Missing Out!

Well, it sounds like I missed out on a super field trip on Friday to Norman Borlaug's family farm. Ms. Klenke took pictures of our darling 5B Angles and sent them to me. From the photos, it looked like students were quite interested in learning more about the Father of the Green Revolution. Ms. Klenke reported that 5B students are a well-behaved class. That's what EVERY teacher wants to hear about her babies while she's gone. Thanks, 5B for being your respectful selves...

As we start a new week, we say goodbye to MISIC and hello to a more normal schedule (for the most part). There will be a few make-up tests from the last 2 weeks, but the rest of us can get back into our routines starting on Monday. I've recorded all students scores and explained to each student where their strength areas are in the subcategories of each subject area. If parents or students would like more explanations, I'd be happy to chat. Just get ahold of me when it works for you.

Like I mentioned earlier, this week will be "normal" for the most part. However, there is a 3-hour early out on Wednesday with the Chipshoppe Fundraiser Assembly in the morning, and on Friday, the 5th graders have their Book-It Kick Off from 2:45 - 3:15. So, there are still a few events to fit into our week. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, the only thing you need for Friday is to show up. Everything else will be provided. It's so great to have 5B's families model the importance and enjoyment of reading! Can't wait to see you Friday.

Kids, I missed you on Friday. It was my first day of being without you this year. It made me sad to miss such a fun and important day. So, to prove you checked the blog this weekend, as you walk in the classroom Monday morning, tell me "It's OK, Mrs. Sorenson. I forgive you." That will make me feel better about missing out on our day last Friday. Thanks! See you in the A.M. Oh, and check out the Survey Question to the right of this post. Vote for your pick. Let's see which category has the highest results!

MISIC MISIC MISIC

MISIC - that's the word of the week. It seems that MISIC is driving our schedule everday this week. 5B students have been putting forth wonderful effort and serious attitudes in each of their tests so far. We only have one (for Science) left on Thursday. So, hang in there, babycakes, you can do it!!

Because MISIC testing is assiged to each section and grade, we need to change our schedules around each day and even the amount of time we have for classtime. This is difficult for me because I feel like I haven't seen my 5B Angels a whole lot since MISIC has started. So, like the kids, I am ready for MISIC to be over and done with for the fall. At least on Friday, we get to enjoy learning in a different way when we go on our field trip to the Norman Borlaug farm.

Hopefully, parents saw the note that came home yesterday that gave a heads-up to the Book-it Kick Off Jamboree we're having next Friday, Oct. 2 from 2:45 - 3:15 pm. We've invited only 1 guest for each student because we don't have much space for everyone, but we'll be having other events throughout the year that will encourage families to join us in class. As the day gets closer, I'll be asking students if they have someone coming to join them for a count of how many breadsticks we'll be ordering for our snacks!

Kids, in order to prove you checked the blog tonight, go to my webpage. Under the category of Kids ONLY, click on Songs and Chants. Find the chant called, 5B Class Chant. Try to learn it tonight, so when I teach it to the class tomorrow, you'll already know what to do!! Good luck!

Some Issues with Blogger This Weekend...

5B sat together on Friday towards the end of the day to share their thoughts about it being the end of another week of school. The students chose their Post Title to be... "Darn, it's Friday." The first paragraph was full of reasons why students were sad it was the end of the week. The reasons ranged from certain classes they enjoyed, certain teachers they'll miss, friends they'll miss, etc. The second paragraph shared feelings of students who felt like they were A-OKAY that it was Friday! They were ready for the weekend! We also made a Wordle of our thoughts for the first month of school for 5B. I saved the students' blog to work on it after they left school Friday, and when I went to tweak and post it, the words came up as garble-ee-goo. I tried and tried to save what 5B had wanted to share, but it was a mess! So, I'm sorry to my dear little angels that their blog was not shared the way they wanted it. We'll make sure to do a couple of them this week, ok?!!

I did manage to find the Wordle we created. It should be off to the right of this post. Click on it to view it larger.

I know it's late, so many students may not even be getting a chance to read this post. No matter the case, have a good night's rest, and we'll see you in the morning.

Why I am a Teacher....

There were several different comments made today that would give any teacher a warm, fuzzy feeling inside...
"Do we have to go home?"
"It's time to go already?"
"But I don't want to stop writing."
"Why don't we get to Read to Self today?"

And the one that tops them all...
"I like working on our timelines in social studies because we don't have to learn anything."

Today was a definitely good day for me as a teacher, to hear such positive comments about the school day. It's obvious that some students don't even realize they just might be learning something AND having fun at the same time!! Who would of thought?

Another warm fuzzy feeling I get is when I watch a particular YouTube video of a group of students singing their hearts out for a teacher. Kids, if your parents say it's okay, visit the link below and tell me your thoughts about the video tomorrow in school!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2p5augniQA

Have a great night... See you for a goofy schedule tomorrow!

Good Start to the Week!

Another good day in 5B! It sounds like science was quite a messy experience today...building layers and layers of soil and water?? Mrs. Halverson's hair was just about pulled all out by the end of the day with that crazy activity, but she said 5B handled themselves extremely well under the messy/crazy circumstances. That really shows good character, you guys! Being able to control yourself in new situations shows how sophisticated (huh...) you are! Keep it up.

A few students brought to my attention this morning that Dr. Norman Borlaug passed away this weekend. The field trip we have planned to his family farm is next Friday. This will make our visit even more special as we learn about his amazing accomplishments. To prove you checked the blog tonight, click on this link that shares a rap written by students sharing how important Dr. Norman Borlaug is and all he has done for our world. You should be able to listen to it as well. The beginning sounds a little funky, but I listened to it a few times and really liked what I learned and the rhythm it goes to.

http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/topics/borlaug/borlaug-rap.html

Have a great night! Let's have another fantabulous day on Tuesday!!

Fantastic Friday!

After some issues that were occurring outside of class last week and a serious class discussion, I am quite pleased to say that 5B showed all teachers what they are capable of on Friday. After a few volunteers sang us their best rendition, we sang and danced to the song, Respect. Even though it was a goofy day with a late start and an emotional day with September 11th, 5B received compliments from all teachers about their behaviors and respect. See, I told you guys!! Don't give up on yourselves so easily! What a great day we had.

Hopefully you noticed the slideshow of pictures to the right of this post. These are pictures from the first day of school through this past Friday, September 11th. The slideshow inlcudes 5B homeroom time and all sections of literacy class. I'll try to keep it updated after I get a good number of photos. Parents, if you signed a paper saying you didn't want your child's photos to be on the Internet, and you happen to see one, PLEASE let me know. I tried to be careful about which students were shown and not shown. Thanks! I appreicate your help.

I thought I'd give you a little heads up for the upcoming events the next 2 weeks. This Wednesday is a 3-hour early out with a bus evacuation drill in the morning. Thursday and Friday will be goofy because 5th graders will begin MISIC testing. 5B has their first test for MISIC (math) on Friday, but the schedule will be goofy Thursday because another 5th grade section begins their testing. The following week will continue to be confusing with more MISIC testing and a field trip to the Norman Borlaug Farm on Friday, September 25th. I'll send a note home with the kids early this week as a reminder of these events.

Often times with schedule changes, students get a little out of whack (as do the teachers!!). So, we'll do what we can to help them out, but 5B will need to do their best to stay focused and continue the respectful attitudes they demonstrated last week. Have a great rest of the weekend! Thanks for being such fun, excited learners, 5B! Your proof that you checked the blog this weekend is to tell me who won the long awaited Cy-Hawk battle on Saturday!!

Great in Class....Not Always Outside of It....

Happy Thursday...Again, I must say students from 5B have been "wow"ing me in the classroom and in our homeroom behaviors. Unfortunately, I haven't heard the same reviews from other parts of their day. There was major talking happening in math today with Mrs. Kuhn, some issues at recess with playing fairly during football and some hurtful comments about students having "germs." 5B and I had a discussion about this at the end of the day. I know how respectful and caring 5B can be because I see it in literacy and homeroom time, especially the last few days. So, it's disppointing that students aren't being their best all day long. Now, of course, the situations mentioned probably do not involve every 5B student, but as a whole, we need to think of how we want to be treated before we say or do something, right???

Today was NOT a terrible day. It just seems like we're taking a few steps backwards with our behaviors. I know this will happen from time to time, and we'll move on and work on these areas. I just know this group of students is capable of being fabulous. So, like President Obama said, most important of all, "Don't let yourself down."

Your proof of reading the blog tonight is to ask your parents how to sing the song "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. Then I'd like to hear a short rendition of it in the morning!!! Thanks for all your work and effort towards being the best students you can be!

Great Day!

Today was full of energy and great listening! So proud of my 5B Angels (ding). Not a lot to report or share today except to remind students and parents that MISIC testing is coming up next week. This will add yet another wrinkle to our goofy schedule, but we'll figure it out. Remember to send back your band notes so Mrs. Jones knows who to work with next week for instrument try-outs.

Kids (and parents), I found a cool site you might want to try out if you want to give your brain a challenge. Go to www.microgames.info Look under Logic Games and click on 3D Logic. The levels start out WAY easy, but then it gets more and more difficult. It's a bit addicting. I made it to level 18 before I got stuck and needed a break. See what you can do! Parents should try some, too.

Have a great night! Tomorrow is actually a normal day! Can you believe that?

Tired Tuesday...

It is obvious 5B students had at least some fun over the long weekend because they were TOTALLY tired today. I shouldn't complain about students who are calm and quiet, but 5B was a little out of it after the excitement of their weekends. I guess I was a bit, too! We'll see what tomorrow brings with our energy level!

Today we made it a point to share President Obama's speech with the 5th graders. We weren't able to watch it live because of our goofy schedules, but we did share the speech with them at the end of the day. It was great to hear all of 5B's reactions and points they felt were important to take from the speech. The one that kept coming up was "don't let yourself down." I think that was a powerful message to take. When we think of any part of our school day, we should remember that phrase and ask ourselves that question, "Have I let myself down with this behavior, choice, action?" Hopefully, we'll be able to answer "no" proudly. I'll do my best to help you out in any way I can.

We finished up with the pre-band classes today as well. Students should have brought home a note explaining about band and a sheet that should be signed and returned whether students are going out for band or not. It's fun to see which instruments the kids try out for and which ones fit them the best. These notes should be back before next Tuesday.

Tomorrow 5th grade has a quiz in science over their vocabulary words. Hopefully, parents have seen students going over these words a few times. This is their first quiz in 5th grade. As President Obama explained, it is the students' responsibility to do their very best every time. Good luck studying!

Kids, I didn't get a chance to finish my horseback riding experience from the weekend. This will let me know if you've read the blog... ask me about "Spook...aka Splinter" in the morning before library. All I can say is that I'm glad I made it out alive!!!!

Have great evenings! See my 5B Blobs in the morning! Oh, remember that book orders are due tomorrow if you are interested in ordering! Thanks!

It's Finally Friday!

Read below to find out what 5B thinks is important about what we did this week in school....

We started our math groups (Kaylie)
We learned a symbol for connections "bam, bam" in reading class (Hailey)
Mrs. Walter said Mrs. Sorenson was the craziest teacher in the world (Sierra)
Certain people started TAG this week (Alex)
Dylan made friends with his cousin (Dylan)
We learned what writing is (Anna)
Today was perfect picture day (Kelsey)
Mrs. Sorenson makes us do weird stuff (Hanan)
It was Mrs. Schmitt's birthday yesterday and we made her do a funny dance (Kaylie)

We had a fantastic day to end the week (except for the time we stayed in at recess because of too much talking). I can't say everyday this week was as wonderful, but I'm glad we were able to end on a good note. We have super moments and not-so-super moments. We'll just keep working at it until it's natural! And I know this class is capable!

Have a great weekend. I think everyone was ready for an extra day of relaxation. Check back throughout the weekend for another post!

Wacky Wednesday

Wednesdays sort of throw us for a loop in 5th grade. This is the only day of the week that we have a goofed up schedule because of our specials. It messed up 5B students so much today that some students thought it was the end of the day at 12:00. They couldn't remember what they had for lunch for some reason?? The students aren't alone in trying to master the different classes and times depending on a certain day. Hang in there, kiddos. You'll get it figured out.

Switching classes has been going pretty smoothly. Other than forgetting a planner here or markers there, we're getting in down. Our biggest problem is holding onto our materials. If I had a quarter for every pencil box that drops, scattering about 100 items across the hallway, I would be one wealthy chick! We might need to transition into using large Ziploc bags if it takes too much longer. I do have to say though, in general, students are extremely helpful to each other when this happens to a classmate. Usually, several students offer to help gather up all the items. Quite a considerate bunch of angels (ding)!

Here's a quick rundown of what's happening in 5th grade classes... In reading, we're building our stamina for independent reading. We started at 4 minutes last week and are moving up to 8 minutes tomorrow. We just finished up a writing project using a computer program, Kidspiration. We'll be playing games with them tomorrow in class. In math, Mrs. Kuhn has assessed all students for unit 1, and the kids were introduced to "math groups" today. These groups will change based on each unit pretest. The kids seemed excited about it. Mrs. Halverson is gone this week due to a funeral and her son's wedding, but social studies and science must go on. Students are continuing a study of patriotism for social studies and erosion for science. Kids...this is your proof you've checked the blog... tomorrow morning, whisper in my ear 3 of your science vocabulary words. I know a test will be coming up sometime!

Finally, thanks to everyone who has been checking the blog out. It's great to check the "followers" list to see who has joined up. A few families seemed to struggle with the "follower" thing, so I'll send home a note with instructions by the end of the week for you. Nobody is required to become a follower. I just thought it was nice to see who was checking in on 5B!