No Field Trip Friday!

What a day! I don’t get to write about a field trip like everyone else this week, so you just have to hear about our exciting Friday at Willowdale!

Today the morning assignment wasn't too hard because we got to use our calculators (we usually don't get to)! I was one of maybe twenty students who got the sheet done.

Next the Math Links from last night were handed out like ninja stars to check.
"Switch Math Journals!" said Ms. Sanborn dully. The class checked a Math Box and a lesson page, I didn't get 100%, but my grade wasn't bad either. Our next page we did. together and we got to use a calculator, it was about positive and negative numbers made by using the positive and negative button on the calculator. The next page we got to use the calculator, but not together. We also did a graph plotting picture where the numbers on the grid were also negative! Whew! Finally, the last assigned page was a graded Math Box. We had thirty minutes to do all three pages. I got every page except for the Math Box done.

Ms. Sanborn then said the words "Get out your writing journals, handbooks, and a blank sheet of notebook paper." The first thing we did was turn to page 136 in our language handbooks and read about “cases”. I got that assignment done. Next the class had to prewrite a persuasive writing piece about improving learning in the classroom. Prewriting is just getting your ideas down on paper. I got the prewriting done, but now it was onto the final piece.

"Line up for music!" commanded Ms. Sanborn. Today in music we made a melody and got 80 potluck bucks!

We did reading after we had time to write our final drafts. Today we finished The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle teacher read book we have been reading forever! The ending was surprising to me.

Reading was easy, but spelling was not, but instead of real spelling, we had vocabulary. We had to take the Word master test. I got mine done pretty quickly.

Lunchtime was next. Today I had a chicken patty sandwich then recess.

In science today we did two more sheets that were kind of hard with a partner. My partner and I got them done, and then studied for our big Space test next week. We found some of our answers at a cool site www.nasakids.com! Check it out!

In conclusion, today was exciting because one, we got to use calculators on our morning assignment and math pages, and two in reading we were read to!

Circus Day!

Today was a very fun day.

In the morning we did an AM sheet about a book called Chocolate Fever. We filled in the missing words and colored in the chocolate chip picture for the right word.

From 10:15 to 2:00 we went to the Shrine Circus. There were many acts. The first one we saw was a juggler that did cool tricks with balls and bowling pins. We also saw a girl that rode an elephant and did tricks with them. Some clowns did a skit, which included a pretend dentist office. There were some tightrope walkers that did a seven-person stunt, some cops and a robber, acrobats, dogs, and men on the trapeze. It ended with a human cannonball display. Cool!

After our fun time at the circus we settled down for Science. In Science we did two worksheets. The blue worksheet was where you put a number of the correct word to right answer that matched the definition. The second sheet was a yellow sheet and it was a crossword puzzle.

Next we had counseling. In counseling we did an activity where you write a skit with your group about a fifth grade or middle school problem and then write the solution.

In studyhall we did our homework and got another assignment to write five cursive sentences about the circus.

I think we should have more fun days like today.

The Day of the 6th Grade Math Test!

Today was not a normal day because it was a short day, we had art, and we had gymsic. Now with those things, we never have on a normal day.

At about 9:00 we had to take a math test that will help determine what math class you are going to be in, in 6th grade. Some people went to Ms. Everts’ room, some went to Ms. French's room, and some stayed in our room. The test was very hard.

Next, we took our Word master’s analogy test. It wasn't the real vocabulary one, but it was for extra credit. I didn’t do that good.

After that, we had gymsic. We listened to a song and it told us to do jumping jacks and exercises like that. We also did an exercise where you jump with two strings connected to your partner while your other partners are jumping with you. My partners were Andrew, Rachel, and Willie.

When we got back, Ms. Sanborn told us what we were going to be doing for art. We were making sculptures using Model Magic. Some of us only got to about five minutes because we had Math Olympiad, but the rest of us worked on our art.

Next we went to lunch. I had cold lunch but most of my class had hot lunch. RECESS was next in line in our fun filled day. My friends and I just walked around while the boys played football and basketball.

Last but not least, we had Newsbowl. Today, in my group there was Devon, Jessica, Cydney, and I. We got 80 points during regular play, but in the end you never know who wins because Ms. Sanborn doesn’t total the bonus points until we are gone! Today was very challenging because the questions were very hard.

After that hard, but short day, we had a fun and exciting day with activities like, Newsbowl, gymsic, and art. We had an AWESOME day!

A Musical Day and Ms. Frizzle Fun

Well we all knew it was going to be a thrilling day because we were going to the Orpheum to hear the Omaha Symphony. Although, in the backs of our minds we knew today wasn't going to be as dazzling as Thursday because Thursday we are going to the Shrine Circus to watch clowns chase each other around and watch people do back flips on the backs of elephants.

The day began with the sometimes boring, but fun subject Math. It was not the most fun or easiest to do today, but we learned how to add and subtract positive and negative numbers by doing a few pages in our math journals. Luckily we had time to work on our homework, and before (or after) we could finish we heard a message over the intercom that said, "Ms. Sanborn, your busses are here."
Finally, it was time to jump on a bus and head to the Orpheum downtown to hear the music we had been waiting for, for a week.

We weren't as happy as clams, but it seemed like the class had a pretty good time sitting in their seats on the second balcony while the conductor moved his hands with no need to hesitate. If you looked over the balcony, there were little kids pretending to be the conductor, and some people even started to applaud at long pauses because they thought the song was over. The ride back to school was only fifteen minutes long, but for me it felt like forever!

When the class got back from the field trip, Ms. Sanborn got straight down to business; we took out our Palms to study our word master words. We could either use our Quizzler or the definitions to the words. Then it was lunchtime.

For lunch, the choices were pork rib bits or a hotdog. That was sort of relaxing because I could sit, eat, and talk to my friends.

Okay, after recess and silent read it was time for science, I said to myself as I got out my science book. The class read the rest of the chapter in their books together. We also learned about comets, meteors, and asteroids, and then we were lucky enough to watch an episode of "The Magic Schoolbus". This episode and the show are about a teacher and her students that have a magic bus that they used to go on crazy field trips to learn about a topic like Asteriods or Meteriods. That was today’s topic. After we finished our science sheet homework we studied with a buddy.

Then teacher read and study hall came. I went to safety patrol a little early so I'm not sure what went on from 3:25 to 3:30, but all in all today we had a great day because we went to the symphony, studied, and watched a movie!

Attacking Aliens?

My Wednesdays at Willowdale are usually pretty fun and today was too. I usually get to have fun with my friends while I learn. Spelling, reading, writing, gymsic, science, and art filled my day today.
"Drop down and give me ten!"
No, you don’t have to give me ten reader! It’s just a game that we did in gymsic. Gymsic is music and gym put together on Wednesdays and it's pretty fun. You know what's also fun is making aliens in art like we did today.

To begin this day we began with reading. In reading, we met with our book groups for the last time. My book was, ,My Teacher Flunked the Planet. It was about a kid named Peter and his friends who try to convince aliens not to destroy the planet. It's a wonderful book. Today all the groups discussed the end of their book. We all got jobs the day before and we shared them. Some people were Summarizer, Word Finder, Illustrator, or two other jobs. I was Summarizer and I had to summarize the last section in the book. Everyone did a great job.
Next each group shared their main character poster, adjectives that described the character, and the group book summary for all six book group books. All the posters were different even though we all read Science Fiction books.

When reading time was over, we studied our word master words on Quizzler. Quizzler is an application on our Palms which helps us study. Our Palms are handheld computers. Word master words are just challenging words that help us with writing and improve our vocabulary. They're difficult and some are hard to say, but they're still fun.

It was 10:10 and time for gymsic. We ran and walked a ton of laps. Everyone was laughing and cheering and it sounded as loud as an airplane taking off. My favorite activity to do in gymsic is when we have to do ten push-ups, sit-ups, leg-lifts, and jumping jacks. It's called Drop Down and Give Me Ten. It's so enjoyable!

Art time! Art was so exciting because we made silly aliens. Some aliens looked like they would attack you! The colors of the aliens were CRAZY! Some were blue, green, orange, and many other crazy colors. We did a short biography sheet about our alien. I finished it faster than a cheetah would. Once you were finished with the sheet and your alien, you could work on a packet about planets.
Did you know that Pluto's orbit sometimes brings it closer to the sun than Neptune? To find out more facts about Pluto and other planets check out: http://www.kidszone.ws/planets/.

Yessss! It was finally time for lunch. This is a time where you can eat and talk! It's great, but the food is another story, so that's why I had cold lunch. Man I was hungry! Recess was a bundle of fun because we played basketball. The teams did great and no one won. I was glad because then no one would brag.

Do you have a game called Newsbowl at your school? We do!
If you don't, I’ll tell you what it is. It's a ton of questions about the current news. Sports, arts and entertainment, family and society, and other topics. Your team gets points and whoever has the most points at the end of the game, wins. I don't think my team won because we didn't do very well, but it was still fun.

When my day started or everyday when my days start, I get excited and wonder what will happen that day at school. Will we have a quiz, do some art, learn? Anything can happen and that's why I like school, you never know!

Valentine’s Day

Everyone was excited that we would get candy today because it was Valentine’s Day. We were also excited to have gym and we knew we would get to take off our coats at recess because it would be 52 degrees today. What a relief!

First thing we had to do was our morning assignment. It was to list a classmate’s name, nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and plural nouns etc.. Later in the day, we put them into a letter to someone in the class. (A Mad Lib)

Next it was time for math. We switched math journals with a friend and checked them. We then got out our partner clocks and a calculator. Ms. Sanborn said a time on our partner clock and that meant you and your partner did a math sheet for candy. Next Ms. Sanborn said another time on your partner clock and you got a different partner and did a different math sheet. It was fun and we got a lot of candy from it.

“Get out your writing journals,” called Ms. Sanborn. Everyone knew writing was up. We had to write about our favorite Valentine’s Day and it could be make believe. Next, we stuck the list of words from the morning assignment into a letter. Some of the letters ended up being pretty funny.

“Get out your job sheets and your book and then line up,” said Ms. Sanborn. Then we headed to P.E. In P.E. we had to run twelve laps. Hopefully, we burned off all our extra calories from the candy we’d eaten so far in the day. Next we each got a piece of a heart and whoever’s heart connected to yours was your partner. Then we got assigned a new heart with numbers. We had to pick up a half of a dome cone and use the letter and the number on the cone to unscramble your words. Next we played a game where the boys and girls lined up on different sides. Mrs. Lindeman flipped a rubber square with hearts on each side. If the heart was blue, the boys chased the girls. If the heart was red, the girls chased the boys. If you got tagged, you had to switch teams.

When we got back from P.E., we checked our Time For Kids sheets. Then we met in our book groups. If you hadn’t passed out your Valentine’s Day cards, you could do it while the groups were reading the next day’s assignment. After we met, we got new sheets for our next reading assignment.

“Get our your Bingo boards,” said Ms. Sanborn.
Everyone yelled, “YEAH!”
I won and got another piece of candy. In Spelling, we had to write each spelling word two times. Then we got assigned a yellow spelling sheet and had time to work on it in class. It was about antonyms and synonyms ending in -less or -able. I thought it was kind of difficult and really made me think.

We got out our books to read and lined up for lunch. Lunch was next. A choice was pancakes and B choice was turkey and cheese sub. Recess was great because it was finally warm outside again. I played basketball and my team won.

When we came in from recess, we had to get out our notebook and science book. We had to tell Ms. Sanborn some of the notes we had taken. Next we did a science sheet. When we were done, we filled out our planners and had study hall. We put all of our homework on our desks and lined up to go to the gym for our Valentine’s Day party. My favorite station was “pin the lips on cupid”. I accidentally put his lips on his bottom because we were blindfolded. Dylan got the lips on almost the perfect spot. When our party was over, we went back to our classroom and got into two big table groups to get ready for conferences.

The day was over and we left. We were excited to go home and open our Valentine’s Day cards and see what yummy candy we got! Many were still full from all the candy we got in Math or at the party. The kids that were walking home were glad it was sunny out and not cold. The kids going to Kids Network were looking forward to playing outside in the wonderful weather and going to the party and dance.

Terrifying Tuesday

What luck, it's Tuesday, the worst day of the week. But today it was sort of fun because we got to learn about the symphony we're going to next week. But before I get to that, let me tell you about the rest of my day.

Today we started as Ms. Sanborn told us to take out our math journals. "Turn to page 233!'' Called Ms. Sanborn. Page 233 was a game called 500. 500 is just like baseball. One player throws the ball and the other player tries to catches it. If they get do they get 100 points. If it bounces once and someone catches it, they get 25 points and so on and so on. After page 233 we did page 234 where we used + and - counters to find the account balance of +$5., -$8., and $0. The last page we did together was page 235 where we added + and - numbers with counters. Our assignment was page 236, a math box.

The next subject of the day was writing. In the first part of writing we shared any story in our writing journals in front of the couch.

To our surprise we had music class early today because a man from the symphony we're going to see next week, came to explain some things of what we were going to hear. After he explained that, we listened to some symphony music.

When we got back from music class, we continued writing by studying our Word Master vocabulary words.

Well it isn't that bad, but our next subject was reading. First in reading we shared our job sheets in book group that we had done the previous day. After about 15-20 minutes Ms. Sanborn said we could work on the drawing of our main character as a group.

Next was my favorite part of the day. Lunch and recess. Today for lunch we had a delicious meal of chicken nuggets, peaches, and pretzels. It was delicious.

After coming in from recess we had science. In science we did a packet called "Can You Planet?" It is due Tuesday. After working on the packet for a while Mr. Vincent came in and showed us a program where you type in your weight and it shows you what you would weigh on other planets. Cool!

The last part of our day was studyhall. We worked on our homework for a half an hour until it was time to go. I hope everyone else had a good day and learned new things.

One Crazy Day with Buddies and More!

Today was a crazy day and here’s why. We were going to meet with our buddies, Mrs. Greenwald's class and we played against Ms. Hough's class in volleyball to see who would get first place. Well let me get started.

Today for the morning assignment we had to make our valentine's bag. Ms. Sanborn told us to put them in the front of the classroom. I thought everyone's looked great.

Next was math, but some people got to go to 6th grade math. Today in 5th grade math we checked page 228 in our Math Journal. Then Ms. Sanborn commanded us to turn to page 229 and we did that page together. The next page we did together was 230. When we were all finished we did 231 and 232 by ourselves. We had 20 minutes to do those pages. Some people got them both done, but some people only got one page done and just started the next page.

Our next subject was writing. We shared our similes. Similes are descriptions in a sentence that may exaggerate. One of mine was, as ugly as Austin Power's teeth. Then Ms. Sanborn told us to make up four new similes.

When Ms. Sanborn told us to get into our book groups and everyone cheered. When we were done meeting Ms. Sanborn yelled at us to line up.

Finally it was music. Ms. Noble assigned us to a group where we had to play a melody from a sheet we did on Tuesday.

At 11:25 Ms. Sanborn drew sticks to see who got the sofa with their first grade reading buddies that were coming down. Two people got to sit on the sofa with their buddy. Then she picked for pillows and I got one. Our buddies brought a book and Ms Sanborn's Super Students had some too. Our buddies read to us, then we read to them. Some 5th graders had to leave to go to sing at Lakeside and HyVee. Then some 1st graders had to leave for something.

After our buddies left Ms. Sanborn commanded us to get out our bingo boards that we made earlier in the week. We played two times so two people won. Good job to whoever won and I'm sorry for those who didn't win. Until lunch we read the Time for Kids with a buddy.

Then it was lunch. A was Mini Corn Dogs. B was Chef Salad and C was Breaded Chicken Patty Sandwich. I picked A.

After recess was SSR. I read The Year Mom Won The Pennant. It is pretty good.

Next was editing it was our finally day this week so we did the last sentence then turned it in.

Then it was science. We took the quiz it was open notes and book. When we finished it we had to read chapter three and write seven or more notes.

It was 2:45 and everyone knew it was time for teacher read so we went to go sit in front of the sofa.

When Ms. S was finished reading she said to get all your stuff and cross off and circle, get in line, but it wasn't the end of the day! It was time to play Mrs. Hough's 4th grade class in volleyball. We were ahead the whole time. When it was game point for our class, Erica served it and got it. We won! We got a cookie and a pack of fruit snacks. Then the people in Safety Patrol had to leave. That was me and some other people.

So my class ended the day with a win in volleyball and went home eating the snack with a smile.

As Fun as Lacrosse

Today was one of the best days of the week because in gym we listened to people from the YMCA, teach us about lacrosse. We also had a fun time finishing and completing similes.

Math was the first subject up to bat. First we checked page 223 in our Math Journals. At the moment we are working on number lines. Today in our spiral notebooks we wrote down the order of operations and a way to remember them, I like to say please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (that’s short for parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition,
subtraction). After everyone tried to make up their own phrase, we did page 226 as a class. Our math homework tonight is page 228 and a Study Link.

This might sound a little confusing, but in writing we had to fill out a sheet called a classroom self performance report. The sheet asks you to grade your self on questions like I am on task, do I pay attention, etc and we then we give ourselves a grade. Next we got out our dry erase boards and Ms. Sanborn told us to finish a simile like “as white as” or “as ugly as”. Hopefully no one said as ugly as Ms. Sanborn.
"Get out your writing journals and write your favorite similes of the words strong, ugly, thin, and white." Ms. Sanborn said. Then we lined up for gym.

In gym we had some guests from the YMCA who taught us about Lacrosse. They showed us how to hold the stick and everything. I liked the scooping drill we did.

Reading, at the moment is my favorite subject because we have book groups. Today we shared our first job sheets. Then we read quietly in our seats. While we were reading Mrs. Anderson, our librarian, came in with a TV and a load full of books. That's because she came in to tell us about ghost stories and science fiction books.

Batter up! Editing was next. We edited number four in our books. Then we were assigned our spelling sentences.

Lunch choices were turkey with potatoes and gravy or a sandwich.

After SSR we checked pages 3 and 4 in science. Then we studied our science notes and text with a buddy.

After teacher read was study hall, we stopped to clean up because of conferences. When the bell rang we rushed out.

So all in all in was a great day and now we know how to play Lacrosse!

Wednesday, Short Day!

Today was great! Wednesdays mean short day! They also mean we get to play Newsbowl!

To start the day in spelling we had a pretest! I found most of the words easy. Our spelling was pretty fun until the part where we filled out our spelling packet so we have to look on the board to see how our misspelled words are actually spelled and then look back at your book to write them. It gives you a neckache.

Then we had Word Masters. We had to finish definitions for words 22-25. For those of you reading this that don’t know what Word Masters is let me tell you. It is where the class gets a list of hard words like dislodge and each day they have to look up and learn their definitions. See? You do learn something from reading our Blogs!

After Word Masters it was time for P.E.! The dance today was where we passed a paper heart around in a circle and when the music stops the person with it has to stand in the middle for a couple seconds and dance while we copy him or her, then they can get back in the circle. For everybody in gymsic you rock at dancing!

When we got back from gymsic we had a short lesson on Jim Dine. He likes to do heart art. We then got to do our own.

Right after that we went to the computer lab. Most of our class was worked on Larson`s, but Nicole, Jessica, and I went to flutes.

At 12:45 or so we got out our editing books, well everyone except for me. I didn’t get mine out because last week I got 100%! Everyone sat checking over the sentences billions of times in their heads, then raised their hands to see if they found all of the mistakes in the sentence. It took them a while to rewrite the sentence in their best cursive handwriting.

Finally it was lunch. "Lunch is just a special time. It makes you eat, is that a crime?" Goes the poem. It continues on, but who could expect me to remember all that? I had a sandwich of some sort with a big, juicy steak type meat in it. It was delicious except for the fact that it is lent! Oops!

Aha! Now this is what I'm talking about! It is finally time to play Newsbowl! Ms. Sanborn spun around the classroom as if she were a much prettier version of Taz. She laid out popsicle sticks with our names on them to tell us our teams and where we were to sit. We played great and I can’t wait to see who won the game!

You have just witnessed another thrilling day at Willowdale Elementary School from Newsbowl, art, to a spelling pretest!

A Not So Typical Day
Today started as a typical day. First, we handed in our assignments that were due. Then we went to our desks and started on the assignment that was written for us on the overhead. We had to make a Valentine’s Day card out of construction paper and we decorated it using markers. Mine had “Happy Valentine’s Day” on it, with a multi-colored heart on the front. I thought it was a fun activity. I hope whoever receives it likes it.

The first subject of the day was, my most dreaded subject, math! We were assigned page 223 in the math journal. It was all review. We had to review fractions, decimals, percents, stem-and-leaf plotting and division. Next in math was the link. Oh how I despise links! We made number sentences by adding parentheses. This was the first time we’ve done this type of math. I thought it was fun and easy.

Then we had writing. We shared from our writing journals. Ms. Sanborn let us pick any story that we had written.

Before music we sang Happy Birthday to the twins, Jessica and Nicole. They gave us delicious chocolate cup cakes and Capri Sun to drink.

After that, we went to music. We celebrated a famous musician’s birthday. His name is Phillip Glass. We played musical plates, but we had to stop because we were too hyper, like crazy monkeys. I think those cupcakes from the twins got to us.

Next was reading. Our class separated into their book groups and discussed what we’ve read so far in our book. My group is reading a book called When the Tripods Came. I personally think it is an odd, yet good, book. So far, the kids in my book group think it’s a pretty good book too. After each group discussed what we had read, we did a life-sized cutout of the main character in the story.

‘Put your things away and get out your personal spelling book, your editing journals, and a piece of paper,” Ms. Sanborn blurted out. We got out our partner clocks. Since Jessica was older than Nicole and it was their birthday, Jessica got to pick the time. “12:00 blue,” she said. The class got with their partners and we gave each other their spelling tests. After that, we took a review spelling testing worksheet form, but it was easy.

Today for the lunch choice we had A. I have no idea or B. hot dogs. Can you guess which one I picked?

Our final subject of the day was science. We took notes about space, then did a two-sided worksheet on topics like Earth’s revolution, how the sun helps us tell time, and how the Earth orbits around the sun.

Then Ms. Sanborn told the class to meet at the couch. She read from the book True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

Next, we had study center, which ended our day.

So you can see, what started out as a typical day, really wasn’t typical at all.

Space Fact Filled Monday

Which planets moons look like potatoes? Mars. Which of the planets is the hottest? If you guessed Mars, you’re wrong. It's Venus! You will see what we did in Science today, but that is after everything else that happened today.

First, was the yellow sheet that was kind of confusing. We had to find each planet’s god by using clues. If it was true you put a check mark. If the clues were wrong you put an X.

After that confusing material, it was time for math. O joy!! We switched math journals. We checked 217, a math box. A problem on the page was name the number of weeks in 1/4 of a year and 39x24=936. Then we learned about scientific notation like 10 with a little two right next to it= 10x10=100.
" Your assignment pages are 219, which is a Math Box, 221,222 which was all about the history of Earth." Ms. Sanborn said. You just had to fill out a chart. Once you were done with all chart you just answered a few questions about the history of Earth.

Finally, my personal favorite subject, writing!
"You will need your palm and keyboard for this!" said the best teacher Ms. Sanborn.
We checked over the Word Master definitions we had done so far. Next, we did a free write in our journals. Also in our journals, we got out our language books and took notes. " Meet me by the couch!" Ms. Sanborn called. "Yes!!" I said. We had extra time and we were going to be able to share an entry from our journal!

Later we went to gym. " Numbers 24 and 25 roll the dice to find out how many laps today" We had to do nine. After that we got a hula-hoop. I like hula hooping. We used them around our neck, arms, and waist.
" Line up on the two yellow lines." Our gym teacher Mrs. Lindeman said. We played a game called Steal the Balls. You had to run to the opposite side of the gym, then steal a ball, and run it back. The first team to have all the balls wins. Is there a catch you may ask? Yes, if you get tagged, you have to go to jail until one of your teammates rescues you.

As reading began we checked the TFK {Time for Kids} sheet and the reading test. Then we had to take a test. It was about comprehension and all the reading words. Next we chose our which science fiction book we wanted to read. From there, Ms. S. put us into groups of about four and we figured out how many pages we had to read every night to finish it by next Wednesday. We also predicted what we thought would happen.

"Only four people don't have to edit! You can do better!" once again Ms. Sanborn screeched. After finding the mistakes, we studied our spelling words for tomorrow’s test then got our spelling sheet.

Lunchtime! A: cheese pizza B: Ham and Cheese sandwich. It was freezing cold outside so it was inside recess.

Science now came rolling in. " Pick a number between 4-30." Ms. Sanborn said softly. She had a fact filled science book in her hand and whatever number my classmate said that was the page she read a question from. Remember at the beginning when I asked you questions about space? Well, those were asked to us. We first guessed the answers then she would give us the real answers. Next we checked our science paper and started a new chapter in the science book, Patterns in the Sky. It is about stars and constellations.

Teacher Read! True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. She is being accused of the murder. She had to go to jail on the boat, I don’t think she did it. I guess we’ll find out soon.

Study hall was next. People worked on things such as the spelling sheet, the circle art, the journal entry and the link.

I know science is not so fun, but we did learn a lot. I also have to say writing is so much fun and today we got to write about whatever we wanted. If I were you I would try to stay out of science and get into writing, I plan to. I plan on writing bigger stories than this Blog entry.

A Tragic Recess

I was extremely excited about going to school today! Not really. But at least it was Friday, and we got to launch our rockets with the supplies we brought from home and a balloon.

Our A.M. assignment was a yellow sheet where you figured out the circumference of the planets. With every right answer, you got a letter. You put each letter into a separate puzzle where your answer was revealed. It sounds confusing and it was.

For math I went down to the library to work on my Million Dollar project. This is a project in which I have a $1 million "budget" to stock a homeless shelter with all kinds of items they would need to help people for one year. I have to research prices on everything to see how close I can come to spending exactly $1 million. I am in sixth grade math, so I asked Ryan what they did in fifth grade math. " We checked pages, and then did pages 215-217 on the powers of ten," Ryan told me. Sounds pretty exciting. That is about it for math.

After a long and boring math class, it was time for writing. We wrote a page in our journals about respect. Respect is this month's "Pillar of Character." The questions we had to answer in our writing were " What is respect?'' "What are two examples of respect?" and "Why do we have respect?"

In music today we wrote music notes on the staff and read them aloud. I think we are going to play them with instruments at some point, because there were four instrument names at the bottom of the page.

Next comes reading. I am in challenge reading, so I didn't have to take the reading test. For all of you who had to take a test today, my condolences. I bet it was the worst experience you have ever had. Okay, maybe that is a little too over-dramatic, but I still didn't have to take the test. I worked on our assignment assigned by Ms. Sanborn, which was to complete page 91 in my workbook and look up vocabulary words. The whole class read this week's Time For Kids and did a sheet after everyone was finished with the test.

Almost half way through the day and it was time to go to the computer lab. Once there, we went to www.harcourtschool.com. We read a little then took a quiz in Writing Detective. For the rest of the time we got to play games from two other choices in the reading, writing site we were in.

When we got back from the computer lab, it was time for editing, which I also didn't have to do because I'm special. Actually it was because I got 50 out of 50 points on last week's editing. Ms. Sanborn also assigned the next three Word Master words to be defined.

At recess, there was a tragedy. If you don't want to be grossed out, go to the next paragraph. Micah blitzed Nash playing football, and they must have hit heads because Nash left school with a bloody head, and Micah chipped off half of his tooth. Get well soon!

It was finally time for science and we made our rockets with our partners. My partner was Willie. The objective of the rocket activity was to get the rocket and the ping-pong ball three meters from the launching pad to Mars. Our rocket worked great at first, but then the ping -pong ball fell out, and the rocket went sideways. After everyone tried, we went back to the room to fix them up. Willie and I didn't get to try a second time because our one and only balloon popped. Two tragedies in one day. We were also given a green sheet about the unit and another one about what had happened in the rocket experiment.

Ms. Sanborn called us over to the couch because it was time for teacher read. We are reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. It is about a girl who is on a ship to America with a mean captain and a nasty crew. Today, the "Seahawk" which is the name of the ship, is stuck in the middle of a hurricane.

It is finally study hall where you finish all of your homework. Unfortunately, I still have some homework left.

This was a tragic, but fun-filled day with the head-banging recess and malfunctioning rockets. I was glad it was time to go home. Hopefully next week there will be no more bleeding at recess and our projects will work a little better!

Volley Winning Thursday
Today was another ordinary Thursday. We had the same old math, reviewed for the reading test tomorrow, and wrote definitions for our spelling words.

In math we did pages 211-214 in our brand new math journals. The lesson was all about exponents. I think exponents are very easy. 0n page 214 we did a Math Box that took me only a few minutes.

In reading we shared two of our ten facts we wrote while we read the story Seeing Earth from Space. After sharing we reread the story and did a packet to prepare us for the test tomorrow. My two facts were that astronauts could see eyes of typhoons from space and the Hawaiian Islands were created from underwater volcanoes.

Then we had gym. In gym we first had to volley back and forth without the ball touching the ground. We had to beat Ms. French's score and WE DID! Party! Next we played volleyball against each other.

In spelling we had to either write our spelling words in sentences or write their definitions. I wrote ten sentences using my words like correspondence.
In editing we edited #4 in our editing books. Also we defined Word Master words #10-12 and typed them in our Palm.

In writing we went on the Internet to the Harcourt site. We did writing activities. We first did an activity, Grammar Goal, where you do three tests on the computer about different lessons like pronouns, nouns, and adjectives. Second we did an activity were you pick a short game to practice parts of speech and grammar. Those were the most fun. Thirdly, we did Writing Detective which is like a test. You read a paragraph about different types of writing then take the quiz. My favorite activity was where I played a mini board game with fish that helped me practice my parts of speech. I loved it because I got almost every single one right!

Finally we had lunch and recess, but some of the fifth graders had band instead of recess. That was me!

After band we had science. In science we took notes and got with our partners using our partner clocks. In our little we planned how we wanted to build our balloon rocket. We also decided what it would look like and what materials we needed. Ours is going to be cool and I hope it works!

After teacher read we had study hall and did our school work. Then we finally went home.

After writing this I guess even though it was ordinary it was still filled with lots of learning and fun. We did get to go to the computer lab, design a rocket, and beat another class in volleyball!

Today is Wednesday, what do you think we'll do today? Have a test? Correct! Have a Potluck? Correct! Newsbowl? Correct! Those are just some of the things we're going to do today, but there's much more.

Today isn't the same Wednesday morning because today I actually cleaned my desk on time! What a surprise! The spelling pretest was next, but that wasn't a surprise because we usually do that. Drew got 100% on it. Good job Drew! Since we got finished so quickly we even had time to play a quick couple games of February Spelling Bingo, but I didn’t win.

As we began lining up for gymsic, the Wednesday program about exercising and dancing there was a quiet buzz. In gymsic we had to obey the directions on a song by running and walking back and forth. Everyone groaned. We also had to learn a dance. You have to do this dance by joining hands or shoulders and crossing your left foot behind your right. The fourth graders seemed really short we all noticed as we practiced this dance.

Woohoo! Shouted everyone with glee because it was art time! In art this week we we're doing a circle project inspired by Wassily Kadinsky. The circles look like planets and we are coloring them in with craypas.

11:30 and time for Math Olympiad for me! All of us Math Olympiad kids filed into the empty room to take a hard test. I got 1 out of 5. After Olympiad we met up with the rest of our class who were already in the Media center playing Larson's Math. After taking the test I thought that Larson’s was boring.

Lunchtime! For some students who didn’t have any late papers it was Potluck time! Today in the cafeteria we had only a hamburger, too bad I didn't go to the potluck, it looked so good. They had everything from cheeseburgers from McDonalds to chocolate brownies that looked delicious!

Newsbowl time! The whole class screamed with excitement! We get prizes for answering current news questions! Awesome! Today I think my team won! We answered questions about Johnny Carson, the Super Bowl kickers, and how fast a boar could run, 30 mph!

Finally we packed up and left.

Today was exciting in art thanks to the circle art, the Math Olympiad test, and the Potluck for all the fifth graders that got to go! I hope that is me next month!

Back to School

Today was a different day because we had guests from other schools come to visit our class, to see how we used our Palms and I was sick yesterday, so this is my first day back to school since Tuesday. It was fun to show the visitors all the different ways but it also got us out of our regular routine.

Today's first subject was math. The first activity we did was take our Unit 6 test. I think that I got at least a B+. When we were done with the test we were to turn it in and work on page 181 in our first math journals.

We were supposed to have writing next, but instead the people from many other schools came to our room so that my class could show them our technology (Palms) and how to use it. I was in a group to show people how we used Word Smith. In my group I also had Cydney, Willie, and Drew. Word Smith is a place to keep and use word processing. I think of it as a kind of diary where you can type about anything you want and it stays on your handheld computer or palm. A palm is a mini-computer that you can hold in your hand. The exact kind we all use in our room is the Palm M515. The visitors asked lots of questions and seemed to really want to know everything about what we do with them. It was fun and exciting to share everything.

Next, was only the best part of the day, gym! In gym, everyone had to run six laps around the court. Once everybody was finished running, we were panting like dogs.
"Line up on the two yellow lines!" Mrs. Lindeman our gym teacher called out. So we did. She numbered us off into four different teams so that we could play volleyball. Lastly we ended our class with trying to beat our record vollies. We were still tied with Miss Everts’ class at 26. We didn’t do any better today.

When we walked back to our room it was time for reading. In reading, we did a pink packet and reread the story Oceans. We had to stop short because Mrs. Anderson our librarian came in to talk about non-fiction books.

Coming up was spelling. We first edited sentence number four in our editing books. When we were done with that we worked on spelling definitions or sentences.

Right above the chalkboard our classroom clock said that it was 12:55, which meant LUNCH! For lunch, I had option A, which was a crispito. I sat next to my best friend Meghan. When our table was dismissed, Meghan, Maggie, Cydney, and I threw our food away and went outside for recess. We all swung on the swings until it was time to go inside.

Silent read was next on the list. Most of us spread out across the floor to read for about 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes was over we had units.

In units, we read our letters that we wrote about the 13 colonies to the class. Then we tried to watch a movie, but it didn't work. We gave up and then the counselor came in. The counselor had us get into groups and fill out a sheet that said, if you were stuck on a desert island what would you bring? My group came up with some silly answers, but that's ok.

Next we had study hall for about a half an hour until 3:30 when we were finally dismissed for the day.

Today was an unusually busy day, complete with visitors filled with questions, the counselor, librarian, and make-up work for me. Next time you have a busy day like me, please feel free to blog about it too.

Reading, Reading, and More Reading!

"Darn another reading test." I thought. “I hope I did awesome.”
Besides the test I also read all about the Solar System in both reading and science and the more I think about it, it seems like all we did today was read, read, read!

After starting our day in our usual fashion we heard Ms. Sanborn state, "Everyone meet in front of the over head." We went over and talked about our midyear math test together problem by problem. Finally we got our own tests back and we had to do the problems we messed up on a separate piece of paper.

During writing some shared their free writes that they wrote yesterday. After that we learned what a biography was and we listed what we could put into one. Then we had to write ours.
"Line up at the door," Ms. Sanborn said loudly, but clearly.

In music we shared one raga, also known as a song. We also practiced repeating patterns and then we wrote the pattern on the chalkboard. If we did that we would get a music buck. We got eight bucks for doing that. We love to earn reward bucks because the more we earn the closer we are to earning a class prize!

Once music was done we had a midyear reading test. "Get in test mode." Ms. Sanborn exclaimed. Our midyear reading test was pretty easy, it was as easy as reading a picture book. After we finished the test we had to read Seeing Earth from Space then we write ten facts that we learned.

"Please get out your editing books, spelling books, and Palms. I didn't have to do editing because I did so well last week. The spelling books were for our spelling test we took with a partner. Lastly we defined three Word Master words and typed the definitions in our Palms.

When we got back from lunch we had SSR or silent sustained reading.

Next was science. After we got our new shiny science books we shared two sentences from each part of our KWL chart. Next we read the first pages of the new textbooks. Instead of everyone reading about all the different types of space transportation we broke up into six groups and we read and took notes about our specific type. We had rockets.

"Go over to the couch." Ms. Sanborn replied. She read another chapter from Charlotte Doyle where she climbed a 135-foot mast of a ship to prove to the men on the ship that she wanted to be part of the crew. It ended with the captain in her face. I wonder what he is going to do to her now?

After teacher read we had study hall. Time flew out the window and it was time to go home for the day. As Ms. Sanborn checked us out the bell rang, another day was over.

That was the best day of school thanks to reading the Space story, meeting in groups for science, and taking an easy reading test. I cant wait for tomorrow.

A Day About Space
You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out how fabulous our day was. You just need to know that with French toast sticks for lunch, a midyear test for math, and starting a new unit in science it was!

Our day started off with everyone checking in, turning in assignments, and starting on a morning assignment about Saturn's many moons.

In sixth grade math, some of us worked with the technology teacher, Mr. Vincent, on the Million Dollar project. This is where you try to spend as close to a million dollars as possible on one subject. Others worked in a special class called Lego Robotics. Robotics is where you build a moving car, program it, and then run it. It's very fun, and really works up your mind. After building the car we will program and build other objects too.

In fifth grade math, they took a mid-year math test. It gave them puzzling questions over everything they have learned so far this year like equivalent fractions, landmarks, adding decimals, and plotting on a grid.

Writing was next on our agenda. First, we wrote a free write in our journals. Then we shared anything we wanted from our writing journals. It was fun to hear what people had written for their three wishes on Friday. Some wanted to professional athletes and others wanted lots of money.

"Line up for Gym!" Ms. Sanborn proclaimed. In Gym, we ran five laps before practicing our volleyball serves. After that, we had a volleyball game.

As soon as we got back in the room, everyone, except Classics people got out their green Anthologies. The Classics got out their My Brother Sam Is Dead books, our anthologies, and our workbooks. We read My Brother Sam Is Dead, aloud while the regular reading group talked about their next story, Seeing Earth From Space; we even checked the Time For Kids worksheet over the 1-28-05 issues and last week's reading test.

At 12:30, we edited the first sentence in our editing books for this week. After that, we buddy studied spelling with a buddy from our table groups. Then Ms. Sanborn handed out a worksheet on our spelling rule for the week.

Lunch! Finally! We had French toast sticks with syrup, tater tots, an omelets, and Lil' smokies. Soon after we ate it was time for recess.

When we came in from recess, we went to the library to read and check out books.

In science, we worked on a sheet that had four boxes that said, "What do you know?" (A lot), "What do we want to know?" (Everything), "Further research", and "What we learned." We had to put ten facts, questions, or research answers in each box, depending on what it said at the top. Then we watched Bill Nye The Science Guy being silly on T.V. He talked all about Space.

After that, we listened to Ms. Sanborn read aloud (and I mean aloud) from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. The book is about a girl named Charlotte Doyle who gives some true confessions about her journey to America, she being the only passenger besides the crew. Today was sad because they last another crewmember.

Next we had study hall. Most people got a lot of their homework done.

Like I said earlier, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out how fabulous our day was. My favorite parts of the day included writing down what I already knew about Space, and of course eating breakfast for lunch, and reading as a group!