Election Time

You probably couldn't go very long in your day without some sort of reminder that the presidential election is rapidly approaching.  We are being bombarded with information from all sides from everywhere.  And, as you know, tonight is the second debate. 
Although the fifth graders aren't old enough to have their votes counted towards the election of the candidates or issues, their votes will be counted in the KidsVote election.  All students will be given the opportunity to vote in our school polling place on election day and their votes will be counted.  If you would like to talk with your child about the candidates or issues on the ballot, here are a couple of helpful resources:

http://www.timeforkids.com/minisite/election-2012

http://www.kidsvotingmissouri.org/

Enjoy the debate tonight and this exciting time of history in the making! 

Beginning Book Clubs

Our historical fiction book clubs have just recently gotten underway.  These clubs were organized by student choice and each group has created its own constitution by which it will operate.  I have been so impressed by their enthusiasm for their clubs and the way they are really seizing ownership of this learning opportunity.  All students in the room are participating in a small book club as well as a whole-class club.  Our whole class club is serving as the model for our work in the smaller groups.  As a class we are reading a novel by Scott O'Dell called My Name Is Not Angelica.  This novel documents the life of an African princess who was sold into slavery and brought to an island in the Bahamas to work on a plantation.  The class has done a great job of empathizing with this main character, and finding connections between this story and our study of American history.  As they read, they mark their thinking using sticky notes.  You can see they are doing some "close reading" and digging into this novel. 

 I hope this enthusiasm will carry over into the reading they are doing on their own and perhaps some of the conversations they have at home about what they are learning.  Happy reading! 

Catching Up

I have to apologize for the long break since the last post.  We have had quite a busy time and now I feel like there is a lot of catching up to do!

Last week we had our first buddy reading time with our buddy class, Mrs. O'Dea's second graders.  We began by interviewing our buddies and then sharing stories together.  The fifth graders were so impressed with the great reading and thinking skills of their buddies.  It was a fabulous opportunity to build relationships in our school community and we look forward to future meetings together.

We also went on our first field trip for the year to Cahokia Mounds.  The purpose of this field trip was for the students to learn about and experience first hand one of our nation's first cities from the ancient Mississippian civilization.  Although it was cold and rainy, we took full advantage of our time and even shared a special moment outside viewing the mounds while Mr. Mayer played a Native American drum and flute.  His music was punctuated by lightning and thunder, which gave us all chills as we reflected on what it must have been like to live so long ago in that ancient city.

Finally, I have to share something touching about our wonderful classroom community.  For a while now, the students have been writing notes of thanks, kindness, and encouragement to our night custodian, Mrs. Patty Nelson, on their desks before leaving at the end of the school day.  Each day after school when she comes to clean our classroom, including the desktops, she sees these kind words.  When we arrived at school Friday morning, Mrs. Patty had left a note for us on the board and a little something for each student on their desks.  How wonderful to see the kindness of the students and how they are building relationships with everyone in the Captain community to be leaders in our school.  I am so proud of them and so honored to be their teacher.