Thursday #73 2011 2012

It was a pretty amazing day here at school.  It went quick and the students continue to push themselves as we head into the break.

Technology Thursday -- 75 minutes of working on our Open Ended projects.  When we return from break we will have 3 more sessions to complete research and practice their presentations.  

Assembly -- the Math-A-Thon Assembly;   Your son/daughter will bring home their donation sheets on Friday.  
Library time -- Tons of American Revolution books checked out!!

CNN Students
Welcome home for our troops!!  Today is the birthday of the Bill of Rights and they used this birthday to give some history of our Bill of Rights and then contrast it with the challenges of Christians living in Iraq.  Increased scientific information regarding our brains and the negative effects of  concussions means another professional sport, the NBA, is taking new more stringent precautions.    10 states do not allow a cellphone to be used by a driver in all situations (i.e. blue-tooth be darned, if you need to talk or text, you need to pull over and cease driving).   Many of the students thought this law was a little too much.  

Social Studies -- we completed our part about the American Revolution and the Winter of 1776.  We then took a quick quiz/test regarding the key points that we learned about the Battle of Trenton and the characters involved.  Students who took the notes that were written on the board or on smartboard were able to easily ace this quiz since it was open notebook.  .  Students who made other choices found the quiz challenging.  

U.A. time w/ Mrs. Cargo -- graphing and IXL

We ended the day with using our response devices to assess how we did our math-a-thon practice (i.e. last night’s homework).  Many of the areas the entire class kicked butt!!  Rounding to a specific place value, subtracting fractions and remembering mean, mode and median are the three areas that we had the largest learning opportunities.  
Math homework -- either 30 minutes of IXL.com or complete the logic puzzle that we started in class.  

The holiday party is from 8:30-10:30 tomorrow.  It is a Holiday Mystery!!

The day ends at 12:30.  

Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile ( http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile )

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.
Old Native American Saying

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
Thursday night -- 30 minutes of IXL.com or the logic puzzle

After the party on Friday morning, we are going to have a little thank you to Mrs. Silva for being our student-teacher extraordinaire the first 13 weeks of the school year.  
So we are going to put together a class book of the student’s paragraphs and a wordle of their kinds words for her.  

Also as a former brand new teacher, I remember how hard and expensive it was to build your own classroom library.  Therefore I am asking if your son or daughter could pretty please donate a used or new book by Friday.  The book does not need to be wrapped and a used  book is perfectly fine.  If we all pitch in, we will have 30+ books to get her library up and running.  Any book between the 3rd through 5th grade reading level would be awesome. 

Wednesday #72 2011 2012

We began the day with people completing their math tests, studying for their science test and enjoying DEAR time.  

We then completed our reading about fiction reading and its positive effects on your empathy and openness to new ideas.    Click here for an over view of the article’s findings

Social studies -- we began yesterday and discussed/watched some more today the recreation of the Battle of Trenton.   Tomorrow we will take a 6 question quiz based on our notes on the Battle of Trenton.  For those students choosing to take notes, the test will be a breeze.  

Science -- today was the science test.  Mrs. Wilmott said our class did exceptionally well in the number of students that chose to complete the extra credit!!!   Way to maximize their learning opportunities!!

Singing -- the class earned another “ok”;  It sounds like there are 24 to 25 students that try their best to earn a “great” but the other four or five are not joining the respect train.  

We spent the first part of the afternoon working on our thank you project for Mrs. Silva.  Students completed a quick survey, copy&pasted or typed their Mrs. Silva paragraphs into the computer and student told her what their favorite lesson was.     We had two students who had some computer glitches.  Click here to retake the survey


Review the first lesson of our mathathon handouts.   As a class we finished below 70% with the questions on rounding w/ decimals, subtracting fractions, and mean/median being areas for growth.  

We ended the day with a discussion regarding the phrase “you reap what you sow.”  

Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile ( http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile )

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.
Old Native American Saying

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
Mathathon handout #2 due Thursday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  
Mathathon handout #3 due Friday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  

Summary of how brain science proves that reading fiction helps you socials and emotionally due on Thursday.   
Summary is based on our in-class reading that we will do on Tuesday  (i.e. 7 to 9 sentences that captures the main facts read & discussed)   
Click here for an over view of the article’s findings

The students reminded me that Mrs. Cargo’s UA has homework due tomorrow.  It involves graphing which needs to be done correctly and also nicely colored.  

After the party on Friday morning, we are going to have a little thank you to Mrs. Silva for being our student-teacher extraordinaire the first 13 weeks of the school year.  
So we are going to put together a class book of the student’s paragraphs and a wordle of their kinds words for her.  

Also as a former brand new teacher, I remember how hard and expensive it was to build your own classroom library.  Therefore I am asking if your son or daughter could pretty please donate a used or new book by Friday.  The book does not need to be wrapped and a used  book is perfectly fine.  If we all pitch in, we will have 30+ books to get her library up and running.  Any book between the 3rd through 5th grade reading level would be awesome.  

Special thank you project....

Click here to go to the link and complete the Mrs. Silva thank you project

Tuesday #71 2011 2012

CNN Students
The big pullout of our troops from Iraq was discussed.   The Supreme Court is going to oversee the constitutionality of Arizona’s immigration law.   What makes this really unique is that Supreme Court Elena Kagan has to sit this case out since she worked for the Obama Administration when it cubically spoke out about the constitutionality of this law.  They then did a quick recap of all the Republican presidential candidates who have had their moment to shine and then fall out of favor.  Finally CNN shared how they had their Hereos of the Year award ceremony this weekend and who were the finalists and who was the winner.

We began reading about how reading has proven to help people socially.  Apparently fiction reading has been proven to make people more empathetic and able to “mind model.”  Studies have proven, if you want more friend, read more books!!!

Science -- get ready for tomorrow’s test.  They reviewed the study guide and discussed tomorrow’s test.  
Homework TONIGHT -- complete the study guide, study for the test and turn in the “extra credit.”

Math -- we came back and took the chapter 11 test.  About 50% finished today, we will complete it tomorrow.  The homework is 12 questions based on the mathathon.  

U.A. --- ½ graphing and ½ IXL

Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile ( http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile )

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.
Old Native American Saying

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
Mathathon handout #1 due Wednesday (20 12 questions all from previous chapters)  
Mathathon handout #2 due Thursday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  
Mathathon handout #3 due Friday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  

Summary of Christmas in colonial times due Wednesday
Based on Monday’s in-class reading and emphasis on an summary (i.e. 7 to 9 sentences that captures the main facts read & discussed)   
Click here for the story that we read in class

Summary of how brain science proves that reading fiction helps you socials and emotionally due on Thursday.   
Summary is based on our in-class reading that we will do on Tuesday  (i.e. 7 to 9 sentences that captures the main facts read & discussed)   
Click here for an over view of the article’s findings

Science all due on Wednesday
Study Guide
The Test
Extra Credit that will raise the grade a full 10% if done correctly and thoroughly  

1 or 2 paragraphs due on Wednesday
Mrs. Silva will be a great teacher because.........

After the party on Friday morning, we are going to have a little thank you to Mrs. Silva for being our student-teacher extraordinaire the first 13 weeks of the school year.  
So we are going to put together a class book of the student’s paragraphs and a wordle of their kinds words for her.  

Also as a former brand new teacher, I remember how hard and expensive it was to build your own classroom library.  Therefore I am asking if your son or daughter could pretty please donate a used or new book by Friday.  The book does not need to be wrapped and a used  book is perfectly fine.  If we all pitch in, we will have 30+ books to get her library up and running.  Any book between the 3rd through 5th grade reading level would be awesome.  

Monday #70 2011 2012

Day 70 of the school year

We started the day with one hour of computer time to work on our open ended projects.  The hour went smooth.  The children have now had day 3 of their 8 one-hour sessions.   So these will be completed the first week in January.  


CNN Students
Violence in Syria and protesters are being injured for speaking out.  More Iran drone discussions, Iran still says it is the USA’s and we claim we are not sure.  However we do admit that we are missing a drone.   Nobel Peace Prize was handed out and CNN gave a brief bio on all three winners.   This weekend we had a a lunar eclipse;  that is  when the Earth is directly between the sun and the moon.  

Christmas in Colonial America
We read together as a class about how Christmas was celebrated or WASN’T celebrated in our colonies and our early days as a country.   There were many big words and olden no longer frequently used words.  Therefore we stopped frequently to discuss what the words meant and what would be modern day equivalent words.

Math
We prepared for the upcoming Chapter 11 test.
Students were given 20 minutes to work on IXL.com fraction skills and students were also given 20 minutes to work on tonight’s homework.  During the time working on the homework, we did take time to review two most challenging conceptsw on this test.  
One, adding and subtracting with mixed numbers
Two, simplifying your final answer
Here is the folder with tonight’s homework and its answers.  

We watched the Brainpop on Winder Holidays which was related a tad to our reading earlier in the day.  

We finished watching Liberty Kids.  
We watched all about how George Washington and the colonial army was at its lowest point in the winter of 1776.  We then saw how George Washington took a Tebow’ian chance and attacked on Christmas night in 1776.  
Many of the kids seemed really excited about watch the Liberty Kids.  They were realistic historical fiction created by PBS.   A bunch of big stars donated their time to voice character voices.  Ben Franklin is voiced by Walter Cronkite.  
Your child can watch the entire series for free on youtube.  Click here for all of the Liberty Kids videos.   If you have Netflix streaming or Amazon prime membership you can also stream the cartoons as well.

They then had P.E.

Finally we ended the day writing in our day planners for this unique week.  

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
Test Version A on chapter 11 due Tuesday
Chapter 11 test is on Tuesday
Mathathon handout #1 due Wednesday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  
Mathathon handout #2 due Thursday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  
Mathathon handout #3 due Friday (20 questions all from previous chapters)  

Summary of Christmas in colonial times due Wednesday
Based on Monday’s in-class reading and emphasis on an summary (i.e. 7 to 9 sentences that captures the main facts read & discussed)   
Click here for the story that we read in class

Summary of how brain science proves that reading fiction helps you socials and emotionally due on Thursday.   
Summary is based on our in-class reading that we will do on Tuesday  (i.e. 7 to 9 sentences that captures the main facts read & discussed)   
Click here for an over view of the article’s findings

Science all due on Wednesday
Study Guide
The Test
Extra Credit that will raise the grade a full 10% if done correctly and thoroughly  

1 or 2 paragraphs due on Wednesday
Mrs. Silva will be a great teacher because.........

After the party on Friday morning, we are going to have a little thank you to Mrs. Silva for being our student-teacher extraordinaire the first 13 weeks of the school year.  
So we are going to put together a class book of the student’s paragraphs and a wordle of their kinds words for her.  

Also as a former brand new teacher, I remember how hard and expensive it was to build your own classroom library.  Therefore I am asking if your son or daughter could pretty please donate a used or new book by Friday.  The book does not need to be wrapped and a used  book is perfectly fine.  If we all pitch in, we will have 30+ books to get her library up and running.  Any book between the 3rd through 5th grade reading level would be awesome.  

Wednesday #67 2011 2012

Cnn Students
Taxes in the USA -- Democrats propose to increase taxes on those making 1 million or more.  Republicans want to cut Federal services/programs.  Both sides need to learn to play nice and work something out.  NASA may have found a “habitable zone” (i.e. a planet/solar system similar to Earth where people could live in the future.)  Cyber spies (aka Cyber Warriors)  -- Britain is looking for Mensa members, puzzle solvers and those great with logic/math to join their special cyber fighting team.  We talked about how cyber terrorists could cause pain and suffering in the United States and abroad.  

Theme 3 studying.

Soul Shoppe -- we had an assembly on bullying.

science -- an extra credit opportunity was offered, a study guide (that is not extra credit but MANDATORY) and some science reading was also given.

more theme 3 studying and discussion

Singing Class -- the class struggled with their behavior

U.A. -- class worked on www.ixl.com

We ended day working on their open ended projects.  We have four different students that were unable to save their research.  I have opened up urgent I.T. requests and we hope to have this solved by next week.  
Due to the nature of double rotation days, an assembly and our special Dr. Grier presentation yesterday, the project proposal is being pushed until Friday.


Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile

“My name is gossip…I maim without killing.  I break hearts and ruin lives.”

unknown

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
262-263 1-14 all due Thursday
264-265 1-14 all due Friday  *all of the class must do this homework assignment

Free-Write:
Write from the perspective of a reindeer that just helped Santa deliver toys to every boy and girl on planet earth (estimated 1.4 billion children on planet earth wich is about 270 kids per second)

Theme 3 test will be on Thursday
Students should “study” for this test by reviewing the concepts and in some cases committing to memory the ideas  being assessed.
Click here for the study guide

First step is to complete a project proposal and get it approved by myself.  Click here for the proposal --- due on Friday.
Click here for a list of project ideas.
Project must cover a topic related to American/North America history that occurs between 1650-1800.  

Compare and Contrast Essay on First Thanksgiving versus their own Thanksgiving is due Thursday.  Four paragraphs is a minimum expectation.  

December 8, 2011 Technology Thursday

Technology Thursday

People should sit by their partner that they are working with since much of the day will be working on our Open Ended Projects.

1.  15 minutes of typing -- Mavis Beacon or Typing Web

2.  Click here to watch this Khan Academy Video

3.  Click here to watch one More Khan Academy Video on fractions

4.  Not everyone watched this video, watch this 8 minute video.  It combines math and the need to keep your street smarts.   click here to watch the video on a Ponzi Scheme.

5.  Learn how best use Google when you do your research.  Click onto this link for a great lesson on how to best use Google.

6.  Use the remainder of the time to research and begin documenting your research for your Open-Ended project.

Tuesday #66 2011 2012

Cnn Students
European debt -- we talked about interrelated economies and how our complex relationships with other countries means that Europe’s challenges = USA challenges;  Iran vs. USA -- Iran claims that they caught a stealth drone of ours.  We brainstormed synonyms for stealth.  We reply “liar, liar, pants on fire.”  Thailand’s King has a birthday and their people use it as an opportunity to rejoice.  US Postal system costs tax payers tons of money every year, drastic cuts or change in service expectations will be forthcoming in 2012.  We discussed the human costs of Iraq as our troops begin to leave the country (4,400+ USA deaths and 32,000 physical injuries).  

Open Ended Projects -- we allowed about 1/3rd of the class to put in 45 minutes of research on their open-ended project.   The other ⅔ received extra PE time while helping our community out.  
First step is to complete a project proposal and get it approved by myself.  Click here for the proposal --- due on THURSDAY..
Click here for a list of project ideas.
Project must cover a topic related to American/North America history that occurs between 1650-1800.  

Theme 3
More review and discussion regarding the Theme 3 study guide.
Cause / Effect; Following Directions and more discussion about fact or opinion
Click here for the study guide

Science -- students are supposed to do pages in their soft cover book and also bring back their recent science grades signed.  

Math:
More work with fractions.   We continue to work on mastering how to subtract and add with mixed numbers.  There are two primary ways to do it and the examples that we did can be found on Monday and Tuesday’s notes.
Click here for those notes.

We had a special 25 minute presentation by Dr. Grier the principal at Wells Elementary.   He gave a great presentation on his expectations, what students should do to prepare themselves for next year and he took their questions.    It was pretty awesome that he choose to spend time with all three of our 5th grade classes this year.

U.A. rotation -- students spent time on www.ixl.com

A few people asked, Devin is doing fine.  He caught the 24 hour flu bug that is going around his pre-school.  He took a four hour nap, ate some dinner and then went back to sleep.  Today he is back to giving mom a run for her money :)  

Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile

“My name is gossip…I maim without killing.  I break hearts and ruin lives.”

unknown

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
260 1-22 all *must show Venn diagrams due Wednesday
262-263 1-14 all due Thursday
264-265 1-14 all due Friday

Free-Write:
Write from the perspective of a reindeer that just helped Santa deliver toys to every boy and girl on planet earth (estimated 1.4 billion children on planet earth with is about 270 kids per second)

Theme 3 test will be on Thursday
Students should “study” for this test by reviewing the concepts and in some cases committing to memory the ideas  being assessed.
Click here for the study guide

Today we began working on our first open ended project of the school year.  Students will have eight one-hour sessions to think up, plan out, create, and practice presenting their final project.  Students “may” work on this project at home however most the work should occur during their eight one-hour sessions.  
First step is to complete a project proposal and get it approved by myself.  Click here for the proposal --- due on Thursday.
Click here for a list of project ideas.
Project must cover a topic related to American/North America history that occurs between 1650-1800.  

Compare and Contrast Essay on First Thanksgiving versus their own Thanksgiving is due Thursday.  Four paragraphs is a minimum expectation.  

Monday #65 2011 2012

Cnn Students
Unemployment in America dropped to 8% in November.  This was the lowest number in 3 years.  However while more jobs being created was one factor, also more people choosing not to look is another factor.  
Primary season for the Republicans starts up in Jan. 12 with the Iowa Caucuses.  We compared the  primaries to the “playoffs” and a chance to play in the Superbowl (the Presidential Election).  We discussed why the Democrats are not having as many debates and the primaries are not as important since President Obama will earn their nomination.
CNN talked about the two super large bombs from WWII  that were discovered in Germany left untouched and still very much dangerous.

Today we began working on our first open ended project of the school year.  Students will have eight one-hour sessions to think up, plan out, create, and practice presenting their final project.  Students “may” work on this project at home however most the work should occur during their eight one-hour sessions.  
First step is to complete a project proposal and get it approved by myself.  Click here for the proposal --- due on Wednesday.
Click here for a list of project ideas.
Project must cover a topic related to American/North America history that occurs between 1650-1800.  

Math:
We all took notes and continued learning about fractions.   We did more practice with adding and subtracting fractions with mixed numbers.   Some students did some work with dividing fractions today.
All of our notes can be found here.

P.E. time -- it was sunny and the day was brisk.

End of the Day -- during lunch time I was called home since Devin became ill while at preschool today and he needed to be brought home.  He will be fine.  He has just acquired the flu-bug the 4 year olds are sharing at preschool.
Therefore Mrs. Greenhouse assisted the students with writing in the homework for the week.  Students were then given 30 minutes to write or type out their compare/contrast essays about the Original Thanksgiving (aka O.T.) versus their family’s modern Thanksgiving.  

Kind regards,
Ron Hubbard
http://www.diigo.com/user/iamron
http://mrhubbardsclass.blogspot.com/
Use my Gmail account and you can make me your coach on http://www.khanacademy.org/class_profile

“My name is gossip…I maim without killing.  I break hearts and ruin lives.”

unknown

Here is the homework for the week:

Math:
258-259 1-29 odds *must show Venn diagrams due Tuesday
260 1-22 all *must show Venn diagrams due Wednesday
262-263 1-14 all due Thursday
264-265 1-14 all due Friday

Free-Write:
Write from the perspective of a reindeer that just helped Santa deliver toys to every boy and girl on planet earth (estimated 1.4 billion children on planet earth with is about 270 kids per second)

Theme 3 test will be on Thursday
Students should “study” for this test by reviewing the concepts and in some cases committing to memory the ideas  being assessed.
Click here for the study guide

Today we began working on our first open ended project of the school year.  Students will have eight one-hour sessions to think up, plan out, create, and practice presenting their final project.  Students “may” work on this project at home however most the work should occur during their eight one-hour sessions.  
First step is to complete a project proposal and get it approved by myself.  Click here for the proposal --- due on Wednesday.
Click here for a list of project ideas.
Project must cover a topic related to American/North America history that occurs between 1650-1800.  

Compare and Contrast Essay on First Thanksgiving versus their own Thanksgiving is due Thursday.  Four paragraphs is a minimum expectation.  

Technology Lab December 1, 2011

1.  First thing -- complete your monthly STAR reading test.   Please take your time and apply all of your reading and comprehension skills.

2.  15 minutes of typing practice --- Mavis Beacon or Typing Web

3.  Watch this video on subtracting fractions

4.  Watch this video on the next level of Singapore Math: Grade 3a Unit 2 (part 1)

5.  www.ixl.com  for 30 minutes
You are to focus on fraction work at the 5th level
That means when you go to 5th grade math practice 
You should be mastering skills in the letters K, L, M

6.  Tell me what website do you like the best....
Here is a list of the top 35 websites that teachers should use with students.  Check out the websites, play around on them, read what they do and then tell which ones do you think we should "play around with" over the next few month.
Here is the link for the 35 "top" sites.


7.  Finally at 10:05   please click and watch this science video.