Spring Break

I hope you're all having a wonderful Spring Break. I'm at a wonderful resort in Bear Lake, Utah. It's cold and snowing, but not enough to ruin a great week. See all of you when you return to school!

Happy Valentine's Day

Do you know how Valentine's Day began? Click here to see a video from the history channel to learn about it: Valentine's Day History

It's a New Quarter

Sometimes it seems that we've barely started this year, and yet we've already had a successful first half of 5th grade. Looking back at what we've learned so far, I'm very pleased. With the election of a new president, our class is looking to new beginnings too. What we make of our future is our choice. I challenge you to look ahead to the coming weeks and make a determination to focus on our tasks, continue to practice responsibility by doing your daily work, and improve in our citizenship and the way we treat ourselves and each other. As your teacher, I also promise to do everything I can do to help you reach your potential. You have a wonderful future in store for you, and it's my job to help you prepare for it. Let's begin the new quarter strong together!

Happy New Year

Welcome back to class on Monday. It's been a wonderful, snowy Christmas break, and now we're ready to finish up the first two weeks of the school year strong! These upcoming two weeks are the last two weeks of the second grading quarter, and the report cards will show your success in all of the areas we've worked so hard since 5th grade started. You'll appreciate the new seating arrangement too, with friends in your working group that you may not have spent much time with before. Come back with a smile - and excited to learn!

Merry Christmas!

I can't give away the secret of the gifts that we made in class for parents, but I can let you know that our class has been invited to share some of these treasures in a display of recycling in January. I'll let you know more about this when you come back in January.

I hope that your Christmas break is a wonderful one. The snow makes it feel very much like holidays, especially having cold weather outside and hot cocoa inside. Thank you all very much for the special holiday cards and gifts. See you in the new year!

Geometry: Tangrams

Our class is learning about TANGRAMS as we study geometric shapes. By linking to this site, you can arrange the shapes and learn about tangrams with us. A click of the right mouse button will rotate the shape, and shapes can be arranged to create interesting patterns and pictures!

The Planets

The class is beginning to study the Solar System and its planets. So far, we've learned about the Inner and Outer planets, as well as a few fact about each planet. We're taking the information we are learning, as well as finding pictures to illustrate each planet, and combining the pictures and information into a PowerPoint presentation in the computer lab. We'll be sharing our presentations with our 3rd grade friends in Mrs. Mahler's class in coming weeks. Ask your child about the PowerPoint presentation he or she is working on!