Mrs. Provart’s Fifth Grade

Our class has been having trouble at lunch and recess.  Because of behavior, we have been the only 5th grade class that hasn’t earned a “friend day”, a day you can sit by your friends in the lunchroom.

During Morning Meeting today, we discussed the issue.  The students decided that a new seating arrangement would help.  With unbelievable honesty, students chose new spots, oftentimes not by their friends.  The class discussed if they thought the person could be successful there, and made suggestions of a better spot if necessary.  It was an open discussion and very interesting.

The ESP in charge of our lunch told me that the change in behavior today was amazing!  I am really proud of the way they worked together to solve our problem.  We celebrated our success with a short break outside this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather!!

The DARE essays in our classroom were fabulous!  The comittee had a tough time chosing.   Congratulations to Ethan!   He will be reading his essay at graduation.  Congratulations to all of you, really.  I was very impressed by the essays and how much you’ve learned.

DARE graduation is scheduled for Monday, November 30th at 2:45.  Your child should have brought an invitation home last week.  If you are planning to come, please be here and seated by 2:45.  Students will receive a red and black t-shirt that day to wear to graduation.

We are continuing with our Explorers unit.  We will have another quiz on Tuesday, covering facts 9-18 from the 28 Facts Sheet.

Students will be asked to read their essay out loud in class on Wednesday.  Please make sure they have a final essay at school tomorrow.  Practicing it out loud might be a good idea, also!

This week, we began a webquest where students will learn about internet safety.  We split into groups of 4, and assigned roles to each person.  Ask your child if they are “Chatty Cathy”, Surfer Steve”, “Netiquette Nelly”, or “Spammer Sally”.  Each person will research information about that particular piece of internet safety.  Next, as a group, they will create a poster of the top 10 things to know about internet safety and a multimedia presentation to show what they’ve learned.

This webquest gives us the opportunity to use our new netbooks and donated computer.  Students who have brought a netbook from home will use their own netbook for this project.

Students will be quizzed on the first 8 facts on the 28 Facts  Sheet.

1.  The Iroquois were famous for their League of Five Nations and Society of False Faces.

2.  The Inca lived in Peru and built thousands of miles of roads over rocky land for protection.

3.  The Pueblo used special rooms called kivas for religious ceremonies and believed in spirits called kachinas.

4.  The Aztec were warlike and practiced human sacrifices to please their gods.

5.  The Algonquin believed in the “Great Spirit of Monitou” and memory scrolls.

6.  Three Sisters was the special name for corn, beans and squash. 

7.  All the Native Americans grew maize (corn) for food.

8.  The Inca used quipu as a special way of writing by arranging knotted and colored string.