April 27

Spring!

Teachers and students are getting restless.   Testing is nearly over. The sun is shining.  Trees are beginning to sprout leaves.  Lawn mowers are gassed up and put to use. Mushrooms are being hunted.  Baseball bats are swinging.  The temperature, both outside and in the building, is on the rise.  And flowers are in bloom.   Yeah!  SPRING IS HERE!

Thanks to Andrew Sowers, who brought me a beautiful purple iris this morning for the reminder that spring is really here.  Through all of the preparation and anticipation of the testing, the signs of spring often get overlooked (at least for me).  And a simple flower was just what I needed to remind myself to put all of this testing back in its proper  perspective.  No matter the outcome of the tests, the sun will still rise in the morning, the seasons will continue to change, flowers will continue to bloom in the spring, and children will continue to give their teachers a token of their kind hearts and remind teachers of what they love about teaching.

Enjoy this beautiful weather!

April 24

A Tough Week

The students took the Science Achievement Test this morning.  Once again, they worked very hard.  Only one more test to go-Social Studies on Tuesday.  To give the students a break from working hard today, they had the chance to play with cards in Math class today.  They played Addition War.  A fun way to get them to review their addition facts!

The weather promises to be beautiful this weekend.  Get outside and have some fun!

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 23

Testing Week

What a week this has been so far!  The fifth graders worked extremely hard on their tests on both Monday and Wednesday.  Even after our little delay yesterday (the electricity went off throughout our building JUST as we were beginning to start the Math test-and stayed off for about a half an hour) the students got right down to business and worked hard.  Again, that is all that we ask for and they certainly are putting forth their best effort.

Instead of doing Math yesterday afternoon (I thought they needed a well-deserved break from Math!) we made use of the computers in my room so that all students could review some Social Studies lessons on Study Island.  And since the Science test is given tomorrow, we did the same today with Science.  There IS a reason that I DON’T teach science, but we worked the questions together and made it through! 😉

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 20

Sshh. . .Testing in Progress!

Today the students began their fifth grade Achievement tests.  They took the Reading portion of the test this morning.  I am so proud of their efforts!  They took their time and worked very hard on their test.  I am certain that they can go home and say, “I did my best”.  That is all we ask of them and they certainly did.  The next test is the Math test on Wednesday.  I hope they give each of their tests the same effort. 😉

I’d like to welcome Tyler Stout to Laurelville!  Tyler is a new fifth grade student in my homeroom.  Today was his first day (what fun, your first day at a new school and you get to take a test all morning!).  I’m sure he will get settled in quickly with the help of his classmates.  Welcome to our school, Tyler.  I hope you and your family enjoy the Laurelville community.  I personally think you will love it here!

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 17

Testing Next Week!

We have continued to review for the upcoming Achievement Tests.  The big week will be upon us very quickly.  On Monday morning, all fifth (and fourth) graders at Laurelville will be taking the Ohio Achievement Test in Reading. On Wednesday, they will be taking the Math Achievement Test.  Fifth graders will also be taking the Science Achievement Test on Friday.  Doesn’t that sound like a fun week? 😉

We realize how stressful the test taking process is on our students.  We will do everything we can to make sure that they feel comfortable and confident to do their best.  All we ask of our students is to come to school well-rested and ready to put forth their best effort!

Have a GREAT weekend and enjoy this beautiful spring weather!

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 15

Award Winners

Congratulations to the following 5th grade students who earned awards for the 3rd 9-weeks:

Perfect Attendance: Kaitlyn Banks, Danyell Burrell, Hannah Caudill, Nash Crosby, Katie Hartley, Cody Lester, Micah Linton, Branden McNichols, Kate Ricketts, Kasi Robinson and Darren Schwalbauch.

Math Awards:  Madison Haupt, Hannah Hopkins, Kennedy Fox, Branden McNichols, Shaylee Payne, Cody Lester, Kelsey Hedges, Destiny Collinsworth and Eric Deluse.

Language Arts Awards:  Rylee Cupp, Kaitlyn Cain, Bethany Kerens, Hannah Caudill, Ian Lear and Jacob Parker.

Science Awards:  Jacob Allison, Hannah Hopkins, Hannah Hartzler, Josh Johnson, Hannah Caudill, Tyler Bristol, Alden Wyckoff, and Marissa Hagerty.

Social Studies: Hannah Caudill, Hannah Hopkins, Nash Crosby, Andrew Sowers, Destiny Collinsworth and Darren Schwalbauch.

Honor Roll: Nash Crosby, Eric Deluse, Cierra Drummond, Bethanie Evans, Kennedy Fox, Hannah Hartzler, Kaylee McNichols, Jacob Parker, Justin Payne, Kasi Robinson, Heather Rutter, Jacob Allison, Brandon Cradlebaugh, Karly Hart, Hannah Hopkins, Ian  Lear, Cody Lester, Micah Linton, Ashleigh Martin, Hannah Caudill, Josh Johnson, Madison Haupt, Nathan Neiberline, Justin Glasspoole, Kate Ricketts, and Garrett Rosenberger.

April 14

April Showers

I hope all of you enjoyed your long weekend.  I was very thankful that the weather turned out to be so nice on Saturday and Sunday.  Yesterday and today, however, I kept  thinking of the old saying “April showers bring May flowers”.  We should have a lot of May flowers if the amount of rain these last two days is any indication!

Last Thursday evening, Laurelville hosted the Logan Elm School Facilities public meeting.  It was nice to see so many people in attendance.  There were several fifth graders who attended the meeting:  Hannah Caudill, Micah Linton, Madison Haupt, Jacob Parker, Makayla Kitchen, Kennedy Fox, Eric Deluse, and Justin Payne.  I also saw Katie Hartley at the meeting held at Salt Creek on Tuesday evening.  I was glad to see so many students and their families taking an interest to be informed on such an important issue.

The awards ceremony was held today for the 3rd 9-week grading period.  Congratulations to those who earned an award.  Your attitude, responsibility and effort are certainly being noticed by your teachers and your classmates!  You are excellent role models!  I will see if I can’t get a list of all fifth grade award winners to post on the blog. . .

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 9

Spring Break!

Yeah,  it’s finally here- our very short, but much deserved Spring Break! 🙂  In case you may have forgotten,  school is closed tomorrow and on Monday, April 13.  I hope you all enjoy your four days off.  I will!

This week we have started some intensive reviewing for the upcoming Achievement test.  Today the students received their results from the practice test that was given a few weeks ago. Overall, I was VERY PLEASED with the results.  I am eager to see how well these students do on the real test!  Next week we will continue to review and work on our weaknesses.

Again, have a wonderful break!

April 3

This Week

This week we have been working on the last strand that we have to cover before the Achievement test: Patterns, Functions and Algebra.  As we have learned about patterns and functions, the students have done a lot of group work and work on the computer.  They have also been allowed to use the calculators on the computers for many of their assignments.  Today we started working on translating word problems into a number sentence.  We will finish this strand next week and continue reviewing material from earlier in the year.

Category: misc. | LEAVE A COMMENT