Summer School

The school year is over and summer school is coming to an end. I will be keeping this site running for the next year. I would love for all of you to keep in touch with me letting me know about events going on in sixth grade or even Jr. High. I wish you all the best in the years to come. You have all been a blessing to me; I have learned so much from you all.

Love Always,
Ms. Gray

New Dino Sites

http://www.dinosauria.com/

http://www.dinosaurnews.org/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/trex/

http://www.levins.com/dinosaur.shtml

http://www.ology.amnh.org/paleontology/index.html

Dino-Cyber Hunt

Directions: Use these sites to answer the following questions.

http://www.sdnhm.org/kids/dinosaur/bytes.html

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinofr.html

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinodiscoveriesna.html

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/whatsnewdinos/index.html

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/

http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/

1. What is a fossil?

2. What is a paleontologist?

3. The late 1800s were called the “______________” of dinosaur paleontology, when many animals that you might be familiar with were discovered and named.

4. What can you tell me about the Dino-Feud? (summarize in 2 sentences)


5. What does poikilothermic mean?

6. What does ectothermic mean?

7. What does endothermic mean?

8. Where did dinosaurs live?

9. What colors were dinosaurs?

10.What are three types of Dino eggs?

When you are finished please check out the other dinosaur sites!

DINO-Sites

http://www.kidsdinos.com/ ***let it load completely...Remember only dino games and sites related***

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/links/dinolinks.htm

May News Letter

Thank You

Thank you to 24 and 9 for creating our Good-Bye 5th Grade bulletin board using languages from around the world.
Thank you to 2, 23, 4, and 16 for creating our Mysterious Cave bulletin board.
Thank you to 19 and 3 for the Summer fun bulletin.
Thank you to Ms. Buntin, 11’s grandparents and 18’s father for joining us on our cave adventure.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, May 16th Field Day
Thursday, May 17th 5th Grade Reward/Field Day and Wacky Awards
Friday, May 18th Awards Day
Last Day of School
Monday, May 28th Memorial Day
Monday, June 4-Friday, June 29 Summer School: Dinosaurs

Good-Bye

I have enjoyed my first year teaching at Exeter, but it has been hard being so far from my family. I will be moving back to Iowa to teach kindergarten this upcoming fall. Thank you for all your support. You all have children to be proud of. ~M.s. Gray

Summer

Reading is important to keep up through the whole summer. On average a student will drop down a little bit unless they are constantly reading and refreshing those skills everyday.

Bullying

Express your feelings about the bullying that has been going on. How you feel about staying after school or not getting things you worked for?

If you were the one that was writing on the floor please send me a little message or click on the email botton on the comments instead of writing a comment.

Your classmates are upset with this poor choice. Please make a positive choice by coming forward.

Remember no names, you may use student numbers, remember if you write in the comments, I don't know who you are unless you tell me.

May Homework

Monday: No homework: American Sports Heros is what we are reading about this week.

Tuesday: Field Trip for Map

Wednesday: Field Day: Wear Tennis Shoes

Thursday: Wacky Awards/5th Grade Field Day

Friday: Last Day of School

2 weeks until Summer School

This site will remain running for summer school!

Vocabulary

No More Vocabulary Lists

Congradulations to 1 for making it into the Vocabulary Club with 3 100% tests!

Moving North

I have announced to my students that I will not be coming back to teach at Exeter next year. I have enjoyed my first year teaching in Exeter, but feel like I'm too far from my family. I will be teaching 5th -6th grade for summer school before heading back to Iowa to teach kindergarten in the fall. Thank you for all of your support. I have been blessed to have such a wonderful group of students this year.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to let me know.

More information on Caves

Talking Caverns in Missouri (our field trip)

http://talkingrockscavern.com/

Cave WEB SITES

http://www.mammoth.cave.national-park.com/

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/atoz.cfm

http://www.hawaii.volcanoes.national-park.com/

http://www.carlsbad.caverns.national-park.com/


Cave Vocabulary (discovery.com)

guano
Definition: A substance composed chiefly of the dung of sea birds or bats, accumulated along certain coastal areas or in caves
Context: In the early part of the 20th century bat guano was mined from Carlsbad Cavern caves and sold for use as fertilizer.
karst
Definition: An irregular limestone region with sinkholes, caves, underground streams, and springs
Context: Karst regions usually lack surface water because it’s all underground.
petroglyph
Definition: Pictures, symbols, or other artwork pecked, carved or incised on natural rock surfaces
Context: The cave has preserved these 3,000-year-old petroglyphs but not their meaning.
subterranean
Definition: Existing or happening under the Earth’s surface
Context: In these caves you’ll find a subterranean world as uncharted as the surface of Mars.
stalactite
Definition: A tapering structure hanging from the roof of a cave, most often formed of calcite deposited by dripping water. Context: Some of the largest stalactites have taken millions of years to form.
stalagmite
Definition: A tapering column rising from the floor of a cave, most often formed of calcite deposited by dripping water. Context: Stalagmites often grow from the drips of calcite falling from the stalactite above.
troglobite
Definition: An animal that has adapted to living life permanently inside caves
Context: Since 1971 over 50 of these cave-adapted critters, or troglobites, have been identified in Hawaii.
vug
Definition: A small cavity in rock.
Context: A vug maybe lined with a mineral that is different from the rock around it.

Spelling

NO more Spelling

Exponents

Prefix- Name- Exponent

tera trillion 10^12
giga billion 10^9
mega million 10^6
kilo thousand 10^3
hecto hundred 10^2
deca ten 10^1
uni one 10^0 any number to the zero power is just 1
decimal goes here
deci tenth 10^-1
centi hundredth 10^-2
milli thousanth 10^-3
micro millionth 10^-6
nano billionth 10^-9
pico trillionth 10^-12

10^4 = 10*10*10*10

Just For Fun

Who is hiding in the reading area?

April Newsletter

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

~Thomas Edison

MAP Testing

We will begin our MAP testing on Monday morning April 2nd. Our class will be taking tests on reading and math in the mornings and science and social studies in the afternoons.
Snacks will be provided during the tests each day. If your child chooses to bring them from home that is fine. I will not be allowing candy or sugar filled drinks during the testing times.
Our class goal is to have 100% attendance during the testing period and 100% effort being made on the test. If they work hard everyday their name will go in a drawing with other elementary students for a portable DVD player. I realize that testing time is stressful for some students, I feel they are as prepared as they can be and will have great success on MAP this year.

Testing TIPS

•Good night sleep
8 hours for the average 5th grader
•Nutritious food
Good food helps our brains function like fruits and vegetables.
Breakfast is key to a good performance on a morning test!
•Relax
Taking deep breaths before or during the test will help us stay calm

Thank You

Thank you to 12 and 22 for the lucky bulletin board and helping us display our 6+1 Traits of writing. (word choice and voice)

Upcoming Events

Saturday, March 31 Chili Super 5pm
Sunday, April 1 April Fool’s Day
Tuesday, April 3 1’s Birthday
Tuesday, April 3 Voting Day
Thursday, April 5 Mid Quarter
Thursday, April 5 Book Orders Due
Friday, April 6 NO SCHOOL
Sunday, April 8 Easter
Tuesday, April 24 Sports Pictures
Wednesday, April 25 Tobacco Presentation 12: 30
Sunday, April 29 20’s Birthday
Monday, April 30 The Ned Show 2pm Yo-Yo Presentation

Learning Corner

Reading: We have just finished up with two nonfiction books one on special effects in movies and one on pirates. We have worked hard on comprehending what we are reading and reading the books more than one time.
Spelling: We will not be doing spelling during MAP testing, but have one test remaining on spelling before getting down with vocabulary.
Math: We just finished a unit on fractions and will be working with exponents in this upcoming chapter and the different properties in math.
Science: We are working with plants, how to classify them, and what parts make up plants, as well as, flowers.

FROG Binders

Parents please make sure your student is showing you his/her FROG binder nightly. This is to help teach them responsibility.
There is also a sheet in there for working with multiplication facts 1-12. I believe that if they practice them 3 nights a week for 5 or 10minutes a night, they will improve their ability to recall their facts quickly and accurately.

Basketball Season

Basketball season has now come to an end. Congratulations on all the hard work put in this season

Fundraiser

We currently raised money for Pennies for Patients: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Thank you to all of the parents and students who participated and helped our class fundraise over a hundred dollars for the cause. I’m very proud of the effort made. ($152.15)

Congrats to Mr. Jordan's class for raising $213.18 and for the whole school for raising $583.63

I will be treating the 5th grade class to rootbeer floats for all their hard work. We may not have earned the pizza party, but the 5th grade students were dedicated and were working hard for the right cause.

Computer Games: During Computer TIme

http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=FractionGame
Math Fractions

Cells Web Site/ Cell Project

Start Tuesday, March 6, 2007- Due Tuesday, March 13, 2007



Goal:
Create 2-D animal/plant cell.

How:
Using a piece of paper laying flat I need to create an image with objects that can be attached giving it a pop up book effect. (2 dimensional)

My project needs to be careful, colorful, and detailed:
Careful: I took my time and was creative
Colorful: I colored the background in and objects weren’t all one color.
Detailed: My cell parts were all labeled. I used my book, handouts, or internet to help me.

Grading:
How well do you think you did on the project?
On a scale of 1 (didn’t try)- 5(tried my best and followed instructions)
Mark the numbers on the lines of how well you think you did on the project.

_______ Done on time
_______ Careful
_______ Colorful
_______ Detailed
_______ Turned in the sheet with cell

http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=Science%20Lab

Virtual Electron Microscope

Cells Games:
SOL 5.5 Cells Quiz
Plant and Animal Cell Game!
Cell Millinaire Game!
Cells Quiz!
Label the Cell Quiz
Who wants to be a millionaire on cells?
Cells Quiz
Cells 25 Question Quiz

Great Site: Great to help you with labels
http://www.cellsalive.com/

Cell Practice:

Draw and label the basic structures of plant and animal cells (i.e., cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and chloroplasts).
Cells Quiz
Cells Alive! Plant cellsCells Alive! Animal CellsCell Inspector

Compare and contrast the basic structures of plant and animal cells (i.e., cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus)
I Can Do That!
Interactive Plant Cells
Interactive Animal Cells

Identify basic structures of plant and animal cells.
Who Wants to be an Animal Classification Millionaire?
Inside A Cell
I Know That!

Compare and contrast basic structures and functions of plant and animal cells.
Making sense of the Species
Plant Sleuth
Similarities and Differences among Living Things
Life Science SafariCell Structure and FunctionCell Reproduction
Distinguish between single cell and multicellular organisms.
Virtual Electron Microscope

Differentiate among cells, tissues, organs, and systems.Body Systems Happy Game
Cells, tissues, and membranes review and quiz

Science Book Information:
http://www.sfscience.com/english/grade_6/unit_A/index.htm

March News Letter

Thank You

Thank you to 11 and 14 for making a very loving bulletin board.

Club Zone

Keep up the good work 5th graders who are working hard to get into a club.
Congratulations to 19 and 18 for making it into 3 clubs, 13, 8, and 3 for making it into 2 clubs and to 11 and 9 who have made it on to one.

Mr. Anderson

Mr. Anderson is the new 6th grade teacher. He will be teaching the 5th grade in social studies and will be taking over their literature circles on Wednesdays.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, March 1st No School Trout Day

Friday, March 2nd 19’s ½ Birthday

Friday, March 9th End of the 3rd Quarter
Book Orders Due

Sunday, March 11th Daylight Saving
Time Begins
Tuesday, March 13th Spring Pictures

Thursday, March 15th Food Power Presentation
Conferences 3-7

Friday, March 16th Conferences 1-5
Early-out 12: 30
Saturday, March 17th 22’s Birthday
St. Patrick’s Day

MAP TESTING COMING SOON

check with your participating student
on his/her basketball game schedule

Native American Research Papers

The research has been complete and we will now begin to revise our papers. We will also be learning how to create a bibliography using all the sources collected from research. After revising our rough drafts we will be typing them on the computer and working on developing skills of typing, but later turning them into a PowerPoint.

Thanks to the High School FFA

We got to visit some of the animals that would be found on a farm here at school during the National FFA week. We extend our thanks to all the FFA members.

Leaning Corner

Math:We just finished up the chapter on how we can changes percents, decimals, and fractions. Unit 6 will be on using data and adding and subtracting fractions.

Reading: The past unit we studied autobiographies and had a chance to write our own. This new unit we are starting will be based on animal encounters. We are also reading literature books that have a little mystery in them. Please ask your child about the book they are reading. Literature Circles meet on Wednesday morning to discuss their book.

Snow (ice) Days

We are beginning to make up the days that we have missed so please pay attention to the change of parent teacher conferences and that we now have school on Friday, March 16th , and Monday, March 19th.

Native American Reseach Links

• These are some sites that will be helpful.
• Don't forget to write down the sites that you use.
• How do you cut and paste information that is important and save for later?
• Hi-lite the words you want on the keyboard hold (ctrl c ) then go to where you want to put it in your Word document and hold (ctrl p) all else fails right click and hit the words or go to Edit on the top of the Word program.
• Remember when we rewrite we do not plagiarize .
• Stay on TASK.....do NOT go to sites that are not on this list while at school.

Native American History
http://www.nativeamericans.com/
Scroll to the bottom for helpful links! Make sure you aren’t going to another search engine

http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/tm/native.html

http://www.ability.org.uk/native_american_history.html

http://www.historynet.com/culture/native_american_history

http://www.americanindiantribe.com/greene/ait_FAQ.htm

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/native_american.html

http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/start.htm

http://www.historycentral.com/

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/

History of Cherokee
http://cherokeehistory.com/

http://www.smokymtnmall.com/mall/cindians.html


Religion
http://www.religioustolerance.org/nataspir.htm

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/naspirit.html

http://www.native-languages.org/religion.htm

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/naspirit_old.html

Languages
http://www.native-languages.org/

http://www.bartleby.com/65/na/NatvAmlang.html

WIISINIWAN -- Food Recipes
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/recipes.html

Food and more
http://www.indians.org/articles/native-american-food.html


Fighting Styles/ Weapons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_fighting_styles

http://www.cclranchdecor.com/SouthwestSection.html

http://www.snowwowl.com/naarttomahawk.html

http://www.ancient-weapons.com/

http://hands-around-the-world.com/native-american-indian-weapons.html

Hunting

http://www.indians.org/articles/bear-hunting.html

http://ncseonline.org/NAE/hunting.html

Music
http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/amerindian/amerindian0.asp

Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?category=Native%20American%20History

Weapons (if you click on the bolded words it will tell you what they are made of)
http://nativeway.safewebshop.com/finished_weaponry.html

French and Indian War

http://www.philaprintshop.com/frchintx.html

http://web.syr.edu/~laroux/

http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/French.html

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/frenchandindianwar1.htm

******Online Encyclopedia*********
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.bartleby.com/65/

February Newsletter

The time is always right to do what is right. ~Martin Luther King Jr.

Thank You

Thank you to 17 and 20 for January’s bulletin board of New Year bells.

Learning Cornner

SCIENCE: Water Cycle Project turned out wonderful. Every student had a little something different on each project. We are going to continue working on our weather.

MATH: Fractions are giving us all a little trouble. There will be a test at the end of the month. Please help your students work on converting fractions in to decimals and percents.

READING: We just finished our literature circle and for the next 2 weeks we will be doing centers. Students will have a book that they will need to read aloud to you.
Centers: Fluency, Computer, Guided Reading, Readers’ Theatre, Making Words, Spelling Practice

LANGUAGE ARTS: Students will be starting a research project on Native Americans. We will be taking this project one step at a time. For the first few weeks we will be gathering information and learning how to put it in to paragraphs and recording our sources.

Upcoming Events

Feb. 9 BOOK ORDERS DUE
Feb. 12-23 K-6 Cookie Dough Fundraiser
Feb. 13 4’s ½ Birthday
Feb. 13-16 Homecoming Week (dress up is optional)
Monday 12 Under the Sea
Tuesday 13 Fisherman/Fish Day
Wednesday 14 Switch Day (girls dress up as boys and boys as girls)
Valentine's Day: Party at 2pm
Thursday 15 Pirates of Exeter *no weapons

Friday 16 Red and Black School Spirit
Feb. 16 We have school School HOMECOMING Game
Feb. 19 11’s Birthday
Feb. 19 No School (may change)
Feb. 22 Author Dave Sargent comes to visit
Feb. 23 3’s Birthday
Feb. 24 12’s ½ Birthday
Feb. 30 13’s and 14’s ½ Birthday

Congradulations

Congratulation to all of the students who studied hard for the class spelling bee and the school spelling bee.

Valentine’s Day Party

We will be having a party on February 14th at 2 p.m. We will be decorating bags in class. Students may bring their Valentines cards to school that day to pass out. I ask that they have enough for everyone in the class so nobody is left out. We will be playing games and passing out cards that afternoon.

Computer Lesson:Search Engines

www.Ask.com
www.google.com
www.altavista.com
www.yahoo.com
www.msn.com

Great Reference Sites
www.discoverychannel.com
www.dictionary.com *has other reference sites listed
www.reference.com

If you are looking for just pictures be sure to click on images and not the web on the tabs available on each search engine.

Water Cycle Project

5th Grade Water Cycle Creation
1/11/07 +1 week

□ Title
□ Create a Water Cycle that is 2-D or 3-D (pop up using paper or objects: NOT a drawing on paper)
o Careful
o Colorful
o Detailed

□ Label each step in the Cycle *look at notes, poster on the wall, chart in the back of the book
o Correct (4 labels 1point extra credit of runoff and ground water)
o Defined by the stages of matter example: Condensation: Gas>Liquid

□ Neatness
o Writing/ Type
o Project

□ Creative *you can come up with any way to represent the water cycle

□ Completed on time (due Thursday, January 18, 2007)

Weather Sites

Water Game
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/droplet.html

Water Cycle
http://www.kidzone.ws/water/index.html

January News Letter

Happy New Year

With the new year will come some new changes, new goals for students, and higher expectations. I hope that you will help encourage your children to read at home. Practice makes perfect as the old saying goes. Remember students should be bringing home their FROG binders every night to be looked at by a parent/ guardian.

Learning Corner

Math: We just finished up with long division in math and with be starting fractions.
Reading: Reading time has been spent on our Literature Circles, reader’s theater, and talking about family traditions.
Science: We are still working on the states of matter and will begin taking a look at the water cycle and how the states of matter apply.
Computers: We were using mapquest.com to plan a vacation and looking at the math involved with the program. Now we will begin working on some typing skills that will be helpful to our future.
English/Writing: We have been working on adjectives and using them in the stories that we have written. Our goal for this quarter is focusing on the quality of our writing and revisions.

Club Zone

What is the Club Zone? It is an opportunity for students to make a goal for themselves. That goal may be to make it in one club or maybe all 5.
AR Club: Meet AR reading goal of 30points by the end of the year.
Math Wiz Club: Complete all problems correctly on Minute Math worksheet in 1 minute or less.
Record Reading Club: Read and record the times that a book was being read. Goal is to read 5 chapter books.
Spelling Bee-utifully Club: 5 spelling tests with 100% or greater by the end of the semester.
Fact Finder Club: A student must know their multiplication facts from 1*1 to 10*10 and prove them verbally to Ms. Gray.
Benefits or Rewards for being in a club:
2 or more Lunch in the classroom with Ms. Gray every Tuesday
3 or more 30 minutes of free time on the computer
4 or more Free book (limits may apply)
5 or more Pizza party at the end of the quarter/ semester in the classroom with Ms. Gray.

Thank You

Thank you to 7 and 21 for the beautiful bulletin board of our class’s Santa is Missing in Action stories.
Also thank you for the gifts and all the wonderful treats that were brought to our Christmas Party.

Upcoming Events

Jan. 5 18'sBirthday
Jan.8-Jan. 12 STAR Testing
Jan8-Jan 12 Year Book Week (dress up is optional)
Mon. Animal
Tues. Barry County
Wed. Hooville (Dr. Seuss)
Thurs. Toga *must have regular school clothes underneath
Fri. Crazy Hair Day
Jan. 11 Book Orders Due
Jan.15Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
Jan. 28 8’s ½ Birthday
Jan. 31Mid Quarter Reports