Solar System Guest Blog

          My teaching partner, Suzanne, is the Science and Math teacher of our 5th grade team.  In order to meet the 5th grade Science standards she had the students do this project.
         Our 5th grade students have completed their unit of study on the Solar System.  Each student was instructed to make a brochure of one aspect of the Solar System. In addition to the brochure a model was to be constructed.  This is just a sampling of projects  and brochures from our 91 students. These were the projects that I had a good angle to take a picture. 
    

5th  Grade Solar System Projects and Brochures

These are the directions for the brochure and model along with a grading rubric.
   

Please leave a short comment. Our students are very proud of their work.

Enjoy the next few weeks until the end of the school year.

Furry friends

          My son & daughter-in-law and daughter & son-in-law  have pet dogs.  

They make me smile :)

This is Lizzy, the queen bee.

Here is Gizmo, Lizzy's pal.

 Barkley is the baby of the three.

Do you have any furry friends?

Explorer Diary or Journal

           

        Journal writing is a great way to integrate Language Arts and Social Studies.  
 The "Dear America" book series is a perfect jumping off place.  I have acquired a small collection of these books in my class library.  While teaching about explorers,  I have my students write journals or diaries that these men might have kept.

A brown paper bag can be crumbled and smoothed to look like a leather cover.

Beautiful cursive handwriting is always a must in an old diary.

       We do research on different explorers.  The students find information concerning location, climate, dates of exploration, and what was seen or discovered by each explorer.  Then the kids begin to write their diary or journal entry in 1st person. 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

   

        How do you use journals in our classroom?

Please leave a comment and let me hear your thoughts.

Study Stack

Study Stacks

      I like to use Study Stacks with my students. As you can see, we are learning about the tension between the Colonies and Great Britain. For each unit I have put together a Study Stack.  The students get the basic information. I always tell them not to memorize the information, but instead they need a working knowledge of the information presented in the chapter or unit. 
    Here is an example of part of the Study Stack for the Chapter.

What study strategy do you use to get those reluctant learners to review and study?
     All the information in the Study Stack can be used in the different forms of games and self-evaluations listed  above.  This has been a valuable study strategy for my 5th graders for many years.  The students who like to play games on their computer will use the Study Stacks because it is a game format.  They don't realize that they are learning the material or how much time they are spending reviewing.
       
   studystack.com   has thousands of stacks made by teachers at all levels of education.
You can make one of your own or use a stack that someone else has made.


       I have linked this blog post to the  
Wordless Wednesday! A Weekly Linky Party.

Please leave a comment if you have used Study Stacks in your classroom or plan to give it a try.
I enjoy reading your comments.

Royal Governor & King of England

 Royal Governor of Virginia 

& the King of England

                Learning about Williamsburg is one of my favorite times in 5th grade Social Studies.

I like to have my students dress up to enhance the lesson and getting the point across.  The kids get into my costumes.  I picked these up from Target.com.

                Here are two of my awesome students who acted out their parts, the Royal Governor of Virginia who was appointed by the King of England. this week. 

What lessons do you have students dress in costumes to teach a certain concept?

This is linked to "Wordless Wednesday" on secondgradesugarandspice.blogspot.com

This is linked to teachingblogaddict.com

Please leave a comment.  I really enjoy your thoughts and any suggestions on my activities.

Colonial Trades

Colonial Trades       

     My 5th graders learned about colonial trades in a unit leading up to the Revolution. We used the Colonial Williamsburg website   www.history.org  to research information on various trades in the 1700's.  This is a great interactive website for children of all ages.  
        I linked this website to my Social Studies edline page. The students were instructed to go to the " Trades " section of the site. ( see below)  They needed to pick a trade and find information on what the person might do, tools needed, materials needed, and items made in their shop. My students could choose from a blacksmith, carpenter, cooper, milliner, wig maker, basket maker, or printer just to name a few.  They discussed their trade with their classmates. I always have my students discuss their ideas with a partner before they begin writing or answering questions.  It helps them solidify their ideas and I get a better finished written product.

      The next step was to draw the trades person in the typical clothing of the 1700's. The kids did a very light drawing over their basic person and then added the details. I blogged about this drawing strategy in "No more stick figures" a month or two ago.







After drawing, the students were to reread the information that had been collected.  Then a paragraph was written to introduce the person and their trade.

   "Good day.   My name is _______ and live in Williamsburg. I am a ____________."  This was the beginning of the paragraph. The students made up names for their trades person.

As you can see my students hit the ground running full speed ahead with this project. I loved all the details added to the illustrations.

I am a milliner.

I am a wig maker,

I am a silversmith.

I am a cabinetmaker.

I am a wig maker.

I am a carpenter and joiner.

I am a blacksmith.

      I must admit, my 5th graders did a awesome job on this project.  I'm sure that they will be excited to see their work in my blog today.
      We will be having a Boston Tea Party in May. My students dress for the day in colonial outfits. By researching and drawing these people, my students will have a very good idea what to wear to the Boston Tea Party.



Please leave me a comment.  I love to read your thoughts and ideas.

My Amarilis

     Wordless Wednesday- My Amarilis
                    One of my wonderful students, Emma, gave me an amarilis in a lovely flower pot. I placed it on my desk and the kids gathered round.  Of course I had to add a ruler so we could measure the flower's progress.

Two of my students have taken on the job of measuring and recording the growth.

   









  

     Finally my amarilis is growing.  I know that the bamboo in the background makes it look like there is more growth. The next picture will hopefully be a better shot of the plant.
     The shoot on the left hand side of the plant is the flower pod.

 The growth in the last three pictures is within 24 hours!  It's Friday.  My 5th graders will be amazed on Monday when they see how much the amarilis has grown.

   Monday morning was a real surprise!

       On Tuesday the kids had a day off, but the teachers had meetings.  So I came into my room and this is how much the amarilis had grown.  I added an additional support and measuring stick. By the afternoon I had to tie the plant for support.

Notice the two blossoms.

  What are some things that you measure in your classroom?

I'll keep you posted on the flower's growth with more pictures.
Please leave a comment.  I love to read what others are doing in their classrooms.

Happy Spring!

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