Band Performances

For our sound unit, the class was grouped into 4 different bands of 6 students each. Each band constructed 6 instruments in art with recyclable materials (mostly) and wrote a song in music. Here are the recorded songs from each group.

Long Overdue Classroom Update

Welcome to spring! (or at least a day or two of warmer temperatures)

After Ms. Smith left, we breaked for Christmas and when we returned, we jumped back into curriculum and normal school busy-ness head first.

Currently, we are working on a new persuasive piece in writing. We received an email from Mr. Joseph saying he is considering the nutritional benefits (or lack there of) of chocolate milk at school lunch. We have been reading a number of different articles and researching the nutritional information on chocolate milk. This week, we are going to draft letters to Mr. Joseph either in favor of or against serving chocolate milk at school. Should be interesting!

In science, we are studying the layers of the earth, the rock cycle, and the types of rocks. Earlier last week, we used dark and milk chocolate pieces to simulate the rock cycle. The picture below doesn't really do justice to the demonstration! Ask your child to tell you more about it.

This week, we'll be identifying rock samples using various physical characteristics. We'll also be prepping for a math test on fraction and decimal computation on Tuesday, and our Rocks unit test on Friday. We will exchange valentines on Friday after lunch.

Civil War Night Success!

A big thank you to everyone who made it to Civil War night on Tuesday! The percussion ensemble did a great job playing the marching tune they learned.

Percussion ensemble playing and other students dancing

Demonstrating marching drills

Mr. Joseph and Andy Cortez playing a camp song with a harmonica and spoons.

Two infantryman soldiers from the 12th VA regiment

Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Watson debuted the bottle trees they have been working on. The first is a prototype for those that will follow in the coming months. Students in each grade level are working on painting the bottles in art class. The trees will eventually end up in our garden.

Civil War Night!

Civil War Night in the Garden is Tuesday, November 18th, immediately following the PTA meeting (6pm start time).

Join us in the garden to learn about a soldier's life during the Civil War. An infantryman soldier from the 12th Virginia Infantryman will be here to share. Our own 5th grade percussion ensemble will perform a Civil War marching tune and Mr. Joseph will come dressed as a popular Civil War figure to tell a campfire story. The new pergola and a school-wide project, the Important People Bottle Trees, will be unveiled. Light refreshments will be served. Bring a blanket to sit on and/or bundle up with!

In the event of rain or colder weather, the event will take place in the library.

Hope to see you there!

Lunar Eclipse

Did you see the lunar eclipse yesterday morning? I was out running and got to see the whole thing! It was amazing to watch the full, white moon turn reddish-orange. The only picture I snapped was close to the beginning:

Here's more information on lunar eclipses and a video of the lunar eclipse taken at the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Living Museum Trip

Earlier this week, we traveled to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, Virginia. We (mostly) enjoyed an interactive lesson called Snakes Alive! and explored the museum's exhibits. The museum is home to 250 species of animals found in Virginia and the exhibits showcase all of our state's regions and habitats.

Beavers! Check out those webbed back legs and the tail details.

Some of my group checking out the beavers

Red Wolf

Bald Eagle

A King Snake in our interactive lesson. King snakes are able to eat venomous snakes as large as they are!

A snake egg!

A snake skin. If you look closely, you can see where the eyes and mouth were. 

Milk Snake

Bioluminescent jelly fish

Shrimp

Three snakes sitting all on top of each other

My group inside a log :)

Fossils are under us no matter where we are!

You can tell how many times a rattle snake has shed its skin by counting the number of rattles it has. How many times has this snake shed?

In the Cypress Swamp exhibit. We saw elements of Virginia's endangered wetlands including cypress and tupelo tree trunks, an alligator, fish, and turtles. 

A turtle swimming in the Noland Chesapeake Bay aquarium

I don't have pictures with other students currently, but if you have some, please send them my way and I will add them to the post! We had a great time.

September Science Fun

In September, we investigated the steps of the scientific method and the characteristics of the ocean.

Dropping paper bunnies in the Dizzy Bunny experiment. We were investigating how changes to the bunny's appearance changed the time it took for the bunny to reach the ground.

Exploring the properties of salt and fresh water

Observing the difference between salt and fresh water under the microscope

Salt Dough ocean floor maps

Not everyone was thrilled with the salt dough texture

Salt Dough maps - working hard

Some of the salt dough didn't have the correct consistency to achieve the anticipated project outcome

A completed ocean floor model