Day 95 of week 23 January 28, 2014

Happy Tuesday.  

Today we achieved the goal of 100% of the 28 students were able to successfully return their read a thon form signed!!  If they can do this tomorrow, we will enjoy yummy cookies on Friday.  If they continue the streak on Friday morning as well -- more cookies on Monday!!    

Side note...it may be flu season again.  We had four students out today due to illness.  As a reminder we like kids to stay out at least 24 hours after their last sign of a fever.  As you can read here, it has been a brutal season in the Bay Area for the flu.  Therefore don’t hesitate to allow your child to stay home one more day if they have a fever or have a bad cough.  

We also did the following techie things today:

1. qwertytown -- typing practice 15 minutes

2. Scootpad -- 20 minutes of language arts

3.  IXL -- we worked on practice work similar to tonight’s homework

Math:

16-4  Finding patterns, completing patterns and equations

Today’s notes can e found in chapter 16

You can also practice or get more information here.  

Working on our listening….

For various reasons ranging from not paying attention, not focusing, talking out loud during instruction, being distracted by the talking of their peers, etc..  This year’s class has room for improvement when it comes to listening, taking notes and not talking so others can focus.  So we are going to do a series of exercises that will challenge them to not impulsively talk out, focus on what is being said and take notes.  

I had them write down the nine positions on a baseball field and then had them listen to the radio version of “Who’s On First”  I played it twice.  I had about 40% of the class that were able to concentrate and capture all 8 names that are mentioned.  There were a few students that were only able to get 3 or less and maybe two that were close to tears.   In the end we will call today a practice run through and we hope to build upon today’s practice exercise.   

Math Night

Tomorrow night at 6:30 Dublin El is hosting another math night.  The focus will be on division and fractions.   The adult portion will take place in my room C-5 and I will be spending time discussing fractions.   If you have questions or would like to see some of the ways we are making kids learn fractions/division then come on down.  Your kids will be able to attend games and math fun in the other classes.  

Field trip on Thursday.

We will leave promptly at 8:30 a.m.  We will return no later than the 2:51 release time.  

Students do need to pack a labeled lunch.  They are stored in a carrying cage therefore their name on it will help.

Yes there is a shop there at the Chabot Space and Science Museum however we have 90+ students going and they generally have only 1 person working the cash register therefore students should not plan to purchase items from the gift shop.  We frequently do not have time to allow everyone to shop.  

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

“Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled ‘This could change your life’.”

Helen Exley.

Homework for the week:

Math

5-9 122-123 7-21 all due Tuesday (today)

16-4 371-372 8-24 all due Wednesday

9-4 204-205 1-23 all due Friday *** must use the Venn Diagram when solving tonight’s homework;  See prior year’s notes on 9-4 if working ahead.  

See prior year’s notes on 9-4 if working ahead.

Fungi Are Alive due Wednesday.  

Spelling Words for the week.

Science

Due Monday sun and stars

Due 2/18 Moon Watching

Read A Thon --

Read every night for 45 minutes

Bring the Read A Thon form -- signed the night before and brought in first thing in the morning.

Day 90 of week 22 January 21, 2014

Happy Tuesday.

Thank you for making my birthday a special day.  It was a great way to start off the day with the birthday serenade.  Equally impressive was all of the yummy healthy snacks that the families brought in for me.   I really appreciate everyone’s thoughtfulness in donating the goodies and the many birthday cards full of very kind words.  

The Read A Thon -- the time spent reading for enjoyment is really paying off.   Last Tuesday we took our updated monthly STAR reading assessment.  Your son/daughter should have brought home their updated scores last week.   I had the students stand up that had earned their highest assessment of the school year.  We had ten students stand up (31% of the class) and then I had students that scored higher than their December assessment and an additional fourteen students stand up.   In all we had 77% of the students stand up showing either a monthly growth or earning their highest score of the school year!!   All of that mighty sacrifice and reading for enjoyment is paying off!!  I promise the hassle of signing, verifying and bringing the reading log back and forth is already paying off.  

Lewis and Clark -- today we learned about the Mandan Indians and how the Corp stayed the winter with them.  They read/heard a real journal entry from William Clark, who points out very positive aspects regarding the Mandan, however he does emphasize that these attributes are even more amazing for “savages.”  We talked about how some white Americans/Europeans thought of and treated Native Americans.   We also discussed how the Native Americans viewed and held in high regards Clark’s slave York.   Many Native American tribes were seeing people of black skin for the first time when York and Corp visited their tribe.  

Science -- more space unit with Mrs. Cargo.

Math -- today’s lesson focused on going from an “improper fraction” to a mixed number and then we practiced going from a mixed number into an “improper fraction.”  

Click here for today’s notes.

Click here for all of chapter notes.

Students were also given 20+ minutes work on tonight’s homework skill using www.ixl.com The ixl.com questions build off prior correct questions and end up being significantly more challenging than tonight’s homework.

Students were also given time to write down the homework for the week.  

Thank you again for the generous birthday goodies.

Mr. Hubbard

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

Marin Luther King Jr.

Homework for the week:

Math

10-3 Page 220-221 9-24 all due on Wednesday

11-3 Page 254-255 1-29 odd due on Thursday

12-3 Page 276-277 1-25 odd due on Friday

Problem of the week due on Friday.

“Down the Hatch” due on Thursday.

Week 14 spelling list

Book Project is due in February, here are the ideas and suggestions

Reading 45 minutes every evening.   

www.scootpad.com (language arts only), science reading, reading/working for the book project and just plain old reading for fun all count.

Bring the form home every night to be signed off and then bring it to school to be logged in first thing in the morning.  

Science (due on Monday)

Read pages 170-177 and complete the packet

Day 85 of week 21 January 13, 2014

Happy Monday!!

Brooks & 49ers fly into the NFC Championship.  GIF courtesy of http://s.shr.lc/1ikti9e

Today we had our usual spelling pretest.  We then followed it with a classroom spelling bee.  All of 4th and 5th grade today gave the same words to find the top three spellers for each individual class.  Therefore tomorrow the final 18 spellers will compete to determine which two Sharks will represent us in the district spelling bee.   

Spelling bees are always such a unique theatre.  You will have a % of students obviously nervous, a % of students who clearly don’t want to participate and you also have the complete randomness of the event.   Therefore how one deals with the uniqueness of spelling without pencil & paper and which word “lady luck” delivers, you can get years with just surprising results.   You can have students who have earned 99% on their 12 weekly spelling tests be eliminated early while students that don’t shine in the typical environment (pretest, practice, take paper test at end of the week) -- can quickly acquire some spelling momentum and put on a spelling show.    This year’s class is full of great camaraderie and they were all supportive of each other and we are all proud of our three winners.  

Read A Thon --

We are only counting minutes read outside of class for our classroom and school competition.   This is to ensure that all classes and individual students are participating and playing on equal footing.  Some individuals and classes get very competitive regarding the Olympic Read A Thon medals therefore counting out of class only was agreed by the Olympic governing committee (i.e. the K-5 lead teachers).  

As I stated last week -- if your child is motivated by competition then please play off their need to be the best and a medal winner by using that as motivation.  If your child shuts down with competition or that is not a motivation - then build this up as a 30 day opportunity to exercise their brain and enjoy reading more.    Instead of being the television show “The Biggest Loser” where in the end everyone wins if they try their best to live a healthier life and lose weight; the Read A Thon is our version of “The Biggest Learner”   where everyone wins if they try their best to live a more literate life and learn more.   

The yellow reading log needs to be brought home every single day during the competition and brought back to school every single day of the competition.  Every two days that all 32 students can successfully bring their reading logs signed and completed will earn the class cookies.   However no excuses, no calling home in the morning and no emails/notes from home -- the yellow form needs to go home and return to school every day.  

This week we upped the challenge -- 45 minutes of reading at home every night..   Remember Scootpad counts towards the minutes, reading/working on the 2/19/14 book project, spelling practice, science homework and the weekly comprehension assessment counts.  

Science -- planets / space with Mrs. Cargo

Math

Multiplying fractions by fellow fractions.  

Here are our notes:

Students are strongly encouraged to:

First:  prime factor the numerator and prime factor the denominator

Second: look for the power of one so you simplify the fractions being multiplied

Thirdly:  finally find the product of the remaining prime factors in the numerator and denominator

Lewis and Clark:

We read a full chapter of Seaman today.  Lewis and Clark are purchasing supplies for the long journey, more employees are hired for the trip, we meet Clark’s slave York and the author drives home the idea that having a dog on the trip will be great for the Corp’s emotional well-being.

End of the Day: Students had 35 minutes to work on homework, write down homework for the week and get ready to leave.

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever  free.”

Frederick Douglas

Homework for the week:

Math

12-2  273-274 7-41 odds due Tuesday

5-3 119-120 9-31 odds due Wednesday

16-3 368-369 1-14 all due Thursday

9-3 202-203 7-31 odds due Friday

Gold, God and Glory due Thursday

Spelling Test #13 is on Friday.

Read 45 minutes every single night at home.

Bring the yellow form home every single night and have it signed every single night.  No excuses = cookies

Science

164-166 Read and Answer;  Vocab for lesson 1 (flash cards) and complete table page 1 (due on Tuesday)

167-169 Read, answer, and make flashcards -- due Wednesday

Day 81 of Week 20 January 7, 2014

A super quick update regarding today’s events.  

69% of the students remembered to bring in their reading a thon log today and have you sign it off last night.  We hope to improve that percentage tomorrow morning.  Again just for the time of the read a thon, students should be asking you EVERY SINGLE NIGHT to sign their read a thon form and they should be bringing it back to class.  

Today in class they read 45 minutes therefore you will add the mandatory 35 minutes that they should read this evening with the 45 minutes they already read.

Lewis and Clark -- we started taking notes and discussing Lewis & Clark w/ the Corp of Discovery.   We will be doing our language arts writing and practiced while reading the book titled Seaman.   Click here to find out more.  

Science -- more outer space and galaxy work.  

Math -- we worked on prime factoring.  This is something that we worked on prior to our Outdoor Education week and the winter break.   Therefore it was a review of composite numbers and prime numbers.  

We did another 8 examples today and you can read them here.  Today’s notes also have many examples from last night’s homework.

After lunch students practiced typing for 15 minutes, mastered “reciprocals” with IXL, and did 15 minutes of Scootpad.   

Field trip on Thursday, January 30th.  We are going to the Chabot Space and Science in the Oakland hills.  We could use drivers.   Can you please complete this survey (should take less than 30 seconds) if you can help with the driving and chaperoning.  

Click here for the survey

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”

• Author Unknown

Homework for the week:

ReadaThon:

Every night read for 35 minutes at home.

Remember to include time read in class for your daily total.   

Total time on the spreadsheet = in class reading + out of class reading

Monday we read 30 minutes in class + 35 assigned minutes at home = minimum of 65 minutes signed off.

Every day you will bring in your sheet signed off by your parent verifying what you have read.  

Reading for science counts towards their nightly goal of reading.   Reading and working on the trimester’s book project counts towards the nightly reading.  Reading the weekly non-fiction handout and answering  the questions also counts towards their nightly reading.   Working on Scootpad will also count towards their nightly reading total.  

Read and answer with complete sentences and thoughts:  (due Thursday)

Absolute Location Document

Spelling Test #12 is on Friday.

The Words for Spelling test #12 --

Science:

Read pages 162-163 complete the questions within the book due on Wednesday.

Day 80 of Week 20 January 6, 2014

Day 80 of Week 20

January 6, 2014

Happy new calendar year while it remains the same ‘old’ school year :)

First day back in a typical classroom setting since Friday, December 13th which was 24 days ago.  So for the kids they had a nice reprieve from the typical sit in your desk learning environment.  

Big news today -- the school kicks off our ReadaThon.    There is so much positive and empowering with allowing students to choose what they would like to read.  Therefore  for a one month period they get to have autonomy in what they choose to expand their interests in while practicing their reading skills.  

What does this mean for our class?  For the month of January, rather than assigning the free-writes, the weekly read and respond to character issues, and other non-fiction reading assignments, the students will be expected and given more time to read whatever they choose.   Students should expect nightly math homework and twice a week science reading/writing however the clear majority of time they will be expected to read.

Reading for science counts towards their nightly goal of reading.   Reading and working on the trimester’s book project counts towards the nightly reading.  Reading the weekly non-fiction handout and answering  the questions also counts towards their nightly reading.   Working on Scootpad will also count towards their nightly reading total.  

This will entail you signing off on their out of class reading during the next 30 days.  Students will be expected to read nightly, weekend s included, and I will require your autographs on a nightly basis.  

Field trip on Thursday, January 30th.  We are going to the Chabot Space and Science in the Oakland hills.  We could use drivers.   Can you please complete this survey (should take less than 30 seconds) if you can help with the driving and chaperoning.  

Click here for the survey

What we did today?  We discussed the readathon and then we read in class for 30 minutes.  This is added to the daily total however your child must still read at home.  

We then had spelling pretest #12 -- some of the words this week are particularly challenging.  Therefore students are strongly encouraged to study throughout the week.   

Spelling test #12 --

Science with Mrs. Cargo -- Mondays and Tuesdays for 8 weeks (14 total classes)

Focus on the next science standards w/ an emphasis on the solar system.

Homework pretty much every Monday and Tuesday evening regarding science.

Math:

Solving an equation by getting a variable to be all by itself.

We did SIX examples of this today in class and students were given 20 minutes to work on tonight’s homework prior to lunch time & circle time.  

Here are the notes from today’s lesson.  

Go to chapter 12 lesson 1;

Circle Time -- students shared out their fondest memories from the vacation, their favorite moment during outdoor education and tried to describe their vacation in one word.

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”

• Author Unknown

Homework for the week:

ReadaThon:

Every night read for 35 minutes at home.

Remember to include time read in class for your daily total.   

Total time on the spreadsheet = in class reading + out of class reading

Monday we read 30 minutes in class + 35 assigned minutes at home = minimum of 65 minutes signed off.

Every day you will bring in your sheet signed off by your parent verifying what you have read.  

Reading for science counts towards their nightly goal of reading.   Reading and working on the trimester’s book project counts towards the nightly reading.  Reading the weekly non-fiction handout and answering  the questions also counts towards their nightly reading.   Working on Scootpad will also count towards their nightly reading total.  

Read and answer with complete sentences and thoughts:  (due Thursday)

Absolute Location Document

Spelling Test #12 is on Friday.

The Words for Spelling test #12 --

Science:

Read pages 158-161 complete the questions within the book due on Tuesday.

Read pages 162-163 complete the questions within the book due on Wednesday.