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