One Last Day!

Hey, sorry I'm late again, 5B!  I've had some Thanksgiving Day activities and goodies I've been busy making.  Isaiah was making turkeys from his hand outline.  I made caramel puff corn to bring to relatives.  It's taking a lot of willpower NOT to eat it as I make it!!!!

Then I started these turkey pops to put at each plate for the Thanksgiving Day meal!  I'm a little turkey crazy!!  Here's the one I'm working on right now!  We'll see how far I get with making them tonight!

Ok.. I'll keep it short!

Amazing, busy weeks we've had... Here's a recap!
1. Super work on Inquiry projects!  Can't wait to see the presentations on Wednesday!
2.  Excellent researching and problem solving with our Mystery Skype today!  So much fun!  Tell your parents about it.
3.  Hard work and determination on the Bridge Contest!  Wednesday the day for judging and weighing!  The whole 5th grade gets to watch it go down!!  (or hopefully stay up, I mean:)
4. Amazing teamwork I'm seeing with the class competition!  I'm seeing many purple slips be signed lately!  Great job looking out for each other.  I'm gonna get a little nasty with white slips when we have students forgetting Cadet Pride though.  So, help each other make good choices at all times:)

I'll know you checked the blog if you tell me what you think of the "turkey pop" in the picture above!  See you for a 1/2 day tomorrow and then relaxing, eating and resting for a 4 day weekend!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble (that was, "Have a good night in turkey language)

Tuesday....Mystery Skype!!!

Sorry it's late.
At least it's before eight.
You see I had a date,
with my family, and so I ate.

I emptied my plate.
But I'm sorry you had to wait.
I hope you're not irate.

Tomorrow we'll cooperate
To research the mystery state
and hopefully celebrate
with all of our 5B classmates!

A short little rhyme
to prove you took the time
to check out the post.
Who checks it the most?

Proof of checking will be to ask, "So, what's my Skype job today?!" when you come in this morning.  I'll tell you as you come in:)

Rachel and Bryer, I'm counting on you to prioritize our lists, ok?  Share it back with me tonight if possible:-)  See you all Tuesday!

Thankful... for a Short Week:)

Hey, congrats to the Purple Pancakes Team for the first round of 5B Team Competitions!!  Way to go! I know other teams were close, so I'm thinking this next round will be another close competition!  I know some of the members realized how easily those white slips add up, and they are planning to work on NOT getting any of them this time!  I've enjoyed the creative hallway walks we've had with the Purple Pancake suggestions.  Let's keep the excitement WITH the self-control I saw on Friday!  Yippee!

Remind your families of the 3 hour early out and Wednesday and of course, of NO SCHOOL on Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving break!  Isn't that crazy?!  I can't believe in a few short weeks that it will be Christmas, which means our year will be 1/2 over!!!!!  Whoa!  Time surely flies when...  you've got a bunch of goofballs together (heheheheahahhahaeheahh...just kidding... that's including me, ya know?!)

Tuesday is our Mystery Skype!  It's planned for 11:00 - 11:30.  We have great clues.  I was wondering if anyone was willing to prioritize the clues for us before then?  Just email me, and I'll send you a Google Docs to put them from 1st clue to 10th clue.  You can do the same for the city clues, too!  The first one to respond to my in an email,  (Mrs. Sorenson's Email) will get the honor!  OK? Click on the red linked words to get my email quickly!

I hope everyone had a super weekend!   I saw MANY of you at Friday night's showing of Breaking Dawn Part 2! I LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH!  I'll know you checked the blog if you calculate these numbers to find out how many times I watched it!  Be careful with your math skills!

21 / 3  +  4 - 6 x 4 /10 = ___  (the number of times I watched Breaking Dawn Part 2!) Write it down and show it to me on Monday as you come in!  (or just a whisper is fine:)

Reminder... you should be studying for continents and oceans quiz... when might it be???  We'll have to wait and see:)

Happy to see you on Monday!

Oh, Wyatt S., Bryer, Donavyn, Rachel and Greta, don't forget that tomorrow is your last group discussion over Double Identity!  I'm curious to hear all of your thoughts how the story came together and then ended!  Donavyn...don't forget a coffee cup and your thought page:) Right:?!

Who Will Be This Week's Winning Team????

Well.... just one night away from seeing which team is claiming the victory this week!  One lucky group of students will get to choose from the reward list!  I'm always curious to see which prizes get chosen first!!!  I'm proud of everyone's effort this week.  I can tell you are taking time to think about your team when you make great choices and realize your "oops" when maybe a poor choice sneaks by.  You should be proud of your team no matter who wins Friday.  Strong Cadet Pride will be seen by a team's response if they win or lose, right?!

Be SURE to share with your families the fact that you got to watch the astronauts aboard the International Space Station today from the Discovery Center!  How cool is that?!!!!  What an amazing world we now live in that allows us to have such experiences like that!  I'm sure we'll have more opportunities as the year progresses!

The Bridge Challenge is coming to its end this week!  Next Wednesday, all of the 5th graders will get to participate in the weighing contest!  We'll make time to share our inquiry projects that day, too!  Since next Wednesday is an early out, I'm sure it will fly by quickly!  Then off to our homes for a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Oh, and remember our Mystery Skype is planned for next Tuesday!  We need to prioritize our list of clues, decide who has what jobs, and get our game faces on for this challenge!  I can wait to see if we can figure out the state and city of our Mystery Skype friends!  They could be a neighboring state, far away like our Connecticut friends or even a nearby country like Canada or Mexico!  Wow, we have a lot going on, don't we, 5B?!

There's one more MAJOR thing I am excited about... and Memphis!!!  gets to do it before me!!!! I'm soooooo crazy, excited, pumped, nervous, giddy, and thrilled to see the final part of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2!!!!!!!  I'll know you checked the blog if you ask me, "So, Mrs. Sorenson, HOW excited are you about the movie?"  I'll be sure to tell you my answer!!!!!!!

"Muaah" Day!

I can definitely say that the effort you're putting into your teams has been wonderful!  I think it's helping  out the whole class, too! (most of the time:)  Remember, Thursday is the last day to earn points for this week's competition!!!!  I'm thinking we've got some close team points!!  Check out the list below as a reminder of what your team could earn from their win this week!!!

Early Lunch/Recess 

Choose how class walks in hall

Bring a snack to class

Bring a drink to class

Have own special table for lunch

Choose the line order for hall

Can stop class for exercise breaks

Can choose who they sit by

Can hand out tickets to class

Decides who gets the blobs

Magic Pencils - As You Wish Helpers

(1 activity only)

Mrs. Sorenson does your work 

Discovery Center instead of class

Take on Mrs. S for an activity of choice

I'd love to share the turkey-hunter game with the whole class in the morning.  So, let's see if we can get everybody in, attendance and lunch, pledge and meet on the floor by 8:40!  That will be your way of proving you checked the blog!  Get everyone in the class to quickly, quietly, and carefully be ready by 8:40.  If the whole class can do this by that time, I'll give EVERYONE a blue ticket!  That will definitely add some points to your score, huh?!! Let's see if Team 5B can also work together to meet a goal!

Have a super night!  Practice your "gobble, gobble, gobble" for the turkey-hunter game!

~Adios,

Mrs. Sorenson

A Pleasant Day in 5B...

Yep... that was the word we chose for our day... we know that "good" is a dead word, so I couldn't use that one, right?  Please be sure to share our Animoto video with your families and your thoughts about our guest speakers today.  I think we definitely succeeded in thanking the veterans for their service by our respectful behaviors and making the video.  As a few of you saw, some of the vets even had to wipe their eyes as they watched it.  Thanks for being so thoughtful, 5B (and other 5th grade classes!).

Hopefully, those of you who had Chip Shoppe deliveries got all of your orders to your houses.  I got some yummy treats delivered to my house after school today:)

I'll keep it short since Isaiah is in need of a bath.  I am impressed with your attention to how your classmates are doing when working on your teams for Cadet Pride.  I've noticed an improvement in transitions a bit better today (and even Friday a bit).  Keep it up.  I will tell you, one team earned a 50 pointer today for doing an activity together and helping each other out!  Way to go!  I won't tell you which team though, hahahaha!  Just be thinking about how each action you do, affects not only yourself but your team as well.  Here's a quick reminder of our class pledge you made last week:

This is 5B's Class Pledge.

I pledge to be RESPONSIBLE for everything I do and say!

I pledge to put EFFORT into my work! 

I pledge to SUPPORT each and every member of our class. 

I pledge to have PATIENCE in line!

I pledge to ENCOURAGE everybody to be caring! 

I pledge to always CONCENTRATE in class! 

I pledge to be a TRUSTWORTHY 5B classmate!

Practice your pledge.  On Wednesday of this week I'll start the testing of your memorized pledge!  I'll give everyone a pledge paper to take home or keep with them so it's right at your hands to practice.  I'm thinking the competition will be a close one!  Keep up the great work. 

I'll know you checked the blog if you check your Google Docs and see a message from me!  I'll know you checked it if you can tell me what the message is!  Good luck!  Let's make our Terrible Tuesday from last week eat the dust and turn it into a TERRIFIC Tuesday again!  Ready.....Go!

Happy Veteran's Day, 5B!

I hope you've taken at least 1 minute out of your busy day to think about our veterans.  You've been sharing serious photos, videos and symbols with me the past few days in social studies to make a touching video for our guest speakers on Monday.  I just finished putting it together.  Here's the link to the Animoto video, "5th Grade Veteran's Day Tribute.  I also pasted it below if it's easier to just view it from here.

I'll know you checked the blog if you watch the video, and tell me that you saw your photo, or your patriotic symbol or your video.  Your hearts are so caring, 5B (and the rest of 5th grade).  I can't wait to see what you'll do with yourselves as you get older and continue to make a difference in this world!

I hope you had a great weekend, with crazy amazing weather!  I don't think we'll be see anymore of that this week though.  Sad:(

Be sure to pump yourselves up for more team competitions between these fabulous groups of students:
Team:  Pink Fluff!
Team:  Lego Brains!
Team:  The Fighting Chickens!
Team:  The Old Four Nerds!
Team:  The Three Stooges!
Team:  The Go-Getters!
Team:  Purple Pancakes!

I see each team collection box has a good start to its tickets!  I can't wait to see each team "bring it on"! Remember, don't HIDE that Cadet PRIDE!

One HUGE reminder is that if you sold items for our Chip Shoppe fundraiser, share with your families that the pick-up for your items is tomorrow, MONDAY, November 12 from 3 - 6 p.m. here at the school in the cafeteria.  There will be a note coming home on Monday, but I thought your parents would appreciate knowing tonight:)  It's also on the November calendar, but I thought I'd just give you a heads-up!  So, be sure to tell your families or have them read this part of the blog, ok?:)  Thanks!

Baby Steps to Improvement... But Still Better...

Hey, there 5B Rock Stars...
You definitely had some "rock star" moments today, and then there were some "not so rock star" moments.  For those students who continually show up everyday with 100% effort, positive attitude, respect and responsibility, THANKS A MILLION!!!  I appreciate your role model behaviors.  Your classmates do see it, and so do I.  It's just a matter others following your lead:)  Keep it up.

Our 5B Class Pledge is quite well-written.  I'm impressed with the sentences you came up with.  I am including it in this post, so you can read through it yourself before class on Thursday.  Your proof of checking the blog will be to memorize ONE of the lines for Thursday:) Yep... already!

This is 5B's Class Pledge

I pledge to be RESPONSIBLE for everything I do and say!

I pledge to put EFFORT into my work!

I pledge to SUPPORT each and every member of our class!

I pledge to have PATIENCE in line!

I pledge to ENCOURAGE everybody to be caring!

I pledge to always CONCENTRATE in class!

I pledge to be a TRUSTWORTHY 5B classmate!

I found the MOST AWESOME app to use in literacy to help you "Seek the Unknown".  I tried it out and am SOOOOO stuck.  It will really work on your problem solving skills and your determination to be challenged or give up!  I can't wait to see who sticks with the challenge!!!!

I hope you had a good time with your 3 extra hours of freedom.  While you were off enjoying life, I  found some new ideas for our class to try out.  I also found out more about our Mystery Skype activity. You'll have to start brushing up on your facts about Iowa and Cresco in order to be a part of the activity.  I'll explain more on Thursday before we start with our schedule!

I already mentioned how to prove you checked the blog.  So, I guess I'll bid you good night...and wish you sweet dreams while snoozing.  See ya'll in the a.m.!

Chattiness is Contagious... We Have an Outbreak in 5B:(

After yesterday's "darn-tootin' good day", today was quite a change for us.  We have some fabulous models of behavior, but not everyone is watching them.  Today was WAY TOO CHATTY, WAY TOO SLOW with SELF-CONTROL and WAY TOO UNACCEPTABLE for 5B.  I know 5B can show soooo much more respect, trustworthiness, caring and responsibility than I saw today.  So, let's turn it around for Wednesday's half day, okey dokey, artichokeys?

Well, I'm a bit late with the blog tonight since I made a stop at the fire station for the pancake supper.  DE-licious!!  Then, of course, I had to exercise my right to vote in the 2012 Election, just as you did today!  Did you share with your parents the 3rd-5th grade results in our mock election??  If you forgot the numbers, here they are:
Romeny/Ryan:  43 votes
Obama/Biden:  135 votes

I guess we'll see if the rest of the voting population agrees with the results of Crestwood's 3rd- 5th graders in the morning:)  Remember, watch TV, check the news, etc.  before coming to school tomorrow!  You should know the name of the new president before coming into our classroom on Wednesday!!  That will be your proof for checking the blog!

Remember, Wednesday is 3-hour early out. We also have library in case you need to remember your books, too!

Let's get our day started out well on Wednesday - in a proper (proper) way, not like cavemen (ooga, booga), ok? You can click on it to watch the video again! But I do not want caveman behaviors in the classroom again... I saw too much of that with the lack of self-control today....got it???

Later Gators...

It Was a Darn-Tootin' Good Day Today!

Those are in the words of my grandma!  She also used phrases like "oh, just give me a nickel's worth" and "I'll trade you off for a little yellow dog".  It's funny the kinds of things you remember about people, huh?!

Well, it was a pretty mellow day in 5th grade land.  The extra day on the weekend and the extra hour of sleep/freedom must have been just what we all needed to start the week off on the right foot!  Now, should be have that every weekend???  I'm game!  Oh, no, that wouldn't give us enough time to pump your brains full of amazing new knowledge, right?!

We had a great discussion in social studies today about WHY voting in elections is so important.  So if you get a chance, share the video with your families that I shared in class with you about how voting rights have changed over the years (click here).  Also, be sure to tell your parents about your chance to vote in school tomorrow.  The voting booths are set up, the ballot boxes are ready and the ballots are waiting for your opinion!!!  But wait, we'll have a bit more discussion in social studies class before you are too quick to make that decision.  Chat with your families, watch some last minute commercials, but always remember to go with your own opinion about what YOU believe in.  Let's see what the upper elementary students believe in tomorrow:)

This is WAY short notice, but I forgot to mention to the class today that there is a "Purple Out" Day going in the district for tomorrow (yes, TUESDAY, Nov. 6).  It is in support of a high school student's mom who is battling pancreatic cancer.  If you check the blog tonight, be sure to try and wear purple on Tuesday.  Maybe even bring an extra shirt for someone who forgets or doesn't check the blog until the morning at school:)  I'd love to see what kind of support you can offer one of our Crestwood students and her family!  I'll wear my purple tomorrow, too!

I'll know you checked the blog if you ask me for a "purple ribbon" to help support families who are battling pancreatic cancer or who have lost someone in their lives to this serious illness.

Thanks for a great day!