Global Day of Design #GDD16
#FreestyleFriday
Purpose: To engage in higher-level and critical thinking activities and apply our learning in different venues.
This week, we did some STEM exploration. Check out the videos and pictures below!
This week, we did some STEM exploration. Check out the videos and pictures below!
Mystery Skype: Round One
Today we Mystery Skyped with a ranger from Yellowstone National Park. Students had to work together to create questions for the ranger to determine his location (not revealed at the beginning). Once they narrowed it down and figured it out, they got to hear about how Yellowstone's ecosystem is vastly different from our own. Student blogs and information coming soon! Students also backchanneled during the session with their thoughts and questions (it was our first time backchanneling, so there's definitely room for improvement).
Weeks 5-7The last few weeks have been really busy!
We've continued learning about ecosystems--specifically about producers and consumers. Outdoor Ed was a great extension of what we've been working on. This week, students got to dissect owl pellets. While some did this last year, we have a new science curriculum this year (NGSS). Students got to compare and contrast last year's experience to this year's. They also were challenged to determine what the food chain would look like for their owl so they could track the flow of energy. |
Identify Your Plant
Visit the following websites to see if you can find your plant:
Visit the following websites to see if you can find your plant:
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Week One
What an incredible start to our year! I couldn’t have asked for a better first week of fifth grade. I’ve been consistently impressed and wowed by these students’ critical thinking and leadership. If the first three days are any indication of what the rest of the year is going to be like, it’s going to be a great year!
Here’s a quick recap of the first three days, as told by the kids: My first week of 5th grade was awesome. Hopefully the whole school year will be like that. I liked meeting my classmates and my awesome teacher Miss Owen. I liked doing the team building stuff. That was a lot of fun. Finding out that we had whiteboard tables was exciting. There are a lot of my good friends in here which is nice. Hopefully I’ll have an amazing year. I really like the class declarations. The school assembly awesome. So was the teacher's video. –BR Last week was fun because I got to meet, and get to know the teachers, and some students I’ve never been in class with before. I got to learn more about how K-Pass works, and that’s why I was so excited to start school. Even though almost all of last week was talking about CHAMPS,and how things work in different classrooms, it was fun. It feels good to be on the top of the school, because that means I’ve accomplished so much already and I hope to have a fun learning year. –CM Being a 5th grader means taking responsibility. In fifth grade you do something called team building. Team building is where your class words as a team or 4-5 people work together. The challenges get harder and harder. You get a trapper Keeper that is yours to keep. You can decorate it. You put folders and notebooks in it. You have to get your assignment notebook signed. --CR We also created a quick video recap found here: https://vimeo.com/137027649. The password to view the video is in the email I sent. Let me know if you need it. You may have also been told that we use social media in the classroom. Social media allows us to connect with you, the parents, but also to other classrooms and teachers. Our Twitter account (@fantastic5thgr) is operated by me; students may write Tweets, but nothing will ever be sent out without my approval first. Any Tweets from our fifth grade team will be using the hashtag #fearless5thgr. Our Instagram account is expressly for parents. Since the user age is supposed to be 13, I don’t encourage students to follow us. However, I realize that each family is different. If you are okay with your child following our classroom, please email me letting me know your child has your permission. Finally, our fifth grade team has a website (http://fearless5thgr.weebly.com) in order to communicate curricular updates, pictures, important information as well as classroom happenings. Most importantly, students will be receiving lessons throughout the year on social media norms and how to stay safe. We will keep you updated we learn how to use social media safely. Class declarations: More to come on this, but for now, our class declarations are in place of our class rules this year. Students have been working to form declarations that define who and what they want to be about this year. For example, “We might fail, but we won’t give up,” and “We will work hard and try our best.” The next edition of the newsletter will document what our declarations are. Reminders: Don’t forget to check Class Dojo daily. Points started on Friday and will continue. Pictures of homework are posted daily. Please let me know if you’re having any issues with the site and logging in. If you haven’t turned in your parent homework yet, please do so. It’s a great way for me to get to know you and your child. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Miss Owen |
Getting to Know Miss Owen
Hello, all! I am simply thrilled to be your social studies and science teacher this year! We're going to be completely immersed in technology and inquiry based projects. It's going to be a blast.
I think that if people had to describe me in a few words, they'd say...actually, I have no idea what they'd say. So, I asked some of my long-term friends, incredibly close friends and teacher friends how they'd describe me. Here are the top 6 most repeated answers:
1. Witty
2. Bold/Fearless
3. Innovative/Creative
4. Intelligent
5. Energetic/Charismatic
6. Passionate
While that's my personality in a nutshell, I am also a huge fan of health and fitness. I love going to my local gym where one of my good friends trains me. I'm also gearing up with some friends to tackle all of the trails at Starved Rock here in September and am training to PR in a 5K in October.
My roommates (there are 3 of them) and I just moved into a house recently, and we're quickly learning a lot about what it takes to care for a house. I also enjoy reading, being outside, coffee and great food.
I've been a teacher for 4 years. After graduating from Purdue in 2011, I was hired as a 5th grade teacher at McDole Elementary. The next year, I came to KBK and have been here ever since.
All of those characteristics outlined above help mold me into the teacher that I am. Simply put, I love what I do. There is no other job on this earth that would fit me quite like teaching does. It's a melding pot for all of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews). I am really looking forward to focusing on teaching science and social studies this year. As diverse as my interests are, it will be a great time to learn with my students more deeply about these areas. My main goals this year are to help stimulate your child's love for learning and to help guide them on a path to become independent, creative, collaborative and innovative thinkers.
I think that if people had to describe me in a few words, they'd say...actually, I have no idea what they'd say. So, I asked some of my long-term friends, incredibly close friends and teacher friends how they'd describe me. Here are the top 6 most repeated answers:
1. Witty
2. Bold/Fearless
3. Innovative/Creative
4. Intelligent
5. Energetic/Charismatic
6. Passionate
While that's my personality in a nutshell, I am also a huge fan of health and fitness. I love going to my local gym where one of my good friends trains me. I'm also gearing up with some friends to tackle all of the trails at Starved Rock here in September and am training to PR in a 5K in October.
My roommates (there are 3 of them) and I just moved into a house recently, and we're quickly learning a lot about what it takes to care for a house. I also enjoy reading, being outside, coffee and great food.
I've been a teacher for 4 years. After graduating from Purdue in 2011, I was hired as a 5th grade teacher at McDole Elementary. The next year, I came to KBK and have been here ever since.
All of those characteristics outlined above help mold me into the teacher that I am. Simply put, I love what I do. There is no other job on this earth that would fit me quite like teaching does. It's a melding pot for all of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews). I am really looking forward to focusing on teaching science and social studies this year. As diverse as my interests are, it will be a great time to learn with my students more deeply about these areas. My main goals this year are to help stimulate your child's love for learning and to help guide them on a path to become independent, creative, collaborative and innovative thinkers.