A Slice of Life Party

Merry Chromebook Day!

Our Chrome books have arrived!  Every student in our middle school have officially received their Chrome books and will be using them in class.  We will have training in class and will be learning how to use these during the school year.

Science Books Donated by Horace Insurance Co.

A big thank you goes out to Horace Mann Insurance Company, in Massachusetts for supporting my "Sciencesaurus" Project with DonorsChoose.org.  I have applied twice for projects and never had any luck getting them fully funded.  This summer I was fortunate to get supporters for two! 

 Here is the stack of books that I received.  They are the best resources for fourth and fifth graders.  They cover every science topic and have great non-fiction text features and information.

One of my students reading up on the water cycle while putting finishing touches on her water cycle poster project.  I plan on using the books for every science unit in fifth grade.  If the curriculum changes, the book covers everything!

Read Aloud- There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Kitchen Chemistry

Gummy Bear Lab

We had a great week!  We are finishing up our study of the scientific methods, the physical properties of matter and states of matter.  This lab was perfect.  I had never done it before and was very surprised at the results!

What's Happening in Science?

The first few weeks we have been very, very busy establishing routines.  Switching to a new school has been an adjustment for the students and the teacher!  We continue to work on having our materials ready, transitioning to a new room and being ready to do our best learning.

All fifth graders should be using their planner to track their HW assignments and bring them to school on their due dates.  The children need a pencil pouch and a homework folder/binder to help with organization.  

During science class, we kicked off the year with lessons about the roles of scientists, thinking like a scientist and the steps of the scientific method.  We are "Going Bananas" testing out many variables to see which way will keep a banana yellow the longest.  Our classroom is going to smell pretty ripe!!!  Here are several of our bananas.  We are still collecting data and will create charts to show our learning.

During our labs we have focused on cooperation and working as a team.  Here are photos of the children completing a STEM activity called "Tiny Cup Challenge."  They worked on strategies to build the tallest cup structure.  

I will give a weekly homework assignment in science that will be due on Fridays.  This week the child read a non-fiction article about the states of matter.  Next week, they will use the article to create a mini-booklet/brochure.  Over the next two weeks, we will investigate the states of matter while using the scientific method.  

I would like to start a weekly post created by the students…check here next week to see what is happening in math!