5th grade is a milestone year.  It’s a school year that will be one of your most memorable because of so many “firsts”….first locker, first time changing classes, Beta Club, Honor Roll recognition, band…but it’s also a challenging year.  A lot more will be expected of you this year because you’re ready for it.  It’s normal to be overwhelmed with all the new responsibilities that come with being in the upper grades.

With that in mind, I’d like to share with you….

Mrs. Ewing’s 10 Habits of Highly Effective 5th Graders

(Hopefully, I won’t get sued for that title…lol)

1.  Know your multiplication facts by memory. (I know, I know, I’m not the Math teacher…but I did teach Math for a looong time…so I know what I’m talking about on this one.)  This means no counting.  If you don’t have them committed to memory, memorize them immediately.  You will be at a disadvantage if you have to stop and count whenever you need to know what 7 x 8 is during the middle of a math problem.  If you have to count (AT ALL), you don’t have them memorized.

2.  Keep an open mind. Maybe Science wasn’t your favorite subject last year, or Math wasn’t your “thing”.  You never know…things may be different this year!

3.  Be patient. 5th grade is challenging…in a lot of ways.  Not only will you be learning new information, but you will have the added responsibility of having a locker, 4 new teachers, and all the other changes 5th grade will bring.

4.  Be organized.  You no longer have your belongings stored in your classroom.  That means that you will have to remember to bring in all your materials.  You can do it!  You are, after all, one of the “big kids” now!

5.  Give your very best! I have spent many hours this summer planning ahead what we are going to do this year…I spent two weeks just getting extra Science training, read 3 books about teaching Science, and have worked in our classroom for two weeks!  I take teaching very seriously:  I stay late and even take work home because I want you to have the very best teacher you can have.  I expect you give your very best also!  Don’t do anything halfway!

6.  Forget about the past! Okay, don’t forget about all you’ve learned…that wouldn’t be very good, but one of the great things about the start of a new school year is getting a fresh start!  You have a clean slate!  Maybe you  were the kid who didn’t always do homework last year…or you didn’t control your behavior like you should have.  Maybe you did just fine last year, but know you could have done even better.  This can be your year to shine!  It’s completely up to you!

7.  Use your binder! I know that seems like a “no-brainer”, but you would not believe how many kids don’t put their papers in their binders.  Then, when Mrs. Ewing says, “Take out the worksheet we did last week.” or “Take out your Language homework, please.” these same kids can’t find it, or left it in their lockers…oops!  Your binder is your best friend in 5th grade…be kind to it!

8.  Use your time wisely! Kids who use their time wisely at school have less homework to do when they get home.  This includes managing your time outside of school, too.  My kids had very full schedules when they were 5th graders (several different sports, church, etc.).  Sometimes they had to do homework on the way to practice, or right when they came in from school because they knew they had an activity that night.  Don’t waste a single minute…

9.  Be faithful about using your assignment sheet. Writing down your assignments each day is a habit that will help you all the way through college!  If you ever got home and then couldn’t remember what page the homework was on, then you already know what I’m talking about!

10.  Be yourself!!!! I can’t wait to spend this year with you, and get to know all of you better.  I am a better teacher when I let my personality shine through, and you will be able to learn better if you can relax and be yourself, also.  This happens best when everyone follows the classroom rules for behavior.  Get ready for a great year….school will start before you know it!!!

Be sure to check out advice from former 5th graders on our page Dear Next Year’s Class.

Click here for Homeroom List

The geeky part of me is rejoicing!

I love this time of year!  Getting ready for a new group of kids….setting up my classroom….the extra sections in Wal-Mart devoted to school supplies!  (There’s just something cool about school supplies!)  I know, I’m supposed to dread it, but I can’t help it!

New 5th graders (and parents), what’s in store for you?

First of all, we will be having a Parent Meeting before school starts on Thursday, August 6, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.  You’ll be meeting with 5th grade teachers for the first portion and then will go to the auditorium for last portion.

Secondly, you may get a copy of the 5th Grade Supply List here.    The past 3 years, Wal-Mart has put out an old list which caused parents to purchase unnecessary items at Wal-Mart.  Make sure the list you use has 2009-2010 at the top!

One item that all of you will need for 5th grade Science is a hardback composition book.  We use these for our scientist’s notebooks.  They run about $.50 at Wal-Mart.  Office Depot usually puts them on sale for $.25 around this time of year, also.  We use these nearly every day in class.  It doesn’t matter what the cover looks like, and the $.50 ones at Wal-Mart have several designs.

Our first day of school is only a half day, and buses will be running.  We’ll dismiss at 11:30 a.m.

Remember, this year you will be changing classes among all four 5th grade teachers.   You will have your homeroom teacher for English.  Mrs. Moncier teaches Reading, Mrs. Martin teaches Math, Mrs. Hartness teaches Social Studies, and I teach all the Science! Don’t despair if you don’t get the teacher you wanted for homeroom, you’ll have all four teachers this year!

This year, you’ll be placed in groups when you change classes.  You’ll have English with your homeroom teacher, and will have all your other classes with your group (Blue, Green, Red, or Yellow).

Well, we made it!  Here are some pictures of the last days from 5th grade!  I’m really going to miss you guys!

Addison:  The first student to make it through the end of the Multiplication Facts Club Program!

Tabby:  Celebrating her win in our NCAA Bracket Challenge!

Last Day of School

Biltmore Trip

Science Fair

It’s that time of the year again!  You know the time I’m talking about: when Mrs. Ewing clearly loses her last shred of sanity! 

Science Fair! 

I’m concerned/excited because this is the first year that I have taught all the Science classes for 5th grade!  (No pressure.)  I feel very blessed to have the laptops this year!  That has helped so much!!!! 

We are also attempting to incorporate Web 2.0 technologies into our Science Fair again.  Check out our Science Fair wiki to see how it’s going. 

We’ve got lots of great projects in the works:

• The effects of texting while driving
• Are energy drinks bad for you?
• Do less expensive brands of performance gear work as well as Under Armour?

Lots more (35 more, to be exact.  Again, I say, no pressure.)  Those were just a couple that came to mind!

At this point we’re finishing up research and formulating our hypotheses. 

More later!!!

Delaney…..and everyone else….read the note to Blake just below to view the Mount St. Helens video.

People who have been absent click here.

Blake, go to the absent link just above, and the video you want is #25.  Use the Brainpop password to log in.

Spring Break is here!  We definitely need it!  Now, I know you all will be relaxing the first few days, but if boredom should set in……why not spend some time on our TCAP review site?  Click on the TCAP Review link and you’ll have long list of online activities to help you get ready for TCAP.  I have websites for nearly every TCAP objective, and the majority of these are fun, interactive sites that hardly feel like learning at all!  Revisit some of our old favorites like Alien Juice Bar and EdHeads.  Explore some of the ones we haven’t been to this year like EdHeads Weather and the optics activities from iknowthat.com! The Language and Math sections are loaded, too.

Tournament Update: 

Statistics and the NCAA Bracket

March Madness Math

After the Elite Eight:

1. Tabby

2. Mrs. Moncier

3. Noah

4. Gabe

5. Mrs. Ewing

6. Kolby

7. Zack R.

8. Jack

9. Evan

Questions this week:

• How long does it take a spacecraft to travel to Pluto?  NASA launched the New Horizons Spacecraft in January, 2006 and is expected to reach Pluto in 2015….so 9 and 1/2 years!  Learn more here.
• What happened to Passenger Pigeons?  This one’s a long one, so here’s a link and here’s another link.  Did you know Pigeon Forge and the Little Pigeon River get their names because of the abundance of Passenger Pigeons? Don’t confuse them with the Carrier Pigeon or Homing Pigeon which is a domestic pigeon that was trained to carry messages in WWII.
• How often are solar and lunar eclipses? Depending on where you live on the planet, the maximum solar eclipses per year is 4 and lunar is 3. Read these FAQ here.

Want to “one up” Mrs. Ewing?  Research some of these questions on your own and educate our class!

More later this week!  Enjoy your break!

Love,

Mrs. Ewing

It could be the title for a great book, but that’s exactly how this school year has become!  This is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting to our blog, and I apologize.  I do most of my updating at home, and I’ve had quite a few Internet troubles at home this year!  Anyway….let’s get updated!

We’ve finally finished the Writing Assessment!  Yay!!!!  However, this doesn’t mean we won’t continue writing.  We’ll be working more with our blogs and doing some digital storytelling!  Learning how to write effectively is our ultimate goal!

Also, our student teacher, Miss Greer, is gradually taking over the reins.  She is currently teaching Green, Red, and Yellow Science classes and will be taking over English this week!   Poor thing!  What a hectic time to be in 5th grade!

Friday, we’ll be having our Valentine’s/Chinese New Year combo party!  Normally, these are two separate events, but our snow break has changed that this year!  Your child should have a note about this party today.

Speaking of no school, we will be out this Monday for President’s Day!

Hopefully, I’ll be more diligent with our class updates.

Oh!  You thought I was talking to the students….I could be talking to myself.  Usually, by this time, I’ve written several posts on our class website.  As you can see…I’m a little behind schedule!  Hopefully, I’m getting back into the swing of things! 

These first few weeks can be best described as a whirlwind.  Poor little 5th graders!     They are beginning to adjust to the responsibility of remembering supplies, new schedules, and the demands of 4 different teachers.  That’s a pretty tall order!

So…what in the world is going on in 5th grade these days?  I’d love to tell you!

• You need to know:  This week was midterm!  Each teacher sent home a midterm report this Friday that details class average so far.  If your grade isn’t what you would like, there’s still time to bring it up.  Be on the alert for extra credit opportunities.

• Friday, we had a special speaker, Bridget Baird, who gave our classes a great presentation about the Constitution. 

• In Science, we’ve been learning about properties of matter, particle arrangement of solids, liquids, and gases, and what determines density.

• Our English class is still reviewing punctuation, and this week we are particularly focusing on direct quotations.  Split quotations are giving us a fit!!!!  Here’s a BrainPop to help you.  As fate would have it, National Punctuation Day is on September 24th!  What better way to celebrate it than properly punctuating direct quotations?  Here’s a site that has rules and examples.

• Our DARE program gets underway this week.  Officer Joey Maddox will be teaching the DARE program on Thursdays for the next 10 weeks.

Here is my experiment trying to make a digital scrapbook for our class.  Again,  I sound very, very, very, Southern.  Folks up north might need an interpreter.  lol….Enjoy!

But….that’s not all!  With VoiceThread, you can add your own comments to the scrapbook.  All you need is a microphone on your computer.  When it gets to a picture that brings back a memory, you can record an audio comment that people can click on to listen to your memory of that photo.  How cool is that!!!  Anyway, to leave a comment, you have to sign up with VoiceThread.  It’s free.  You just need an e-mail address.  Remember, if you use Gaggle, the e-mail they send you will be blocked.  Send me an e-mail if you do this, and I will set it up for you.  It even lets you use an image for your comments!  I think it would be awesome if the whole class could add their own comments to our scrapbook.  That would make it so much more special!

Well, enjoy your summer!  Don’t worry about me here, slaving away in Summer School.  I’ll manage!

Love,

Mrs. Ewing

5th grade is nearly over!  This school year felt incredibly quick to me.  Well, okay, those two weeks before TCAPs were kind of slow, but the rest flew by in a busy blur!  You’ll soon be on to 6th grade, and Mrs. Ewing will only be a distant memory.  Don’t worry about 6th grade.  I am very confident that you’ll be completely successful.  I will be here if you need me.  Just remember to be organized and disciplined.

You all have been a wonderful class, and I will never forget you.  You have been a pioneer class! 

• My first blogging class
• My first class to use a wiki
• My first class to incorporate technology into Science Fair projects
• My first class to have Webkinz!
• My first class to do a video news feature!  (That was pretty cool, wasn’t it?)

You all paved the way!  Be proud!  I sure am!  We have two more days left, and remember that I have resolved that I WILL NOT CRY THIS YEAR!!!!  No! No! No!  I’m going to be a brave soldier!!!!

Read the rest of this entry »