What We're Learning this Week! (November 17-21, 2014)

Standards of focus: Math: 5.NBT.7; Science 5-PS1-3

Last Week's MobyMax Math High Scorers!: Conner Clem (135) and Scott Coffey (15)

Monday was off to a rocky, or should I say snowy start as we had our first weather delay of the school year so far. This put us a little behind, but we still got quite a bit accomplished today!

In Math, we began our last standard of the Numbers & Operations in Base-10 unit by taking our pre-test over standard 5.NBT.7. This standard is partially a review (adding and subtracting decimals) and partially new or newer information (multiplying and dividing decimals). We were pretty good at the adding and subtracting part, but we forgot our decimal rule when multiplying and the division problems really threw us for a loop! Nevertheless, we are cruising right along and will continue practicing and refreshing these skills as the days pass. 

After missing Tuesday due to a snow day, we were right back at it on Wednesday. We practiced adding and subtracting decimals by playing board games in small groups of 3-4 students. 

In Social Studies, we had to become detectives to solve crimes! After reading about crimes and the clues that were left behind, we had to figure out which colonial region the suspect came from. 

In Math on Thursday, we began taking notes on multiplying decimals in our Interactive Notebooks. We discussed how multiplying decimals isn't any different from multiplying whole numbers except for the last step of inserting the decimal back into the product. 

In Social Studies we began working on colony brochures. We were allowed to pick any of the the 13 original colonies and from here, we had to create a travel brochure highlighting its features. 

In Math on Friday we took our usual Weekly Math Quiz over morning work, lived scored them and then analyzed our data. Mrs. Dennis' homeroom won this week!

In Social Studies, we completed our colony travel brochures and Mrs. Elliott hung a few of the realllllllly good ones on the proficiency board outside. 

What We're Learning this Week! (November 10-14, 2014)

Standards of focus: Math: 5.NBT.6; Science 5-PS1-3

Last Week's MobyMax Math High Scorers!: Derek Butcher (112) and Karalyn Swartz (145)

Monday had us presenting our Veterans Day Program for the community (see post below) and we were off on Tuesday to celebrate the holiday.

Wednesday, when we returned, we were right back at it, back in the learning groove. On Wednesday and Thursday we continued reviewing long division, especially the larger and more complicated problems that incorporated 4-digit dividends and 2-digit divisors. 

In Social Studies, we kicked off our chapter 7 studies, which focuses on comparing the original colonies and their regions (New England, Middle, and Southern) by working in groups to complete a colony scavenger hunt. Mrs. Elliott hung posters all around the room of the 13 colonies, which included information such as who they were founded by, their reasons for establishment, the geography of the land, the economy, and so on. We had to complete the recording sheet that asked us various questions about each. 

On Friday, in Math we took our post-assessment for 5.NBT.7 and reviewed both long division and multi-digit multiplication by playing "Turkey Trot". It also got us in the Thanksgiving mood! :)

Happy Veterans Day!

Monday was our annual 5th Grade O.E.S. Veterans Day Program and all of our hard work throughout the past few weeks paid off because it was FANTASTIC! We switched it up a little this year, from past years, but the result and hard work of the entire 5th grade was evident! Check out some of the pictures and videos below of our program if you were unable to make it. 

Our simple, yet beautiful bulletin board in honor of those who have served. The poem "Flander's Field" is so beautiful and a favorite of mine, so we made 3-d flower poppies to help decorate. In fact, every bulletin board in the entire 4-5 grade hallway was decorated in some fashion to honor our Veterans so that on their journey from the front office to the gym and cafeteria, they would know how much the students of OES appreciate and thank them for all of their contributions. 

Here's a link to the tribute video of Veterans that are relatives to students, teachers, and faculty of our school. 

Honoring Our Veterans

We were also fortunate enough to have Jodi Cassidy, daughter of the late Roscoe Cassidy (the oldest living WWII Veteran in the state of Kentucky before passing away recently)

Post by Owingsville Elementary School.

 Jodi Cassidy, Mr. Harvey Tackett, Superintendent, and Mr. Jarrod Slone, Principal

 The Morehead State University's ROTC posted and retired the colors at the beginning and end of our ceremony.


Some of our fabulous 5th graders speaking during their Reader's Theater in honor of our Veterans. 

5th Graders singing "Color Me America"

Honoring all of the military branches during the Armed Forces Medaly. 

After the program, our Veteran guests enjoyed a reception in the cafeteria in their honor!

What We're Learning this Week! (November 3-7, 2014)

Standards of focus: Math: 5.NBT.6; Science 5-PS1-3

Last Week's MobyMax Math High Scorers!: Derek Butcher (107) and Gavin Brown (75)

On Monday we began really focusing and practicing on our Veterans Day Program. We've been practicing our song for week during Arts & Humanities with Mrs. Rice, but we began rehearsing our speaking roles, our introductions, our movements, and really putting it all together into a wonderful program. 

Because of our focused practicing, we didn't get a lot of actual class time on Monday. In Math, we focused on reviewing and practicing dividing by 1-digit divisors and going back to correct any mistakes we were making before we move on. We're still using Mrs. Elliott's "Cheat Code" as the process to solve division problems and making sure that we double check all of our answers using division's inverse operation: multiplication. 

In Social Studies, we watched most of "Pocahontas" as it tied directly into our studies of early American settlements, specifically Jamestown, one of the three settlements (Roanoke, Jamestown & Plymouth) we've focused on. We discussed the motives of the English, as well as their thoughts, ideals, and treatment of the Native peoples. We've also been jamming to this song lately: 

What We're Learning this Week! (October 27-31, 2014)

Standards of focus: Math: 5.NBT.5; Science 5-PS1-3

Last Week's MobyMax Math High Scorers!: Joe Mullins and Karalyne Swartz

This week is Red Ribbon Week! To celebrate being drug-free, our schedule of activities is as follows:

Monday: "Drugs Can't Find Me!' (Camo Day)

Tuesday: "Love and Peace, be Drug Free!" (Tie-dyed Day)

Wednesday: "I'm a True Blue Jean-ius, I'm Drug-Free!" (Blue shirt and blue jeans Day)

Thursday: "Red-y to Live Drug-Free and Make a Difference!" (Red out Day; wear as much red as you can)

Friday: "Scare Drugs Away!" (Costume Day; no masks or anything that resembles a weapon)

In Math on Monday, we continued our focus of multi-digit multiplication by reviewing 2x2-digit and 2x3-digit multiplication and taking notes over 3x3-digit and larger multiplication. We discussed how once you got the pattern of the order in which to multiply (we talked about how it's like a windshield wiper...up to the right and sweep to the left!) the only other hard part is to remember those zero place holders. But, as a reminder, we started calling our zero the "hero" because without him, we will always get our answers wrong, even if we multiply and add correctly! 

In Science, we are still pluggin' away at physical properties of matter. Today we viewed a Mixtures & Solutions PowerPoint and completed our guided notes that go along with it. We discussed how solutions are really just special types of mixtures, where one of the substances dissolves into the other. 

In Social Studies, we've been working on a CSI Investigation in History...the Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. We began this project on Thursday and worked with it on Friday as well. In our groups, we worked through our CSI case file and read background information on the colony of Roanoke, as well as read about many theories as to what happened to the colonists there. Today, we wrapped up our investigation and watched a really neat documentary from the History Channel that talked about many of the same pieces of evidence that we discussed. For homework, we had to write a case conclusion, discussing what WE thought really happened, using evidence and backing up our theories. 

You can view the documentary in its entirety, titled America Unearthed: Mystery of Roanoke, by clicking the link. 

On Tuesday in Math, we practiced our multi-digit multiplication one last time before taking our post-test over this standard by completing some Spider and Halloween themed task cards. 

In Science, we completed a handout over mixtures, as we continue our focus of physical changes in matter. 

In Social Studies, we began our chapter 6 guided notes, which had us looking at and focusing on three early American colonies: Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. We completed sensory figures for these colonies where, using a word bank, we summarized what we read about each colony using sentence stems and our senses. 

Wednesday was a short day for us! We began the day with a "Trix Sticks" that got us fired up about being drug-free! 

Then, in Math we completed our 5.NBT.5 post-test that we did really well on! We are now ready to begin 5.NBT.6, DIVISION!

In Science, we completed a handout over solutions, tying in the notes we completed on Monday. 

In Social Studies, we completed our sensory figures by summarizing and using our senses pretending we were a Plymouth colonist.  

On an unrelated note, Mrs. Elliott finished our class fingerprint plate today for the Fall Festival auction. It turned out really well!

This is SO fitting because every time we take a walk with The Walking Classroom, Mrs. Elliott compares us to marching ants! :) 

On Thursday in Math, we took our pre-test for 5.NBT.6, which focuses on long division. We also took notes over the steps and started small by focusing on dividing numbers with 1-digit divisors, which was a review from 4th grade. 

In Science, we completed a test prep lesson over mixtures and solutions, requiring us to read a passage and complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two.

In Social Studies, we did another dice simulation, which we LOVE doing! Everyone's turns out differently and your "life" is in the chance of the die role. This time, since we are talking about early English settlements, our dice simulation was focused around Pilgrims. We had 5 places to go, beginning in England, as that's where the Pilgrims originated from in search of religious freedom:

We LOVE these dice simulations and really get into them!

Each area has a table that goes with it that tells what the role of the dice means and indicates where to go next. A lot of use "made it" and were successful in creating a functioning, thriving colony. However, many of us died due to various reasons. After "making it", passing away, or 20 dice rolls, we then created Pilgrim Journal entries that elaborated on our journeys. Using our recording sheet of roles, we matched our journals up with what happened during the simulation, explaining how we made it during the harsh winters, our sail over on the Mayflower, or even how we passed away. 

On Friday, we celebrated Halloween and Fall by having our annual Fall Party. We made slime, watched "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", an oldie-but-goody favorite of Mrs. Elliott's and may or may not have watched "The Giver", which Mrs. Dennis had read aloud to us earlier in the year. 

What We're Learning this Week! (October 20-24, 2014)

Standards of focus: Math: 5.NBT.4 and 5.NBT.5; Science 5-PS1-2 and 5-PS1-3

Last Week's MobyMax Math High Scorers!: Reagan Purvis and Emma Jackson

In Math on Monday, we wrapped up our study of 5.NBT.4 by taking our post-test. For this standard, the most people so far passed the pre-test with an 80% or better, qualifying them as an "expert" or person to ask for help, as 14 of us in total were green! Mrs. Elliott was also extremely pleased with our overall class results on the post-test, as well. The "experts" can choose to retake the post-test for a better grade, or opt out and work on other projects or activities during post-test time, most of the time being MobyMax Math to get tickets for our monthly drawing and bonus points, working on Challenge Packets, or studying for Academic Team. The rest of us put to use what we've practiced and do our best to increase our scores. Take a look at our pre-test to post-test increases!

Mrs. Elliott's homeroom Pre-Test scores (12 red, 3 yellow, & 7 green; 2 of us were absent)

Mrs. Dennis' homeroom Pre-Test scores (13 red, 3 yellow, & 7 green; 1 person was absent)

Both homeroom's Post-Test scores with Elliott's on the left and Dennis' on the right!

Mrs. Elliott's homeroom went to 3 red, 7 yellow, and 13 green, a proficiency of 87%. Three students who were in the yellow or red were absent and hadn't taken the Post-Test yet, so we're hoping they're scores increase and that 87% goes even higher!

Mrs. Dennis' homeroom went to 4 red, 2 yellow, and 18 green, a proficiency of 83%. Two students who were in the yellow or red were absent and hadn't taken the Post-Test yet, so we're hoping they're scores increase as well!

In Science on Monday, we wrapped up standard 5-PS1-2 by completing an Extended Response question in our Interactive Science Notebooks. This was a good practice for us, to make sure that we are explaining our thoughts and putting concepts into our own words.

In Social Studies, we continued working on our European Explorer timelines, they're looking great and Mrs. Elliott can't wait to share the final products. 

On Tuesday in Math, we took our 5.NBT.5 Pre-Test and began discussing how to correctly use the traditional algorithm (the old-school way) to multiply multi-digit numbers. We practiced by starting small; multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit numbers. 

In Science, we introduced our new standard, 5-PS1-3 and discussed our I Can... Statement. Then, we took guided notes over a Properties of Matter PowerPoint, discussing the various physical properties of matter, such as mass, volume, magnetism, relative density, color, conductivity to thermal (heat) energy, and conductivity to electrical energy, as well as a few others. We are ready to observe and categorize objects based upon these properties!

In Social Studies, we complete our European Explorers timeline projects. They look AMAZING and Mrs. Elliott plans to hang a few on the proficiency board Wednesday. She'll post pictures of some final products then as well!

In Math on Wednesday, we practiced our 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication by completing a WIzard of Oz theme activity. So far, we're doing really well following the steps to multiply to get the correct answer. Only a few of us are forgetting our zero place holders.

In Science, we practiced measuring and observing the physical properties of two items: a penny and a plastic hand-lens. We measured or observed mass, magnetism, relative density, conductivity to electrical energy, and solubility in water.



In Social Studies, we took our chapter 5 test and are ready to begin chapter 6 on Thursday.

We also had a guest speaker in preparation for next week's Red Ribbon Week. Jenna Huff, a graduate student from Morehead State University came to talk to us and about the effcts of drugs on the brain, specifically Meth and alcohol. It was a great presentation and we all learned SO much about how these drugs effect the brain and leave everlasting effects.



On Thursday in Math, we took notes and discussed multiplying 3-digit by 2-digit numbers. We discovered that it's really no different that 2-digit by 2-digit, it's just a third number to multiply by. 

In Science, we continued our investigation of physical properties by identifying 5 physical properties of aluminum foil. We observed and measured the same properties as from Wednesday: mass, relative density, solubility in water, conductivity to electrical energy, and magnetism. 

In Social Studies, we began a project that had us working as part of a CSI crew to discover a "mystery in history", what happened at the Lost Colony of Roanoke? After Mrs. Elliott gave us some background information about the colony, working with our groups, we began reading various scenarios and discussing their plausibility. The first scenario we discussed was the possibility of the settlers packing up and moving to Croatoan Island. We looked at physical evidence that was found on the island and talked about the various ways those artifacts could have gotten to the island. The second scenario we began reading about was the possibility of the colonist coming under Spanish attack, seeing as how England and Spain were at war with one another during this time.