Tuesday #147 2012-2013

Day 147 of week 34

It  was sunny beautiful and not too hot, in other words a perfect day to be inside for 90+ minutes taking a state test.  

The students really seemed to apply themselves.  I could see them taking longer than they usually did on the tests and reading through the passages multiple times prior to answer the questions.  

Besides the test which took a large portion of our day, we did the following:

practice typing for 15 minutes

practice math review of challenging concepts for 25 minutes

relax the mind by creating art from one of these websites:

The students then had 35+ minutes to work on their Famous American reports.  

Students brought home GATE applications and the permission slip for 5/29 field trip.  We do require 8 chaperones for the field trip, therefore if you can take the day off or would like to attend please let me know when you return the form.

Here is the reminder about the snack list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dGNPbldGc281R216WG9FV1BnU2tkTVE#gid=0

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."

• Theodore Roosevelt

Homework for the week:

1.  Study those states and capitals.

Here is all the information.  

2.  If you feel like practicing a little bit at night, here are some great resources:

Final Week:

http://starsamplequestions.org/starRTQ/search.jsp

Test Retakes

prepdog.org

khanacademy.com

ixl.com

scootpad.com

freerice.com

brainpop.com movies

grammar ninja

All the math notes from the entire school year

3. Bring Famous American book and research to class every day.  

Reminder:

Here is the schedule:

April 30th Language Arts

May 1st Language Arts

May 2nd Math

May 7th Math

May 8th Science

All of them will happen from 10:30-12:30

 Science

1.  Creative writing story due on May 6th -- journey through the digestive system

The big points to remember for testing::

1. Exercise is important for brain function.

Here is a great lesson on this.  

Here is another set of studies.

2.  Sleep Well In Order to Think Well

Here is a great lesson on this

Here is a short article on sleep and thinking

3.  Eat a healthy breakfast and limit the sugar intake.

Here is a great article with ideas to eat smartly prior to a test

Here is another article with some great ideas.  

Monday #146 2012-2013

Day 146 of week 34

It was a beautiful sunny filled Monday.  Since we are one day away from the state testing we spent the day retaking math tests, researching science for our year-end exam, practicing math or grammar and watching appropriate www.brainpop.com

The students did begin the day in the beautiful sun.  They had PE and played basketball on the blacktop.  

We then spent the morning working on the above areas.

I then had students research and answer questions on areas that tend to be a challenge on the state testing regarding “writing.”  Topic sentences, transitional phrases, chronological order, introductory paragraphs and conclusion paragraphs.  We then reviewed our answers as a class and discussed who had the best written answers.  

After lunch the 5th grade teachers were still meeting with the Wells staff who had came here to begin researching for next year’s class.  

The big points to remember for tomorrow:

1. Exercise is important for brain function.

Here is a great lesson on this.  

Here is another set of studies.

2.  Sleep Well In Order to Think Well

Here is a great lesson on this

Here is a short article on sleep and thinking

3.  Eat a healthy breakfast and limit the sugar intake.

Here is a great article with ideas to eat smartly prior to a test

Here is another article with some great ideas.  

Here is the reminder about the snack list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtOH1AduQvi0dGNPbldGc281R216WG9FV1BnU2tkTVE#gid=0

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."

• Theodore Roosevelt

Homework for the week:

1.  Study those states and capitals.

Here is all the information.  

2.  If you feel like practicing a little bit at night, here are some great resources:

Final Week:

http://starsamplequestions.org/starRTQ/search.jsp

Test Retakes

prepdog.org

khanacademy.com

ixl.com

scootpad.com

freerice.com

brainpop.com movies

grammar ninja

All the math notes from the entire school year

3. Bring Famous American book and research to class every day.  

Reminder:

Here is the schedule:

April 30th Language Arts

May 1st Language Arts

May 2nd Math

May 7th Math

May 8th Science

All of them will happen from 10:30-12:30

 Science

1.  Creative writing story due on May 5th -- journey through the digestive system

Thursday #144 2012-2013

Day 144 of week 33

Happy Thursday

More practicing, more learning and more science were all covered today.  

The morning consisted of reviewing questions from last night’s homework with 5th grade math and language arts.    As a class the kids are doing amazing work.  We averaged 83% as an entire class on the math review.  The main area for re-review was (X, Y) coordinates (horizontal first and then vertical).

When then continued reading on with Johnny Tremain.  The last two days have been really enjoyable as Johnny’s BFF, Rab, is starting to become friendly with Cilla.  Cilla is the girl that Johnny doesn’t like but in reality he does like.  So there is a “love triangle” brewing while at the same time Rab and Johnny are working with the Sons of Liberty to rebel against the strongest nation in the world.  What was really awesome was that students all had an opportunity to use their reading comprehension skills and predict what would happen next between our three characters.  With the technology it is super easy to share out and allow everyone to see the thoughts and work ethic of their peers.  

We then had a library visit.  Many kids used this time wisely to use some of the great human body books in the library as a reference for tomorrow’s big science test.  

After library the students visited Mrs. Cho’s class and worked on some more area’s of math that proved to be challenging in our most recent assessment period.  

Since tomorrow’s science test will be extremely challenging since it covers cells (human & plants), respiratory system, digestive system and circulatory system, we then most of the rest of the day to work on studying, watching related Brainpops and reviewing some of their floppy book answers.   Despite our over 60+ minutes working on science today, students should still study for the test tonight.

We then did two intense 20 minute sections on grammar and then math.  

With all that hard driven work we then ended the day watching this movie that left many of the students thinking.  

Click here for the list of important dates.

May testing and healthy snacks.

Here is a sign up if your family can pretty please volunteer to bring 30 healthy snacks for a state testing day.  Please try to avoid sugary snacks (e.g. some of those chocolate covered bars masquerading as a health bar or granola bar) and whenever possible not too messy since we can not get fruit juice or ranch dressing on our state testing scantrons and test booklets.    

Click here for the sign up sheet.  

Mr. Hubbard

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

Albert Eistein

Homework for the week:

Homework this week should be somewhat on the lighter side. Therefore we had a long discussion about focusing and taking their time on the test released questions.  More importantly they should use that time to review areas that they can improve on based upon their assessments and their in-class tests (i.e. Engrade);  We have been working on making these choices and how to review the feedback to choose wisely.    They should still be striving for the 50 minutes per night of homework however it will be somewhat self-directed for at least 20 minutes of it.  

Testing is almost here (with updated schedule).

Here is the schedule:

April 30th Language Arts

May 1st Language Arts

May 2nd Math

May 7th Math

May 8th Science

All of them will happen from 10:30-12:30

Math:

Released test questions

61-81 due Friday  

* must show work, cross out stupid choices       

Here are all of the math questions:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/Ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp

Language Arts:

Released test questions

72-95 due Friday

Must have “because” sentences for each problem.

Here are all of the Language Arts questions:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/Ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp

 Science

1.  The big unit test will be on Friday the 26th.  It covers cells, respiration system and digestive system.   Memorize and know the study guide that they completed for today’s class.  

2.  Creative writing story due on May 5th -- journey through the digestive system

Final Week:

http://starsamplequestions.org/starRTQ/search.jsp

Test Retakes

prepdog.org

khanacademy.com

ixl.com

scootpad.com

freerice.com

brainpop.com movies

grammar ninja

All the math notes from the entire school year

May testing and healthy snacks.

Here is a sign up if your family can pretty please volunteer to bring 30 healthy snacks for a state testing day.  Please try to avoid sugary snacks (e.g. some of those chocolate covered bars masquerading as a health bar or granola bar) and whenever possible not too messy since we can not get fruit juice or ranch dressing on our state testing scantrons and test booklets.    

Click here for the sign up sheet.  

Tuesday #142 2012-2013

Day 142 of week 33

More getting ready for testing next week and for this Friday’s challenging science test.

Before we begin our day, I wanted to let everyone know that we had a very productive and collaborative meeting yesterday after school.   We are going to stay with the Thursday, June 13th promotion followed by the picnic & games.   The seating will be outside and the seats, except for the front row which was bought during the on-line auction, will be first come basis.  We will begin the promotion at 8:45 a.m.    There were several factors that went into this change and I am doing a great disservice in explaining it.  However I am excited for the kids, the families and school employees as we embark on this new celebration style that we anticipate will be fun and respectful of the time the students spent growing up at our school.  

It was brought up at the meeting that some people didn’t know of the dates of some events.  The “master plan” when we sent home the end of year packet was to use some awful looking color that would stand out when magnetized on the refrigerator.  Ideally you kept the obnoxious coral colored cover sheet with all of the important dates.  If you misplaced this sheet, let me know and we will send you home a new one.

We spent the morning with typing practice, more independent studying with science released questions, and then intensive 15 minute “jam sessions” rotating from math to language arts.

We also reviewed last night’s homework.   These are retired former released test questions and as a class the students were doing amazing work.  They also were randomly called on to share out their “because” statements and they were all logical.  

They then had their science rotation with Mrs. Cargo and then their math-art rotation with Mrs. Cho.  

We ended the day with this little bit of inspiration:

May testing and healthy snacks.

Here is a sign up if your family can pretty please volunteer to bring 30 healthy snacks for a state testing day.  Please try to avoid sugary snacks (e.g. some of those chocolate covered bars masquerading as a health bar or granola bar) and whenever possible not too messy since we can not get fruit juice or ranch dressing on our state testing scantrons and test booklets.    

Click here for the sign up sheet.  

Happy Monday!!

Mr. Hubbard

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

Albert Eistein

Homework for the week:

Homework this week should be somewhat on the lighter side. Therefore we had a long discussion about focusing and taking their time on the test released questions.  More importantly they should use that time to review areas that they can improve on based upon their assessments and their in-class tests (i.e. Engrade);  We have been working on making these choices and how to review the feedback to choose wisely.    They should still be striving for the 50 minutes per night of homework however it will be somewhat self-directed for at least 20 minutes of it.  

Testing is almost here (with updated schedule).

Here is the schedule:

April 30th Language Arts

May 1st Language Arts

May 2nd Math

May 7th Math

May 8th Science

May 9th Science (I left this out yesterday)

All of them will happen from 10:30-12:30

Math:

Released test questions

21-40 due Wednesday

41-60 due Thursday

61-80 due Friday  

* must show work, cross out stupid choices       

Here are all of the math questions:

Click here for the math released questinos

Language Arts:

Released test questions

22-47 due Wednesday

48-71 due Thursday

72-95 due Friday

Must have “because” sentences for each problem.

Here are all of the Language Arts questions:

click here for the language arts released questions

 Science

1.  The big unit test will be on Friday the 26th.  It covers cells, respiration system and digestive system.   Memorize and know the study guide that they completed for today’s class.  

2.  Creative writing story due on May 5th -- journey through the digestive system

Final Week:

http://starsamplequestions.org/starRTQ/search.jsp

Test Retakes

prepdog.org

khanacademy.com

ixl.com

scootpad.com

freerice.com

brainpop.com movies

grammar ninja

All the math notes from the entire school year

Monday #141 2012-2013

Autism Awareness Ribbon created in honor of all
those affected by autism. created by  Cheryl's Art Box

Happy 141 of week 33

One week from now we will begin our state testing.  So we spent the day working on curriculum that hasn’t been covered yet but will be on the May testing or reviewing areas that require our attention and further teaching.

The began the day with P.E.

After P.E. we reviewed some of the challenging math concepts based on our most recent math assessment.  

After that the students were given 45 minutes to work on science homework and science studying.  Since Thursday the students have now been given 45 minutes + 60 minutes and + today’s time to work on the human body systems related to May testing.  Therefore tonight’s science homework sounds challenging however each student has been given ample time to work on science during the school days.  Please see below for the various science assignments due either on Tuesday or Friday.

We also had time to participate in an educational interactive learning activity put together by our LASS teachers that tried to capture or demonstrate the difficulties or challenges that someone with autism may face.   Student went to various centers that shared out information about some of the sensory obstacles that an autistic person could experience while then challenging them to do tasks that they take for granted everyday.  I think it was a great opportunity to learn and practice empathy therefore please ask your son/daughter what they learned from this experience.

Students then had 30 minutes to work on researching or requesting tutoring regarding the science released test questions.  This allows me to go around and review how students are researching concepts that they do not recall and help them find answers.  I am able to show them Google searching tips or help them use the Index in their science book.

Then the students had 20 minutes prior to noon to work on either grammar, language arts, math or more science.

We then enjoyed some homemade pie.  Miss Sandy made several homemade pie using apples that students were going to discard on Friday.  Many students choose not to eat the apple supplied in their purchased lunch.  Therefore Miss Sandy rescues the apples and puts them to good use.

After lunch we discussed how to begin planning for next week.  Healthy, hearty and sugar-free breakfasts will be important.  For those six nights prior to the testing, make an effort to receive the 10 hours of recommended sleep.   Finally the need to get out and exercise, especially for the next two weeks of testing.  Exercise does many things: 1. burns off adrenaline which increases our chances of sleeping earlier 2. it burns off adrenaline that is associated with stress and 3. exercises increases the amount of oxygen getting into your brain due to increased blood pumping.  

We ended the day with the students once again having 20 minutes to spend the day reviewing or researching whatever topic they wanted to work on.  

Homework this week should be somewhat on the lighter side. Therefore we had a long discussion about focusing and taking their time on the test released questions.  More importantly they should use that time to review areas that they can improve on based upon their assessments and their in-class tests (i.e. Engrade);  We have been working on making these choices and how to review the feedback to choose wisely.    They should still be striving for the 50 minutes per night of homework however it will be somewhat self-directed for at least 20 minutes of it.  

Happy Monday!!

Mr. Hubbard

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

Albert Eistein

Homework for the week:

Testing is almost here (with updated schedule).

Here is the schedule:

April 30th Language Arts

May 1st Language Arts

May 2nd Math

May 7th Math

May 8th Science

May 9th Science (I left this out yesterday)

All of them will happen from 10:30-12:30

Math:

Released test questions

1-20 due Tuesday

21-40 due Wednesday

41-60 due Thursday

61-80 due Friday  

* must show work, cross out stupid choices       

Here are all of the math questions:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqmath5.pdf

Language Arts:

Released test questions

1-21 due Tuesday

22-47 due Wednesday

48-71 due Thursday

72-95 due Friday

Must have “because” sentences for each problem.

Here are all of the Language Arts questions:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqgr5elajul2012.pdf

 Science

1.  Handout  Systems of Living Things due 4/23

2.  Unit Test Study Guide due 4/23  (document created by Mrs. Cargo)

3.  Unit Assessment handout “structures of living things”  due 4/23

4.  Read and do the pages in the floppy science book pages 48-87 also due on 4/23

5. Moving through Plants handout due on 4/23

6.  The big unit test will be on Friday the 26th

7.  Creative writing story due on May 5th -- journey through the digestive system

Test Retakes

Final Week:

http://starsamplequestions.org/starRTQ/search.jsp

prepdog.org

khanacademy.com

ixl.com

scootpad.com

freerice.com

brainpop.com movies

grammar ninja

All the math notes from the entire school year