SHARK TANK!!!

First of all, happy vacation to all of you!  I hope you enjoy time as a family.  I plan on skiing at Sunday River and Sugarloaf with my kids!

Words cannot express how proud I am of all the students in Shark Tank.  They worked incredibly hard and took lots of critique and feedback this week to make their presentations strong.  And as Sharks, we had as much fun as the kids!  Here are some pictures from the afternoon...

KACC PACC: Allyson, Kate, Clare and Chloe

Destiny Desk: Lauren, Annabeth, Olivia and Brielle

SSB with Thomas and Dyson



The Unlimited with Ella, Channie, Clare, Colleen and Alli



Add It Shoes with Andrew, Connor, Dylan and Austin



ABJLs Alarm Clock with Aiden, Brigham, Logan and Jack




MowerGod with Ryan, Sean, Jack and Gavin



The Smart Desk with Sam, Derek, Cole and Chad



The Sweetcase with Annie, Sophie and Talia

Rack It with Harry, Josh, Mason and Conor

Paul Durham: Author of the Luck Uglies

How fortunate are our children that they got to meet an author of a current best-selling book?  SO LUCKY!!  Paul came in and told all the 5th graders about his long journey to become an author.  The biggest part of his message fit beautifully with our growth mindset philosophy.  He persisted and persevered while bouncing back from numerous failures.

Some students were tested on their Luck Ugly knowledge with a trivia show.  Our own Sam C was chosen!

Paul came back to the classroom to autograph books for the kids.

It was fantastic for me as a teacher to experience a real life author sharing his passion with some future authors!

Week of February 13-17th

Happy Friday to all of you!

I was in disbelief at yet ANOTHER SNOW DAY as well as a two hour delay!  Oh boy.  I've loved all the extra time with my own children, sledding, snowshoeing and crafting, but will be thrilled when winter is in our rear view mirror! This month has been brief with all our missed days and late starts. Here's to one more week until our February vacation.  March will be here before we know it!

SHARK TANK

This multifaceted project has taken up the majority of our time at school this past week.  Students worked together to build as a team.  Mrs. Loh and I then modeled a horrific Shark Tank presentation versus a dynamic one.  Students took note to include the following in their presentation...

• Shark Greeting
• Brief Introduction
• Set the scene for why their product is needed
• Name the product and include the slogan
• Showcase the product (with the PMI scale as well as demonstration)
• Ask for a certain amount on money based on a percentage
• Capture Sharks in the end

After two days of script writing, teachers along with paras gave specific feedback after groups practiced.  Some groups needed help putting enthusiasm into their pitch while others needed to fine tune the flow of their script and include other important information.  On Monday and Tuesday, we will act like Sharks (we will be brutal) so the students will be ready for Wednesday! 

Please join us in the cafeteria this Wednesday, February 22nd at 1:15 for our SHARK TANK presentations!

Here are some pictures from our Valentine Breakfast with our Buddies.  We had a delightful time with the Koalas!

Some Shark Tank Action pictures!

Important Dates

• Author of Luck Uglies, Paul Durham visits on Tuesday, February 21st
• Shark Tank Presentations: Wednesday, February 22nd
• Museum of Science visits: Friday, February 24th
• Winter Break, 2/27-3/3

Week of 2/6-2/10

Wow, what a snowy week we had!  I cannot believe the time we had off plus two delays!  I hope you enjoyed the time with your kiddos.  This cold month of February is going by fast!  Here's a recap of our short week...

BEFORE I FORGET!!!!  Make sure your child brings in snowpants, boots, hats and mittens on Monday.  Ms. Locke will be taking the kids out to snowshoe for PE.  Unfortunately if they forget their gear, they miss out.

In MATH, students..

• began Unit 8, multiplication and division of fractions!
• worked with manipulatives to find fractions of a whole number
• worked on graphing on a coordinate grid
• challenged themselves to work in all four quadrants of a coordinate grid

In LITERACY, students...

• worked on MixBooks and Research Books
• Blogged, free wrote and read 

In Engineering, students...

• chose something to redesign
• constructed a PMI chart
• created a name and slogan
• worked on a design specification
• sketched and started building

Important Information:

• A class Valentine's Celebration will take on February 14th
• Early Release: February 15th
• Puberty Talk with Nurse Lily: February 16th and 17th
• Author of Luck Uglies, Paul Durham visits on Tuesday, February 21st
• Shark Tank Presentations: Wednesday, February 22nd
• Museum of Science visits: Friday, February 24th
• Winter Break, 2/27-3/3

Until Monday, have a wonderful weekend!

Shannon

Week of 1/30-2/3

Happy weekend to all of you!

Report cards went home yesterday.  Make sure to look it over with your child.  Here's a little of what we did this week.  Also, you can find important dates that are coming up.  Thanks!

*Math:

•   Continued working on our bakery project (adding and subtracting fractions)
• Reviewed for and took our unit test on Wednesday
• Took a pre-assessment for our upcoming unit (multiplying and dividing fractions)

*Literacy:

• Used MixBooks to begin bringing our nonfiction research reports to life
• I will be doing a bulk purchase for those of you who are interested next week.  I will send an email home with the price that the book will cost.  They typically are anywhere from $10-$15 dollars depending on the number of pages. 

*Social Studies:

• Completed scripts/pictures for colony presentations
• Presented live infomercials to the class on Thursday

*Science:

• Explored different types engineers, what engineers do, what characteristics engineers need to have and the process they go through
• Explored the PMI rating to assess various objects in the classroom
• Visited four different engineering centers: marking & cutting, joining, sketching and strengthening
• Began brainstorming everyday objects that groups could redesign for their Shark Tank pitch

*Important Information:

• A class Valentine's Celebration will take on February 14th
• Early Release: February 15th
• Puberty Talk with Nurse Lily: February 16th and 17th
• Author of Luck Uglies, Paul Durham visits on Tuesday, February 21st
• Shark Tank Presentations: Wednesday, February 22nd
• Museum of Science visits: Friday, February 24th
• Winter Break, 2/27-3/3

*Buddy Stem Challenge (Pictures Below): Given a bag of random supplies, each buddy pair/trio was asked to create a bicycle.  Check out their creations!

Pairs matching inventors with their invention and date of creation

Students working in pairs with the PMI scale
P = + (pluses) M = - (minuses) I = improvements

Engineering Stations