Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE CLASS OF 2023 :)

Tech

During the month of October the girls in fifth grade have been working on making a catapult.  First, the girls used a teacher-created LiveBinder to research.  Next, the girls began taking notes, drawing examples, brainstorming ideas, and making prototypes.  Finally, it was time to BUILD!  They used a variety of tools like hammers, screw drivers, hot glue guns and materials like cardboard, wood, rubber bands, spoons, cups, PVC pipe and much more!  The catapults will be finished in the next two weeks.  We will then vote on one catapult that we want to scale up.

Music: The View From Here at the Meyerhoff

Can't wait for this multimedia show to begin!  Bryn Mawr at the BSO!!

Art: Making Masks

The fifth graders, partnered with someone they don't know that well, made plaster masks as the base for a 3D artwork. They are working outside their comfort zones to become more comfortable with themselves and their classmates. 

Some comments from their experience include: 

"The water was cold and the towels kept falling off. "

"I was the mold and I felt like I was drowning in fresh cotton candy or maybe a pond if duck feathers."

"It was kind of unusual because I had to feel My partner's face and that's not something you would do everyday but it was relaxing because I was focused on one thing and it was really quiet and I was talking to my partner."

Overdue Blog Post: A 5th Grade Teacher's Quest to Find the Camera Cord

Many apologies for the lack of posts lately,  my desk ate my camera cord.  I have been searching days and days for the 6 inches of wire that allows me to connect you to our classroom.  At last, I finally found the cord at the bottom of my teacher tote bag (a bottomless abyss of graded papers, highlighters, paper clips, and post its).  I am sorry for the dated nature of this post, but as my mother used to say when I would come home to do my laundry in college: better late than never.

After a language arts lesson on using details from the text to make predictions, the girls created crystal balls depicting their predictions for the remaining chapters of Our Only May Amelia.
                                      
 

In math, the girls concluded the long division unit by solving division problems with two digit divisors and multi-digit dividends.

History class has taken the girls back in time to the migration of Native American tribes to North and South America.  The girls discovered the migration routes that the Native Americans navigated and are currently learning about the various regions where they settled.

Last but not least, the birthday surprise.  I had to hold back the tears today! The girls planned an extremely well thought out and organized surprise to help celebrate my birthday.  After their spelling test, I gave them 5 minutes to "set up" and then walked into what could only be described as my "world of favorite things." We had a nice 5 minute brain break before values class and then got back down to serious business!  I cannot put into blog words what this class means to me and how honored I am to be their teacher!   

From the Library

Fifth graders started off the year by reading together a few chapters of Rita Williams-Garcia's P.S. Be 11, the sequel to their summer reading book One Crazy Summer.  They were amused to meet these characters again. We then jumped right in to our research project, on which we are still working. First we read Carlyn Beccia's I Feel Better with a Frog in my Throat, History's Strangest Cures. Ask your daughter about earthworm necklaces and mustard plasters. We then read an interactive history book about the Middle Ages. ("If you want to accompany the ladies in waiting, turn to page 4, if you want to stay at the castle, turn to page 7". Sometimes we died of the plague, other times we survived.) From there, girls chose a topic to research. They found a book that addressed as closely as possible, the topic they'd chosen. Some could get very close ( treatment with leeches), others had to stretch out the topic (worms). They noted three facts or interesting bits of information. Next we will do some online research. We expect to be able to get more specific information. Girls will compare their sources and present one minute reports on their findings.

Music: Incorporating 16th notes

The girls have now identified sixteenth notes as 4 sounds on one beat.  Here they are participating in a little listening quiz!

Irvine Nature Center

Here are some pictures from our field trip to the Irvine Nature Center!  

The girls had to observe different habitats and determine what animals would thrive in each one.  Equipped with magnifying glasses and excitement, the girls did an excellent job of taking notes, observing and making connections between an animal's needs and the habitat that allows it to survive.  Many thanks to the Lower School science teacher for coordinating this wonderful trip! 

READY TO ROADTRIP! 

Habitat #1

Investigating

Habitat #2

Habitat # 3

Checking out the exhibit inside!

Excited about the exhibit! 

Spirit Day Craziness!

This weekend blog update comes to you a little late due to yesterday being a wonderfully busy day of Spirit Day Fun!  Hurricane Joaquin could not "rain on our parade"...the girls were ready to celebrate the minute they walked in the building. 

In Language Arts the girls completed a creative writing assignment.  To continue our Spirit Day "Mawrtian" theme, the girls were hand selected by the President and NASA to complete a special space mission to Mars.  

The girls had to describe Mars and the Martians using all 5 senses.  What did Mars look like?  Smell like? Feel like? Taste like? What sounds did they hear on Mars? Also,  Who did they meet?  Was Mars safe? Dangerous?

Of course, being critical thinking Bryn Mawr girls, the first question after the assignment presentation was, "We can't just go to Mars,  we have to go through some sort of training to help our bodies adjust to the conditions on another planet.  Can we include the training portion of our journey in our writing?"  

The answer was an impressed (and triumphant), "Yes!" 

The girls did a fabulous job--there was an hour of little green and yellow bodies working diligently and raising their hands every minute or two, excitedly asking me to read what they had created.  We can't wait for you to see them at conference time!