Oh Boy!

Goodness! There are some really cool things I look forward to sharing with you this week. Here are just a couple:

Edmodo:
Edmodo is an online classroom communications tool for teachers and students to share Notes, Files, links, and assignments similar to Twitter or Facebook. Do you know what Twitter and Facebook are? To start, we will use it to communicate during class and outside the classroom, just a safe place to "chat." Eventually, we will use it in other inventive ways.

click on this link to check out edmodo

Dropbox:
Forget your zip drive but still want to access your school files at home? Now there is an online resource where you can drop your file in your own online storage resource and access the file from home. It can hold just over 2GB, so it is perfect for all your word documents (items with graphics will consume more space than just words). You can look into this on your own, but we will go over this this week!

Doodle for GOOGLE:
Doodle for Google- (borrowed from Mrs. Carrie Ory's Brookdale site)
… Become a doctor with my own TV show.
… Invent rocket shoes that let you fly.
… Open a zoo for the world’s endangered animals.
Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where K-12 students are invited to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. At Google, we believe that dreaming about future possibilities leads to tomorrow’s leaders and inventors, so this year we're inviting U.S. kids to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "What I’d like to do someday…"

Whether students want to find a cure for cancer or take a trip to the moon, it all starts with art supplies and some 8.5" x 11" paper. And, one lucky student artist will take home a $15,000 college scholarship and $25,000 technology grant for their school, among many other prizes. Please turn in all entries to Mrs. Grezlik by 3/10 with the attached sheets. I will fill in the registration information.

Brookdale site for entry forms

For those of you who don't know what we teachers do on our Institute Days or Teacher Work Days, these are the kinds of things we are learning and I hope they work to engage you in your own learning.

Now - you better not still be awake! It is currently 9:03 and you have ISATs tomorrow. Get to sleep!!

ISAT WEEK!

Hi everyone! Do you like the new look?

This week, we will administer the ISAT tests in the subjects of reading and math. Here are some things you can do to really prepare yourself for doing the best job possible:

1. Get a good night's sleep
This means going to bed before 9 and sleeping until the sun comes up. Your growing and changing body needs at least 9 hours of sleep a day to function at its best. I know some of you are in the habit of staying up late. This does not make you cool. No one is there watching you in admiration as you put stress on your body as it is fighting with you for the sleep it desperately needs. GET TO SLEEP!!

2. Eat a good breakfast (and lunch).
Eating a well balanced breakfast, which means from a few different food groups, will help your body function well all day long. Just having a bagel is not enough. Your body needs some form of protein in the morning, like peanut butter, nuts (if you're not allergic), cheese, yogurt, etc. That will stave off hunger, which can greatly distract you during the test!

3. Drink enough water!!
If you aren't already in the habit of bringing in water, bring a water bottle for the days we are testing at least. Water is what your body's cells needs to stay hydrated and function at optimal levels. Do you not have a clue to what I just said? You probably aren't drinking enough water. The experts say you will know you are drinking enough water when you go to the bathroom and your urine is not yellow. I know you are going, "EEEWWW, Mrs. Grezlik, gross....!"

New Post - It's been too long....

Hi there kids! So, It is time to post again. A lot of you were asking what I am doing today during Institute Day. I am in a class learning how to incorporate more technology into your learning day! I am learning about wikis and how we can use them in the classroom and you can use them at home, too! I will write more later!

Are you ready for Friday?

Hi there! If you answered "YES!" to the question in my post's title, that means you:

- have adequately studied the 13 original colonies and know how to place them on a
map (use links on the right hand margin!)

- have adequately studied the names of the original 13 colonies and can spell the names and capitalize them appropriately (use links on the right hand margin!)

- have read your fluency to a parent and have prepared to answer the questions on the back of the passage (or have a no homework pass to turn in for it)

- have created a survey for math class and have the catergories listed, ready for people to participate in your data collection (or, for Mr. Klein's class, have link 6.7 done)

- have had a tiring week and just want the weekend to begin!!!

See you tomorrow!

Information about spelling contract and....

Sorry I couldn't find the spelling tests before you left on Friday. I finally weeded through and found them and here are the results. The only 2 people off contract for Unit 18 are P.A. and K.Z. They got 100% on Unit 16 and Unit 17 alternate list tests. In a couple weeks, we will go back to taking a base list pretest to get on the alternate list for those of you who want the chance to be off contract. The people who got 100% on Unit 17 alternate list are as follows:
L.A.
P.A.
E.D.
A.P.
S.P
H.S.
D.S.
K.Z.
Those people listed above, if you get 100% on the test THIS week (unit 18), you will be off contract. Remember, you must get 100% on the alternate list 2 weeks in a row to be eligible for no contract work - it doesn't mean you don't need to study.

Contract work for Q2 will include 3 activities but now you need to complete 15 sentences from your assigned list. I will have this up on the homework board.

MORE:Math homework - my class needs to complete the graph for the Perfect Snack Mix. Also, work on using the geometry template creating different pie graphs. Be ready for an entrance slip on Monday where you will wow me with your knowledge!!

Wednesday for our field trip, I will allow for a morning snack before we leave for Robert Crown. It must be a healthy snack. We will be back for a late lunch in the classroom so you need to bring your lunch that day.

Test on Iditarod Dream will be on Tuesday.

Bring that report card envelope back signed by this Friday. Also, talk to your parents about your middle school options and bring that note back to me signed once you've made your decision!

Have a ggggreeeeeaaaat weekend! GO BEARS!!!

One post is ok!

So, this was not a stellar week for me with posting. I have been (and am) under the weather so I am not my usual self. However, here is what to expect the next few days:

Have your 5 paragraph essay about the ideal colony to live in (with detailed reasons) set and ready to type tomorrow. You will have 25 minutes to type it up and print it out tomorrow (this can be done at home and you can turn it in right away for free computer time! BONUS!)

Iditarod Dream - did you take adequate notes so you can complete the sequencing activity without your book tomorrow? Be able to sequence the events I give you in the order they happen. Test next Tuesday.

Math - my class has a 2 sided 5.10 link and Mr. Klein's class has 2 journal pages

Spelling - Unit 18 test and contract due next Wednesday.

Hill Principal, Darell Echols, came to visit the 5th graders today to talk about the options that they have for middle school. We talked at length about this in class after the meeting. This decision needs to be made now for the "track" you want to be on in middle school. IF you have questions, please email me. I will send an email out to my list serve about it as well.

We had a fun and educational assembly today with a puppet show about Native Americans. There is another show tonight at 6:30 - different story!