Lately, we've been learning quite a bit about prepositions by writing our own preposition poems about animals. Check out what we've published so far by clicking the links below, and feel free to add your comments as well:
"Ducks Swim" by Jaclyn
"Iguanas Climb" by Brock
"Cheetahs Run" by Kamren
"Pandas Munch" by Brooke
"Sharks Swim" by Sarah
"Moles Dig" by Jared
"Dogs Catch Red Frisbees" by Shana
"Chameleons Change Colors" by Lydia
"Puffer Fish Swim" by Haley
"Frogs Jump" by John
"Penguins Slide" by Raven
"Lizards Slither" by Alissa
"Bears Growl" by Emma
This blog is intended to share what we are learning in 5th grade through reflections, pictures, videos, and more! Comments are encouraged and welcome! If you have a positive comment about anything you see, please feel free to share, and we will respond as soon as we can. Thanks for looking!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Daily 5 checklist
Today was the first day of 3rd quarter, and we took the opportunity to begin self-recording our Daily 5 progress onto these checklists. Click here to check out the newly revised checklists!
As we increasingly learn to be more self-regulated in our learning, we hope to see tremendous growth in our learning by the end of the year!
Here are a few student examples, so you can see how we filled out the checklists. As you're browsing, though, keep in mind that this was the first time all of us (Mrs.Allen and students in Room 121) have implemented a checklist like this. If you look at the revised checklists linked above, you'll notice changes that have already been made. Why? Because reflecting and revising are major parts of the learning process!
As we increasingly learn to be more self-regulated in our learning, we hope to see tremendous growth in our learning by the end of the year!
Here are a few student examples, so you can see how we filled out the checklists. As you're browsing, though, keep in mind that this was the first time all of us (Mrs.Allen and students in Room 121) have implemented a checklist like this. If you look at the revised checklists linked above, you'll notice changes that have already been made. Why? Because reflecting and revising are major parts of the learning process!
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| Notice "Mode of Writing: pen." :) It looks like I (Mrs. Allen) need to do a mini-lesson soon to review the modes of writing! |
Polygon Art, Polygon Posters, and Transformation Art
During math stations lately, a couple of choices have revolved around polygons: polygon art, polygon posters, and transformation art.
For the polygon art, students followed this rubrichttp://mathforthemiddle.com/Documents/Polygon%20Art.pdf, to create either an abstract picture or a recognizable picture. While we'll add more, here are some examples of a students who used at least one of the following polygons to create their pictures.
See if you can find the following polygons in each artwork below:
* triangle
*quadrilateral
* pentagon
For the polygon posters, students sectioned off their poster into four categories: polygons, non-polygons, concave polygons, and convex polygons. Then they drew several examples of each and wrote explanations to describe each kind. Check out a few examples below:
For the transformation art, students cut out and designed their own polygon on an index card; then they used their polygon to make various polygon transformations: translations, reflections, and rotations.
For the polygon art, students followed this rubrichttp://mathforthemiddle.com/Documents/Polygon%20Art.pdf, to create either an abstract picture or a recognizable picture. While we'll add more, here are some examples of a students who used at least one of the following polygons to create their pictures.
See if you can find the following polygons in each artwork below:
 |
| Brooke's polygon art |
* triangle
*quadrilateral
* pentagon
* hexagon
* heptagon
* octagon
* nonagon
* decagon
 |
| Alex's polygon art |
 |
| John's polygon art |
For the polygon posters, students sectioned off their poster into four categories: polygons, non-polygons, concave polygons, and convex polygons. Then they drew several examples of each and wrote explanations to describe each kind. Check out a few examples below:
For the transformation art, students cut out and designed their own polygon on an index card; then they used their polygon to make various polygon transformations: translations, reflections, and rotations.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
2011-2012 Rube Goldberg Machines
Back in December, we used what we had learned about simple machines to create our own mini- Rube Goldberg machines in which we made up different steps using simple machines to perform a simple task. After brainstorming task ideas and deciding on which one we would attempt, each of us met with our creative team to design our machine.
When we finished drafting our machine design and writing out all the steps we expected our machine to go through (in our science notebooks), we began assembling our machines. Along the way, we recorded changes we had to make and reflected on our progress through focused free-writes. Finally, after we presented our machines to the class, we blogged about our experience.
For each of the videos below, you will find links to our blog entries where we blogged about our experiences. If you watch all the videos (which we hope you do), you will notice some of our machines did not successfully accomplish the tasks we intended. We learned that this doesn't mean we failed with our machines; instead, this just means it would have taken more time than we had during class to revise and test out the machine until we got it to work.
When we finished drafting our machine design and writing out all the steps we expected our machine to go through (in our science notebooks), we began assembling our machines. Along the way, we recorded changes we had to make and reflected on our progress through focused free-writes. Finally, after we presented our machines to the class, we blogged about our experience.
For each of the videos below, you will find links to our blog entries where we blogged about our experiences. If you watch all the videos (which we hope you do), you will notice some of our machines did not successfully accomplish the tasks we intended. We learned that this doesn't mean we failed with our machines; instead, this just means it would have taken more time than we had during class to revise and test out the machine until we got it to work.
Machine #1
Task: Pour Cereal into a Bowl
by Jacob, Madison, and Sarah
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Machine #2
Task: Pop a Balloon
by Brock, Brooke, and Jaclyn
Jaclyn's blog: http://kidblog.org/PVRoom121/jaclyn37/pop-a-balloon/
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Machine #3
Task: Take a Tissue out of Its Box
by Emily, Jared, and Landon
Emily's blog: http://kidblog.org/PVRoom121/emily1387/machine-reflection-in-science-to-get-a-tissue-out-of-a-tissue-box/
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Machine #4
Task: Staple Paper
by Caleb, Emma, and Myka
Friday, January 6, 2012
Strong Verb Vokis
Lately, we've been learning how strong verbs can greatly enhance our writing, and we've put our learning into practice by creating "Strong Verb" Vokis. As you listen to each Voki below, see if you can identify all the strong verbs we've incorporated.
Bob by Jared
Bob's Brother by Jared
The Gingerbread Man by Madison
Grace by Brock
Dog by Mackenzie
Frosty by Brooke
Mojoe by Wesley
The Queen by Lydia
Serena the Strong Verb Cat by Jaclyn
Jacob's Voki
Alice by Alex
Jill by Kamren
The Party Girl by Emily
The Strong Verb Policeman by Haley
Dance Robot by Sarah
Chuckles by Landon
The Cat by Raven
Bob S. by John
Drake by Shana
Myka the Skeleton by Myka
On the last two Vokis, see if you can discover which one is the "Strong Verb" Voki!
Bob by Jared
Bob's Brother by Jared
The Gingerbread Man by Madison
Grace by Brock
Dog by Mackenzie
Frosty by Brooke
Mojoe by Wesley
The Queen by Lydia
Serena the Strong Verb Cat by Jaclyn
Jacob's Voki
Alice by Alex
Jill by Kamren
The Party Girl by Emily
The Strong Verb Policeman by Haley
Dance Robot by Sarah
Chuckles by Landon
The Cat by Raven
Bob S. by John
Drake by Shana
Myka the Skeleton by Myka
On the last two Vokis, see if you can discover which one is the "Strong Verb" Voki!
"Santa" Independent Clauses and Verb Tree
To learn about independent clauses, which are complete sentences that include both a subject and predicate, each of us created a "Santa" independent clause. First we wrote simple sentences on the hat; then we underlined the simple predicate (the verb), and we circled the simple subject (the noun). Later, we used our "Santa" independent clauses to decorate both sides of the door around our verb trees we made earlier in December.
