Tonight is the night for Trick-or-Treating in Laurelville! I’m sure there will be a lot of students hitting the streets begging for treats! I’m wondering what types of costumes we will see tonight and tomorrow at our Halloween parade?
We have been working in cooperative groups this week in math class. Students have been working together to solve problems and explaining problems to each other. This has been helpful since we have been working on converting units of measurement within the customary system. This can be a daunting task considering all of the different conversions that we have in our system (12 in. makes a foot, but 3 feet makes a yard, but we have 16 oz. in a pound?! –to name a few) I am beginning to see why most use the metric system!
What do you think of working in groups? Are there advantages? Disadvantages?
The 103rd Circleville Pumpkin Show is here! First of all, that means 3 days of NO SCHOOL! Yeah! It also means that many will be enjoying rides, spending time with friends, watching the great parades, and eating all things pumpkin!
The pet parade is my favorite parade and some of my favorite things to eat are bourbon chicken, stromboli, and pumpkin donuts! I will probably have those a few times! I don’t ride the rides anymore, but the Round -up was one of my favorites! What about you? What are some of your favorite things about the Pumpkin Show? Or is it just having a few extra days of NO school and the chance to sleep in? 
Many of you will be attending the Circleville Pumpkin Show this week. You will be enjoying a lot of great food, having fun riding the rides and enjoying watching the parades (the pet parade is my favorite!).
I wanted to remind all of you of the proper behavior you should exhibit when the parade is coming near. As the Honor Guard leads the parade, it is proper behavior for those who are able to STAND as the American flag nears and to remain standing until it passes by you. By standing, you are showing respect for our country and more importantly, for the men and women who have selflessly served our country and those who are currently serving our country around the world.
My father is a 20-year Air Force veteran who served two tours in Vietnam and also the Korean War. I have much respect for him and all of our veterans who have sacrificed for our country. It saddens me when I see so many people who attend the parades and do not know (or do not care) what behavior should be shown as our American flag passes by. So please, remember to stand and to tell others around you. Sometimes it just takes one person to take a stand and others will follow your lead!
We finally have our IXL site license. I will be giving you a new user name and password today. When you have finished your classwork, you can start earning those awards again! You can work on any lesson that we have already practiced as a review.
THANKS AGAIN TO OUR GREAT PTO!
>Great news for Laurelville Elementary and our community: Our school now has 2 paper recycling bins in our parking lot between the office and the library. These green and yellow PaperRetriever bins will accept ANY paper products to be recycled-magazines, newspapers, school papers, junk mail, etc. The only thing they DO NOT accept is cardboard.
If you were looking for a way to be more “green”, then this is your opportunity. Save that junk mail and those newspapers and bring them to Laurelville to put in our recycling bins! You will be helping our school and our environment!
We started working on the measurement strand this week. We have practiced using a protractor to measure and draw angles and we have also started working on perimeter and area. We have been playing many games on the computer to practice these skills and we have been using IXL almost daily. (Thank you, PTO, for purchasing a classroom license so that we have access all year! )
The most difficult skill we have worked on this week is finding area. To find area, you must multiply. This is a skill that many students still need to master. We DON’T spend a lot of time practicing this skill in the fifth grade-students are expected to already know how to do this. Please practice multiplying at home!
Today was designated as “Fun Fact Friday”. After talking to the students some more about World Maths Day (and my goal for this year’s challenge), the students spent their math time practicing their math facts. Some chose to practice on Tutpup, some on the IXL site, and others on multiplication games that are on this blog.
We also had a little excitement this afternoon when the fire department was called due to a light fixture in the 3rd grade catching on fire. Wow. We had to spend a little bit of time in the gym building, but thankfully it was nothing major and we were able to return to our classrooms.
In our fifth grade math class, Math homework is given every Wednesday and is due the following Wednesday. Yes, that means you have an entire WEEK to complete your math homework. Since you have an entire week to complete the assignment (which is always a review of some sort), and time to ask questions if needed, your math homework should be the easiest way for you to get an A on an assignment. Your easy A.
Now for some good news and some bad news.
The good news: 1) Homework this week was a review of adding, subtracting, and multiplying 2) all but two 5th graders had their homework assignment completed today (96%)! 3) ALL students in homerooms 5A and 5C had their homework completed! Great job!
The bad news: 1) only 13 students out of 57 earned an A (23%) on the assignment!
Back to good news. Who were those 13 students who earned an EASY A?
In 5A: Stephen, Kyra, and Vanessa. In 5B: Lisa, Caleb, Austin P. and Rhianna. In 5C: Leah-Ann, Dawn, Frankie, Hayley, Sky, and Andrew. Way to go!
So my question is: Are you making homework your easy A? Are you taking the time to do your best? Are you using resources (parents, grandparents, brother, sister, notes, teachers) to help make sure that you understand and get the right answers? If not, why?
We began reviewing for our Geometry test today. The students worked in groups to complete a Lotus Diagram on key words and concepts for each indicator that we have covered so far this year. This was a great activity and the groups did a fabulous job, especially 5A! We will do some more reviewing tomorrow and the test will be on Wednesday!
