Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

This past week has reminded many of us how infectious the holiday spirit can be.  While some fret the "holiday week," for various reasons, we embrace the opportunity to provide meaningful learning to our students.  Yes our room was giddy with excitement for the upcoming days, but that giddiness is why so many educators (including myself) went into teaching in the first place.  This week was all about completing tasks, teamwork, and having fun.  I think we accomplished all of that and more.

Our first blizzard of this winter also blanketed our area with nearly a foot of snow, which only added to the holiday buzz around our school today as students sang at the Winter Sing Along, which was supposed to be yesterday.

If listening to children sing holiday songs, with hopes and dreams attached to each, does not get you excited for the holidays, I am not sure what will.  Great job this afternoon!

 

Enjoy the time off with your families, as both Mrs. Olson and I (Mr. Hendricks) also intend to do. See you in 2013!

**The above digital card was made with Wordle.net and PowerPoint.**

Why we like True Flix...

Below is a group of students explaining why they enjoy using True Flix in our classroom:

Snowstorm Brianna is brewing up.  As we prepare for our first large winter storm and/or blizzard, we would like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Holiday and New Year!

~Mr. Hendricks and Mrs. Olson

Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Debate

Today our fifth graders took part in a class debate, which we have spent weeks preparing for.  The debate was on the topic of solutions to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Area.  Leading up to the debate our students studied the effects of various groups of people on the watershed: waterman, recreational boaters, dairy farmers, land developers, and ordinary citizens.  Each group had to determine one major way they contribute to the pollution problem of the bay, along with three solutions, the pros and cons of the solutions, and lastly trade-offs they would make with other groups in order to clean up the bay.

Yesterday groups presented their findings.  While listening, the viewing groups had to take careful notes on what they heard.  Many students took note of items they wanted to further discuss/debate.  This morning, when our students arrived, we transformed our room into a "community hall."  As you can see in the picture, groups had designated areas, where they could easily see and listen to each other.

The debate went so well that an hour and a half into it, students were floored that they had debated so long, and upset to take a snack and bathroom break.  When returning, they began firing away at each other, once again.  We ended up debating this morning, staying on topic, from 7:45 to 10:45 (with a 15 minute break).  Talk about stamina!  These kids love a good debate!

Following the debate, students "voted" on the trade-offs we chose.  We used a Google Form, which works much the same as a Survey Monkey.  We are in the process of counting up all of the votes, but at first glance, it appears as though all of our trade-offs passed unanimously.

Great day in the classroom.  Excellent "hands-on" learning experience for all!  

...AND THE RESULTS ARE IN:

(Screencast created with Screenr: www.screenr.com)

We used a Google Form to gather "votes" after our debate.  Below is the form we used:

Students Teaching Students

In one of our L.E.A.P. classes we recently read about and discussed, in our Scholastic News, whether or not students should have homework.  In my (Mr. Hendricks) L.E.A.P. class, we then wrote a short 12323234 paragraph stating which side we take, along with three additional details.  This took a neat turn when we fired up our netbooks.

In my L.E.A.P. class, half the students are from my homeroom, and the others are from various other fifth grade classrooms.  Because of time restraints, I asked my homeroom students to partner up with the other students to lead them through turning on the netbooks, signing into their school Google accounts, checking their emails from me (which included one shared example Doc and one shared template Doc), opening both, copying the template, and giving it a title.

If you did not realize it, above were several steps, which in a small time span, can make class stressful.  That said, my homeroom students taking the lead created a VERY low stress learning environment.  Rather than me running back and forth in my room helping one student and then another, my students did the work.  THEY LOVED IT and did a great job.

By my students taking the lead, we completed what I have experienced to take easily 45 minutes on my own, in 15 minutes.  With the remaining time, our class was able to spend time reviewing and learning how to write a 12323234 paragraph.  Students easily finished and created easy to read paragraphs in just a little over one class period...largely because of my student helpers!

Great job students!

Google Presentations Creates Collaboration

Today was the final day for our students to work on their debate presentations.  Students will be debating about the effects that various groups of people (waterman, farmers, recreational boaters, ordinary citizens, and land developers) place on an ecosystem.  In this case, our model ecosystem is the Chesapeake Bay.  Our students have been preparing to challenge each other on many topics.  Within their presentation, they must state how their group negatively effects the bay, three solutions to their problem, and the pros & cons of their solution.  Lastly, they must also initiate trade-offs with other groups.  For example, if we fish less, your group will pay more for our fish.  The trade-offs are what will build our day two debate.

To create our presentations, students have been using (and loving) Google Presentation.  Google Presentation is Google's take on Microsoft PowerPoint.  Perhaps the best and worst part of Presentation is the lack of bells and whistles.  Students want more, but quickly realize they don't need more.  What they have in front of them is perfect.  

Google Presentation also allows our students to work in the cloud.  They can work on their presentation at home, in a car (assuming the device they are using connects to the 3G/4G network), in our school, or while on a vacation.  Today, one student even entered the presentation from his couch at home (because he was too sick to come to school).  Google Presentation can offer one thing, that Microsoft PowerPoint cannot touch: Collaboration.  Our students are beginning, without knowing it, to reap the benefits of working in collaborative groups.  Check some of the images from our collaborative work time today, below:

Classroom Google Summit (Day 2) and Glenbrook Gobbler

Today we completed the second day of our 1st Annual Classroom Google Summit.  Today's focus was largely to do with using Google Docs and learning some new command keys, which simplify certain commands.  We tried to put a Thanksgiving twist on our activity, so write when students came today they had to log into their Google account, create a new document, and then begin producing a list of as many "things" they could think of, of which they are thankful for.  Many students surprised us with lists that were over a page long within just 10 minutes!  

After specials, we moved our class into our school's Library Media Center to use the mini laptops.  We did this, because the next activity involved printing.  Our students did not know that the end result would be a word cloud on Wordle, but were curious when we began asking them to copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) words that were most important to them.  We also taught our students how to undo (Ctrl+Z) mistakes, since they sometimes over copied or deleted when trying to paste.  We suggested that the most important items be copied and pasted 5 times, next 4 times, and so on.  Eventually, all of our 28 students created some great lists.  Another tip, we introduced our students to the tilde (~) key, which we renamed the "Squiggle Key," which is used in the place of a space bar when trying to keep two words together.  

Next, students selected all (Ctrl+A) of words, copied them, and then pasted them into a blank Wordle canvas: www.wordle.net/create.  We chose to go right to the create page, in order to avoid the gallery and other random clouds.  With the click of the Go button, students had a unique way to see what they were most thankful for.  Within a word cloud, the words that students typed in most often were very large.  The less times they typed in a word, the smaller it appeared. Students were able to print two copies, one for school and one for home.  Below a look at our hallway "Thankful" word clouds and the example I created for our students(to the left):

The starting line

This afternoon our phyiscal education teacher held our school's 1st Annual Glenbrook Gobbler.  It was a 1-mile run/walk, promoting health and wellness.  We had two waves.  The first wave consisted of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who qualified with a mile time under 9 minutes in gym class this fall.  The second wave was for all other 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  It was an excellent way to send our students off for their Thanksgiving break.  Check out some of the action below:

Runners giving it their all

Mr. Slempkes racing towards the finish!

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Mr. Hendricks and Mrs. Olson

Google Summit - Classroom Style!

Last week Monday and Tuesday, Mrs. Olson and I had the pleasure of traveling to Wisconsin Dells to the 2012 Midwest Google Summit.  The summit was a gathering of educators from all over the midwest, even one from India, who came together to grow professionally with Google Apps for Education.  While attending, we both had the opportunity to listen and learn from many fantastic educators on topics such as: Google Apps, Chrome extensions, sharing features (beyond typical Document sharing), using Sites for ePortfolios, and more!  The two days turned out to inspire the both of us to try something a bit different within our classroom.

On our road trip home, we planned and organized our first ever Classroom Google Summit.  We figured, two days of school (prior to Thanksgiving) and we still have some major Google "Things" that we wanted to get our students familiar with.  So, this morning, our summit began, with one student in particular very excited to get our "Geek Week" underway (to the left).

Our first order of business was discussing in detail our Gmail accounts.  We know our students enjoy using their email accounts, but to what extent we were unsure.  We would like them to use their accounts for communication purposes, as well as in an educational manner.  I found a great article from Education World which provided the "ABC's of Email Etiquette."  We discussed each of these.  Afterwards, each student received one of the letters, of which they then attempted to create a "Glogster" poster of their letter.  Later in the morning, students each selected another student in the class to email their letter and description to.  Their email had to include a descriptive subject, a salutation, a brief description/body, and a closing.  They then replied to their classmate who wrote to them.  Our simple email etiquette lesson went well.  Hopefully students will use some of the rules they learned.


After emailing, we took some time to set up personal blogs.  We used Blogger, which is one of Google's educational apps.  In setting up the blogs, we secured them from the outside world.  While students did not get any time to play with "design" features within Blogger, they did begin their first blog post.  They had to write a post describing similarities and differences between the City of Ember movie and book (which we recently finished).  Their post also had to include which they would prefer, if only one choice, the movie or book.  Not that surprised, because it is very good, many students opted for the book only.


So, our first day of our Classroom Google Summit has come to a close.  Tomorrow our agenda will include better Google search strategies (including finding images that can be used or modified), getting to know Drive, and using the research feature within Docs.  Should be fun!


  

We Made It!

Today we earned our all school reward for our new behavior program, PBIS. The whole school was invited to watch Chinese acrobats.  We were all very impressed with the talents of these acrobats.  We can't wait to show respectful, responsible, and safe behavior to earn another school reward!

(If you look close, some students even got to participate and try to work the lasso.)

LEAPing Our Way to Success

It is good to say, I am back (Mr. Hendricks).  My wife and I recently welcomed our newest member to the family, another little girl.  We feel so grateful to have such a wonderful, growing family.

That said, onto the school stuff...

This year our school adopting a program designed to meet EVERY students' needs in reading, according to their NWEA MAP scores from this year and years past.  With the scores, our students have been designated a fifth grade teacher to work with for 35 minutes per day on a specific skill using non-fiction text. Our block of time, which is called "L.E.A.P.", takes place from 10:50 to 11:25 each day, focusing on reading.  Specificially, we are currently working on improving the MAP strand of summarizing, so our groups are working on the skills: identifying main ideas and summarizing text.

Each teacher is designing lessons which meet his/her class where his/her class is at, according to their instructional level.  Along with focusing on a similar strand or focus, ALL of our fifth grade students are also using Scholastic News / Weekly Reader for their non-fiction text.  Recently, our students studied and learned more about the recent election and the various issues which the election focused on.  Now, groups are moving forward with new topics, but all are usually current events.  

For example, my small group is using the Scholastic News issue titled "Too Much Soda?"  In the issue students are learning about the effects of soda and will have to form their own opinion of whether or not this drink should be banned or at least used in moderation.

One feature we really like is the interactive website created by Scholastic News, which is currently free for ANYONE to use.  On this website, students, teachers, and families can access a digital copy of the current magazine we are reading, print off worksheets/extra practice sheets, or play games related to the topics in the article.  Definitely worth checking out: http://goo.gl/78Qbr.

We are excited to see our our L.E.A.P. time moves our students closer to their reading MAP goals and if this time makes our students feel more successful, one leap at a time.
  

Toontastic App for Realistic Fiction

Writing can be fun, so long as we create opportunities to make it fun.  In our "Work on Writing," we always encourage our students to choose topics/themes that are of high interest to them, for example: bugs, Africa, the Declaration of Independence, math stories, etc.  

Our next major writing theme is realistic fiction.  To get our students psyched to write this sort of genre, we are reading as much realistic fiction as possible, in guided reading, whole group reading, and our read aloud (Freak the Mighty).  We are also encouraging students to begin trying to write realistic fiction.  We have chatted about the basics of realistic fiction, pointing out the need for character and plot development.  

One way we are practicing organizing a realistic fiction story is using the app Toontastic as a graphic organizer, practicing story development, and of course for some fun!  Toontastic is a free, educational app, which can even provide adults with lots of entertainment.  

In the app, students must develop their characters, choose the setting, and create a plot.  The plot builds all the way up to its climax, and finishes with a resolution.  Students are able to create their own characters, or use the ones provided.  They also get to choose music apporopriate to the "mood" of their story.  A final tidbit of fun, the creator does his/her own voice overs.

In the past (I don't know why) we did not introduce this app in the same way as this year.  It will be exciting to see if the app develops into a favorite this year.  As with all the apps we use in our classroom, the goal is to introduce something educational and fun.  We love hearing when our students go home and download the same apps at home as what we use at school.  Educational apps can be fun!

Congratulations Mr. Hendricks!

I just wanted to update everyone and congratulate the Hendricks' family on the arrival of their new baby girl! She was born on October 24, 2012.  We started our first day with Mrs. Diefenthaler and the day went pretty smoothly.

Botanical Gardens Field Trip

Yesterday our class, along with Mr. Slempkes' and Ms. Ermers' class, went to the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.  We visited three eco-systems: a pond, a forest, and a garden.  This field trip was in a way a wrap-up to our current science unit, which focuses on ecosystems.  We had a great day, despite some dreary weather.  Check out the slideshow/video below!

**WILL ADD VIDEO BACK IN LATER!!**

On a side note, we began our morning at Pamperin Park for some pre-field trip fun and lunch. 

Acids and Bases with the PH Scale

In class we are getting ready to move on from just knowing how our eco-columns work, to how pollution elements effect both the carbon-dioxide oxygen cycle and the water cycle.  Sounds complicated, but not so much.  We are focusing on three pollutants that are fairly common to the Pulaski area: Road Salt (winter is just around the corner...YIKES!), Acid Rain (using a water/vinegar solution), and Fertilizer (common house-plant fertilizer).  We will not be polluting our actual eco-columns, because they are still alive and well, but rather the three eco-columns we built specially for this experiment.  

That said, yesterday we tested the acidity level of seven commonly found household liquids  using litmus paper: tap water, coffee, Coke, liquid fertilizer, diluted vinegar  lemon juice, and lime juice   The goal was for our students to see how acidic or basic different liquids are, and to begin thinking how those liquids, in larger quantities could effect an environment.

Check out some of our activities below:

Win Looks "Likely"!

In math we began studying "Chance Events."  We are going to be spending some time using the Probablility Chart (to the left) quite a bit the rest of the unit and periodically throughout the remainder of the school year.  Today we discussed how with the probability chart students can compare fractions, decimals, and percents.  

Specifically today, we spent our time learning how to determine the odds of "something" occurring.  Some "things" occur more often than others.  For example, the odds that a baby will be born a boy or girl we learned is "50-50" or 50%.  We talked about the odds of various natural disasters occurring.  We thought about the chances that someone can swim.

After we did that, we finalized the afternoon by taking a guess at the chance that we think the Green Bay Packers will beat the Houston Texans this coming Sunday.  We had a "VERY" serious talk about factors that might play into their decision, for example: back-up running backs and wide receivers, Aaron Rodgers getting sacked too much, the Texans have not lost yet, etc.

With all that in mind, students put the percent chance (they think) the Packers will win this coming Sunday on our probability meter.  Take a look for yourself.  

Do you agree with our results?  

I guess we will find out just how close our guesses are this coming Sunday.  We will let you know the results then.

"Go Pack Go!"  

Lost Colony of Roanoke

In Social Studies we are discussing the arrival of the English in North America.  Today we discussed a group of colonists who came to North America (specifically an island off of the coast of North Carolina, called Roanoke Island) with governor John White.  The colonists came too late in the summer season for food to grow properly, so White and a crew went back to England to get more supplies.

However, because of a recently erupted war between England and Spain, White was forced to leave his family, friends, and community behind at Roanoke for THREE years!  When White returned, he was shocked to see NO evidence that the community existed at all.  The settlers whom he had brought with three years earlier were gone, including his family and grand daughter (Virginia Dare), without a trace.

In addition to reading about this in our text, we also watched the first 12 minutes of the video below to get a better idea of what happened at Roanoke.

Video used from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaqG6rC4hIw

Today, we are left only with many clues and theories as to what happened at Roanoke.  Below is an image of the book we used to learn about five theories, which explain the disappearance of the colonists.

 Due on Friday (October 12), students need to write a 1,2,3,2,3,2,3,4 paragraph explaining which theory they believe.  If they want, using the provided evidence, they can create their own disappearance theory.  

A Few Views...

In our classroom we integrate lots of technology and 21st century skills.  That said, we also work on becoming independent learners.  The below collage is just a mini-glimpse into our classroom during one of our "Daily 5" rounds this morning.  Along with independence, students have choice.  As you can see, books are definitely alive and well in our class, whether it is paper or electronic.  Magnetic letters are great for word study, but so is our SMARTboard.  Google Docs are becoming the norm for work on writing.  

Homework and Technology Night 2012

Last night we hosted our second annual "Homework and Technology Night."  The evening was in some ways an open-house for families to come in and see what we are up to in our class, as well as explain various activities that we are doing both inside and outside of the classroom.

The evening began with free time, popcorn, and a soda...and ended much the same.  

Thank you to all that were able to attend.  There is nothing official yet, but ideas are already churning in our heads for a potential "Spring Showcase" event.  That is a ways down the road.  

Don't forget, our parent teacher conferences will be held on Monday, October 15 and Tuesday, October 16.  If you have not yet signed up, please do not hesitate to contact either of us to set up an appointment.

For those who were unable to make the event last night, below is the Slide Rocket presentation that we used for discussion points.

Making Word Study Fun with Story Lines App

Image borrowed from:
http://goo.gl/vlM1j

This morning we introduced Story Lines, one of the many educational apps our students will use on our iPads.  Story Lines is similar to the traditional game "Telephone," where one person passes on the message to the next person, until the final person reveals what was (hopefully) the original message.

Story Lines is a bit different, however.  In this game, the first player writes down a word/phrase. The very next person's job is to draw that word/phrase without using any words or phrases.  The third person then guesses what word/phrase the previous person drew.  You can choose this option to go on and on for several rounds.

The way we will use Story Lines in our classroom could vary from using it to practice word meaning (vocabulary) to retelling an important part in our Social Studies text.  It is all about being creative, and of course having fun!

One of the best parts about this app...it is free!  Follow this link to learn more about the app and/or to download it to your iDevice.

iTunes Store: http://goo.gl/o5r7g

**Currently, this app is not available on the Android Market.

Day 2 Fun with True Flix

Brief update on our day two experiences with True Flix...

Just wanted to share a couple of short videos of students using True Flix during one of their Daily 5 Rounds today (Read to Self).  Many of our students chose to use this website today, probably since it was new (and did not cooperate with our network yesterday).  As you can see in each short video, some students are watching the "preview" movie (which provides background knowledge), while others are reading the e-book associated with the topic of choice.  Something already very impressive about each e-book, is the amount of content, the read along voice and highlighting, and the provided vocabulary.  An extra feature we found today was post reading "quizzes."  Pretty fun!

Next week, we will begin using True Flix more regularly in response to our upcoming "L.E.A.P." program.  In class students will choose their own topics, and then respond to that selection using the exit slip you see below.

In the near future, we would like to go digital with this exit slip, by offering it on a Google Form.  This way, students would be able to respond to their True Flix reading selections from their provided netbook, another computer lab, at home, or anywhere with internet access.  

Digital Non-Fiction Reading with True Flix

Today, via an early morning meeting with our school LMS, Mrs. Olson and I were introduced to what appears to be a great, new digital tool for our classroom.  Best part, is it is accessible at school and anywhere else where internet is accessible...so YES, it can be used at home!

True Flix:

http://auth.grolier.com/login/tfx/login.php

True Flix is a digital reading format.  It is a subscription service, which our school bought this year for students to use.  That said, it is necessary to use a username and password (which were given to your child today) to use the service.

Once logged in, students choose a "NON-FICTION" category of interest.  Check out all of their choices:

For this example, I chose "Ecosystems."  The following are the choices I would be given with Ecosystems:

If I choose "Tundra," or any of the above (and any category period), I am first given a video to watch, followed by a digital book to read:

While the video provides, perhaps, some needed background knowledge, the book provides tons of content on the chosen topic.  Students can highlight the vocabulary words to get their definitions.  There is a read along feature, where a digital voice reads the story while highlighting each word.  Plus, the table of contents is somewhat interactive.  

In class today we tried to get this interactive website up and running; however, the district's internet was not quite cooperative enough.  In the future, this website will be very beneficial to the "non-fiction" component of Common Core State Standards and our new L.E.A.P. program at school.

Feel free to log in to the website with your child and explore!  Remember, they should have their password in their student agenda.

"The Instructions"

Our current class read aloud is The City of Ember.  Just ask any student in our class, and they will tell you that it has them on the edge of their seats.  Even better, one of our main characters (Lina) has just discovered a very important document, which appears to be some sort of instructions.  Everyone in our class can tell you, these instructions do not seem ordinary.  Each student has been provided with a copy of the instructions, just like the copy to the right.  Many are already, anxiously, trying to crack the code.

If you have some time, encourage your child to "Retell" you what is currently happening in The City of Ember.

Additional information on this book can be found at:

• Info: http://goo.gl/XJYcI
• Audio format:  http://goo.gl/pl5fC
• Amazon: http://goo.gl/90aUh

Paragraphs Made Simple as "123...23...23...4!"

Today we introduced a simple to use paragraph writing structure that will be a regularly used, and referred to, strategy in our class.  It is called a "1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4 Paragraph."  If you are familiar with "Step Up to Writing," and its various color coding, you will find this paragraph structure similar.  The main difference, at least what we think, is that it allows for more depth and growth as a writer.

Check out the included Slide Rocket presentation to learn more about a 12323234 Paragraph:

Our first writing assignment of the school year will be a personal narrative.  Stay tuned for more!

Words Their Way Kickoff!

Today we kicked off "Words Their Way," which is the program we will use to help students become better spellers and word analyzers.  Students are in small groups, based on how they did on our Words Their Way pre-test.  Within our class, we have five small groups.  

"Word Study" Notebook Cover
with attached "Sort" Pocket

Students are responsible for their "Word Study" notebook, which will be used to document what they are working on with words.  On the cover you will notice a pocket.  The pocket is for students to keep their "sorts" in.

At the end of each sort, words will be either recycled or re-used, depending on how proficient students become with that particular sort.

When you open the notebook, you will notice a few items.  On the inside cover is a stapled in place, folded sheet of paper.  This is a general schedule, which could change depending on the week.  Currently, day 1 is Monday, 2 is Tuesday, 3 is Wednesday...and so on.  However, as soon as we have a couple of days off here and there, the Monday to Friday schedule goes out the door.  Students will catch on, since we practice routines on a regular basis.  On the backside of the schedule, you will also notice 9 (quite) small descriptions.  These are descriptions of the activities that students will do with their words.  Students are going to learn all of these activities at school, but we have included them so that if they forget, and an adult or sibling is helping them out and has no idea what a "Meaning Activity" is, they can simply look it up.  

The next thing you might find, especially after day 1's is a sheet of paper with your child's words on it.  We will cut these out on day 2's.  Until then, we begin each sort with a "Meaning Sort."  With this sort, students determine how familiar they are with a particular group of words.

Remember, our only goal with this Word Study program is not just spelling.  Of course we want each student to become fabulous spellers, but we also want them to begin to recognize word patterns and realize how words are formed.  All of those skills combined will make your child a more complete speller, writer, and reader.

Check out the following "Slide Rocket" to get an idea of the various activities we will complete and do this school year with Words Their Way: