NEEDED: Digital Pictures

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The end of the year is fast approaching and we are doing some things to close up grade five in memorable fashion. We are asking you help your child gather at least one photo from EACH year of his/her life. We are putting together little speeches and tributes to showcase at the end-of-the-year advancement ceremony May 28th from 1:00 p.m. t0 3:00 p.m. (more info to follow or check out our blog).

 

Pictures need to be:

  • 10 to 15 in number
  • At least one from each year of your child’s life (or at least as close as you can get)
  • In digital format (scanned if they are on photo paper or a nice-sized digital copy from a digital device)
  • Titled properly so kids can organize them within their slide show
  • Saved to a portable jump disk (or my preferred term “nerd stick”) or some other readable computer media
  • Brought to school by May 17th
  • Compiled with most efforts (scanning, putting on jump disk, naming, etc.) done by your student

Delicious Web Links

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This is just a reminder that I’ve compiled many links over the years that coordinate with units, concepts and give extra practice in various curricular areas. I set the links in a social bookmarking place called Delicious (found at https://delicious.com/monsonclassroom). It’s a great place to go if your child needs extra practice or if they need that certain educational resource without searching the enormous Internet. There isn’t everything here so if you have a link to recommend please let me know and I will review it, tag it and add it to our list. I go through most sites each year but if you find something that isn’t active or working correctly please let me know. You can either find the link HERE or press on the 5D Web Links menu item on the front page of our blog.

More on social bookmarking can be found by watching this short, informative (and fun) video by Commoncraft: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/social-bookmarking

A Class Divided

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Over the past weeks we’ve been studying oppression and resistance, social justice and other social issues through read aloud books, daily reading and other activities. We watched a powerful video showing an experiment in prejudice called “A Class Divided” which showcased a teacher who separated her class using eye color as means to show her students what happens with segregation, oppression, etc. Below is a link that provides some background information about the documentary. You can even watch it online.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

Ecosystem Video Links

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Below are some of the materials we are studying within our ecosystem unit in video form. Enjoy!

Basics of Ecology (12 short videos)

Ecosystems (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Food Chains (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Energy Pyramid (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Air Pollution (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Water Pollution (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Humans and the Environment (Brainpop-User Name: aisj Password: eagles)

Lapalala 2013

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Our trip is fast approaching and we ask that all kids are preparing themselves for the fun four days away from home while bonding with nature and classmates. A new equipment list will be sent for those that need one and we will go through any last-minute concerns with kids before we leave next week. Our trip is from January 22nd through January 25th. We ask that all kids be at school no later than 6:30 a.m. so we can check them in and get things sorted. We will be back to school January 25th before busses dismiss at the end of the day. For more information about the Lapalala Wilderness Area please go to: http://www.lapalala.com.

Explorer Project

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Our explorer project is under way! Each of the kids chose an explorer that explored parts of North America (each classroom is studying different parts of the world). We are excited to learn from each other and present our findings. This project will take up the majority of reading and writing over the next two weeks. Kids are expected to create a timeline of the explorer’s travels as well as a presentation using Glogster or Prezi. They will also be able to creatively present their projects to classmates. Below are the two resources to use while working on the projects. They include the packet to do rough draft research work and the rubric I will use for assessment. Kids can use these to make their projects shine!

Explorer Project Packet

Explorer Project Rubric

Spirit Week Dress-Up Days

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The week of November 26-30 the AISJ Elementary School Student Council is holding “Spirit Week Dress-Up Days”. Below are listed the specific days.House points are also awarded to anyone that makes an attempt to dress up on any or all of the days. It should be fun!

Monday: Twin Day – Come to school dressed up with a friend as a twin and join the fun!

Tuesday: “Pajama Day” – Come to school dressed up in your pajamas!

Wednesday: “Opposites Day” – Come to school dressed with your shirts inside out or wearing different socks! 

Thursday: “Book Character Day” – Come to school dressed as your favorite book character!

Friday: “AISJ Spirit Day” – Come to school dressed in a white shirt (for an areal photo) or a white AISJ T-shirt! Bring your house T-shirt too!

Conferences, Science Fair & Competitive Swimming Tryouts

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Conferences:

This Friday, November 9th, the AISJ Elementary School conferences are being held.. I REALLY would like your child in attendance during the conference so please plan accordingly. The conference time is short (only 20 minutes) but they are always a nice connection. If you have any questions about the report card you will receive this week please bring them and we can discuss. Otherwise we are going to celebrate the growth of each and every child that is in this room! What a bunch of learners (and characters) we have in room 5D! They are a fantastic community to spend my days with!

Science Fair:

As you probably know grade five has a VERY INFORMAL science fair planned for tomorrow (November 6th). This is not being judged and kids will get a chance to see other work from students in other classrooms. We invite all of you to attend a very short and informal celebration from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to look at the scientific process we were all learning. Science projects will be displayed around each room for viewing.

*Kids know that projects will also be accepted late due to more time being needed for their experiment or due to October break.

Competitive Swimming Tryouts (correction):

A perrmission slip went home with students that are interested in the competitive AISJ swim team.   Tryouts for this team will take place TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6th after school. The permission slip that went out from the Activities Office said November 6th (right date) but it also said Thursday (WRONG day). Students will need permission to go as they leave to go to Fourways HS to use their pool.  Permission must be returned by tomorrow (November 6th).

Destiny Quest

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Our students just starting using a great resource called Destiny Quest to stay in touch with fellow readers and books at AISJ and beyond. It is also a wonderful resource to practice digital citizenship, which is a major ISTE standard for students and a life-long skill that will become increasingly necessary in our digital world. AISJ’s Destiny Quest can be found by clicking HERE or by going to our menu bar above. Ask your student to show you what they’ve done on the site so far.