Day 100 of week 24 February 4, 2014

Quick one today.

We did a review assessment regarding the math we have covered since the beginning of the year.  It covers place value, larger multiplication & division, and some adding/subtracting/multiplication/division with decimals.  

Then we had some silent reading time.  

From there the kids took their newest month STAR reading assessment.  This was after our month of herculean reading.  Therefore we were not surprised to find that most people either bested their early January assessment or they had a score that showed they clearly had an upward trend in reading & vocabulary growth.  As your son or daughter to show you their most updated assessment.

Science today -- getting to the end of the Solar System unit.  So they were given a study guide and they need to update and complete it by next Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

Math -- we reviewed the three sections that were challenging from last week.  Many students seemed to have a better grasp on the creating equations from data tables, however we will work on this some more.  

Tonight’s lesson is more work with equivalent fractions.  They were given 15+ minutes to begin working on tonight’s homework.  

After lunch we had a class meeting. We discussed what people did during lunch recess time.  The class as a whole had several grievances and they also had some ideas that would improve their playing experience during lunch.  I encouraged them to write some letters to certain interested parties however no one seemed to jump at the opportunity.  I did challenge them to work together with each other regarding how they could improve their noise level and food throwing during the sit down time.  

Our copy machine has lived a little and it is now starting to show its age.  Therefore all Friday, Sunday and then this entire school day the copy machine has been inoperable.  It worked at some point on Monday however I was not on campus to enjoy it.  Long story long…...I have been unable to make photo copies of  the Read To Succeed or the handouts that go with the persuasion project.   

Here are the Read to Succeed paperwork:

Parent Letter

Reading Log to track the six hours of reading.

What is Read to Succeed?  click here to find out more

In a nutshell, if your child reads 6 hours in the month of February (not counting scootpad or assigned reading {e.g. science book or history book}) then your child earns their own Six Flag’s ticket.  

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

“You know you have read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”  Paul Sweeney

Homework for the week:

Math:

10-4 Equivalent Fractions handouts found here due on Wednesday

11-4 Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators due on Thursday Harccover book 256-257 1-33 odds only

5-5 Order of Operations due on Friday hardcover book 124-125 2-34 evens only

Language Arts:

Seaman -- Describe two characters from the story so far.  Each person should have at least one paragraph each.   Your audience is someone who has never read the story.  For each character please use at least two references (quoting/paraphrasing and page number(s)) when making specific descriptions of each character.  due Friday

Non-Fiction reading & response due Thursday

Exponential Notation

Persuasive Writing Work due nightly beginning Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Science Homework -- Study Guide for the solar system test due on Tuesday 2/11/14

Spelling Test #16 on Friday.

Return the money for the Read A Thon on Friday

Read for 20 minutes per night.

Day 99 of week 24 February 3, 2014

Happy Monday!

I am very pleased to announce that our classroom earned the award as the top reading class at Dublin Elementary School for the January Read A Thon.   More importantly all that reading had us exercising our brains with enthusiasm and vigor!!  It was a class effort because everyone had to make sacrifices and C-4 was closing the gap quickly with three readers that surpassed 9,000 minutes.   Therefore it took everyone sacrificing so everyone could enjoy the thrill of victory!!  

Now we are looking for people to go out and show off to grandma, grandpa, the wacky uncle, or to always willing to help godparents all the minutes that each child read and see if they will make a read a thon donation.  

Today I was in an all day meeting with every single fifth grade teacher in the district.  We were making “jazz” by learning about new resources that are available on line, learning new common core ideas from our math, language-arts, science and technology coaches and trading out ideas and suggestions regarding what is working with some of the common core stuff.  

Therefore we had a substitute teacher today.  Here is what the kids were asked to do:

1.  Practice typing

2. 30 minutes of independent reading

3. Language Arts / Grammar work with www.scootpad.com

4.  Math review

5. Science

and 6.  Some time to work on art.  

The math review was timely because we had an impromptu quiz on Friday and many students were specifically struggling with the expression and variable section.  So today’s  math time was working and reviewing last week’s lessons and last Friday’s work.  

Students were given 45+ minutes to work on the workbook pages and the rest was to be completed at home.  

Here is the link for tonight’s homework

If you don’t see the four pages, you can sort by date and the four pages uploaded on 2/3/14 are the ones.

Once again we could use a donation of tissues.  We had at least two kids out everyday last week due to illness and five on one day.  Therefore the noses are running and the tissue is being consumed.  Any donation would be highly appreciated.  

Field trip survey -- we like to ensure that all three classes have equal opportunity to attend our field trips therefore we need to take a proactive look into seeing if we have enough drivers for our next two field trips.  The S.J. Tech one is going to be significantly different from their 4th grade one since they will be attending and participating in a classroom laboratory session most of the day.   However that is just over two weeks away.  The Intel one is amazing however it does take drivers to make that one happen as well.  

If you can drive either to the S.J. Tech Museum and/or Intel please let us know ASAP or we may have to cancel one or both.    Click here to let us know.  

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

“You know you have read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”  Paul Sweeney

Homework for the week:

Math:

Handouts for review due on Tuesday

10-4 Equivalent Fractions handouts found here due on Wednesday

11-4 Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators due on Thursday 256-257 1-33 odds only

5-5 Order of Operations due on Friday 124-125 2-34 evens only

Language Arts:

Seaman -- Describe two characters from the story so far.  Each person should have at least one paragraph each.   Your audience is someone who has never read the story.  For each character please use at least two references (quoting/paraphrasing and page number(s)) when making specific descriptions of each character.  due Friday

Non-Fiction reading & response due Thursday

Exponential Notation

Persuasive Writing Work due nightly beginning Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Science Homework -- assigned for Monday and Tuesday evening.  However I was not here today so I am unsure what it is.

Spelling Test #16 on Friday.

Return the money for the Read A Thon on Friday

Read for 20 minutes per night.

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