Day 8 is out super late

I had a 2+ hour technology meeting since I'm training teachers on Friday.  So the email is waay late. 

 

We had an unprecedented last two days, many students are leaving homework at home or "forgetting it."  Will discuss this at Back to School Night but we will issue a code red and those day-planners being signed by both teacher and parents will be in full effect. 

Homework for the week:

 

Math:
page 30-31 (1-45 odds) due Thursday
page 35-36 (1-23 odd) due Thursday

Grammar Work -- all of this is due on Thursday
P.B. 13,14 and 15

Free-Writes

2nd one due on Thursday
“So one day there was 139 goats in my backyard......”

Remember to exercise your brain --- read for enjoyment and to better yourself

The social studies book handout -- “non fiction challenge” is due on Thursday

Remember:
Thursday evening is Back to School Night!!   7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room and 7:30 in room C-5
Friday is a teacher work day so students do not have school
Monday is Labor Day so students and teachers do not have school

2:05 -- Monday & Tuesday
2:50 --Wednesday & Thursday

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron

• “If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
  • John Wooden

Day 7 in C-5 Heaven....

We started off the day reviewing last night’s math homework so we could take our first test of the year.  Using the response devices, the class did extremely well, even earning a few 93% corrects on 6 of the 20 questions!

They then took their first test.  Upon completing their test they had DEAR time.  Another four students put their names onto our Reading Around the World list!



Math Lesson
We took some important notes today:
distributive property
estimating - when to estimate and when is it not ok
rounding
See all of our notes and examples, by clicking here
Homework:  Page 25-26 1-33 odd
and Page 28-29 1-29 odd
**Students need to write down the original numbers and then right below show their estimated numbers and their sum total.



Non Fiction book discovery, students were given a handout that encouraged them to explore their 5th grade science book.  
This is due with complete sentences and specific pages referenced on Wednesday.



Power speaking  and the importance of public speaking -- Mrs. Silva gave a lesson/discussion on the importance of public speaking.  This will be the first in a serious of lessons that will lead to the students memorizing a poem and presenting in front of the class.

Grammar for the week:
Subject and Predicate within a sentence
Types of sentences:
Interrogative sentence  -- ask a question
Do you smell something burning?

Declarative sentence  -- makes a statement w/out strong emotion
I clearly smell something burning and I see smoke.

Exclamatory sentence -- is a statement that shows strong emotions.
Please do something about that cake, it is on fire!!!!

Imperative sentence -- gives a direction or command w/out strong emotions.
Please jump on top of that cake so you can put the fire out.  

We ended the day with 10 minutes of free play out in the beautiful sun.


Homework for the week (i.e. I reserve the right to add to this or modify as I see best meets our learning objectives):

Math:
page 25-26 (1-33 odds) due Wed
page 28-29 (1-29 odds) due Wed
page 30-31 (1-45 odds) due Thursday
page 35-36 (1-23 odd) due Thursday

Vocabulary Work -- all of this is due on Wednesday
Take the 5 challenge words--- give a complete definition and then use each word in a sentence that proves you know what the word means.  Students are encouraged to do the homework as flashcards to help with their end of the week test.
P.B. 3, 8, and 12

Grammar Work -- all of this is due on Thursday
P.B. 13,14 and 15

Free-Writes (this is a two free-write week):
1st one due on Wednesday
“Let me tell you about “Calci” the mathematical superhero.....”

2nd one due on Thursday
“So one day there was 139 goats in my backyard......”

Remember to exercise your brain --- read for enjoyment and to better yourself

The science book handout -- “non fiction challenge” is due on Wednesday

Remember:
Thursday evening is Back to School Night!!  
Friday is a teacher work day so students do not have school
Monday is Labor Day so students and teachers do not have school

2:05 -- Monday & Tuesday
2:50 --Wednesday & Thursday

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron

• “If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
• John Wooden

Day 6 of our 10 month journey.....

A super quick one today since I had a 90 minute technology meeting after school so I need to hustle on home.

We started the day off discussing Hurricane Irene.  It was interesting to hear the varying perspectives from the students and also get their input about its devastation.  

We also used this time to talk about remaining calm during disasters and how people trying to be funny or not in control of their emotions will actually endanger both themselves and others.  

The CNN student video also had a quick segment on how the Washington, D.C. zoo animals began acting unique and outrageous in the hours and minutes leading up to last week’s earthquake.  

Language Arts Practice Book (aka P.B.) -- we did a quick walk-through how we will use the P.B. this school year.  They should expect weekly assignments of spelling, grammar and vocabulary work from the practice book.  

We took our first spelling pretest of the year.  
Click here for a list of the words for this week:

DEAR time --- wow, this year’s class has been doing possibly the best I have had in nine years regarding using this reading time wisely and effectively.  I’m extremely impressed with all of the eager readers!!  
We also now have four students that have read 500 pages and brought them in to be signed off!!!

Math:
The students took notes today on:
1.  What to expect in tomorrow’s math test.  We literally walked through what was expected of them and we stopped and I encouraged them to write down key reminders.
Click here to see the handouts and notes that will help them prepare for tomorrow’s test

2.  Students took notes and wrote down their definitions for tomorrow’s math lesson.
Click here for the definitions and examples that should be in their math notebook.  

Here is great little video explaining commutative property.
Here is a great little video explaining associative property

P.E.
Get Ready for the Week and begin planning how to prioritize....
90% of the homework for the week is placed on the board on a typical Monday.
We then discussed how to best plan out our week so we effectively complete our homework and not rush through our homework.  
The homework SHOULD NOT all be accomplished in one evening, because then it is being done for the sake of being done.  Homework should be assigned with some direct value that will further skills or knowledge we are working on in class.  
Homework should also be done strategically and the student should not wait until the night is due if possible.  
This is a “learning process” -- we will continue working on prioritizing our work, the scientific data that supports the benefits of “delay gratification”, and accomplishing homework in conjunction with our varied life-styles.

Homework for the week (i.e. I reserve the right to add to this or modify as I see best meets our learning objectives):

Math:
Math handout and study prepare for tomorrow’ math test --- due on Tuesday
Chapter 1 test on Tuesday
page 25-26 (1-33 odds) due Wed
page 28-29 (1-29 odds) due Wed
page 30-31 (1-45 odds) due Thursday
page 35-36 (1-23 odd) due Thursday

Vocabulary Work -- all of this is due on Wednesday
Take the 5 challenge words--- give a complete definition and then use each word in a sentence that proves you know what the word means.  Students are encouraged to do the homework as flashcards to help with their end of the week test.
P.B. 3, 8, and 12

Grammar Work -- all of this is due on Thursday
P.B. 13,14 and 15

Free-Writes (this is a two free-write week):
1st one due on Wednesday
“Let me tell you about “Calci” the mathematical superhero.....”

2nd one due on Thursday
“So one day there was 139 goats in my backyard......”

Remember to exercise your brain --- read for enjoyment and to better yourself

Remember:
Thursday evening is Back to School Night!!  
Friday is a teacher work day so students do not have school
Monday is Labor Day so students and teachers do not have school

2:05 -- Monday & Tuesday
2:50 --Wednesday & Thursday

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron

• “If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
• John Wooden

All the way live with day 5 in 2011-2012

Day 5: An extra “special” Friday posting.

We concluded our first week with beautiful weather and spirited students. Today in quick run-down: We started the day with The Week In Rap. We use Friday morning to discuss current events that have been going on this week. Therefore we discussed the east coast’s earthquake, Hurricane Irene, hiking in Iran, the MLK Jr. Monument, and the 49er/Raider fiasco last weekend.

 We completed our “I believe” project. We tried to work on adding some “meat” to go with our dreams. I challenged many of the students to go back and use the word “because” and explain what they will have to commit to doing in order to reach their dream (e.g. take notes, study before tests, read every night, etc..) Look for their “I believe” statements hanging up in the multi-purpose room during Thursday’s Back to School Evening.

 Drop Everything And Read time (DEAR time): We laid down expectations, students opened their books and they read for 20 minutes. This class did a wonderful job of enjoying this time to get some awesome reading done. We also had our first student have 100 pages signed off!!

If the World Was a Village -- we completed the book and discussed the topics of electricity, what the village looked like in the past and what it will look like in the future. The section on electricity lead to a ton of great conversations from how to get by without air-conditioning, a heater, candles/oil-lamps and computers/t.v. & radios. We also had a discussion regarding the book’s use of the B.C.E. and C.E. rather than B.C. and A.D.

 Math -- we reviewed last night’s math homework. We were able to use the response devices and discuss trends regarding what we were successful completing and areas that we need to focus our studies towards. 

Mrs. Silva did an art project and social studies lesson with them to complete the day. They were taking notes regarding the three branches of government while placing the notes next to the tree that they painted today (guess how many branches their tree has?) Students showed a great deal of government knowledge. They easily could identify who our Vice-President is and they knew the role of the Supreme Court and the number of Justices.

No weekend homework...this is a general rule, unless students struggle with learning our Friday math lesson in which case they sometimes get assigned weekend homework.
 Remember: Thursday evening is Back to School Night!!
 Friday is a teacher work day so students do not have school
2:05 -- Monday & Tuesday
2:50 --Wednesday & Thursday

Kind regards,
 Ron Hubbard
Teacher,
5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
"All of us are team players. Whether we know it or not, our significance arrives through our vital connections to other people. Family life is the central team experience." Pat Riley

Day 4 2011 2012

Day 4:

We had our first day in the technology room.  Therefore we had to set up what are expectations are regarding what takes place in the computer lab and how we will treat the District’s property.    

I also explained that on technology days, the students will make time to practice typing, take AR tests and take monthly reading assessments.  

Right before entering the technology lab, we worked on peer editing.   They worked in teams of four and they read and commented on each other’s “I believe” essays.  There were a handful of students that took this responsibility seriously and they great helped their peers better their papers.  We also watched the video above for more "I believe" dream as this 11 year old tells the audience they need to be more "childlike" and lays very convincingly why they should. 


In the lab, considering it was our first time this year in it, things went relatively smooth.   Most students were able to just about finish and we will assuredly complete this project tomorrow.  

After technology we visited the library and Mrs. Klein for the first time this school year.  The annual book fair has begun so we watched a documentary where many authors get a chance to describe and sell their books.   Students & families may purchase books after school every day until the end of Back to School Night next Thursday evening.

We read more of the If the World Was a Village --- air & water, schooling, and money & resources.   We talked about how not having sanitation systems = health issues and death.  We talked about the concept “toilet to tap”;  Also how much time must be spent just dealing with acquiring water when you live in conditions with out tap water.  We also had a discussion regarding why other countries purposely don’t educate their females.    Finally we discussed about trying to get by on $1 per day and provide for your family.  Similar to the food issue the previous day, many go without while others have an abundance.  


Math:
The first chapter is super short, so we began reviewing chapter 1’s lesson while we also introduced the Smart response devices.  
There were some first day hiccups with the response devices, however by the end we were able to review and learn from our mistakes.  
Click here for the notes from today’s math:

Tonight’s homework is a handout.
Click here for tonight’s handout.
We completed the day reading some of the “My teacher is a robot...” story.    

Students brought home tons of handouts from the school, so ask for them before they get lost in their back packs.


Homework for the week:
Math
Handout...see math section above for the link

Free-Write (a non-fiction/serious one):
“My family......”   due on Friday
***Get your day planner signed.

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
"All of us are team players.  Whether we know it or not, our significance arrives through our vital connections to other people.  Family life is the central team experience."
·        Pat Riley

Technology Lab Day

Our first priority is to complete our "I believe...." paragraphs.

They need to be typed out, best spelling and proofread.

When you think you are done, save it on the "I-Drive"  (your name )

After completing that, print a copy.

Then Click Here to Go To Free-Rice

After 10 minutes, then click here to grammar ninja

At 10:10, click here to tell someone what to do

Day 3 of the 2011 2012 school year

Day 3:

We had a pretty quick day...so many things to discuss and all the days end at 2:05

We began the day with further discussions regarding the book, If the World Was a Village.
Today's topics were age, religions and food.   The topics lead to some great discussions regarding how people live much longer in the USA AND that almost 40% of the world is under the age of 19!   Regarding religion we had discussions regarding what is a Christian religion, the 15% that don’t have a religion and if non Buddhist can meditate.  Finally we had a long discussion and we wrote about the food section.   The book discusses how 76% of the people in the world must deal with starvation and hunger challenges.  On a lighter note it points out that there exists almost double the total chickens in the world compared to humans.  Maybe we should stop making movies about robots or apes taking over and focus our attentions on the chickens.

We then worked on our listening and notes skills and listened to a podcast.  So we discussed what is a podcast and then I shared about economics & Freakonomics.  So we listend to a recent podcast titled, “Does College Still Matter”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN OR READ A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PODCAST
As we listened, I modeled how to take notes based on the important information it discussed.  

We did some group work based on the assignment “Homework about homework”
Students had a chance to sit and discuss with their peers how their homework settings and resources were similar or different.  A big discussion was Internet access while studying and if they had access where was the computer located.  

Math
Comparing values of numbers with decimals.
We did several examples and they should be in their math notebook.  
Click here are today’s math notes and examples.
Homework:  page 12-13  2-18 even problems

Music -- signing
The students will have formal singing on Wednesday right before lunch.

Reading Around the World
We discussed the reading expectations for this school year.  We will go over the logistics of during back to school night.  Basically on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month, they will bring in their Reading Around the World form with whatever pages they have been reading signed off.
A minimum requirement is 600 pages.   Students are strongly encouraged to exceed this minimum requirement.  


LET'S FIGURE IT OUT --- MATHEMATICALLY!

Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;
Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all!

Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.
Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 mins./week
Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes

Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month.

Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year
Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year.
Student B reads 720 min. in a school year.

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year.
Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice.

By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain
these same reading habits,
Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days
Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.
One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance. How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?

Some questions to ponder:

Which student would you expect to read better?
Which student would you expect to know more?
Which student would you expect to write better?
Which student would you expect to have a better vocabulary?
Which student would you expect to be more successful in school....and in life?

This is taken from the following source

Homework for the week:
Math
Homework:  page 12-13  2-18 even problems

“I believe this year....” paragraph(s) and “I believe in the future....” paragraph(s)  due on Thursday

“Getting to Know You Better” a.k.a. The Reading Survey -- Due on Thursday with COMPLETE thoughts and sentences.
CLICK HERE IF YOUNEED THE GETTING TO KNOW YOU BETTER SURVEY

Free-Write (a non-fiction/serious one):
“My family......”   due on Friday
***Get your day planner signed.

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
"All of us are team players.  Whether we know it or not, our significance arrives through our vital connections to other people.  Family life is the central team experience."
·     Pat Riley

Day 2 of 2011-2012

Day 2
We began the day reading one of my favorite books, If the World Were a Village
http://amzn.com/1554535956

We had some pretty cool discussions and some writing about ratios, the world population and how a small village of 100 people would look based on population data.  Today we discussed nationalities, the top 10 most populace countries, and languages spoken by the 100 people.  Not much English is being spoken and many of the people would come from China and India.  

As a follow to my Monday presentation students were given time to ask me questions.  They asked favorite color, favorite sport athletes, how often I surf, and if I have ever skateboarded.  
We continued discussing classroom expectations.  

Math:
We reviewed last night’s place value.
We then went over today’s two lessons.  
1.  Greater than and less than when comparing whole numbers.  
2.  Understanding and writing decimals
**this lead to a great discussion about estimating, adding decimals., discussing the phrase - “when the cows come home” and why adding zeros at the end of decimal will not change its absolute value.  
click here for todays math notes

Brainpop.com FYI -- during the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.   Every student can access www.brainpop.com and watch educational videos.  PFC pays for this resource so you paying for it and I strongly suggest students use it.  Their videos are waaaay more interesting, educational and interactive than brainless t.v.

Free-Writes --
We discussed the rules of doing free writes.  We will be doing one or two free writes per week.  Some are serious in nature and they must write non-fiction type free-writes (i.e. they are not that creative).  
Most will be creative free writes where they will be given a writing prompt and they may write as they see fit.
Requirements:
20 minutes or one full page whichever comes first.  If not a full page, then parent must sign and verify that it was an actual 20 minutes.
Just write what you are thinking regarding the topic, do not worry about spelling and grammar.  We are exercising our creative writing process and developing our voice.   
It may be typed or handwritten, either one is fine with me.
If typed you must use a font no larger than 14 and keep pictures or photos to a minimum.
We then did a practice free-write during class.  The topic was “My teacher is a robot.....”  The kids were able to observe that some students had completed almost two pages in 20 minutes while others students that I observed completed maybe a paragraph.  Both were acceptable amounts since some prompts will come easier to others.  The main goal is to do a “brain dump” about a particular subject.

Due Friday – a “serious” free write about your family.  They may share whatever they feel comfortable sharing about their family.  I will not be sharing these free writes with anyone; these free writes will only be read by myself.

I BELIEVE....
Dublin Elementary’s (DES) motto for the 2011-2012 school year is “I Believe”   All of DES is working on capturing our dreams and what we believe will happen and proudly displaying them in the multipurpose room for next week’s Back To School Night.  
We first started our process by watching this inspirational video from a 5th grade student in Texas.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO

We then brainstormed as a class “I believe this year.....” and “I believe in the future.....”  Students were given 20 minutes to begin writing their rough draft and/or brain dump.   Some students had not completed their rough draft, therefore they need to complete this for homework.  

First official mistake of the year.....I asked everyone to put “dublin pride” in their email last night.  They all went to our DUSD spam filter, however I was able to pull them out.  In future emails, please put “dpride” in order to get by the spam-gatekeeper.  I’m sorry for that mistake.  

Homework for the week:
Math
Pages 7-8  (6-28 evens) and Pages 10-11 (2-26 evens) due on Wednesday

“I believe this year....” paragraph(s) and “I believe in the future....” paragraph(s)  due on Wednesday

Homework about Homework due on Wednesday
“Getting to Know You Better” a.k.a. The Reading Survey -- Due on Thursday with COMPLETE thoughts and sentences.
CLICK HERE IF YOUNEED THE GETTING TO KNOW YOU BETTER SURVEY

Free-Write (a non-fiction/serious one):
“My family......”   due on Friday
***Get your day planner signed.

Kind regards,

Ron Hubbard
Teacher, 5th Grade
Dublin Elementary School
www.mrhubbardsclass.com
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
"All of us are team players.  Whether we know it or not, our significance arrives through our vital connections to other people.  Family life is the central team experience."
·        Pat Riley