evens due Thursday
236-237 1-17 all due Friday must show on a number line
240-241 1-14 all due Tuesday, December 7th
Chapter 10 Version A all due Wednesday, December 8th

Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Please sign up for your presentation time....

Here is the link......

Remember 5 minutes and you need to show me what you have learned.........

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dFp2M2FYclNIUHhuck9KU192R1R4Snc&hl=en&authkey=CMPq--gE

Technology on November 16, 2010

Please go to this website:

http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/intro.html

It will take about 30 seconds to load.   You will need your earphones on to listen and learn.  I want you to spend about 15 minutes on this website.  You may take notes.
You will be asked to share 1 or 2 things with the class that you learned from this website.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Quick one because I had report card meetings today.....

Student Led Conferences.....
If you need to change your time or if you have forgot your time, just go to this link:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dG5nMkNrOEU4UTI5WmtMY0lNWUcwa0E&hl=en&authkey=CPa97fQJ

Kids get out at 2:05 all day this week (Monday-Thursday).  

Kids do not have school on Friday this week.

The friendship soup will be on Thursday.  Everyone is invited to show up.  We will have the soup from 1:10-2:05.   
Regarding the soup, remember just one small ziplock bag of pre-cut vegetable or vegetables.  You can even bring in canned vegetables or frozen vegetables.  
Please just bring it in a ziplock bag so I don’t have to work about a can opener and I’m not planning on bringing a chef’s knife to slice and dice.  Also a small portion of the vegetable is sufficient because we will have 24 small servings of vegetables.  Believe me, all those veggies add up to a ton of food.   
Also if your son or daughter want “kick it up a notch” they may bring extra garlic, diced onion, Bay Leaf, whatever spice they would like to add to the pot.  

We are also looking for volunteers regarding bread, maybe some serving cups, butter, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper.  

Turkey Trot is on Thursday -- so students may be asking for donations?  All money raised goes directly back to our class.

Thanksgiving Buddy project with our kindergarten friends on Wednesday morning.

Some projects are being shown this week, however we will extend the deadline till we return since this a jam packed week with conference prep and other activities.

Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard

Homework for the week:
Math
page 220-221  1-18 all due Tuesday
page 222 1-24 all due Wednesday
page 224-225  1-12 all due Thursday

Social Studies:
Read pages 1-3 by Wednesday

Free-Write -- “free write about anything you want” due Wednesday
Free-Write -- “I’m thankful for......”  needs to be realistic and from the heart/soul  due Thursday

2:05 release Monday through Thursday
Thanksgiving break begins on Friday the 19th

Tuesday, November 9th

Another super fast Tuesday...
Technology lab --
The students typed for 20 minutes and then they had the opportunity to either study for the chapter 9 math test or work on their projects.  Some of the projects are starting to take shape.  We are going to have some nice projects.  I find it funny we have one project about the life & times of Gov. Jerry Brown and another project about Meg Whitman.  

Math
We reviewed last night’s math homework and answered a few last second questions about the chapter.  We had to clarify “prime factorization” versus regular factorization.

Chapter 10 we begin learning about our friends the fractions.  Due to the legnth of our math test and the need to review for our theme 2 test (grammar packet) we did not discuss tonight’s 10-1 lesson.  Every student was assigned the 10-0 and 10-1 audio/flash presentation lesson.  So if they can have 5-10 minutes of www.pearsonsuccessnet.com they will be ready for tonight’s homework.  

We reviewed and asked questions about the grammar packet.  We also started the day with more questions from the theme 2 study guide.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

**If they need more time to study the theme 2 study guide, please have them complete social studies homework by FRIDAY.  I would rather have them studying for their theme test.

They ended the day with PE.
Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Homework for the week:
Math:
Page 215-216 all due Wednesday  *www.pearsonsuccessnet.com has videos for 10-0 and 10-1
Page 218-219 all due Friday

Language Arts:
Theme 2 test is Wednesday -- please please use the Theme 2 Study guide to review and memorize concepts.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

Reading Around the World -- please have pages for the first trimester signed off by this Friday.  600 minimum = C  and 800 is A.

Projects -- most work should be done at class.  However if a student is super fired up or excited, they made do some work for the project at home.  However the studying for the math test and the theme 2 should be considered higher at home priorities.  

Art Night is at Dublin Elementary this Wednesday evening.  Please look at Thursday’s Shark newsletter for the exact time.  It is free, there is a shaving cream station and tons of other great interactive art.

Turkey Trot (aka the Jogathon), Thursday, November 18th -- 100% of all money that is raised will go directly to our class.  Last year we were able to purchase two classroom digital cameras, two splitters for our computers, and other great tools.

Week 13 of the school year...let’s make it a luck one.

We had another interruption with an early morning eye examinations where they take 1/2 the class away for exams.  

We took the 40 spelling word pretest..we will have test on Friday.
http://www.eduplace.com/spellinglists/lists/sl_g5sr02.html

We spent about 40 minutes walking through, talking notes and discussing the Theme 2 Study guide.  Students really should use this in CONJUNCTION WITH THEIR LARGE PRACTICE BOOK and study the ideas and rules that will be covered on Wednesday’s test.  
If the study guide is lost or whatever, he is the link to a new one:
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

On a related note, the grammar packet is due tomorrow.

Math:
Preparing for the chapter 9 test that is tomorrow.
This is the greatest factoring lesson from our friends from Alameda.
http://www.acoe.org/acoe/files/EdServices/LCMv5.swf

Here is the link to the on-line math resources for studying.
http://www.box.net/shared/8hcenbm024

You will find the test version A (w/answers), the notes we took Friday, and a great Powerpoint lesson created in class by our own Ms. Sonne.  

We spent 90 minutes working on our theme 2 projects.  A few computer hick-ups however we seemed to be working our way through them.  

We spent the last part of the day discussing getting ready for the week, how to best study for the Theme 2 test, the turkey trot (aka the jogathon) and our community soup.  

Art Night is at Dublin Elementary this Wednesday evening.  Please look at Thursday’s Shark newsletter for the exact time.  It is free, there is a shaving cream station and tons of other great interactive art.

Turkey Trot (aka the Jogathon), Thursday, November 18th -- 100% of all money that is raised will go directly to our class.  Last year we were able to purchase two classroom digital cameras, two splitters for our computers, and other great tools.  

Thursday, November 18th  -- our classroom community soup.   As a tradition, I like to have all the students bring in one small ziplock bag of their favorite vegetable (precut please).  Everyone dumps their vegetables into the pot, I bring the stock and some spices.  We sit in a circle sharing what we are thankful for while enjoying a hot cup of soup.  Families are welcome to attend since we usually have tons of soup left over.   More details to come....


Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Homework for the week:
Math:
Test is tomorrow
Page 208-209 all -- students were given 30 minutes to work on math due Tuesday
Page 215-216 all due Wednesday
Page 218-219 all due Friday

Language Arts:
Theme 2 test is Wednesday -- please please use the Theme 2 Study guide to review and memorize concepts.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

Grammar Packet due on Tuesday

Reading Around the World -- please have pages for the first trimester signed off by this Friday.  600 minimum = C  and 800 is A.

Projects -- most work should be done at class.  However if a student is super fired up or excited, they made do some work for the project at home.  However the studying for the math test and the theme 2 should be considered higher at home priorities.  

Theme 2 Daily Status Update

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEprb2dHSWtDTDVKaTNIVUxaQWx0WXc6MA#gid=2

Please take a quick survey for a project...

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5JSKLYN

Friday Math and Theme 2 Test...

I sent earlier in the week, here is the link to reserve your student led conference..
Click the link and choose what time works for you::
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dG5nMkNrOEU4UTI5WmtMY0lNWUcwa0E&hl=en&authkey=CPa97fQJ

Math:
Big factoring test on Tuesday....here are resources and tools to help with studying.

This is the greatest factoring lesson from our friends from Alameda.
http://www.acoe.org/acoe/files/EdServices/LCMv5.swf

Here is the link to the on-line resources for studying.
http://www.box.net/shared/8hcenbm024

You will find the test version A (w/answers) and the notes we took today

Here is the theme 2 study guide:
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Reading Around the World -- they need to have 800 new pages every Trimester for a “3” on the report card. Many students have read but haven’t had me sign off yet. I need their 1st trimester pages in by November 15th.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

I sent earlier in the week, here is the link to reserve your student led conference..
Here is the link, click it and choose what time works for you::
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dG5nMkNrOEU4UTI5WmtMY0lNWUcwa0E&hl=en&authkey=CPa97fQJ

Today the students continued working their attribute votes and write-ups.  They also completed their project proposals.  
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-3-2010-technology-time.html

Students were then given time to work on their projects.

We then reviewed yesterday’s math.  All about factoring.
Here is the primary lesson that the substitute used yesterday and what we referenced yesterday.
http://www.acoe.org/acoe/files/EdServices/LCMv5.swf

Today we did more practice with Venn diagrams.  I showed how using this method allows you to easily find the GCF and the LCM.   We then practiced using this information with reducing fractions or adding/subtracting fractions with common denominators.
Here are the notes from today:http://www.box.net/shared/static/llvdq8zcpp.pdf

Election Day discussions....we discussed the super close House of Representative race “112” votes separate Jerry McNerney and David Harmer.   We discussed the Brown/Whitmann results.  We also discussed how the found fathers would have approved of having one party in charge of the House of Reps and another party in charge of the Senate since it is checks and balances at it greatest.

Grammar Handbook -- was given out today.  Sorry for the mix-up.  

Here is the theme 2 study guide:
http://www.box.net/shared/static/8lcblnyt9c.doc

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Homework for the week:
Math:
206-207 1-13 all due Friday
Chapter 9 test will be on Tuesday November 9

Theme 2 Test will be on November 10, 2010


Grammar Packet of all grammar lessons covered this theme will be due on Tuesday, November 9th.

Reading Around the World -- they need to have 800 new pages every Trimester for a “3” on the report card.  Many students have read but haven’t had me sign off yet.  I need their 1st trimester pages in by November 15th.

Give It All You Got Project is due on November 16th --- proposal due no later than Thursday.

Free Write: due Friday
Describe Thanksgiving from the perspective of the “Turkey” family.

Here is the link that will should make signing up for a conference time as painless and quick as possible:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dG5nMkNrOEU4UTI5WmtMY0lNWUcwa0E&hl=en&authkey=CPa97fQJ

So click onto the link, find the date and time that works best for your family and type your son/daughter's name into the open spot.  If you accidentally errase someone's name or whatever, just hit the "undo" button.  Please remember to hit "save" on the top right hand side before exiting.