“You better put me on the website.  I’m checking it tonight”

-Yadira

There ya go!

Today was our last EOG!!!

many of our students really worked diligently on today’s EOG.  I saw pages of models, pictures, equations, reasoning, and checking of work with inverse operations.

A few students, unfortunately, did not utilize our strategies for solving problems (writing out what we know, drawing pictures, proving our choice of operations, and checking our work).  Some students simply tried to get done as quickly as possible by guessing at answers or not checking their work.

I was very surprised and disappointed with a few individuals, and we had some one on one conferences this afternoon.  Some of our students still don’t quite understand that the consequences for doing poorly now will not come until later, when their choices of classes and opportunities in middle school and then high school become limited.  Agree with it or not, it is the system we have ;-/

Tomorrow is our end of quarter celebration!

We have:

donuts in the morning

a surprise in the afternoon

and ice cream before we go home!

If students would like to bring something to play with, or a snack/drink to share with the class, they are welcome to do so.

so, tl;dr

No homework!  RELAX.  You just did 8 hours of testing in two days.

Come ready to celebrate tomorrow!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

There is no homework!

Just get a good night’s rest, eat a BIG breakfast (no lunch until 1pm) and come ready to do some math!

Important Dates:

TOMORROW, Thursday June 23rd:  Math EOG

Friday, June 24th: End of Quarter celebration.  Students may bring something to play with, and they are welcome to bring a snack/drink to share with the class if they would like.  We have a donut party in the morning that the students purchased with their saved up tickets, and then an ice cream party in the afternoon that we got for having the most box-tops in 5th grade.  It should be a really fun day.

Wednesday, June 29th: 5th grade recognition ceremony.  The ceremony will begin at 9:00 AM in the Lockhart Gym.  Please be seated by 8:50 so we can begin promptly at 9!

We are almost there….

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

IMPORTANT DATES:

TOMORROW, Wednesday, June 22nd: Language Arts EOG

Thursday, June 23rd: Math EOG

Friday: End of Quarter Celebration (So far we have a donut party and an ice cream party)

Wednesday, June 29th: 5th grade recognition ceremony.  The ceremony will begin at 9:00 AM in the Lockhart Gym.  Please be seated by 8:50 so we can begin promptly at 9!

Today we finished up our budget projects.  It didn’t quite hit some students until the very end exactly how much money it costs each month in order to simply live.  Real life shock!

Tonight students need to get a good night’s rest, and make sure they eat breakfast.  We have EOGs all tomorrow morning, and we won’t eat lunch until 1pm.  Make sure you’re filled up!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

We are down to the wire here!

Today we spent the entire morning reviewing math.  We looked at some released EOG sheets and went over some test taking strategies.

Tonight students have some released problems to finish.  We also went over using the gridded response sheet on the EOG.  Students received a blank gridded response sheet and they should record their answers to the homework on it.

In the afternoon we had our LAST chance to work on our stories and our My Success project.  This would be a total of 6 hours in the computer lab they have had to work on these projects, which should have been ample time to finish both.  The story is due tomorrow at 8am.

For The My Success project we will iron out an issue we had with our budget spreadsheets, and then turn those in during the afternoon tomorrow.

so, tl;dr

math released problems

Fill in answers on the gridded response sheet (except for the two that obviously won’t work with gridded response).

Make sure your projects are ready to turn in tomorrow!

Read!!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Important dates:

THIS FRIDAY June 17th: Science EOG

NEXT WEDNESDAY June 22nd: Language Arts EOG

NEXT THURSDAY June 23rd: Math EOG

Wednesday, June 29th: 5th grade commencement

Today is a real quick update (I HAVE A MEETING YAY!)

Today we continued our science and math review.  We took a little mock math EOG.  Most of us finished it in class, but those of us who did not, should finish it tonight for homework.

Students should also do 10 new vocab words in their science journal tonight.  Just as before, the definitions should be in their own words.

Read a good book!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Important dates:

THIS FRIDAY June 17th: Science EOG

NEXT WEDNESDAY June 22nd: Language Arts EOG

NEXT THURSDAY June 23rd: Math EOG

Wednesday, June 29th: 5th grade commencement

This morning we took a mock science EOG.  I am happy to say the majority of students did quite well on this.  We seem to have animals, ecosystems, basic cell concepts, and body systems in the bag.  We are still ironing out some things concerning weather and physics.

Today students received a review packet on forces and motion.  Tonight they need to read this packet, and answer the review questions in the back.

Students should also pick 5 more vocab words, and write their definitions in their own words in their science journal.  This should bring our total to 30.

We also did a few of our end of year MClass assessments today.  Many students have improved quite a bit from the beginning of the year.

These final assessments aren’t usually a surprise.  Essentially if students read regularly, they show good, continuous growth in their abilities.  Those students who do not read regularly do not show growth.

Because general literacy bleeds into basically every other content area, reading ability is a help or a hindrance in all subjects.  READ READ READ!!  Find a genre you like, an author you like, a series, whatever.  Just read!

In math we talked again about checking our work, and ensuring we actually answer what the questions ask!

Tonight students should look at 5 math word problems.  They do NOT need to answer the questions.  Tonight they should do these things:

Do step 1-3 in our problem solving method.

1.  What is the problem asking?
2. What do I know?
3. Draw a picture or a model

Above each problem is a line.  They should write the operation that they will be performing in order to solve this problem  For example they should write either ‘addition’, ‘subtraction’, ‘multiplication’, or ‘division’ on this line.

so, tl;dr

Finish forces and motion review packet

5 more vocab words

Look at this sheet:

do the following on the sheet:

1.  What is the problem asking?
2.  What do I know?
3. Draw a model or picture

Then, identify the operation you will be performing on the line above each problem.

Read!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

DOWN TO THE WIRE!!!

Important dates:

Friday, June 17th: SCIENCE EOG

Wednesday, June 22nd: LANGUAGE ARTS EOG

Thursday, June 23rd: MATH EOG

Wednesday, June 29th: 5th grade ceremony

This morning we took our last STAR test of the year.  We talked about how important it is to do our best on these types of assessments.  I was quite impressed with the results.  Our little ones are growing up!

This week is a whirlwind of math and science review.  Today we talked about the Coriolis effect, wind, air pressure, the jet stream, and all of those neat weather topics.

Tonight students have a weather review packet they should be reading.  It talks about weather, weather instruments, and the basic forces that drive weather on the Earth.

Tonight students should also pick five new vocab words, and write them in their science journal just as they have been.  They should be in their own words.

This is everyone EXCEPT Nicole, who complained that it was only five words.  SO, Nicole can do ten words instead!

Cat’s response: “HAHAHAHAHAHA”

Nevaeh’s response: “THAT’S WHAT SHE GETS!”

In math, the students worked on word problems.  Our goal continues to be that we check our work.  We continue to make simple mistakes, or not actually answer the questions that were asked in the problems.  When we have a word problem we should do the following:

1.  Write down what the problem is asking.
2. Write down what you know
3. Draw a picture or a model to determine how you will solve the problem
4. Solve, and check to make sure your answer makes sense

That last one is still something we need to work on!

Tonight students should FINISH their math review packet.  This packet essentially covers the big ideas from the year.  If they can understand and do these problems, they are golden.

CC-5th-grade-word-problems

so, tl;dr

5 more vocab words in the science journal

Read/Do weather review packet

Finish math packet

CC-5th-grade-word-problems

And read!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Number Drummer!

This morning we had a REALLY neat assembly in the gym.  Our students learned about keeping beats, rhythm, and how essentially everything is based on math.  The students were given different types of sticks and then made some music.  It was super interesting and I hope the kids got some new understandings and a newfound appreciation of music and math.

Again this morning students had to solve some challenging math problems, and then one at a time explain their thinking, their process, and their answers.  Every single student was able to do this.  I was quite impressed.

After our assembly we looked at our science review sheets, and talked some about weather.  We made some clouds in a bottle again, as some students had forgotten about high and low pressure systems!

Ask your student if they remember what high pressure and low pressure systems indicate! (high = clear, low = cloudy)

Tonight students should pick EIGHT words from their review packet or their journal, and write definitions for them in the back of their science journal.  This should bring their weekly total to twenty words.

In math we received a review packet.  We will examine this packet in great detail tomorrow and next week.  It essentially covers everything that we have talked about this year.  Tonight students should do the first four pages.  They received plenty of time to work on this in groups and ask questions, so hopefully they don’t have much left to finish.

CC-5th-grade-word-problems

At this point it was already time to leave.  The assembly made today seem extremely short.

Read tonight!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

5th grade commencement meeting tonight at 5pm in room 137 (next door to our room)

And the review continues!

I’m VERY happy with how well everyone has retained their knowledge of ecosystems, plants, and animals.  We learned a lot from our gardens, and I’m glad the students enjoyed them enough to make some memories.

Tonight students should pick SIX more words from their science journals or science review packet, and write their definitions in their own words in the back of their science journal.

In math we did some quite challenging word problems, and students were tasked with explaining their methods and proving their answers.  Many had to go back, think some more, try something else, think again, and re-do their work.  The most impressive part of this whole process was the perseverance displayed by the kids.  Every single student in the class was able to solve the problems, explain their thinking, and prove their answer.

Tonight students have some more word problems to work on.  They should be able to explain how they came up with their answer, AND prove their answer.

WordProblemsJune8

They should also do pages 182-183 in their Math coach – it’s more volume stuff.

Tomorrow we have a Drum performance that Mrs. Roach has lined up for us.  It should be fun.

Remember to read!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

THE HORROR!!!

Today we talked about student loans.  The eyes popping out of the students’ heads would be hilarious if the actual situation weren’t so scary.

Students took their total cost of education that they researched, and then figured out what their monthly loan payment would be if they paid it off in 20 years.  Some students found this to be quite scary.  So did Mr. Potter.

In science we continued to talk about ecosystems, and the effects of organisms being removed or added to an ecosystem.  Just one organism being removed or added can have a dramatic effect.

Tonight students should finish up their review packet on animals and ecosystems.  They should answer questions 21 – 40.  They should also pick FOUR new vocab words to write in the back of their science journal (under the two from yesterday).  They should write the definition for these in their own words.

In math we reviewed adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing with decimals and fractions.  At first I was really worried that we had forgotten all of this somehow, but after one or two little reminders we were back on track.

Tonight students should do pages 18–181 in their math coach (more volume stuff)

They also have some decimal and fraction problems to work out.

Math Problems June 7

If they need them, here are the notes we took today:

Math Notes June 7

Not much today, so I don’t think we really need a tl;dr.

EOGs are in less than 10 days!!!

Read tonight!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter