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

TCAP is looming overhead!  It’s crunch time, and we’ve got to really push ourselves.  I think “March Madness” should refer to the time of the school year before TCAPs, not college basketball tournament time.  It can get pretty crazy!  As we finish covering the necessary material, it’s a good idea to review the topics we learned earlier this year.  Check out our  TCAP Review page to refresh your memory!

It’s Official: Blogging’s Good for You 

The folks at ABC Science Online report that a study conducted at Swinburne University of Technology showed that people who blog feel less isolated and were more content in both face-to-face and online friendships!  Check out the report on Discovery Channel’s Discovery News site.

Keep writing!

Miss Geiger’s class is beginning their blog project, and we should be able to comment their blogs soon.  They’re reading Among the Hidden ( you remember how much we loved that book).  We’ll have to be careful not to give anything away. 

Meanwhile, keep commenting other students’ blogs. 

Alex received a return comment from one of the Trinity students last week.  I am looking for some other good class blogs for us to comment.  Let me know if you come across one.

For those of you who are blogging in Tier II, I’m looking forward to reading your research entries this week.  We’ll also be learning about tagging our entries, making hyperlinks, and proofreading what we’ve written.

Here’s a video that shows how blogging benefits your learning!

<a href=”http://www.teachertube.com/flvideo/838.flv” title=”Anarchy Media Player – Right click to download file”><em>Download Video:  </em></a><b> Posted by  <A href=”http://www.teachertube.com/uprofile.php?UID=669″><font color=#3399FF SIZE=2>rachelboyd</FONT></A></b> at <b><a href=”http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=be6ec9b852b0a542e2f3″>TeacherTube.com</a>.</b>

The best student quote I’ve heard this week:

Teacher: Why is it important to know how to use irregular verbs?

Eric: So we won’t talk irregular.

I love it! 

Ahh…..do you hear that sound?  It’s the sound of 19 kids and 1 teacher sighing in relief!  The Writing Assessment has passed!  While the assessment may be over, writing is not.  We are getting ready to take our blogs to the next level and spend some quality time expressing ideas and thoughts.

One exciting development with our blogs is the addition of some of Mrs. Hartness’s homeroom.  They’ve been writing up a storm!!!  Thanks, Mrs. Ewing’s homeroom, for being such willing mentors to the new bloggers. 

As if that weren’t enough, Miss Geiger’s 5th grade across town has taken up blogging!  We’re going to be doing some writing together.  That’s just cool!!!!  More on that later…

How did the Writing Assessment go?  Pretty well…afterwards we shared our ideas for developing the prompt.  This year, 5th graders had to write a story about something a friend had found.  Some of the ideas we had for what the friend found were:

• a snow machine

• Confederate money

• a slave tag

• $100,000

• a time machine

They all sound like the beginnings to some great stories!

Today was our DARE graduation!  Congratulations to all our graduates. 

The next two months will be the most challenging of this year.  TCAP is coming, and I’ll be pushing you hard so that you’ll be prepared.  Because of this, you need to:

• be disciplined

• keep focused

• stay relaxed

• take care of yourself

You’ll be great!!!!   See you in class!

Love,

Mrs. Ewing