Hello,
The big, bad tests are coming. Get to bed on time. Have a good breakfast. Be ready to fill in some circles with number two pencils. The tests will be in reading, then math, then writing. Our schedule for the next four days will be testing in the morning, special in the afternoon, and a small amount of class time. We'll try to tie up some loose ends during the end of the day class time.
Today we had fun with gas releasing chemical reactions. Every student had an antacid tablet, a film canister and some water. We watched the antacid react with the water as we put the cap on the canister and got away. The released CO2 (carbon dioxide) has no where to go and quickly blows the top off the container. One of the containers made it up on the roof!
We also did the Diet Coke and Mentos demonstration. That one is different in that it is not a chemical change. The CO2 is already in the soda. The mentos give the gas a place to gather. The large amounts want to quickly escape the bottle. I estimate that 80% of the soda left the bottle with the exiting gas. It reached a height of about nine to ten feet. The remaining soda is completely flat and tastes terrible (in my opinion). We had some great questions after this demonstration that would lead to many possible future tests. Feel free to try at home. Outside.
Students earned money for our classroom economy based on the home reading. One dollar was earned for every ten minutes read. The top earner was able to bank over 200 bucks. We'll go back to the weekly log now, but continue with the 10% bonus rate.
Thank you for getting your kids to bed tonight and getting some food into their stomachs tomorrow morning. I'll also allow them to chew gum during the test. I'll provide a few flavors, but if you have specific requests, you may want to provide your own.
This is my least favorite week of the year. Very little instructional time. For some reason, we find it okay to cancel math and literacy for a week, but we still go to the specials.
I wanted to visit a topic that I saw on Facebook last night. A parent commented on fourth grade having only one recess a day and just one library class every two weeks. I also wish we had library every week, but the schedule and budget only allow for fourth and fifth grade to go to library every other week. It has been that way since we opened HBS. Unfortunately, it seems to diminish the importance of that special in comparison to the others. I would love to see a return to once a week library.
As far as the recess time, I fully support the fourth grade team's decision to go to one recess a day. I wish the fifth grade team would take the same stance that the fourth grade team took. The fourth grade team has voluntarily taken on more recess duties, and sacrificed personal planning time for what they believe is best for their students. Their stance is not based on their belief that recess is not important, or that students don't need mental or fitness breaks. Their decision was based on the whittling away of instructional time. You may be surprised to hear that I currently have less than four hours of whole class instructional time per week. That's right: PER WEEK. (40 minutes a day.) Last year it was thirty minutes a week.
I think that I can make a strong case for why I think that our first recess is unnecessary. In fifth grade, we currently go to recess from 9:45 to 10:00am. Transition times are not written into that schedule. We never get back to the class in order to start anything new until the math time at 10:10. In reality, it is a twenty five minute break. (That doesn't even count their walk to math.) I lose over two hours of whole class instructional time due to a recess that happens less than forty minutes after our morning announcements. I don't believe that they need a twenty five minute break this early in the day.
All teachers understand the importance of physical and mental breaks. We can tell when kids get squirrely. I allow my kids to stand or walk around during my instruction, if they feel the need. I plan motor breaks into my lessons, as do most teachers. I'd love to gain an extra twenty five minutes a day of instructional time by eliminating our early recess. It would cut into my free time. I would have to go three plus hours to start each day without a chance to even use the rest room. Teachers often make decisions that are based on what is best for the kids, despite what may be the easiest for themselves, personally. I think the fourth grade team's decision on recess is a great example of that.
I welcome all comments, questions or suggestions. 841-2599 or sshea@brunswick.k12.me.us
Testing tomorrow!
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Election and Testing
Hello,
We completed our NWEA testing today, just in time for the NECAP testing that starts next Tuesday. We will be tested on reading, writing and math. Homework will be minimal - reading only.
Congratulations to our new senators and representatives. I need to send a note home to get permission to use your child names in the blog when they do something that deserves praise. The winners all deserve the chance to serve. I was a bit dismayed that five students didn't fill in their ballot correctly. It may have swayed the election, but the ballots were immediately voided.
The class did a very good job on the observation homework last night. It was difficult to know what belonged in 1788 and what didn't. Lots of good research done.
Picture day tomorrow. We are scheduled relatively early, but after first recess. Hopefully we won't have any sweaty pics.
I have our movie club going on right now, but have a tutoring session afterwards until seven, so I'm getting this down now. Sorry to be so brief.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
We completed our NWEA testing today, just in time for the NECAP testing that starts next Tuesday. We will be tested on reading, writing and math. Homework will be minimal - reading only.
Congratulations to our new senators and representatives. I need to send a note home to get permission to use your child names in the blog when they do something that deserves praise. The winners all deserve the chance to serve. I was a bit dismayed that five students didn't fill in their ballot correctly. It may have swayed the election, but the ballots were immediately voided.
The class did a very good job on the observation homework last night. It was difficult to know what belonged in 1788 and what didn't. Lots of good research done.
Picture day tomorrow. We are scheduled relatively early, but after first recess. Hopefully we won't have any sweaty pics.
I have our movie club going on right now, but have a tutoring session afterwards until seven, so I'm getting this down now. Sorry to be so brief.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Picture Day Friday
Hello,
We just had a 5th grade meeting. Math tests are not allowed to go home this year. I don't like the decision, but that is the decree.
We had our first visit from Bowdoin volunteers today. It looks like my math class will have two volunteers a week. They are a big help. I've said it before, but I love how Bowdoin College is really making the community part of their students' educations.
Picture day is Friday. Slips went home today. Envelopes must be returned by Friday. Everyone will get a class photo regardless.
Movie club tomorrow night until 5:00. I have a basketball tutoring session scheduled for 5:30, so I would appreciate pick-ups by then. If you are going to be later than 5:30, I'll take your child to the gym.
It was in the Times Record yesterday that one of the plans for next year is to send the fifth grade to the Jr. High. That would mean all of the current fourth graders would be going to the Jr. High next year. One of my selfish thoughts is that that would also end the looping program, at least for a while. I'm glad the discussion has started early. I hope there is an easier solution.
Monthly reading logs are due on Monday. We will begin the old weekly logs starting Monday as well.
I have to run. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
We just had a 5th grade meeting. Math tests are not allowed to go home this year. I don't like the decision, but that is the decree.
We had our first visit from Bowdoin volunteers today. It looks like my math class will have two volunteers a week. They are a big help. I've said it before, but I love how Bowdoin College is really making the community part of their students' educations.
Picture day is Friday. Slips went home today. Envelopes must be returned by Friday. Everyone will get a class photo regardless.
Movie club tomorrow night until 5:00. I have a basketball tutoring session scheduled for 5:30, so I would appreciate pick-ups by then. If you are going to be later than 5:30, I'll take your child to the gym.
It was in the Times Record yesterday that one of the plans for next year is to send the fifth grade to the Jr. High. That would mean all of the current fourth graders would be going to the Jr. High next year. One of my selfish thoughts is that that would also end the looping program, at least for a while. I'm glad the discussion has started early. I hope there is an easier solution.
Monthly reading logs are due on Monday. We will begin the old weekly logs starting Monday as well.
I have to run. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Disney talk
Hello,
We had a little discussion this morning about Disney changing its policy on allowing people with disabilities go to the front of the line at major attractions. You can find the story at:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/23/travel/disney-disability-policy-changes/index.html
I felt like it was another good topic that people of all ages will wrestle with. I don't think there is a right answer. Dishonest people make it difficult to come up with policies that work. The class handled the discussion well and are in the middle of writing paragraphs that voice their opinions. Where do you stand?
We did a little more estimation in math class, but homework the next few nights should be easy place value questions. I will be assigning the workbook pages for this first chapter, which should be review for everyone. The classwork won't be exactly the same, but that is because we will be working on the more difficult topics in the chapter.
We focused a little on the element copper this afternoon. I was hoping for the kids to request more experiments from the plethora of books that I have. They have an opportunity to help take more responsibility for what and how they learn this unit, but I suppose they are trusting me to make the right choices.
Testing schedule: We have our NWEA MAP reading test on Thursday. That test is done in the computer lab. We are one of the last classes to go, since we tested early for the math portion. NECAPs start next Tuesday. NECAPs are the test booklet test with lots of little circles to fill in with number two pencils. What fun!
The class started the LINK program in physical education. I'm not sure what it stands for. Maybe your child could enlighten you. It has to do with teamwork and communication. I'm hoping that we will be a stand out class in this, based on our familiarity with one another. More to come on this.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
We had a little discussion this morning about Disney changing its policy on allowing people with disabilities go to the front of the line at major attractions. You can find the story at:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/23/travel/disney-disability-policy-changes/index.html
I felt like it was another good topic that people of all ages will wrestle with. I don't think there is a right answer. Dishonest people make it difficult to come up with policies that work. The class handled the discussion well and are in the middle of writing paragraphs that voice their opinions. Where do you stand?
We did a little more estimation in math class, but homework the next few nights should be easy place value questions. I will be assigning the workbook pages for this first chapter, which should be review for everyone. The classwork won't be exactly the same, but that is because we will be working on the more difficult topics in the chapter.
We focused a little on the element copper this afternoon. I was hoping for the kids to request more experiments from the plethora of books that I have. They have an opportunity to help take more responsibility for what and how they learn this unit, but I suppose they are trusting me to make the right choices.
Testing schedule: We have our NWEA MAP reading test on Thursday. That test is done in the computer lab. We are one of the last classes to go, since we tested early for the math portion. NECAPs start next Tuesday. NECAPs are the test booklet test with lots of little circles to fill in with number two pencils. What fun!
The class started the LINK program in physical education. I'm not sure what it stands for. Maybe your child could enlighten you. It has to do with teamwork and communication. I'm hoping that we will be a stand out class in this, based on our familiarity with one another. More to come on this.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Monday, September 23, 2013
Blog from home
Hello,
I'm pecking this out from home. I had a car appointment after school.
Mrs. Farrand, school counselor, visited with us this afternoon. She explained the new school set up with two full time counselor now on staff. She also gave them a cooperation and communication activity that the class did pretty well at. Ask your child for details.
We chose new seats today. Using money from our classroom economy, some students chose to pay for their place in line. I won't offer too many of those opportunities before the desk rent is due. It looks like we have quite a few spenders. Rent needs to be paid.
Math class was all about estimating. Homework is a reflection of the class work, with front end estimation and rounding.
Our class government should be up and rolling soon. Elections will be held on Thursday for senate and house positions. I am serving as president for the first term. A student will take over those duties in a few weeks.
We had our spelling test today. We didn't get to it on Friday. There feels like less teaching time in fifth grade. I didn't think there was enough last year. With days like today (chorus and guidance), I've got to do a better job of making the moments count.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. Shea
I'm pecking this out from home. I had a car appointment after school.
Mrs. Farrand, school counselor, visited with us this afternoon. She explained the new school set up with two full time counselor now on staff. She also gave them a cooperation and communication activity that the class did pretty well at. Ask your child for details.
We chose new seats today. Using money from our classroom economy, some students chose to pay for their place in line. I won't offer too many of those opportunities before the desk rent is due. It looks like we have quite a few spenders. Rent needs to be paid.
Math class was all about estimating. Homework is a reflection of the class work, with front end estimation and rounding.
Our class government should be up and rolling soon. Elections will be held on Thursday for senate and house positions. I am serving as president for the first term. A student will take over those duties in a few weeks.
We had our spelling test today. We didn't get to it on Friday. There feels like less teaching time in fifth grade. I didn't think there was enough last year. With days like today (chorus and guidance), I've got to do a better job of making the moments count.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. Shea
Thursday, September 19, 2013
No Blog tonight
Hello,
Open house starts in 20 minutes. If you want to know about our day, you'll have to come in and say hello.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Open house starts in 20 minutes. If you want to know about our day, you'll have to come in and say hello.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
WKRP in Cincinnati
Hello,
Venus Flytrap, nighttime DJ for WKRP in Cincinnati, helped us review the parts of an atom. You can search youtube for "WKRP atom lesson" to see the lesson. It is pretty funny. WKRP was a television show in the seventies and this lesson was part of one of my favorite episodes. It includes a swear word, which is why I'm not including the link, but we talked about that before I showed the video clip in class. The premise is that a young man is going to drop out of high school because he feels like he cannot learn. His uncle, Mr. Flytrap, makes a deal with him. If he can get his nephew to learn all about the atom in two minutes, the boy will stay in school. The clip also sends a great message to teachers: Uninterested kids do not learn! Ask your child about the parts of an atom to see if they learned from the DJ as well.
I was pleased with the first parts of our Choose Your Own Adventure stories. I was more impressed with the quantity than the quality, but they have some great building blocks. More details and stretching out the most exciting parts should make these stories worthy of binding into mini books.
Your child should be able to tell you the difference between an atom and a molecule, but if not, we should cement that knowledge tomorrow with an atom kit that I got off of eBay.
Math classes are now fully up and running. My class will start with RocketMath addition. We need to get those basics down. I'll grade the rest of the pre-test tonight to see if we're ready to start the fifth grade book. It looks like front end estimation and rounding are skills that have become rusty.
I hope to see you tomorrow night from 6:00 to 7:00 for open house.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Venus Flytrap, nighttime DJ for WKRP in Cincinnati, helped us review the parts of an atom. You can search youtube for "WKRP atom lesson" to see the lesson. It is pretty funny. WKRP was a television show in the seventies and this lesson was part of one of my favorite episodes. It includes a swear word, which is why I'm not including the link, but we talked about that before I showed the video clip in class. The premise is that a young man is going to drop out of high school because he feels like he cannot learn. His uncle, Mr. Flytrap, makes a deal with him. If he can get his nephew to learn all about the atom in two minutes, the boy will stay in school. The clip also sends a great message to teachers: Uninterested kids do not learn! Ask your child about the parts of an atom to see if they learned from the DJ as well.
I was pleased with the first parts of our Choose Your Own Adventure stories. I was more impressed with the quantity than the quality, but they have some great building blocks. More details and stretching out the most exciting parts should make these stories worthy of binding into mini books.
Your child should be able to tell you the difference between an atom and a molecule, but if not, we should cement that knowledge tomorrow with an atom kit that I got off of eBay.
Math classes are now fully up and running. My class will start with RocketMath addition. We need to get those basics down. I'll grade the rest of the pre-test tonight to see if we're ready to start the fifth grade book. It looks like front end estimation and rounding are skills that have become rusty.
I hope to see you tomorrow night from 6:00 to 7:00 for open house.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Highlighting
Hello,
We worked in pairs this morning highlighting information from a science article in a Scholastic News magazine. The article posed the question: Should we bring extinct animals back to life? Before reading the article, the majority of the kids believed that we should, to some degree, bring extinct animals back to life. After reading the article and then hearing from different students about their opinions and their supporting evidence, the majority of the class was much more wary of bringing many animals back to life. Outside of cloning pets, most were against any artificial manipulation of living things. As one child said, "When something dies, it is supposed to be dead." I was pleased that they were opened minded enough to change their opinions. Several kids weren't a firm "yes" or "no," but somewhere in between.
Top arguments for changing evolutionary history included increasing the world's biodiversity and because it would be fascinating. Top arguments against bringing them back to life were the threats to our current ecosystems, because it wasn't natural, and because it was like "playing God." We had a very mature discussion about it that I don't think we could have had a couple weeks ago before we started thinking about evidence to support our opinions. Please ask your son or daughter for their opinion and chime in with your own.
The class started reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books yesterday. We started writing one today. We wrote an opening paragraph as a class:
The alarm was blazing as I ran out the door. I was carrying a heavy bag full of jewels and cash. I knew the police were right behind me because they were yelling over the sirens. I saw an open door to an empty house. Just as I started to run up to the deserted house, I noticed a blue Mini-Cooper convertible with the keys in it.
If you think I should run into the house, turn to page 10.
If you think I should try to make my getaway in the car, turn to page 16.
Your child's homework tonight is to make a choice, and then write the next two paragraphs that would follow that choice. So if your child chooses to run into the house, they are to write page 10. The two paragraphs that they write should be followed by two more choices. We will get to those tomorrow.
I noticed that the open house will follow our first Movie Club meeting. I'd love for you all to come in, but it seems silly to make more than one trip here. Consider our room open for open house anytime after five. If you have other siblings in the building so you'll need to wait until six anyway, your child is welcome to stay here until the scheduled six o'clock start. I'm just trying to save you the back and forth driving.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
We worked in pairs this morning highlighting information from a science article in a Scholastic News magazine. The article posed the question: Should we bring extinct animals back to life? Before reading the article, the majority of the kids believed that we should, to some degree, bring extinct animals back to life. After reading the article and then hearing from different students about their opinions and their supporting evidence, the majority of the class was much more wary of bringing many animals back to life. Outside of cloning pets, most were against any artificial manipulation of living things. As one child said, "When something dies, it is supposed to be dead." I was pleased that they were opened minded enough to change their opinions. Several kids weren't a firm "yes" or "no," but somewhere in between.
Top arguments for changing evolutionary history included increasing the world's biodiversity and because it would be fascinating. Top arguments against bringing them back to life were the threats to our current ecosystems, because it wasn't natural, and because it was like "playing God." We had a very mature discussion about it that I don't think we could have had a couple weeks ago before we started thinking about evidence to support our opinions. Please ask your son or daughter for their opinion and chime in with your own.
The class started reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books yesterday. We started writing one today. We wrote an opening paragraph as a class:
The alarm was blazing as I ran out the door. I was carrying a heavy bag full of jewels and cash. I knew the police were right behind me because they were yelling over the sirens. I saw an open door to an empty house. Just as I started to run up to the deserted house, I noticed a blue Mini-Cooper convertible with the keys in it.
If you think I should run into the house, turn to page 10.
If you think I should try to make my getaway in the car, turn to page 16.
Your child's homework tonight is to make a choice, and then write the next two paragraphs that would follow that choice. So if your child chooses to run into the house, they are to write page 10. The two paragraphs that they write should be followed by two more choices. We will get to those tomorrow.
I noticed that the open house will follow our first Movie Club meeting. I'd love for you all to come in, but it seems silly to make more than one trip here. Consider our room open for open house anytime after five. If you have other siblings in the building so you'll need to wait until six anyway, your child is welcome to stay here until the scheduled six o'clock start. I'm just trying to save you the back and forth driving.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Monday, September 16, 2013
Movie club starts Thursday
Hello,
We had our first library class of the year and about a half an hour later we went to our first Chorus gathering. In between the two specials, we placed drops of water on coins. Our initial predictions for how many drops would stay on a penny varied between two and ten. Our results showed anywhere from 20 to 40 would stay on before spilling over. We discussed surface tension and how the water molecules "stick" together. We will try another experiment tomorrow and then we should have a better idea of how the water strider "skates" on the water.
Our first homework club will start on Thursday. The class voted to make it a movie club. The idea is to make and watch movies. It seems like a great subject to study. We can make use of our abilities in art, writing, acting and teamwork. I also thought I would show some classics like The Wizard of Oz. Ultimately, it is their club, so they will decide what direction that it takes. It will work like last year's clubs, in that we will do homework for forty five minutes and then use the remaining time for the serious fun. It is scheduled to go until five, but I am flexible on pick up times. I am generally here until six anyway.
Homework clubs give me a little extra one on one time with kids. There isn't nearly enough instructional time in a school day, in my opinion, and even less time to connect with a student with where they are at. These clubs help me do that. I've got to see if I can get my apple laptop running. I'd like to be able to keep our work off of school computers so I can download any movie software that I'd like.
We switched for math for the first time today, too. I'm keeping fourteen members of our homeroom and picking up four others from Mrs. Palopoli's classroom. Four students from our homeroom go to her, and four go to other teachers. I'll be writing the math homework that I give out onto our homework calendar (at the top of the blog). I'm sorry that it won't apply to everyone. I'll label it as Shea Math. I didn't give math homework tonight though. I generally only give homework on what they know, and I still need to find that out. We are halfway through the chapter one pre-test. This first chapter should be pretty easy, but like last year, it's going to get tougher very quickly.
Open House this Thursday from six to seven. Hope to see you there. I guess you've all met me at this point, but you can check out the new set up.
Fundraiser at Orange Leaf tonight until 8:00. 15% of proceeds are going to HBS. I've never been there, but I've heard that it serves up great frozen yogurt. I'm on my way now.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
We had our first library class of the year and about a half an hour later we went to our first Chorus gathering. In between the two specials, we placed drops of water on coins. Our initial predictions for how many drops would stay on a penny varied between two and ten. Our results showed anywhere from 20 to 40 would stay on before spilling over. We discussed surface tension and how the water molecules "stick" together. We will try another experiment tomorrow and then we should have a better idea of how the water strider "skates" on the water.
Our first homework club will start on Thursday. The class voted to make it a movie club. The idea is to make and watch movies. It seems like a great subject to study. We can make use of our abilities in art, writing, acting and teamwork. I also thought I would show some classics like The Wizard of Oz. Ultimately, it is their club, so they will decide what direction that it takes. It will work like last year's clubs, in that we will do homework for forty five minutes and then use the remaining time for the serious fun. It is scheduled to go until five, but I am flexible on pick up times. I am generally here until six anyway.
Homework clubs give me a little extra one on one time with kids. There isn't nearly enough instructional time in a school day, in my opinion, and even less time to connect with a student with where they are at. These clubs help me do that. I've got to see if I can get my apple laptop running. I'd like to be able to keep our work off of school computers so I can download any movie software that I'd like.
We switched for math for the first time today, too. I'm keeping fourteen members of our homeroom and picking up four others from Mrs. Palopoli's classroom. Four students from our homeroom go to her, and four go to other teachers. I'll be writing the math homework that I give out onto our homework calendar (at the top of the blog). I'm sorry that it won't apply to everyone. I'll label it as Shea Math. I didn't give math homework tonight though. I generally only give homework on what they know, and I still need to find that out. We are halfway through the chapter one pre-test. This first chapter should be pretty easy, but like last year, it's going to get tougher very quickly.
Open House this Thursday from six to seven. Hope to see you there. I guess you've all met me at this point, but you can check out the new set up.
Fundraiser at Orange Leaf tonight until 8:00. 15% of proceeds are going to HBS. I've never been there, but I've heard that it serves up great frozen yogurt. I'm on my way now.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, September 12, 2013
We beat the rain
Hello,
Our field trip to the Jr. High stream went well. We got back to HBS about a half hour before the downpour. It was a hot walk back, especially in my Arctic Sport Muck Boots, but we survived.
The kids spent a good twenty minutes observing the water strider's habitat. They made notes about the stream, the plant life, the sights and sounds. In groups of two or three, they wrote down their claims on what a water strider eats and how it is able to walk on the water. Then the nets and trays were passed out and the groups captured some of the insects and were able to study them more closely. The goal was for the groups to find evidence to support their claims. If the evidence that they found didn't support their claim, they needed to make a new claim.
The plan was for the groups to reconvene this afternoon and come up with a little presentation to the class. They needed to announce their claims and then present their findings that supported those claims. Once again, I changed the schedule based on the vibe of the class. Afternoons after a field trip are always a little rough, but a mini-power outage at the school had kids in very strange moods. Some were excited, some were anxious. I didn't feel that they were in a good place to continue with our day's investigations. I tabled it for tomorrow.
After art class, we had a short silent reading period and then I showed them a couple videos on size. You can check out the links here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXf7AJZ73A
I think you will find them interesting and will give you something to ask your child about. That is the main purpose of this blog: to foster conversations between you and your child. Talking with them about the things we do in school helps cement some of the knowledge, but also places an importance on their education that we can't do alone. It sends a clear message that you are aware of their learning, interested in their learning, and that you are a learner too. Thank you for that.
Have a good night.
Please remember that I generally run out of here like a scalded bird on Fridays, so I'll write again on Monday. Hopefully we'll have a club announcement by then.
Mr. Shea
Our field trip to the Jr. High stream went well. We got back to HBS about a half hour before the downpour. It was a hot walk back, especially in my Arctic Sport Muck Boots, but we survived.
The kids spent a good twenty minutes observing the water strider's habitat. They made notes about the stream, the plant life, the sights and sounds. In groups of two or three, they wrote down their claims on what a water strider eats and how it is able to walk on the water. Then the nets and trays were passed out and the groups captured some of the insects and were able to study them more closely. The goal was for the groups to find evidence to support their claims. If the evidence that they found didn't support their claim, they needed to make a new claim.
The plan was for the groups to reconvene this afternoon and come up with a little presentation to the class. They needed to announce their claims and then present their findings that supported those claims. Once again, I changed the schedule based on the vibe of the class. Afternoons after a field trip are always a little rough, but a mini-power outage at the school had kids in very strange moods. Some were excited, some were anxious. I didn't feel that they were in a good place to continue with our day's investigations. I tabled it for tomorrow.
After art class, we had a short silent reading period and then I showed them a couple videos on size. You can check out the links here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXf7AJZ73A
I think you will find them interesting and will give you something to ask your child about. That is the main purpose of this blog: to foster conversations between you and your child. Talking with them about the things we do in school helps cement some of the knowledge, but also places an importance on their education that we can't do alone. It sends a clear message that you are aware of their learning, interested in their learning, and that you are a learner too. Thank you for that.
Have a good night.
Please remember that I generally run out of here like a scalded bird on Fridays, so I'll write again on Monday. Hopefully we'll have a club announcement by then.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Short post
Hello,
I'm going to keep this short. I have a staff meeting and then need to rush out of here.
We had a good day. Students finished up the NWEA MAP math exam. We did some bar modeling in math. Basic addition and subtraction facts were getting in the way more than the bar models. We need to be able to add a one digit number to another number without counting. Rocket math addition will start tomorrow for a majority of the class. Some kids are advanced enough to be doing other challenges at this time. As long as the field trips aren't cancelled due to weather, we will begin switching for math on Monday. Four students will be going to Mrs. Palopoli's class and four of her students will come to our class.
We studied our spelling words for the week, using them in sentences and doing a practice test. We did an easy logic problem together and then tried one on our own. Slightly more difficult logic problems were given for homework. They require some patience and, believe it or not, logic.
Some kids were talking about 9/11/2001 so I took a few questions about that awful day.
We heard some funny stories about bad inferences. Tomorrow we will get to claims and evidence.
Sorry, but I have to run.
Have a great day.
Mr. Shea
I'm going to keep this short. I have a staff meeting and then need to rush out of here.
We had a good day. Students finished up the NWEA MAP math exam. We did some bar modeling in math. Basic addition and subtraction facts were getting in the way more than the bar models. We need to be able to add a one digit number to another number without counting. Rocket math addition will start tomorrow for a majority of the class. Some kids are advanced enough to be doing other challenges at this time. As long as the field trips aren't cancelled due to weather, we will begin switching for math on Monday. Four students will be going to Mrs. Palopoli's class and four of her students will come to our class.
We studied our spelling words for the week, using them in sentences and doing a practice test. We did an easy logic problem together and then tried one on our own. Slightly more difficult logic problems were given for homework. They require some patience and, believe it or not, logic.
Some kids were talking about 9/11/2001 so I took a few questions about that awful day.
We heard some funny stories about bad inferences. Tomorrow we will get to claims and evidence.
Sorry, but I have to run.
Have a great day.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Testing Day
Good afternoon,
It was a day of testing. We started off nicely with a Gary Larson Farside comic and some juice box science. We used a Far Side comic of a python leaving Snow White's cabin with seven big bulges in his body. We talked about what we could observe and what we could infer from the picture. All inferences needed evidence to back them up. Inferences could use other inferences for evidence.
I thought of the juice box science this past weekend when thinking about a follow up to our "Does air take up space?" lesson. Everyone got a juice box and had a chance to play around a bit with getting the liquid out. I heard lots of great observations and inferences. Our science minds are growing.
My usual joke at 9:45am is that we've had such a rigorous morning, it's time for a break. We have a morning recess every day just forty minutes into our day. I think it is ridiculous, but I couldn't change the schedule. I think we should eliminate this break altogether, but I stand alone with that opinion. Fourth grade went to one recess a day this year, but not fifth. I like to make hay in the morning when the kids are the most fresh. In fact, I would ignore the morning recess if I didn't coincidentally also have that as my recess duty on most days. We'll make due. I'm sure the kids like the extra play time. I'm still trying get our class schedule out to you and I will as soon as I can finalize the read aloud, snack and silent reading times. Special Education and RTI just finished compiling their schedules. With those times in mind, and back to back math and literacy blocks, it is very tough to schedule anything else with any sort of consistency.
After morning recess, our kids went into the computer lab to take the NWEA MAP Math Test. It went pretty well. I know they took their time on it, because a vast majority of the class were called back to finish shortly after our afternoon physical education class. After morning recess, our day pretty much was testing, lunch, recess, gym, and testing. The afternoon testing session blew my plans up, so I didn't assign any homework. Everyone should get their regular reading in.
Field trip permission slips went home. We will be visiting the stream behind the Jr. High. If it rains too hard on Thursday, we'll go on Monday. Thank you for getting those field trip permission slips back to me.
Have a good night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea I
It was a day of testing. We started off nicely with a Gary Larson Farside comic and some juice box science. We used a Far Side comic of a python leaving Snow White's cabin with seven big bulges in his body. We talked about what we could observe and what we could infer from the picture. All inferences needed evidence to back them up. Inferences could use other inferences for evidence.
I thought of the juice box science this past weekend when thinking about a follow up to our "Does air take up space?" lesson. Everyone got a juice box and had a chance to play around a bit with getting the liquid out. I heard lots of great observations and inferences. Our science minds are growing.
My usual joke at 9:45am is that we've had such a rigorous morning, it's time for a break. We have a morning recess every day just forty minutes into our day. I think it is ridiculous, but I couldn't change the schedule. I think we should eliminate this break altogether, but I stand alone with that opinion. Fourth grade went to one recess a day this year, but not fifth. I like to make hay in the morning when the kids are the most fresh. In fact, I would ignore the morning recess if I didn't coincidentally also have that as my recess duty on most days. We'll make due. I'm sure the kids like the extra play time. I'm still trying get our class schedule out to you and I will as soon as I can finalize the read aloud, snack and silent reading times. Special Education and RTI just finished compiling their schedules. With those times in mind, and back to back math and literacy blocks, it is very tough to schedule anything else with any sort of consistency.
After morning recess, our kids went into the computer lab to take the NWEA MAP Math Test. It went pretty well. I know they took their time on it, because a vast majority of the class were called back to finish shortly after our afternoon physical education class. After morning recess, our day pretty much was testing, lunch, recess, gym, and testing. The afternoon testing session blew my plans up, so I didn't assign any homework. Everyone should get their regular reading in.
Field trip permission slips went home. We will be visiting the stream behind the Jr. High. If it rains too hard on Thursday, we'll go on Monday. Thank you for getting those field trip permission slips back to me.
Have a good night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea I
Monday, September 9, 2013
Week 2
Hello,
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I forgot to write on Thursday that I don't write anything on Friday. There isn't usually any weekend homework (outside of regular reading) and I generally leave the school pretty close to the end of the day. My brain is usually spent. I come in on Sunday to tie up the loose ends, correct work and prepare for the coming week.
Monday is our usual Library day, but only every other week. We'll have to make sure that upcoming Monday holidays don't make it so we go a full four weeks without making it there.
I doled out class jobs today. We will be finalizing the duties of each position and determining salaries in the next couple of days.
Some things don't change from grade to grade: I forgot to pass out the field trip slip at the end of the day today. We are going over to the Jr. High to do a study on the water striders in the stream. The fifth grade team just scouted it out tonight after school today. They aren't the easiest things to catch. I think we needed more youth holding the nets. We'll be over there for about an hour and a half Thursday morning. Look for the slip tomorrow. Rubber boots are recommended. Water shoes would be okay as well. It is super difficult to catch anything from the shore. Waders would work as well, but most of the stream is well under a foot deep.
We talked today about making inferences. An inference is an educated guess based on the available evidence. We make inferences based on our observations and our previous experiences. If I smell hamburger cooking, I infer that I'll be eating burgers for dinner. It might be tacos, in which case, my inference would be wrong. Many television comedies are based on an incorrect inference. We'll be discussing this more tomorrow. I wanted them to think about it for homework, but I didn't require them to write anything down.
We also worked on our Writing Territories. This is a term given by writing guru, Nancie Atwell, referring to the range of things that we do and write about in our everyday writing. This includes genres and subjects of thing that we've written about, would like to write about or feel qualified to write about. Last year I called it our Idea Book. I'm placing more emphasis on writing what we know this year. I think the kids will have an easier time drafting and rewriting if they are more passionate and knowledgeable about their subject matter.
I'm thinking about starting up at least one club next week. Stay tuned.
My wife and I are staying down at her family cabin in Georgetown this week. I'll be trying to leave the school by 5:00 for the next few days so I can enjoy the ocean before dark.
Phys. Ed tomorrow. Please make sure your child has sneakers.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I forgot to write on Thursday that I don't write anything on Friday. There isn't usually any weekend homework (outside of regular reading) and I generally leave the school pretty close to the end of the day. My brain is usually spent. I come in on Sunday to tie up the loose ends, correct work and prepare for the coming week.
Monday is our usual Library day, but only every other week. We'll have to make sure that upcoming Monday holidays don't make it so we go a full four weeks without making it there.
I doled out class jobs today. We will be finalizing the duties of each position and determining salaries in the next couple of days.
Some things don't change from grade to grade: I forgot to pass out the field trip slip at the end of the day today. We are going over to the Jr. High to do a study on the water striders in the stream. The fifth grade team just scouted it out tonight after school today. They aren't the easiest things to catch. I think we needed more youth holding the nets. We'll be over there for about an hour and a half Thursday morning. Look for the slip tomorrow. Rubber boots are recommended. Water shoes would be okay as well. It is super difficult to catch anything from the shore. Waders would work as well, but most of the stream is well under a foot deep.
We talked today about making inferences. An inference is an educated guess based on the available evidence. We make inferences based on our observations and our previous experiences. If I smell hamburger cooking, I infer that I'll be eating burgers for dinner. It might be tacos, in which case, my inference would be wrong. Many television comedies are based on an incorrect inference. We'll be discussing this more tomorrow. I wanted them to think about it for homework, but I didn't require them to write anything down.
We also worked on our Writing Territories. This is a term given by writing guru, Nancie Atwell, referring to the range of things that we do and write about in our everyday writing. This includes genres and subjects of thing that we've written about, would like to write about or feel qualified to write about. Last year I called it our Idea Book. I'm placing more emphasis on writing what we know this year. I think the kids will have an easier time drafting and rewriting if they are more passionate and knowledgeable about their subject matter.
I'm thinking about starting up at least one club next week. Stay tuned.
My wife and I are staying down at her family cabin in Georgetown this week. I'll be trying to leave the school by 5:00 for the next few days so I can enjoy the ocean before dark.
Phys. Ed tomorrow. Please make sure your child has sneakers.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Day Three
Hello,
We jumped into the first few pages of the fifth grade Math in Focus books. It wasn't too tough...place value. I did a little algebra with the early finishers.
We did some review on the parts of a paragraph. From the looks of the homework, we'll need a lot more work on this. Margins, indentation, topic sentence, supporting details and conclusion are the biggies to know.
I introduced some atom/molecule stuff but I wasn't overly pleased with my presentation. I was scientifically accurate, but probably need to be a little more kid-friendly. They'll get it, but it may take a few lessons to wrap their heads around. We didn't get to my planned experiment so we'll tackle that in the morning.
My fifth grade team decided on how we are going to group. It looks like most of our homeroom will stay with me. We are going to take the students with the most advanced skills and send them to Mrs. Palopoli's room. Mrs. Palopoli will only keep her most advanced and then evenly distribute the rest of her kids into the other three classrooms. For our class, it basically means that if your child had me for math last year, they will now have Mrs. Palopoli. If they had Mrs. Viola or Mrs. Smith, they now will stay with me. There may be some exceptions. We will be giving the end of fourth grade test tomorrow to give us another data point before making decisions. Please contact me with any questions.
I used the NOVA Elements app in class today. It has a good interactive periodic table. This should be a fun and educational unit.
I have a basketball tutoring session at five, so I'm going to run. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
We jumped into the first few pages of the fifth grade Math in Focus books. It wasn't too tough...place value. I did a little algebra with the early finishers.
We did some review on the parts of a paragraph. From the looks of the homework, we'll need a lot more work on this. Margins, indentation, topic sentence, supporting details and conclusion are the biggies to know.
I introduced some atom/molecule stuff but I wasn't overly pleased with my presentation. I was scientifically accurate, but probably need to be a little more kid-friendly. They'll get it, but it may take a few lessons to wrap their heads around. We didn't get to my planned experiment so we'll tackle that in the morning.
My fifth grade team decided on how we are going to group. It looks like most of our homeroom will stay with me. We are going to take the students with the most advanced skills and send them to Mrs. Palopoli's room. Mrs. Palopoli will only keep her most advanced and then evenly distribute the rest of her kids into the other three classrooms. For our class, it basically means that if your child had me for math last year, they will now have Mrs. Palopoli. If they had Mrs. Viola or Mrs. Smith, they now will stay with me. There may be some exceptions. We will be giving the end of fourth grade test tomorrow to give us another data point before making decisions. Please contact me with any questions.
I used the NOVA Elements app in class today. It has a good interactive periodic table. This should be a fun and educational unit.
I have a basketball tutoring session at five, so I'm going to run. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Day Two
Hello again,
We started working on our explorer maps this morning. We are only putting down some of the baseline facts that we need (oceans, continents, etc.) before we pull these out for later use. Many kids needed atlases for help, especially with spelling. Continents and oceans should be solid knowledge by now. This unit should help with that.
Ask your child what a water bear is. I learned about them on my trip out west. It is quite a fascinating creature. Look up tardigrade to learn about this creature that can survive real extremes.
We started our 200 tournament. We only have five contestants left. I was not very impressed with the addition skills. I saw lots and lots of counting. We need to work on that. We should be able to add a one digit number to any number without needing our fingers. My team meeting on math grouping is tomorrow. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we should be grouping by the beginning of next week.
I gave them a review quiz on there, their, they're, its, it's, too, to and two. I'll let you know tomorrow how they did. I will work with kids with poor showings during our small group times, but we really need to get past these things.
The class put together a list of class jobs. I'm determined to start up our class economy this year. Look for job applications for homework tomorrow.
I'll get our schedule out to you in the next couple of days. Our specials schedule is Chorus on Monday, Phys. Ed. on Tuesday, Music on Wednesday, Art on Thursday, Band on Friday, and Library on every other Monday.
Hope all is well with everyone. Thanks for reading.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
We started working on our explorer maps this morning. We are only putting down some of the baseline facts that we need (oceans, continents, etc.) before we pull these out for later use. Many kids needed atlases for help, especially with spelling. Continents and oceans should be solid knowledge by now. This unit should help with that.
Ask your child what a water bear is. I learned about them on my trip out west. It is quite a fascinating creature. Look up tardigrade to learn about this creature that can survive real extremes.
We started our 200 tournament. We only have five contestants left. I was not very impressed with the addition skills. I saw lots and lots of counting. We need to work on that. We should be able to add a one digit number to any number without needing our fingers. My team meeting on math grouping is tomorrow. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we should be grouping by the beginning of next week.
I gave them a review quiz on there, their, they're, its, it's, too, to and two. I'll let you know tomorrow how they did. I will work with kids with poor showings during our small group times, but we really need to get past these things.
The class put together a list of class jobs. I'm determined to start up our class economy this year. Look for job applications for homework tomorrow.
I'll get our schedule out to you in the next couple of days. Our specials schedule is Chorus on Monday, Phys. Ed. on Tuesday, Music on Wednesday, Art on Thursday, Band on Friday, and Library on every other Monday.
Hope all is well with everyone. Thanks for reading.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
First day 2013
Hello and welcome back to the blog!
It was a pretty uneventful day. It was very different from my usual first days. I usually try to bring a ton of energy and convince the class that they are about to embark on a fantastic educational journey. This year, not so much. It was great to see everyone, but they know the deal. I'm going to do everything in my power to introduce the subject matter to them as interestingly as I can figure out. Fifth grade has a terrific curriculum and I'll put my spin on it as best I can.
The first two big units will be Exploration and Chemistry. I've got some dynamic interactive periodic table apps that I downloaded that I'm anxious to try out. I'm gathering a lot of materials from the rest of the fifth grade team and sifting through what I want to try and what I'm leaving behind. I'll be sending home the curriculum requirements later this week so you can see the goals of what I'm trying to teach. Let me know if you have any ideas as well.
The first read aloud of the year is Wonder by R J Palacio. It is about a fifth grade boy who is horribly disfigured. The story of his school year is told from several points of view. This will be a focus of many of our read-alouds and discussions: points of view. I hope to hit them with many of these lessons before they get to the "world revolves around me" teen years.
We explored our new assignment notebooks this morning. It has a lot of factual information in it and can be used as a resource for more than just the daily homework assignments. Tonight's homework is mainly for you. Please go through the giant white packet of information and get it back to me as soon as you can. The emergency card is the most important. Thank you.
We played a little math game called "200". I'm going to alter the rules a little tomorrow and we'll have a little tourney. It involves addition, prediction and probability. I was defeated in the demonstration game in a ridiculous turn of events. I forgot... it also involves luck.
We heard from several students about their summer vacations. It's great to hear about all of the outdoor activities. Maybe that's because they know I don't want to hear about the video games.
I'm very excited about the loop. In my first blog post of the year, I usually try to convince parents that I never underestimate the importance of my job. I tell them that I understand that I have all of your little darlings for a substantial portion of the day and I know how much they mean to you. I tell them that I will learn to care about them a great deal and that I want to see them succeed just as much as you. I don't have to do that this year. You know that I already care about them. You know that we're all on the same team. If you ever have any concerns, questions, requests or suggestions, please get in touch. We solve issues together. Your child will thrive if we are on the same page. My home email is stevejshea@gmail.com. My school email is sshea@brunswick.k12.us. My cell is 841-2599.
My wife and I don't have any kids of our own. She understands that this class is my family for the next ten months. Please don't hesitate to call, email or come in.
I've got a few new expectations that I'll be introducing this week. I'll keep you informed right along with the kids.
Have a great night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
It was a pretty uneventful day. It was very different from my usual first days. I usually try to bring a ton of energy and convince the class that they are about to embark on a fantastic educational journey. This year, not so much. It was great to see everyone, but they know the deal. I'm going to do everything in my power to introduce the subject matter to them as interestingly as I can figure out. Fifth grade has a terrific curriculum and I'll put my spin on it as best I can.
The first two big units will be Exploration and Chemistry. I've got some dynamic interactive periodic table apps that I downloaded that I'm anxious to try out. I'm gathering a lot of materials from the rest of the fifth grade team and sifting through what I want to try and what I'm leaving behind. I'll be sending home the curriculum requirements later this week so you can see the goals of what I'm trying to teach. Let me know if you have any ideas as well.
The first read aloud of the year is Wonder by R J Palacio. It is about a fifth grade boy who is horribly disfigured. The story of his school year is told from several points of view. This will be a focus of many of our read-alouds and discussions: points of view. I hope to hit them with many of these lessons before they get to the "world revolves around me" teen years.
We explored our new assignment notebooks this morning. It has a lot of factual information in it and can be used as a resource for more than just the daily homework assignments. Tonight's homework is mainly for you. Please go through the giant white packet of information and get it back to me as soon as you can. The emergency card is the most important. Thank you.
We played a little math game called "200". I'm going to alter the rules a little tomorrow and we'll have a little tourney. It involves addition, prediction and probability. I was defeated in the demonstration game in a ridiculous turn of events. I forgot... it also involves luck.
We heard from several students about their summer vacations. It's great to hear about all of the outdoor activities. Maybe that's because they know I don't want to hear about the video games.
I'm very excited about the loop. In my first blog post of the year, I usually try to convince parents that I never underestimate the importance of my job. I tell them that I understand that I have all of your little darlings for a substantial portion of the day and I know how much they mean to you. I tell them that I will learn to care about them a great deal and that I want to see them succeed just as much as you. I don't have to do that this year. You know that I already care about them. You know that we're all on the same team. If you ever have any concerns, questions, requests or suggestions, please get in touch. We solve issues together. Your child will thrive if we are on the same page. My home email is stevejshea@gmail.com. My school email is sshea@brunswick.k12.us. My cell is 841-2599.
My wife and I don't have any kids of our own. She understands that this class is my family for the next ten months. Please don't hesitate to call, email or come in.
I've got a few new expectations that I'll be introducing this week. I'll keep you informed right along with the kids.
Have a great night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
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