The Real Ivan

Today we had a wonderful opportunity to talk with a former Columbus Zoo gorilla keeper. Mrs. McEvoy's mother-in-law, Jane, came in to speak to us about her experience working with gorillas.  For 28 years Jane worked as an employee at the Columbus Zoo. About eight of her years were spent working with the gorillas. Jane came with amazing stories, information, and photographs that helped us gain insight on what it is like to work with the amazing gorilla species.

Jane told us about day-to-day duties as a gorilla keeper. She also told us that there are several gorillas that rotate on display at the Columbus Zoo. The gorillas at the Columbus Zoo have a large  habitat that allows them to interact with their gorilla families. Each day the gorilla keepers give the gorillas a puzzle or activity to work on to keep their minds engaged. We learned that gorillas need to be taken care of just like humans and that human doctors actually care for gorillas if they are in need of medical attention.

One part of today's conversation that was very interesting to us was about the real Ivan that we have been reading about in the book The One and Only Ivan. Jane knew the gorilla keepers who cared for the real Ivan at Zoo Atlanta. The real Ivan just passed away in August and she read us the eulogy that was sent from Ivan's keeper and friend. It was interesting for us to learn that the real Ivan displayed very similar characteristics that Katherine Applegate uses to portray Ivan in the story.

You can read about the true story of Ivan here. I will also share the following video of the real Ivan with the fifth graders tomorrow. We have all been touched and inspired by this true story. Although we are not finished with the story yet, I truly believe that through reading The One and Only Ivan that we are learning compassion and empathy for other living beings.

                           

We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to hear from Jane's experience today. She was so kind to take the time out of her day to share her experience with us, as well as, answer our many questions about what it is like to work with gorillas.

Skyping with a Grade 5 Canada Class

Last Thursday, we had the opportunity to Skype with a Grade 5 class from Gretna, Manitoba,
Canada as a part of the Global Read Aloud.

In order to prepare for the Skype session, we brainstormed a list of questions about The One and Only Ivan that we would like to discuss. We also discussed what we would like to say to the students from Canada. We thought it was important to tell the students that we lived near Columbus, Ohio, that we are the class of 2012, and that Wickliffe is a progressive school.

The time finally came to Skype with Ms. Young's Grade 5 class. We were super excited to see the Skype call come through on our computer. We had fun introducing ourselves to the Grade 5 students.

They shared their class mascot with us, as well as taught us hand signals to use to show whether we agree or disagree with their questions.

We took turns asking questions back and forth and shared our learning and thinking about The One and Only Ivan.

We all thought it was great to have a chance to share our learning with a class in another country. It was interesting to us to learn that the Grade 5 students in Canada are already experiencing winter weather. They thought it was interesting that in Ohio it was still warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts. We learned that most of the students in Ms. Young's class live on farms and it is not unusual for the students to have an hour ride to and from school. It was a wonderful experience and we are hopeful to connect with another classroom this week to discuss The One and Only Ivan. The students reflected on the Skype experience on their individual KidBlogs.

The One and Only Ivan

Last week we began a new read aloud, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

The One and Only Ivan is fiction but is loosely based on a true story of a Silverback Gorilla. The cool thing about this read aloud is that we are reading it along with several other classrooms all around the world. It is a part of the Global Read Aloud which provides opportunities for students to connect with other classrooms around the globe. The students are so excited about this read aloud and potential opportunity to connect with other classrooms. 

Here we are on the partipant map: 

I am excited to participate in the Global Read Aloud with the students and can't wait to dive into this amazing story. 

Stratford

We spent the last two days enjoying the beautiful fall weather at Stratford Ecological Center.

We were greeted by a man and a llama upon entering Stratford.

We split up into small groups and were each led by a different tour guide. Throughout the last two days we explored messages from the earth. We engaged in a variety of activities that allowed us to learn several important things about the earth, habitats, ecosystems, and interdependence.

We learned...

- Organisms perform a variety of roles within an ecosystem. 

- Organisms live in habitats that fit their needs. 

- Organisms need just right habitats to survive. 

- Animals have different ways of living, different ways of feeding, and different defense mechanisms. 

- Populations interact to obtain food energy. 

At the end of each day the students spent time in a Magic Spot. The students chose a quiet spot alone where they could observe the beautiful woods around them. It was definitely one of our favorite activities of each day.

As a culminating activity, we were given an animal and had to figure out its needs in order to decide if it lives in a marsh, field, or forest habitat. Then, we participated in a mock trial because we found out that the marsh is being destroyed. Therefore, the inhabitants of the marsh land had to stand trial in front of the jury (the field and forest). The students had to decide whether or not the animals and plants that were kicked out of the marsh were able to survive in the field or forest. We learned that this is an actual problem here in Ohio and in the United States. It was a great way for the students to think about a real-world problem and apply their knowledge.

The students reflected on their learning by blogging on their KidBlog. We also documented our learning by creating a web when we returned to school this afternoon. Our trip to Stratford is a kick-off to our ecosystem study. It was a wonderful two days spent learning outside with each other. We are looking forward to returning to Stratford in the winter.

Lately...

Here is what we have been up to lately in fifth grade... 

During Morning Meeting, we have been working on editing a message that I write to the students each morning. We are working on skills that will help us edit our writing during Writer's Workshop. 

We created our own bar model word problems to share our learning of how to solve word problems using the bar model method. Our word problems are now displayed in the classroom.

We are very excited to be buddies with Miss Blake's first and second grade class. We have met with Miss Blake's class twice and are having so much fun getting to know our little buddies. Using a puzzle piece, the student found their buddy match. We have spent time playing with our little buddies on the playground and filled out a getting to know you worksheet to see how many things (if any) that we have in common with our little friends. We are looking forward to building community and friendships with Miss Blake's class. We are already planning on meeting our buddies this week to read with them.

Last week Ms. Redman, an AmeriCorps fellow, came into our classroom to do an activity with our class. She read a book, Paulie Pastrami Acheives World Peace by James Proimos. We learned that you can make the world a better place by doing small things such as being kind to those around you and helping others. Ms. Redman posed the question to the students "Imagine a world where ...". The students were asked to share an idea of what their perfect world might look like.  

Here is our Imagine a World ideas that now reads like a poem. We will be revisiting our ideas using them as a springboard to engage in service-learning projects that will make our school and community a better place. 

Learning and working together takes cooperation and team work. To encourage the students to work together, we have a Smarty jar in our classroom. When the students are great listeners, work hard, and make positive, proactive choices we add a Smarty to the jar. Once there are 24 Smarties in the jar (1 for each student), the students earn a Cooperation Celebration. On Friday, the students voted to spent our first Cooperation Celebration in their pajamas. They also voted and chose to bring in a small, electronic device to use during the afternoon. The students have worked extremely hard during the first month of school and most definitely earned some free time! It was a wonderful, relaxing way to end a busy week! 

Newspaper Study

Miss Gibbons’ fifth grade class became interested in creating a classroom newspaper. This idea sparked as we wrote paragraphs about our first week of school for our parents to read during Parent Information Night. 

Before creating our own classroom newspaper, we decided to research some questions we had about newspapers. We spent some time looking at The Columbus Dispatch. We explored how it was organized, the photographs that were included, the different sections, and what we liked and did not like about the Dispatch. 

Next, we brainstormed a list of questions and chose one to research. We used the Internet as a resource to find information that answered our research question. 

We researched the following questions: 

What is news?

What is journalism?

What is the history of newspapers?

What are the sections of a newspaper? Why are they important?

How are newspapers printed?

What is the purpose of a newspaper?

Why is the layout of a newspaper important?

What are the jobs of people who work for a newspaper? Explain the jobs in detail.

What are the five W’s of a news story?

After spending a few days gathering information and recording our information sources, we decided to share our learning. We chose to create a Keynote presentation or poster to share with others. We planned out how our poster and Keynote would look. We also decided what information we would include onto our poster and Keynotes. Next, we spent a day in the computer lab creating our Keynote presentations and text for the posters using Microsoft Word. We talked about the importance of displaying the information in an interesting way.

Once our Keynote presentations and posters were finished, we shared them with our classmates. Finally, we spent some time discussing the information we learned and reflected on how we can utilize the information when creating our own classroom newspaper.

The fifth grade students did an absolutely amazing job working on their newspaper research. They were very thoughtful in their research and how they chose to display their information. They did an excellent job sharing their information and presenting their research in front of their classmates. I can't wait to work with the students on utilizing their new knowledge and applying it to our classroom newspaper.

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.