Day 124 - We Take a Field Trip to the Burke Museum

Good morning all! Today is Friday, March 25, 2011. When we came in, we had a field trip planned to the Burke Museum in downtown Seattle. So at 9:15 when the bus arrived, we got onto the bus and got settled, and we began the trip. I guess we got there about 9:50ish. We dropped our coats off because it was plenty warm in there, and began the tours. We got into three large groups, and went to three separate stations. One station was a field camp based activity, where you dug for fossils in a bin of sand with paint brushes. Another activity was where you got a bin of fossils, and you had to go around to different exhibits to determine what it was and what time period it came from, the Ancient Life period, the Dino period, the hot period, and the cold period. The last activity was where you got to choose any fossil from the museum, and you drew it, wrote down when it lived, where it was found, and a description of the fossil. We came back at about 12:20, and went immediately down to lunch.

When we came back from lunch, we worked on the math test. Then at 2:00, we went to a living history museum. The fifth graders had been researching colonial times, and were now going to act out a character from Gentry (rich people), Middling Sort (in between people), or Slaves. We got a sheet of paper that had three questions; #1 Did the person speak clearly and loudly? #2 Did the person answer with complete sentences? #3 Did the person get into character? We came back once we were done, and finished the math test, and read silently. Then at 3:10, we did PSV, wrote down homework, and cleaned. Then we went outside and played Elimination. Have an awesome Spring Break! You’re only is reading 30 minutes and Reading Record.
Over Spring Break, catch up your Reading Record.

Here are the words and definitions for the Word of the Day since Week 24:
Week 24
Monday- Turmoil- Commotion and Confusion
Tuesday- Consolidates- Forms a firm, solid mass
Wednesday- Gales- Very strong winds
Thurs- Sustained- Kept alive
Fri- Sanctuary- A shelter from danger
Week 25
Monday- Erosion- All natural processes that wear away earth and rock
Tuesday- Evidence- The data used to draw a conclusion
Wed- Excavation- The act of extracting items from the earth
Week 26
Tues- Veil- A very thin piece of fabric that covers the face
Fri- Lapping- Drinking the liquid by bringing it into the mouth with the tongue
Week 27
Mon- Brimming- Filled as full as possible
Tues- Tranquil- Peaceful
Wed- Scything- Cutting things down with a tool with a bent handle and a curved blade
Thurs- Hypothesis- Scientific suggestions based on what is known so far
Fri- Specimens- Samples taken for scientific studies
Week 28
Mon- Theory- An idea that is based on evidence but cannot be stated as fact
Tues- Emerged- Began to appear or develop
Wed- Prey- An animal hunted or caught by other animals for food
Thurs- Marrow- The soft material inside bones that is the source of red and white blood cells
Fri- Embryos- Animals in their earliest stages of life
Week 29
Mon- Agility- the ability to move quickly and easily
Tues- Hypothesis- Scientific suggestions based on what is known so far
Wed- Evidence- The data used to draw a conclusion
Thurs- Treacherous- Dangerous
Week 30
Mon- Catastrophes- Great sudden disasters
Tues- Geologists- Scientists who study rocks
Wed- Traces- Extremely small amounts
Thurs- Asteroids- Small often irregularly shaped bodies that orbit the sun
Don’t forget to write sentences J

Day 123 - Science CBSA

Hello everyone! Today is Thursday, March 24, 2011. When we came in this morning, we didn’t have any specialists, so we came in and got started with our morning work, like Word of the Day and Calendar Math. When one person was done with that, our teacher broke the news to us that because of some people’s disrespect, we had lost the net books, and the other sixth grade teacher got them all day. So he got a sheet with the daily problems on it, and we worked on that until 9:30. Then we went over that, and then our teacher surprised us by quizzing us on science, and then revealed to us that we would be doing a Science CBSA in the morning. So we started the test at 10:20, and worked until break. When we came back from break, we continued working on the test and dropped in a bin at the front of the room. The test took us until lunch and we all went outside and had fun in the sun.

When we came back from recess, we were bombarded with another test, this time on math. We worked on it until a fifth grade play at 1:50. It was about the Constitution. It took until about 2:45ish. Once it was over and we had put all the chairs on the racks, we went back and continued working on the test, and using the left over net books to drop-box work until it was time to write down homework, PSV, and leave. Have a nice evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
AP, p 14
Math Packet Days 3 & 4

Day 122- Ocean Bike Tours

Good morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, March 23, 2011, and a short day. When we came into class, we had our student teacher teaching us instead of our regular teacher. So we went through our morning routine and went down to music at our normal time. When we got there, we got to critique the 5th graders play, but we were interrupted by a fire drill. It took us 4 minutes and 29 seconds for everyone to make it down to the lower field. From there, we went back to class and worked on “Doctor Dinosaur” until break. When we came back, we continued working on the article, but only after we had worked on a PDF our student teacher made for us on the net books. Once we had finished that, it was time for lunch.
When we came back, we worked on math. Today we did 3.3. It was all about making sure that they would make a profit if they charged $350 for one person. So we made a table, and added the cost of the bike rental and the food and camp costs, and subtracted the total from the revenue, or the amount the customers paid for the trip. If the expense was less than the revenue, you knew you would have made a profit. We worked on the math until 1:45, when we did PSV, cleaned up, wrote down homework, and left. Have an awesome afternoon in the sun! Here’s the homework:
Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 55, Q# 13-20 & 38-39, Bonus Q# 48- 49
Math Packet Days 3 & 4

Day 121 - Bullies Anonymous

Morning all! Today is Tuesday, March 22, 2011. At 9:00, we came into the class and went through our morning routine. Then at our usual time, we went down to music to rehearse the play, “Bullies Anonymous” with the teachers and the other sixth grade class. Then we came back, did our Word of the Day, calendar math, and got our net books out. We then did our Daily problem, and worked on a math test on them. After we finished that, we worked on “Doctor Dinosaurs” until break. When we came back, we worked on the cards for our UWB buddies. We learned how to make envelopes out of construction paper. Then we went out to lunch.

When we came back, we worked on science. We are growing crystals. We mixed up some bluing, salt, and water up, and then put a cardboard Christmas tree with food coloring on the tips into the bowl with the solution in it. It should be growing like crazy when we come back tomorrow. Then we had our “Bullies Anonymous” play at 2:00. We had a choir performance before the play. The songs were in order: #1 Scales and Arpeggios, #2 Where Go the Boats, and #3 Zum Gali Gali. Then we did the play. When we came back, we worked on science questions until the time we did PSV, wrote down homework, and left. To the sixth grade classes good job! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
Practice Counts Math Packet Days 1 & 2

Day 120- Science “Rocks”!

Morning everyone! Today is Monday, March 21, 2011. I hope you enjoyed your extra day of time off on Friday. When we came in, we went through our morning routine, writing down the Word of the Day, doing our Calendar math, and getting it checked. At 9:05, we went down to music to rehearse the play, “Bullies Anonymous” with the other sixth grade class. We ran through virtually the whole play, except for the very end, and then we left for class. When we got back to class, we finished up our calendar math, got out our net books, and worked on our CBA until break. The font for the essay is 12 point and it has to be Times New Roman. After break, we worked on “Type 2 Learn 4” and some new questions on an article called “Doctor Dinosaur”. Then at 12:10, we headed out to lunch.

When we came back, we did science. We took a closer look at granite and obsidian. Our main focus was at crystals. Our student teacher brought in tubes of salol, which melts at 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 42 degrees Celsius. So we heated up water, and melted the salol. Then once it was liquid, we took one vial and put it in cold water to cool and to crystalize. We also put the other vial on the desk (at room temp.) to cool and crystalize. The salol in the water cooled really fast, and we could see crystals in the first 30 seconds. The salol on the desk hadn’t crystalized at all. We came to the conclusion that if the salol cools slower, it creates bigger crystals, but if it cools quickly, it forms smaller crystals. This explains why obsidian has small crystals, and granite has larger crystals. Obsidian cools faster, and granite cools slower. We finished up 3.2 in math, and were going to do 3.3, but instead we did “Chaos in the Canyon” until 3:25, when we did PSV, wrote down homework, and left for the night. Enjoy your evening! Here’s your homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 55, Q# 13- 20 & 38-39, Bonus Q# 48-49
Math Packet Days 19-20

Day 119- Saint Patrick’s Day

               Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everyone! Today is Thursday, March 17, 2011. This morning, we didn’t have any specialists, so we came in and worked on Word of the Day and Calendar Math. As usual, our teacher had to check our work before we could get our netbooks out. Once we had them, we did the daily problems, finished our science experiment where we analyzed different rocks to determine if they were igneous metamorphic or sedimentary. We then worked to try and finish our SSCBA. We worked on it until lunch, and our teacher then went out to play a basketball game with the boys.

                When we came back, the boys got in trouble, so they went down to the lunch room, while the girls had fun upstairs in the classroom. Then we finished math 3.1. After that, at 2:30, we went to library to work on the book report on our favorite author. When we came back, we did PSV, wrote down homework, and left at 3:30. Have a nice weekend! Remember, we don’t have any school tomorrow because the teachers go back to school. Here’s the homework:

Homework

Read 30 minutes and Reading Record

VP, p 55, Q# 5-12 & 28, Bonus Q# 44-45

Math Packet Days 17 & 18

Day 118 - Art and Cake

Today we worked on identifying the types of rocks in science by using the computers and our science text books. We looked at different characteristics and tried to determine if they were igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. We then wrapped up our greeting cards that we made in publisher for our UW buddies. After that we had a chance to work on our CBA's. Students who are not finished need to work on that at home.

After lunch we hard art docent. The art docent taught us about an artist named Hariuchi who did really great landscape art. She also brought in cake for Mr. Steele's birthday, which we had during the art project.

Homework:
Read 30 minutes
Reading Record
Finish Social Studies CBA

Day 117 - We Learn Some Algebra

Hi all! Today is Monday, March 15, 2011. This morning we had P.E., so at 9:05 we headed down. We played “Pin Knockdown”. You set up a pin, and then defend it. The point of the game is to knock down the other’s pins. To do this you have to set up a pin, and then grab a bean bag. Then we went back and did calendar math. Once we were done, we got out net books and did the Daily Problems. Once we were done with that, we started working on our SS CBA. Once our teacher saw we all had our computers out, we went over the problems, and continued on the CBA until we had break. When we came back, we paired up with a student of our choice, and did some peer-review. Our teacher showed us how to do track changes, so that we could see suggestions and changes done to our papers. After about 15 minutes, we went back and looked at the changes our partner had made. Then we continued working until 12:10. We garnered 8 minutes of recess, but our teacher said we could make it up tomorrow, because he was going to be a part of an Ancient Mythology computer tournament against some students. He smoked them (meaning he won, and they sorely lost).

When we came back from lunch, we did 3.1 in math. That was when we got our first taste of algebra. Instead of using stories, we used letters to represent variables. After that we tried to finish the “Fossil Primer” questions in science. We got into groups and worked, but then we did some individual work. Then we did book clubs until 3:24. Then we did PSV, wrote down homework, and left. Have a nice night! Here’s the homework:

Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 55, Q#1-4 & 21-22, Bonus Q# 27 & 43
Math Packet Days 15 & 16

Day 116- Happy Pi Day

Good morning and Happy Pi Day! If you’re wondering what I mean by Pi Day, Pi is 3.14 and a whole bunch of numbers after that. Today is Monday, 3/14/11. The fraction 3/14 is equivalent to 3.14, hence Pi. This morning when we came in, we had music, so we hurried off to the commons where we got on stage and acted the play, “Bullies Anonymous” out. We came back and did Calendar math. Once we were done, we got our netbooks out and worked on a bibliography for our SS CBA. We were going to do some peer review, but we had break. When we came back, we were going to do peer review again, but ended up working on the bibliography again until lunch.

When we came back, we did 2.3 in math. We were trying to match stories up to graphs, name them, and identify the dependent and independent variables. Then we worked on the “Fossil Primer” questions in science. At 3:00, we then did book clubs until 3:23. Then we came back together, did PSV, wrote down homework, and left. Have a nice evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 35, Q# 8-14 & 19, Bonus Q# 24
Math Packet Days 13 & 14

Day 115 - Communicator Site

                Morning everyone! Today is Friday, March 11, 2011. At 9:15, we have library. So in the morning, we got out our netbooks and then we headed down to see our librarian. We worked on our Favorite Author book reports for the whole period, except for the five minutes we used to check out. When we came back, we were visited by a man from Evergreen Hospital. He talked about the dangers of drugs, smoking cigarettes, and how bad it is to smoke marijuana. You can get lung cancer from smoking cigarettes! Smoking is bad for your health, and decreases your lifetime by up to ten years! Then we had break. When we came back, we got on the communicator sites where we made our avatars. We looked at our community site where we could; read the blog, look at a calendar of events in school, and post comments on topics that our teacher puts on the site. We played with that until lunch, and we collected thirteen minutes that we will have to make up next Monday. But our teacher was nice, and he let us go to play our Friday game. Today we played “Fortress Siege”! Everyone had fun. Then we had lunch.

                When we came back, we had a substitute. Our teacher’s daughter was sick, so he stayed for the game and then left. So we jumped into math. Today’s lesson was 2.2. We looked at prices of bike tours and the potential number of customers. Just as we thought, the higher the price of the bike tours as seen on our graphs, the fewer customers are expected. After we made a graph representing the information in the table, we got to choose partners to answer the rest of the problems. Then we came back together, went over them, and started a Social Studies test on the Silk Road. Then at 3:04, we turned them in and we did book clubs until 3:21. We then completed our jobs, wrote down homework, and did PSV. Then we left. Here’s the homework:

Reading 30 Minutes and Reading Record

Day 114 - Let’s All Stay in for Recess!

Hi all! Today is Thursday, March 10, 2011. This morning we don’t have any specialists, so we came in, unpacked our things, and worked on our daily math and Word of the Day until about 10:45. We also cleaned our math binders out. First we got out our calendar math, which our teacher collected, and then we stapled all our BP3 work together and stored it elsewhere, but we didn’t turn it in. Once we were all done with our work, and had turned in our work, we got out the netbooks. We were supposed to work on the “Dino Ghosts” questions, drop box it once we were done, and work on our SS CBA. But at about 11:20, we got to take a math test. Do you remember the CBSA math test that we took a couple days ago? Well it turns out a couple of problems were wrong so turns out we had to retake it.

When we came back from recess we did math lesson 2.0 and went over the CDSA retake. Later on in Social Studies we learned about the Western Silk Road and surprisingly the carpets that were traded in the western Silk Road lasted for decades! After that we designed our own board game. At 3:05 we did book club action for a small amount of 12 minutes. Lastly at the end of the day we PSV today Mr. Steele was looking for a spotless floor then he dismissed us at 3:30.

Homework:
P.35 1-4 + 15-16
Bonus 20-21
PC day# 11+12

Day 113 - Monsoon

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, March 09, 2011. We came in and did our morning routine, and at our usual time, we went down to music. We did the same thing we’ve been working on for the last couple weeks, the play “Bullies Anonymous”. We ran through the songs and the lines, and then we left for the classroom. We got out the netbooks, and worked on science. We got into groups of four to five and looked at igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Then we had break. When we came back, we worked on the “Ghost Dinosaurs” questions, until lunch. When we came back we worked on math until the end of the day at 2:00. This lesson was all about making tables and graphing from a journal and notes. Then at 3:20 we did PSV and wrote down homework. Have an awesome evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 15, Q# 10-12, Bonus Q# 30
Math Packet #2 Days 9 & 10

Day 112 - Mirages in Social Studies

Hello all! Today is Tuesday, March 08, 2011. In the morning, entered the classroom and did our morning routine. At 9:05 we went down to P.E. We had more stations, and one of them was a fitness test (I don’t know the name, but it involved stretching and then sitting down and reaching as far as you could without hurting yourself). So we rotated through the stations, and at the end when everyone was done with the test, we just had fun until our teacher came and ruined all our fun. A lady from the district came by and interviewed a handful of people about the netbooks after we got them out. Then we worked on questions for an article called “Ghost Dinosaurs”, until break. When we came back, we worked on our Gimp Avatar project (The Avatars from the movie directed by James Cameron). Then we worked on our SSCBA at about 11:30 until lunch.

After recess and lunch we did math 1.4. We learned how to make a table from information in a graph. After we did math, we jumped straight into science. We did some more stuff on index fossils and layers. Then we took a break and read about the Silk Road in Social Studies. Then at 3:00, we went back to Science and we worked on some questions that went with the article “Fossil Primer” until 3:25. Then we did jobs, wrote down homework, did PSV, and left. Have a nice evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 15, Q# 6-9 & 25-27, Bonus #28
Math Packet #2 Days 7 & 8

Day 111 - The Adventures of Oz

Morning everyone! Today is Monday, March 07, 2011. This morning, we came in and went through our morning routine, and at 9:05 we went to P.E. We weren’t in there for five minutes when we were called into the cafeteria to watch the all-school play, “The Adventures of Oz”. It was a really good play. At about 10:30, we headed back, got out the netbooks, and worked on the SS CBA. Then at 10:50, four people were selected to go move the music teacher’s piano. Then at 11:00, we had break. After break, we finished up questions on an article called “Search for Monsters”, which was about mythical creatures who have supposedly been seen by civilians. Once we finished that and we dropped it off in the drop-box, we worked on our CBA until lunch. Mr. Steele showed us how to put pictures into our essay using Microsoft Word.

When we came back, we did math. Instead of doing 1.2 like we were supposed to, we skipped that and went on to 1.3. It was about graphing. After we did that, we went back to the processing sheet for Social Studies. We worked on that until 2:50, and then we did book clubs until it was time to pack up. We did PSV, wrote down homework, and left. Have a nice evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
VP, p 15, Q#1-3 & 18-20, Bonus Q# 26
Math Packet Days 5 & 6

Day 110 - Chaos in the Canyon

Good morning America! To start of the day we did morning math and we changed math books to bits and pieces #4. The specialist today was library. In library we worked on our book report on our favorite author. Remember it is due the twenty fifth of March don’t turn it in late .Then it was time for mystery class we worked on mystery class for about five to ten minutes. I can’t wait till we find out what location we are tracking! After mystery class we used the new net books to work on our three philosophies CBA . Mr. Steele surprised us with another art lesson on the commuter. He took pictures of us and we put in backgrounds and got to mess around with it.

When we got back from lunch, we transformed and did “Chaos in the Canyon”. After that, we read the introduction for math, but was interrupted our teacher, so we did “Steps to Respect”, and went back to math after the lesson. It was about by-standers. After that, we did our math lesson. We went outside to do jumping jacks, then came in and proceeded to answer the questions. Then for about 20 minutes we did book clubs. Then we did PSV, wrote down homework, and left. Have an awesome weekend! Here’s the homework:

Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
Variables and Patterns, p 15, Q# 4-7 & 31-33, Bonus Q# 15-19

Day 109 - We Travel the Silk Road

Good morning Mr. Steele’s Class! Today is Thursday, March 03, 2011. We came in, unpacked, and started Word of the Day and Daily Math. We then went over that and got the netbooks out. When we got them out, we got onto a program called Gimp2. It was a program where you could do art. Tools we looked at included the paint brush, layers, and different kinds of brushes like calligraphy or big dots, and also colors. We worked on it until break. When we got back, we had our last day with our UWB buddies. Then at 11:50, we had some free time on the netbooks, and then we put them away and went out to lunch.

When we got back from lunch, we mimicked the Silk Road. We got into groups, and “traded goods” with the rest of the class. There were different obstacles that we had to pass. One of them was a mountain that we had to “climb” over, which was a desk covered in paper. There was a stretch of desert that you had to cross with your eyes closed. There was also a string that you had to crabwalk under. There was also a stretch of carpet that had pictures of lion and scorpions that you had to hop over. It was a lot of fun. Then we finished the math test we started yesterday. At around 3:10, we corrected the papers. We did jobs at 3:20. At 3:25, we wrote down homework, did PSV, and left. Have a good evening! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Reading 30 minutes and Reading Record
Math Packet #2, Days 1-4

Day 108 - Watching Videos on our Net Books

Morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, March 02, 2011. This morning when we came in, we went through our usual routine, and at 9:05, we went down to music. When we got there, we got assigned seats for the play, “Bullies Anonymous”. Then we ran through the whole play, practicing the songs, and practicing with the microphones (they were off). We got done right on time, and at 9:45, we lined up and headed back up to the classroom to get our net books and watch a video on our net books! Two people went down to the computer lab and hi-jacked about thirteen headphones since we did not have enough. Everyone should try to bring their own pair of headphones in to use. We then hooked them up to the net books and watched a video on the Silk Road. Once we were done, we answered some questions and then took a survey on how much we liked watching the video on the net book, and what else we would like to do on them. Then we had break. After break, we worked on our SS CBA until lunch and learned how to use Microsoft Outlook to do email and calendar.

When we came back, we did the end of the unit math test on decimals. Then at 1:50 we did jobs and left. The only homework is Reading 30 minutes and Reading Record. Have a nice day!

Day 107- Fitness Testing in P.E.

Good morning! Today is Tuesday, March 01, 2011. We came in at 9:00, and went through our morning routine, and at our usual time of 9:04, we headed down to P.E. where we had a number of stations do rotate to. First of all, there was the flex arm hang station. Then we rotated to a station where you can practice your tennis (hitting the tennis ball back and forth or playing a competitive game). The next station was jump roping. Then at about 9:45, we came back, got the net books out, logged them on, and started to work on our SS CBA. Then we had break. After break, we got about fifteen minutes of Type2Learn, and then started making a title page for our essay (SSCBA). We also organized our documents, and made new folders for each subject (Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts). Then we went out to lunch.

When we came back, we did an Activ Vote quiz, and then went into our regular math. Today’s lesson was 5.3. Tomorrow we have the end of the unit assessment, so review and practice tonight. Then, we got back together and did science until 3:20. We are looking at index fossils. Then we wrote down homework and PSV. Then we left. Study hard! Here’s the homework:

Homework
Read 30 minutes and Reading Record
AP p 97
Math Packet Days 19 & 20