Remember when?

Remember November and December?  It really flew by!

Remember when I was more consistent with posting our classroom antics?  It seems that Halloween happened and someone hit the hyper-drive switch and now we're on the verge of winter break.

Pesky hyper-drive.

We have been up to so much more than could possibly fit in one update, but I wanted to share some highlights.

Our literacy has been largely focused on non-fiction reading and how people argue and advocate for a variety of debatable issues.  Students have written history research reports on topics ranging from the Harlem Renaissance to the history of donuts.  In the process, I have learned a lot and I know they have, too.  When we return from break we will delve into persuasive essay writing.

We have been studying physics in the science lab with Mrs. Hwande, and it has been great fun.  Students have designed controlled experiments to test their hypotheses and learned about force and motion.  Upon our return from break, we will continue in the science lab studying mixtures and solutions.  I cannot emphasize enough how much fun science is in fifth grade.

Fifth graders just completed their first official algebra chapter of their educational careers in math.  Although they've been exposed to algebraic reasoning since kindergarten, this was the first time they've used variables in mathematic expressions to describe number patterns or solve for unknowns.  This chapter was largely for exposure (not mastery) in order to prepare them for their more formal study in middle school.  We will skip chapter 6 for now and return to it later in the school year, which means we will start ratios in January.  This is perfect because we will also be using ratios in our science unit.  I love when everything comes together!

We had our annual "day of choirs" and Captain's Chorus sang with the middle schoolers and high schoolers in an amazing moment.  Check it out:

We celebrated raising $9,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society in honor of Simeon.  We have also celebrated Simeon's return to school!

As a part of our argument and advocacy unit, we learned about bias and "busted" some stereotypes.

Last Friday, our school celebrated our annual Holiday Sing.  Fifth graders really represented by taking on leadership roles helping kindergarten, ringing bells, playing strings, and singing in the chorus.  A special treat was the recognition of two students from our class to light the candle for Candlelight Canon.  Although we have tremendous examples all around us everyday in all of our students, we are happy for Simeon and Maria who lit the candle together for all of us.

Thank you for sharing your joyful, empathetic, growing children with me everyday.  I hope you all enjoy a safe and memorable winter break.  I look forward to hearing all about it next year!  ;)

Just another manic Monday!

Happy Halloween, families!

Boy, have we been having fun lately!  As you know, our class was overjoyed to celebrate our fundraising in honor of our fighter, Simeon, on Friday.  What a great way to kick off the weekend!

And then to come back Monday for even more celebrations!

We launched into the day with the Marshmallow Challenge with our learning buddies from Ms. Franzen's class.  It was a blast!

Then, of course, we had our Halloween parade and party this afternoon.  Thank you to all of the families who brought supplies and volunteered to help out at this event!  It was a success for sure!

I leave you with the latest additions to our "Team Simi" hair-dos.  No hair is the new trend!  :)

Hair Friday, Gone Monday!

Check out Ms. Langenbacher's generous donation!

The secret life of teachers...

So you all thought that teachers just sit around and work on "papers" on these days when we don't have students, I'm sure.

Joke's on you!  We've been dancing!

Here are some "instructional videos" to help the kids prepare for the Halloween performance in front of the school.  Parents, if you want to be surprised, look away...or if you want to save me the embarrassment of knowing you saw my dance moves, look away...  ;)

I can't lie, I'm no Ron Clark.  I actually am doing a lot of paperwork.

Happy dancing!

Perfect pajama day!

We had a really great pajama today that started off with a lot of excitement.
I was just grateful to have a helper count the money!  ;)

Our Captain community accomplished something incredible today.  It was so incredible, it was absolutely necessary to interrupt class and be announced over the intercom with Dr. Doherty as witness:

This was before I knew that Wydown Middle School was sending over donations this afternoon.  In total, we collected over $1000 just today!

A huge thank you to all of you for supporting Simeon and his family, for your generous contributions, and for spreading the word about our fundraiser.  Even though we exceeded our goal, our fundraiser is still scheduled for another week.  Please continue sharing the link and talking it up so we can really blow our goal out of the water.

http://events.lls.org/pages/gat/RalphMCaptainElementarySchool-2017  

As promised, I'm so excited to shave my head in front of the school!  It will take place Friday, October 28th at the very end of the day.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Empowered through giving.

"We rise by lifting others." - Unknown

Our class has begun a new routine this month.  We call it "Watering Flowers."  At the end of the day, we take time to give each other compliments, which helps us grow.  It's lovely, and a beautiful way to close out the day together.  

We have been having a lot of conversations about giving and helping others in relationship to our mindset for learning and with our fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Simeon.  Today Camryn came in with a surprise!  She had pledged to donate her hair when our donation efforts collected $500.  We are remarkably at over $1,600 already!  Check out Camryn's giving:

We decided to watch this video to find out what happens when a person donates their hair:

Sometimes when you feel powerless to help a situation, finding a way to give of yourself can be empowering.  I, like many of the students, want to be able to help Simeon's fight.  Our fundraiser is a way we can help support him and other children and families battling Leukemia.

If you would like to share a web-link to collect donations for our school fundraiser benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Simeon, please use this link:
http://events.lls.org/pages/gat/RalphMCaptainElementarySchool-2017

Thanks so much for everything you do to teach your children the importance of helping others!

5th Grade Is Magical

I'm sure you read "magical" and assumed I'm being cheesy, but I'm only using the words of the students.  We've had some things happen to make us think this way.

For instance, who can deny that this gorgeous rainbow outside our window was magical?

Or that this sleepy raccoon outside our window had just a little magic involved? 

But, I'd also contend that learning can be magical, too.  In social studies, students have been learning about characteristics of civilizations and presenting their learning about Native American cultures.  We have also been practicing note-taking, collaborating with other classes, and gleaning information from primary and secondary source documents.  

Last week, we excavated a sunken ship to discover how artifacts might give us clues to the motivations of European sailors from the 15th century.  Don't believe there was a sunken ship in the middle of the fifth grade suite?  I can prove it:

See?  The magic is everywhere!  And, even when life doesn't seem to be bringing the magic, we can try to sprinkle it in as much as possible.  Friday was our friend, Simi's, birthday.  He couldn't spend it with us, so the whole fifth grade called him up and sang to him.  

As you can probably tell, we have been very busy.  We can't wait to tell you more about our learning in our upcoming parent teacher conferences.  Don't forget to sign up for your time slot to hear from your child about her/his learning in fifth grade thus far and goals for the school year: 

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084ba5ae22a5f58-mrs1