Young Illustrators
We have begun using recipes4success.com regularly. Our first set of activities was a series of tutorials in Twist, the kid friendly version of Adobe Illustrator. The kids have loved using it and many of them have had their incredible work posted here. In the lab, we are also developing our keyboarding skills and learning about other software, such as Powerpoint and the rest of the Microsoft office suite.
Mr. Boyd
Beginning Typing – no wait – Keyboarding
The students in elementary have begun a focused unit studying the history and basics of keyboarding. We have taken a speed test and many of the students have some natural ability. The students are exploring Microsoft Word and love drawing pictures for each other in Pixie, our basic illustration software. Jump start is a great addition to your home software collection. The students love playing it and they learn about many different subjects from playing it.
Mr. Boyd
We have a voice
If I had a super power what would it be? What would I do to help the world? 5E is writing about this topic and is going to publish a book. Children are the future and in reading some of the essays students took a stand about, pollution, war, and poverty. As strongly stated by a student, children are people too and our voice counts. We can make a difference in this world. We can make it a better place. I agree.
Mrs. Emestica
The Hydrological Cycle
Here we go, as we learned a little song and dance that would help us remember the three states of water. The hydrological cycle condensation, evaporation, precipitation OH! In this lesson the students had to observe different states of water as well as make other observations of what was in it. This helped students be more aware of their scientific evaluations. OH!
Mrs. Emestica
Do you know Aunt Sally?
PEMDAS, please excuse my dear aunt sally. We are now moving on to Algebra. 5E learned this simple acronym to help them remember the order of operations. P is for parenthesis, e is for exponents, m is for multiplication, d is for division and s is for subtraction. This helped 5E as they ventured into solving math equations. They learned it so well that we can now say we don’t need Aunt Sally helping us anymore.
Mrs. Emestica
Lamination!
What is it? 5E learned it is the process by which you make things stronger layer by layer. In this lesson the students had to strategize to build a Tower of Straws using only masking tape, plastic straws and a desk. 15 minutes were on the clock as each group taped and built and stacked their tower. The goal of the activity was to have the last tower standing. It would be the tower of strength because of lamination and construction. At the end of the activity each tower was left to stand without anyone’s help. Just when the groups thought they had won, their tower came tumbling down. The winner of the last one left standing happened to be the group that took it apart and put it together several times. In the very end persistence won.
Mrs. Emestica
Sale Price
Just when we thought we were finished with fractions. Now we are converting fractions into decimals and percents. How much is that DSI in the window? How much would it be with 25%, 35% or would you want it to be 50% off the regular price? 5E learned to estimate and calculate using scientific calculators. After these series of lessons several students said that when they go shopping they are going to make sure they are getting a sale.
Mrs. Emestica
Cool
We learned about the history of purses and that purses we first made for men then later became a fashion statement for woman. We also had a pet snake named Egypt visit and learned about the nature of snakes. Did you know that there was a war over chocolate? We learned that there was and that’s what made it wanted by other countries. Hey I cannot forget the live spider and his project. This student actually feed the spider a cricket triple its size. It took a couple of days but the spider tied its legs and hung the cricket out to dry. As in the famous words of a fifth grader -gross but quite interesting!
Mrs. Emestica
What are you reading?
Our story line up is quite interesting. In the advanced reading crew we are learning how to determine the author’s purpose for writing. We learned this with a simple activity. I had some magazines and newspapers and handed them out. The students had to find something they found interesting or something they liked to read. We determined that the brochures and advertisements were for the reader to be influenced to buy something. The cartoon section of the newspaper was for entertainment and so was the listing of movies and the sports section. Some magazines want to bring awareness of things and some are for mere enjoyment. Now we know why there are so many different authors with many different views.
Mrs. Emestica
Imagine
5E entered a writing contest and some of the students won. This was tied into a lesson that taught the students how to use our imaginations. They had to write in descriptive language for the purpose of taking our reading audience into our imaginary world. Great Job 5th grade.
Mrs. Emestica