Monday, October 28, 2013

It's "O - fish- al"


Ms. Neuhalfen is teaching in Room 100.

Students welcome Ms. Neuhalfen as their "o-fish-al" teacher for the remainder of the semester.  After some early morning fun, it was down to business in the classroom.
Ms. Neuhalfen joins the middle school staff as a student teacher from Wayne State College. I have worked closely with her the past few months and it is evident she is passionate about many things:  children, learning, the art of teaching, and life in general. She brings the full force of her personality into the classroom and sparks excitement in the learning process. Your children will finish the semester strong! 

Friday, October 25, 2013

Parents, Papers, and Pumpkins

Macy and her dad share a smile during conferences.
Thank you, parents, for attending your child’s conference during Parent/Teacher Conference week!  We enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with each of you to discuss your child’s progress and goals for the upcoming months.  If you have questions or input that you believe would be beneficial to your child's success, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Full, Mrs. Fehringer, or Ms. Neuhalfen.  We appreciate and value your involvement and support! 
 Enjoy your long weekend. 

Monday, October 21, 2013

Our Pumpkin Patch


Pumpkins make everyone think of fall and fall holidays. Room 100 is having their own kind of fun with pumpkins as we prepare for Parent Teacher Conferences this week. Notes were sent home with your child.  Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.
During conferences you are invited into our pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and learn more about your child. Room 100 is feeling rather festive.




A shout out to Martha Stewart for sharing her pumpkin pattern!  

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Red Ribbon Door Week

Red Ribbon Week is the nation's oldest and largest drug prevention program.
Students and teachers decorated their classroom doors this week to support the anti-drug message. 
Students in Room 100 work together to share the message, "Drugs are corny."




Room 100's Decorated Door
Celebrating Red Ribbon Week teaches kids that living without drugs is the best way to live a happy life.  

Friday, October 11, 2013

An Autobiographical Sketch

                                           sketch [sketch] n.
                                                    1. a simple drawing
                                                    2.  a short descriptive essay

This year our  writing curriculum will include the Step Up to Writing program with a focus on descriptive writing.  descriptive essay describes a person, object, or event so vividly that the reader feels like he or she could reach out and touch it. Descriptive writing paints a picture. 
To help students understand the notion of vivid description, they started the year writing a brief description of a person, someone they know quite well. Students wrote an autobiographical sketch. After students  completed the writing, they had fun with a second sketch. Students drew their self-portraits.  
Parents, you will want to check out our bulletin board at fall conferences. Students are excited to share their first writing piece. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

"D" is for Dessert

Room 100 added a little sweetness to observe National Dessert Day, a day to celebrate all things yummy.

Fifth grade students are preparing for the district writing assessment, and today’s prompt was sweet. Since it is National Dessert Day, students were asked to write about a favorite dessert. What does it look like? How does it smell and taste? They were asked to describe a dessert so clearly the reader could see it, smell it, and almost taste it as well.
There were plenty of reasons to celebrate after the papers were collected. Students are becoming descriptive writers. We heard plenty of "oohs" and "aahs" as students shared their paragraphs.  


Students ended class with a cookie.
It's always a favorite!

Happy National Dessert Day!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Idioms


IDIOMS can be the most confusing part of any language. Idioms are sayings that have hidden meanings. The expressions don't mean exactly what the words say, like “cool as a cucumber” has nothing to do with food, but refers to a calm person. A number of English idioms revolve around food and names of food items.
Room 100 had fun creating an idiom bulletin board.
Students discovered the origins of some food idioms are a piece of cake to figure out; they just had to use their beans. Other idioms were so bizarre students went nutty trying to decipher them. There are so many idioms, we would be out to lunch if we tried to list them all, but here are a few that are the cream of the crop. Enjoy our slideshow.