Constitution Day

Today is recognized as Constitution Day in the United States. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was ratified. We watched a short video about the Constitution and discussed the meaning of the Constitution and how it relates to our lives. This lead to a discussion about what is a right and the rights that we have as United States Citizens.

We described a right in a few different ways:

“The ability to do things that you want to do.” - Ethan R.

“To be yourself.” - Ad

“To be able to do something. To be free.” -Isabella 

“You are able to do something without being told no.” Rachel 

“You can make your own choices.” - Ariana 

Next, we made a list of the rights we have as citizens in our classroom: 

• Read any book that we want to. 
• Allowed to say what we think. 
• Right to speak our mind. 
• Think what you want to think. 
• Share our thoughts. 
• Go to the bathroom when we need to. 
• Help others. 
• Make a choice of where to sit. 
• Sit with who you would like to. 
• Get and receive respect. 
• Use classroom materials. 
• Right to use spaces in our school. 
• Right to be happy. 
• To get a drink of water. 
• To write what we want. 
• Respect each other. 
• To move freely. 
• Use computers when you need to. 
• Go to the computer lab or library if you need to. 
• Lay down during read aloud. 
• Ask questions. 
• Eat a snack. 
• Sit in chairs during group. 
• Have fun. 
• Right to go to recess. 
• Grow a school garden.
• To talk. 
• To be yourself. 
• To be different. 
• To be friends with who you want. 
• Choose to work in groups of by yourself. 
• Have your own style and attitude. 
• Everyone have the chance to share at morning meeting. 
• To wear what you want to school. 
• To be safe. 
• To learn. 

We will use the classroom rights that the students generated as we continue to work and learn together throughout the school year. 

We truly had a great discussion about our classroom rights. This experience was a great way for the students to connect the Constitutional rights to their personal lives.

Take a Peek

We successfully completed our first five day school week. We had a wonderful week full of awesome learning experiences.

Take a peek at what our week looked like:

We have had many conversations and read several stories about the importance of being you. During Writer's Workshop, we wrote I am poems. The I am poems were a great way for students to express their interests, hopes, wishes, and dreams. I was blown away at the beautiful language that was used in the poems. The students created a published copy of their poems. The poems now hang alongside self-portraits in our classroom.

During Writer's Workshop we discussed different types of writing. 

Students are encouraged to choose their own writing topic and type of writing during Writer's Workshop. I am excited to get to know my students as writers. While students are writing independently, I take the time to conference with students one-on-one in order to get to know them better as writers. Together, we have been coming up with writing goals to help strengthen our writing.

We created our word wall letters out of our bodies and hung them in the front of the classroom. We will be adding our weekly spelling words to the word wall. It is a great reference point for students to use while writing.

The fifth graders in our classroom have been introduced to the 30 Book Challenge. Their challenge is to read at least 30 books throughout the school year in a variety of genres. They will be keeping track of the books they have read by filling out a grid in their reading folder.

We created our class birthday graph and analyzed the data.

We are very excited to announce that we will be writing a classroom newspaper this year. We decided on a name, The Pickle Press. Our inspiration came from "Hairy Pickle" who is passed around during Morning Meeting while we share and engage in conversation.

We created our first edition by writing articles in small groups.

In the coming weeks, we will be looking closely at different newspapers, magazines, articles and investigating what makes articles interesting to read. We will take what we learn from other publications and integrate it into our classroom newspaper. We have already created a list of ideas for future Pickle Press publications. I am excited to see how The Pickle Press evolves throughout the school year. 

We spent some time in the computer lab creating individual digital 5th grade portfolios on Keynote. We  will use these portfolios to showcase our work throughout the school year.

I also shared a fun website, Draw a Stickman, with everyone. We loved watching our stickmen (and women) come to life!

And who can forget, we spent some time chatting with Suni Williams aboard the International Space Station.

Looking forward to another great week!

ISS Downlink

Today students at Wickliffe had the opportunity to be a part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. At about 11:05 am, we had the chance to participate in a question and answer session with Expedition 32 flight engineer Suni Williams who was aboard the International Space Station. Twenty students were chosen to ask Suni questions. 

The downlink was held in our gym. Several community members were asked to be a part of the ISS downlink. We created signs for the guests in attendance. 

The gym was equipped with two screens. One screen was used to view Suni Williams and the other was used to track the orbit of the International Space Station.

We waited patiently for the downlink to begin...

Suni answered questions about life in space, her job while on the ISS, and what she does for fun in space. 

It was an amazing experience that will be remembered for a very long time! 

Follow the link below to watch the downlink: 

Station Education Event with Wickliffe Progressive Community School

Mission Statement

Last week, we spent a lot of time discussing how we wanted our classroom to look and feel. One afternoon, the fifth graders were asked to answer questions that were posted around the room.

Once everyone answered the questions, we sat down together and looked over all of the responses. As we read each person's answer, we wrote down common responses. We all decided that the reoccurring answers were most important to us as a class. From there, we created our class mission statement for the school year.

We used the website Tagul to create our class mission statement in a word cloud.


Here is our final product:

Updates

Please add the following dates to your calendar:

Tomorrow, August 28,  is the Downlink with the International Space Station at 11:05 am.

Thursday, August 30, is picture day.

Thursday, August 30, is Parent Information Night at 6:30 pm.

And We're Off!

Our fifth and final year at Wickliffe is officially under way. We had a very busy first day of school catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, and setting the tone for our fifth grade year.

Here are some highlights of our day:

We decorated the front door of our classroom with our names.

We spent some time talking about what it looks like and feels like to be respectful to our space and each other. We also started to talk about what it means to be the leaders of the school.

We introduced ourselves and started working on a project that will help us get to know each other.

We used our problem solving skills this afternoon to save Fred (a gummy worm) who was stranded from his boat. The fifth graders worked together to get Fred's life preserver (a gummy Life Saver) on his body. However, it wasn't that easy. The life preserver was underneath the upside-down boat and the students were only allowed to use four paper clips to help save Fred. Students put their heads together and used their problem-solving skills. It was amazing to see the collaboration and creative ways the fifth graders saved Fred.

For the rest of the week we will continue to learn about each member of our classroom, build classroom community, and establish classroom rules and routines together.


Here's to a wonderful fifth grade year in room 209!

Welcome!

Thank you for stopping by our classroom blog, The Story of 209. This space will show how we learn and grow in fifth grade as we create our very own, unique story.

Please check here frequently for classroom newsletters, photographs, and documentation of our learning.