Wow, today was an outstanding day! It wasn't your normal Tuesday, though. The first thing I did after I checked in was I read the board and it told me to do the TFK (Time For Kids) quiz on my desk.

Next it was math. Our class went down to the computer lab to play a fun and educational game called Larson’s Math. When we got back to the classroom we did two tricky worksheets and a challenging review packet. One of the questions on the packet was, “Which graph do you think would be more helpful to find out how many days where the low was 65 degrees Fahrenheit? A bar graph or a line graph.” I think the answer is bar graph.

As Miss. Everts said, “Fifth graders, put your things away,” we quickly knew it was time for gym. We played one of my favorite games, Backboard.

Later on we had a test over everything we did in language arts and reading. I didn’t think it was so bad.

Then we did a search on the computer on Christmas around the world. There were 15 questions but they were pretty easy to answer.

Then it was time for lunch. The A choice was chicken nuggets, The B choice was my favorite, hot dogs, and the C choice was a turkey sub.

Oh yeah, it was time for the science test and I was ready for anything. The test seemed kind of easy to me.

Then it was time for tons of fun. We got to make gingerbread houses! A full hour of constructing our own houses made of candy and other sweets.

Then we got together our things and sadly gave Miss. Everts a hug or a high five and left the classroom. Like I told you before, this was not your normal Tuesday.

Today was amazing! This morning when we walked in the classroom we got right to work. We had to read a Time for Kids news magazine. When we went into math we had to do a quiz to get us ready for the test. After that we had to do a review sheet.

Afterwards we had SQUIRT, which is silent reading time. It was great! I even finished my book.

In addition, we had to take a reading test about this whole semester. It was easy if you understood. We had to read a short story and then answer some questions.

Next it was time for the potluck in music class. There was plenty of food for everyone. We all had a good time! Afterwards we got to choose if we wanted to go outside or play a music game. We played Music Baseball!

When we came back from the potluck we got to review for science in a better way. We played Jeopardy. There was a question like, what energy does a stretched rubber band have. Then we went to study hall. That gave us some time to work on our planet projects which are due Wednesday. There was a lot of work to do today but it was worth it.

The clock staggered to 3:30 and we left the classroom, some happy, some sad, some mad, and some in between.

As our class checked in this morning we were happy because today was Friday. We always have a morning sheet when we come in and today our sheet was a vocabulary sheet. One of the questions on it was: Their other ____ , especially their mouths seemed very small. The answer is features but I bet you knew that already. After we finished that we could study our WordMaster words.

Then when Miss. Everts said to get out your math journals, I knew it was math time. We turned to page 160 and did it individually and then as a class checked it. We practiced making percent circles on that page. After finishing that, we did page 161 which was Math Boxes and it was graded. You had to circle equivalent fractions, write prime factorizations, fill in missing numbers on number lines, and the draw circles with one inch for the radius. But before we could do that we had to do a math review, which was also graded. It was due at the end of the day. That was what we did in math today.

After math we went to gym, which was a lot of fun today. We played a game and rode on the scooters.

We got out our spelling booklets after gym because today was Friday and you know what that means... Spelling Test! When we took our spelling tests it didn't take long before everyone got done. Once that was done we had to take out our books because it was SQUIRT time. (SQUIRT stands for Silent, Quiet, Undisturbed, Independent, Reading Time.) During SQUIRT you can also eat your snack if you have one.

This is when our day got weird. We usually don’t do science yet but today we did it now. In science we are learning about forms and uses of energy. Today, we checked our review sheets we did a few days ago. It wasn't graded though. Once that was over we got to do Quizzler on our Palms under the category "Forms and Uses of Energy." We had to do that 1-2 times and when we were done we got Study Hall!

Before I knew it, it was lunchtime. After that it was recess. Brrr! It was cold outside. From the beginning of lunch to the end of recess was from 12:55-1:25.

We trudged back into the classroom knowing that next was we had to take our Word Master words. One person said the test was one of the trickiest yet! After we finished we checked it over to see why we missed them. Once again, we got to have another study hall.

Soon enough, it almost 3:15. Which means it's almost time to do our assignment notebooks. That's when we go over what homework we have and any questions about homework. Miss. Everts also comes around and signs our assignment notebook. Finally for the last time we got another study hall. I guess that is a good thing.

Then the bell rang and I knew I have a weekend off now. But overall the day was a very fun day. I can't wait until Monday!

Was today surprising or what!?!

When I first sat down I realized we had a sub. Her name was Mrs. Marshall. After that I sat down and checked in. I started on my morning work. We had a language worksheet on pronouns. One of the things we had to do was identify the incorrect pronouns. For example, one of the problems we had was, “The earth belongs to us. It's our.” The correct answer would be “ours” instead of “our.”

Our next subject was math. The first thing we did was to correct yesterday’s Math Boxes 5.9 which was on fractions. After that we learned about percent circles (pie circles). We learned how much each fraction of the circle was worth and how to measure it. Then for our assignment, we had Math Boxes 5.10. We also had a Study Link about fractions, decimals and percents. We also had to study for a test on Wednesday. Wow, was math packed!

Next we had music. It wasn't a normal day. We made birthday cards for the still living musician of the month, Michael Tilson Thomas. We split up into about 6 groups and each group made a separate card. I had Megan, Katie P, and Alexandra in my group. For the names at the bottom of the card, we put MAKK. That stands for Megan, Alexandra, Katie P and Katie F.

When we got back to the classroom, we had spelling. The sub passed out worksheet 53-54. It was about correct spelling and opposite words. For example, the opposite of past would be the spelling word present. Wow, did that take a long time to do!

For lunch we had pasta and for the second choice we had a ham and cheese sub. I had cold lunch (personally, I think pasta isn't very good!). For recess, I played on the tire swings. Mostly, I pushed people.

For the last subject of the day, we had Science. First we read pages 70-77 together. In those pages, it talked about hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar energy. After that, we watched a movie about energy called, "Getting to Know Energy". It was about all types of energy and what they are.

In conclusion, today was a confusing, but well worth it day.

In the morning the first thing I did was look at the assignment on the board and check in. So I saw the assignment and thought, “Oh yes it's, a spelling work sheet.” I like it because it's easy. Almost everyone got done with it.

Afterwards we went into art, whiich is almost everyone’s favorite subject. But I don't like because I'm not really good at art. But some people painted popsicle sticks different holiday and winter stuff like Santa.

Next was SQUIRT which is silent reading time and yummy because we can have our snacks and read our books that have tremendous adventures.

Wahoo! Next was math my favorite subject. We did a survey on stuff we picked and I did cars. One of my choices was a Lamborghini. That one got the most votes with 10!

Next we did WordMaster studying where you say I have after someone has the definition of the word you have.

Finally was study hall and I did my math because I didn’t get it done. Next it was lunch and everyone gobbled their food down to have enough energy to play at recess.

Eventually it time to make up our planets and how we discovered it. It was really fun!

Finally it was time to go home as we copied down our assignments and packed up. As soon as the bell rang, everyone trampled out the door.

In conclusion, the spelling sheet was easy and art was fun and easy. Our SQUIRT snacks were delicious. We got the best time in fifth grade on the WordMaster card game and the planet work was really fun.

We started off the day with a TFK quiz all about the Time for Kids magazine we read on Monday. Since we just came in, everyone had rosy cheeks while they worked. But nobody knew what an odd day we were going to have.

Then we went off to math. First, we spent a long time on the Larson’s math program in the computer lab. Those who finished and showed Miss Everts their ending unit print-out, got a couch pass. How great that is! Then we went back to the classroom to do work. We did tons of worksheets on the unit we're in. It could take you a long time with these. Then it was time for our special, gym.

When we came back we had SQUIRT. Since it was Corinne's birthday we had delicious cupcakes while we read. Then afterward we raved about our books, which is when a few kids talk about what's happening in their book so you know if you would like the book.

Next was reading in our Hardcourt books. We read the story "Seeing Earth from Space," which is about seeing Earth from a satellite and an astronaut's experiences. Then we had to answer the questions at the end of the book. By now people are looking urgently at the clock because it's 20 minutes until lunchtime.

Just then, Miss Everts stopped us from working for a surprise WordMaster vocabulary game. We got ready and then Miss Everts said "Go!" We hurry along cutting in and waiting for our word. When the last person went, Miss Everts announced, "1 minute and 55 seconds." We tried again and got 1 minute and 50 seconds, which beats the other class' scores. We played more times and then went to lunch and recess.

We came back and went into science. First we corrected our notes from a chapter and then went into a whole unit review worksheet packet. Then choir and orchestra students went away while we worked. We wondered what was going on.

We went down to the gym where the kids that left sat with instruments or in a group of Whimsical Wildcats. It was a concert for sure. First the orchestra played songs like "Jingle Bells", and even a duet from a double bass player and Mr. Sheppard on the baritone. Next the choir sang "Deck the Halls" in their own style. It was fun to listen to the classical versions. At the end, because of the courage of one fifth grader we got to sing "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Then we went into study hall madly trying to get all our homework finished. But then Miss Everts stopped us and told us about a project we must do by next Wednesday. So we did assignment notebooks and gave a hug or a high five and were off to get out of school.

Today was full of events, including watching a movie and doing experiments with forks, hot water, and balloons, and much, much more. I'll tell about all the EXTRAORDINARY things that happened in Ms. Everts' class at Willowdale Elementary today.

We started the day off with math. Math is my best subject. I like it a lot. Today we had to do three sheets working with converting fractions into decimals. It was really easy because we got to use calculators most of the time. The other thing we worked on today was estimating length. For an example, we might have a question that says: About how long is a new pencil? A. Two inches long, B. Seven inches long, or C. One yard long. The answer would be (of course) seven inches long or B.

Next, we had music. Today we had lots of fun in music because we got to watch a movie. We didn't get to see a lot of the movie because we only had thirty minutes in music class. There was an orchestra that performed on the movie and one of the songs lasted eighteen minutes! Yes, I said eighteen minutes! I play the violin and I know it is hard to play a song for more than three minutes at a time. But here are these adults that can play a full eighteen minutes without stopping to rest! We have also just earned a potluck so we got to sign up for that.

After music we had to take a spelling pretest. This is one of the things that happened today that is usual. The pretest was harder than usual today, though. It had words like "government", and "intelligent". After the TERRIBLE spelling pretest we got to go into SQUIRT. SQUIRT stands for Silent, Quiet, Undisturbed, Independent Reading Time! I really like SQUIRT because we get to move around the room. We get pillows to sit on or lean against, and get to eat a snack if we bring one, because lunch is so late. During SQUIRT we got to golf. You heard me right! Every Monday, if you got one-hundred percent or ninety percent on your last spelling test, you get to golf. Golfing is when Miss Everts gets out her mini putting green and we get a shot at a hole-in-one. If you got a one-hundred percent you get to take two shots. If you got a ninety percent you get to take one. If you make a hole-in-one you get a piece of candy that you can eat during SQUIRT.

Eventually, SQUIRT was over. Our next subject was reading. In reading, Miss Everts read us a story that was different from usual. (I told you today was exciting!) The story was a folk tale. It was about a time when humans could eat the sky. It sounds weird, doesn't it? I would go into detail about the story, but you must hear about the rest of the day. In reading we were also assigned a vocabulary sheet. Miss Everts gave us a gift and didn't make us do the "Try This" today!

After reading was grotesque grammar. I HATE grammar! Today we learned about boring old "possessive pronouns". We had to do a sheet in this subject too! Can you believe all the homework our mean Miss Everts gives us? I sure can't! She even made us do it in cursive! Ick! Thankfully, grammar went by pretty fast, and finally it was time for a break -- lunch and recess. Recess wasn't much fun because it was FREEZING cold out.

Our last subject was science. I don't like unit studies either. It's not as bad as grammar though! Today we did a fun experiment, so I guess it wasn't too bad. But, after the experiment we got our assignment. We had an unusually long one today. We had to read eleven pages in our science book, taking notes on what we read. We also had to do a review AND a sheet on the experiment. I guess Miss Everts felt bad about all of our assignments because she didn't make us write in complete sentences on one side of the two-sided questionnaire.

In conclusion, we had a very exciting and eventful day in Miss Everts fifth grade room today. I hope you enjoyed reading about all that we had to do. I also hope I left a good impression so you will read more in Everts' Times soon!

Today was not like most Friday's in 5th grade. It started the same though. As we walked into our classroom, we were greeted by a smiling Miss Everts. Her smile was like a ray of sunshine. She is always so happy to see us and to start the day, or maybe she was just happy it was Friday, too!

As soon as we walked into the classroom we started working quietly, like mice, on the assignment on the board. Today's assignment told us to read some information about Yellowstone National Park and the fires that take place there. After reading the information, we then answered questions on what we had read to make sure we understood it. We also worked on putting the events that happened at Yellowstone in sequencial order.

In math, we took our Unit 4 test. We were all excited and ready to take the test since we had study for over a week for it. We were also excited because we knew we could do really well on the test. You see, Unit 4 was on division and we learned that there is an easy way to check our division answers. Isn't that amazing? Our classroom goal was for everyone to get above 90%. Although that didn't happen, most of us remembered the trick about checking our answers, and did really well. Over 16 of us, reached our goal. Not bad!

During math, we also had vistors in our classroom from a college. They were students, too. They were there observing how classrooms worked. I was on pines and needles making sure that they saw how well our class behaved.

After working our brains so hard on our math test, it was time to go to gym. It was a nice change, and it let our brains relax for awhile. It also let our body's get some exercise, which is good considering snack time was coming.

Eventually, we had to go back to our room for yet another test. I told you this wasn't a typical Friday. This time we took our spelling test. We do typical take a spelling test every Friday. Our test was over troublesome words and phrases. Although, they didn't seem troublesome to us. We all did very well!

Finally, we were done with all our test for the day, and then it was time to find a comfortable spot to refuel our bodies and get lost in our SQUIRT book. Reading is like going on an adventure, which is why SQUIRT is one of my favorite things. I love going on a new adventure every day.

After our SQUIRT adventures, it was time to get back to the reality of school. Although, we didn't want to leave our adventures, we knew we wouldn't have to leave them completely since we got to write about them in our reading journals. We also worked on our reading assignments from Thursday's small group books about firefighters or Yellowstone National Park fires.

With reading ending, it was time to dive into science. We are studying Energy, and today we learned about the thermometer and thermostats. We also learned that our bodies have a thermstat, too. It's called homeostasis. Once we had learned all this, we put all our new knowledge into our notes so we wouldn't forget it. We also completed a review sheet to help us remember all information we had learned throughout the week. Luckily, we got to use our notes and book! For most days that would be all we would do for science, but like I said earlier, this wasn't a typical Friday. After finishing the review sheet, we got to watch Bill Neye the Science Guy. He's about as crazy as a 5th grade at recess. Bill Neye told us more amazing facts about energy.

Finally, it was time for lunch. I was in desperate need of refueling. My energy level was getting low.

When we came back in from lunch, Miss Everts read from The Last Holiday Concert. It's a book by Andrew Clements. We all listened intensely because we were at really riveting part in the book.

The last hour of the day was the best. We got to play Newsbowl. We divided up into teams of 4 or 5, and Miss Everts asked us questions about current events. The questions covered things like national news, Nebraska news, sports, art and enterianment. Some questions were hard and other were easier. Our class seemed to really like the sports questions. I guess, we must all really like sports. Newsbowl was fun, and it showed me that I need to watch the news more.

The day ended with us going over our assignments. Sadly, we started to pack our bags. We knew it was time to leave Miss Everts and go home for the weekend. With a hug or a high five, we said good-bye to Miss Everts and walked out the door.

We had had a busy day, with many test, a lot of science, and some vistors in and out of our room all day. However, now it was time to enjoy some time off.