Dear Families,

We had so much fun learning from each other during our pioneer presentations.  We just had to share these photos with you!  Your children are truly special individuals and we love them all.

Have a wonderful holiday.

-Alites

Austin as Crazy Horse

Madeline as Wyatt Earp

The founders of the Mormon Church...

Adam as Joseph Smith and Chris as Brigham Young

Yunseo as Jesse James

Sanjyot as Chief Joseph

Brian as Kit Carson

Emilie as Laura Ingalls Wilder

                                 Kyra as Charles Russell

Steven as Davy Crockett

                              Michael as President Jefferson

Trevor as Levi Strauss

Stephanie as Sacagawea

Daniel as Buffalo Bill Cody

PJ as William Clark

Sakina as General Custer

Caitlin as Meriwether Lewis

December 14, 2012

Read all about this week's highlights and be sure to post a response!  We wish you all a happy, healty holiday season.

-Alites

Time for Kids

By Logan, Chris and Michael

This week we read about the coolest inventions of the year.  We looked at everything from an electronic dog to a non-stick liquid.  Also, we saw a 3-D printer and Google glasses. Then Mrs. Aloe and Mrs. White let us go onto the computer to see them in action.  We understood the true value of all the inventions of 2012. Some of the inventions were quite spectacular.  We all hope you get to see these in action.

Star of Fear, Star of Hope

By Madeline, Stephanie and Daniel

In class we read a book called Star of Fear, Star of Hope. This book was about the Holocaust. The narrator, Helen, who was not Jewish, had a friend named Lydia, who was Jewish. One day Lydia’s mom told her she had to sew a yellow star on her jacket because it identified her as Jewish. That day Helen was celebrating her birthday so Lydia slept over. During the sleepover they hear a person calling out in the hallway outside the apartment, “Open up, its Madam 11 o’clock”. Then they heard more foot steps and Madam 11 o’clock dashed up the stairs to the next floor. A moment later, another person came banging against the door saying, “Open up it’s the Midnight Ghost”. Suddenly he heard footsteps and dashed up to the next floor. At that moment, Helen’s parents came home and Helen and Lydia told them about the visitors.  Helen’s parents went out into the hallway to find out what was going on. Apparently those names the woman and man used were code name so the Nazi soldiers wouldn’t get them. That is when the family learned that every Jewish person would be arrested and sent away that same night. Lydia noticed  that Madam 11 o’clock was wearing the same star on her shirt as Lydia. Then Lydia said she wanted to go home. Helen’s dad took her home and then Helen never saw Lydia ever again. It was a sad and great book to read. So if you’re interested in reading about the Holocaust you should definitely pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Pioneer Simulation

By Sakina, Emilie, and Becca

                       

In Social Studies we have been learning about pioneers. Our table groups became members of a wagon train. We have faced many problems along the way.  Each train moves along the trail based on the number of points that they earn through journal entries, trail decisions, and frontier fates. We just finished trail decision number two, and nobody earned any points. We had to decide whether to proceed along the Burial Grounds Trail or The Cheyenne River Trail. All the wagon trains took the Cheyenne River Trail, but unfortunately we all got into some trouble along the way. The Burial Grounds Trail would have been quicker and safer. Our concern was that we wouldn’t find water on the trail or possibly get attacked by Native Americans. The Cheyenne River Trail was a very long trail but it was supposed to be safer with a good amount of water and a less chance of getting attacked. We were wrong! It’s very exciting to hear the results. We are learning so much about the pioneer experience through our simulation.

Math

By Brian, Steven, and PJ

In math this week we learned about PEMDAS. It stands for Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. It is how we solve a math problem using the Order of Operations.  For example, we need to use PEMDAS to solve complex problems like 2*3+7-(8+2). We remember the steps because we think of the phrase Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

Van Gogh Café

By Caitlin, Kyra, and Yunseo

           

We started a new read aloud called The Van Gogh Café. Clara and Mark own a café called The Van Gogh Café. It used to be a theater and it is full of magic. We think that the stars in the Van Gogh Café came from the painting called Starry Night by Van Gogh. We have a booklet where we write a response to each chapter. The main characters are Mark and Clara. We think Clara’s parents are divorced because her mom lives in N.Y.C, and her dad lives in Kansas with her. We are excited to continue this book and discover the magic that comes alive in each chapter.

Cell Models

By Rachel, Adam and Jared

This week in science we made cell models using a plastic bag, uncooked pasta and many types of beans. We put the plastic bag in a cup and poured all of the beans and pasta in the bag along with warm and cold water. The mixture smelled terrible. There was also a plastic egg for the nucleus and inside the egg there was a piece of string that was 6 feet long to represent DNA. We put the string in the egg and then put the egg in the bag. Then we tied them up tight and left them in the classroom until the end of the day.  As the day went on they solidified and when we arrived home we put them in the refrigerator.  We had a lot of fun making these cell models and hope to do more cool experiments in science soon.

Volleyball

By Austin, Trevor and Sanjyot

It is Cantiague’s favorite time of the year in the gym!  It’s Volleyball time!  When you say volleyball it may not sound that interesting, but at Cantiague it’s a whole different story.  The top team is The Philippines Fudge. There is tie for second place; the Belgium Waffles and the Taiwan Pandas.  Sanjyot and I are on the Pandas and Trevor is on the Belgium Waffles.  I think we are going to win.  Trevor thinks his team is going to win. Let’s settle this in the GYM!

Read all about this week's highlights! 

Feel free to leave a post.

-Alites

Cells

By Yunseo, Michael

            In science this week we learned about cells. Ms. O’Neil (our science teacher) compared the parts of the cell to our school. For instance, the vacuole is the school vault. Then we watched videos about single celled organisms. We were able to recite every part of the cell when we came out of the science lab. Under the guidance of Ms. O’Neil learning about cells became fun. We will keep you posted about the things we are learning in the science lab.  

Holiday Boutique

By Steven, Kyra, Emilie, and Stephanie

On Wednesday we went to the Holiday Boutique. There were a lot of items to buy for Hanukah, Christmas, and other holidays. You could buy gifts for your brother, Mom, Dad, and other people in your family or friends. Some items were speakers for sports teams, Goo, jewelry and toys. The holiday boutique was very fun.

Making Meaning

By Rachel and Sakina

            This week we read a book called Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. In the book, we learned about segregation and how white people were treated much better than colored people. The narrator was a girl named Sarah Jean who became sick.  The doctors in the hospital would not help her until all the white people were looked after. Sarah Jean needed surgery which cost $300. Her Uncle Jed, paid for the surgery and took the money out of his barbershop fund. Uncle Jed refused to give up.  He kept saving for his dream of owning a barbershop. Finally, he achieved his goal of opening a successful barbershop and earned all of the money by cutting people's hair. We learned that if you work hard at something you can achieve it, no matter what color you are.

Westward Ho!

Madeline, Sanjyot & Austin

Our wagon trains have just hit the trail heading west. We went shopping for supplies to help us survive on the trail. We could only carry a certain amount of weight on our wagon. We’ve already had to face challenges.  For example, we were on our way to Prairie Wells to get water and when we got there the guards told us that the once free water now cost ten dollars. As a team, each wagon had to come up with possible solutions to the problem.   The wagon master got to choose the final decision. We will see what happens next!

Math Graphing

By Becca, Adam and Daniel

This week in math we started graphing. We learned about bar graphs and line graphs. To learn about bar graphs, each person got a bag of M&Ms. As a group we counted all the M&Ms and made a bar graph poster. Our posters are hanging all over the classroom. While learning about line graphs we made a line graph about the height of Jack’s beanstalk. Today we did a check-in on graphing and finding averages.

Volleyball

By Brian and Chris

In gym, we started a volleyball league. The teams are Taiwan, Philippines, Belgium, Austria, Romania, and Sweden. The league lasts for about 2 weeks, and then we have the playoffs. Every team makes the playoffs. The teams have to make a poster about their country. Currently, Taiwan is doing the best, at 2-0. Mr. Bailin and Mr. Chaney are the referees. The fifth grade loves volleyball!

Tuck Everlasting

By Logan, PJ and Trevor

Last week we finished a fascinating book called Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit.  Mae Tuck was sent to jail for killing the man in the yellow suit. She was to be sent to the gallows as a punishment for murder. The problem was that Mae couldn’t die because she drank the magic water. Winnie Foster decided she had to help save Mae or the secret of the spring would be revealed. Winnie helped saved Mae and then had to decide whether to drink the water when she turned sixteen.  In the end, Winnie chose to live a normal life and did not drink from the spring. Some people in the class wish she had decided to drink the water and live happily ever after with Jesse.

We used magazine clippings and modge podge to create magic bottles inspired by Tuck Everlasting.

Check out all the terrific things going on in Room 27!

-Alites

Science

By Brian, Austin, and Jared

In Science Lab we studied dilution. Each partnership was given 6 cups. We put food coloring in 1 of them. Then we took 20 drops of the solution from Cup #1 and added them to Cup #2. Then we took 20 drops from Cup #2 and placed them in Cup #3. We kept doing that until we got to Cup #6. Cups #5 and #6 were lighter in color.  The color in the cups changed from really dark red to really light. This experiment was called, Is Dilution the Solution to Pollution? We learned that dilution is not the solution, prevention is!

Oil Spill

By Adam, Logan, and Stephanie

In class, we talked about ocean pollution. We made a model oil spill in class. We talked about what would be the best way to clean up an oil spill.  Then we tried to clean up our oil spill. Many of the ways worked. We used detergent, paper towels, newspaper, a piece of string and cotton balls. We used water with blue food coloring for the ocean and vegetable oil and coffee for the oil spill. Oil spills are very dangerous to the plants and animals that live in our oceans. We also wrote to President Obama about our concerns and asked what the governemnt is doing about oil spills. We enjoyed this project.

Tuck Everlasting

By Rachel, Steven, and Trevor

           

The book we are reading for read aloud is Tuck Everlasting. Right now in the book, we are up to the part when Mae Tuck hits the Man in the Yellow Suit with the barrel of her shotgun because the Man in the Yellow Suit was taking Winnie back to her home. The constable was an eyewitness to the “crime”. He tells the Tucks that if the Man in the Yellow Suit dies, Mae will be sent to the gallows.  Mae can’t go to the gallows because she won’t die because she drank from the magical spring. Mae is sent to jail but her family and Winnie have a plan to sneak her out.  The plan is to sneak Winnie into the jail and swap Mae out so she can run away and not be sent to the gallows. Eventually, Winnie gets taken back to her home but Jesse comes to give her a small bottle containing magical water from the spring to drink when she is 17.  Jesse hopes Winnie will marry him when she grows up. We really want to find out what happens to the Tuck family and we are hoping the best for them.

 Making Meaning

By Becca, Chris, and Sanjyot

This week we read a book called The Summer My Father Was Ten. We then got 7 cards with statements retelling the story. We placed the cards on a plot chart which included the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the resolution. The climax is the most intense moment in a story. We also talked about the setting, conflict, characters and the lesson learned in the story. This activity helped us understand the structure of a story through an amazing book.

Pioneers

By Yunseo, Kyra, and Michael

We are beginning a new unit in social studies about pioneers. Each table is posing as pionerrs on a wagon train. We came up with names for our wagon trains. We also received pioneer family identities. We are watching educational movies about the life of pioneers. We are watching a movie called Little House on the Prairie. Every wagon train has a wagon master who makes the final decisions for a wagon train. The wagon masters are Christopher, Rachel, Madeline, Caitlin and Michael. We are being graded on the entries we write in our pioneer journals.  We are fully immersed in our subject. We can’t wait to learn more. Westward Ho!

Alite's Little Chefs

By Madeline, Emilie, and Daniel

We had a Thanksgiving feast in our classroom! Our class made vegetable soup and corn muffins. We poured in 4 cans of chicken broth into a pot and we all got to chop up vegetables such as zucchini, pepper, onion, potato, and carrots. We also made corn muffins using ingredients such as flour, milk and eggs. Then we mixed it all together and scooped them into cupcake tins. We had a celebration and enjoyed our home cooked meal and some special deliveries from our class moms! We also watched Little House on the Prairie while we ate dessert. That was one incredible celebration!

MATHEMATICIANS

By Caitlin, Sakina, and PJ

This week we learned long division with decimals. We are going to have a test this week on division. Our teachers helped us study for the test. We used study guides, played math games, and visited 3 stations that focused on different division concepts. Thanks to Mrs. White, Mrs. Aloe, Ms. Meyer, and Ms. Corn we have all become Little Einsteins!

Check out our students cleaning up oil spills!

We are so happy to be back in the swing of things.  We truly missed your children and are excited to be back at school.  We have been so busy this past week.  Read all about what we've been up to. 
 -Alites

Making Meaning

By Madeline, Sanjyot, and Adam

This week we explored fascinating sharks during Reading Workshop. We filled out a KWL chart. That stands for what we know, what we wonder and what we learned. Next, we wrote a question about sharks on a post-it. We looked through shark books to find the answer. When we found our answer, we wrote it on another post-it and stuck them on a shark poster. We learned something new and we have a new poster for our classroom wall!

Math

By Rachel, Steven, and PJ

            This week in math we have been learning about long division. At first, we learned how to divide by 1 digit divisors and then by 2 digit divisors. We also learned a trick to help us remember what the steps are to long division. It is D=dead M=mice S=smell B=bad R=really. The letters stand for Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring down and Repeat. We are still getting the hang of doing long division and these tricks are helping us learn how to divide!

Scarecrows

By Brian, Jared, and Sakina

We made scarecrows on Fun Friday! Mrs. Aloe and Mrs. White brought in baby clothes and costumes, and we brought in newspaper. We stuffed the clothes with newspaper, and tied them with rubber bands. It was fun crumbling newspaper to put in the clothes, and some groups used special heads like SpongeBob balls and Jack-o-Lanterns.  The scarecrows were out in the hallway. We had lots of fun making scarecrows!

The Election 2012

By Stephanie and Trevor

This year Barack Obama and Mitt Romney went face to face in the presidential election. Barack Obama won the presidency. He got 332 electoral votes and Mitt Romney got 206 electoral votes. Barack Obama’s Vice President is Joe Biden.  In class we watched commercials and CNN Student News which was all about the election. We also colored a map which showed the candidate that won each state. We had so much fun learning about the election!

Tuck Everlasting

By Caitlin, Logan, and Michael

We are enjoying our read aloud Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. It is about a girl who is lonely and wants to run away.  She’s in the process of running away when she runs into a good looking teenager named Jessie Tuck. Jesse is drinking from a spring. Winnie wants a drink but Jesse is immediately opposed to the idea of her drinking from the spring.  It turns out that that spring freezes your appearance in time. It ensures that you can never die. There is also a man in a yellow suit that overheard the revelation of the spring. We are eager to read more.

Writing Celebration

By Becca, Austin, and Yunseo.

This month we published our first piece of writing in fifth grade. We wrote personal narratives. The writing celebration gave us the opportunity to read each others writing. We had a great time commenting on other people’s stories. We wrote what we liked about each story. We have been working on our personal narratives for the past month!  After people read our pieces, we felt like our hard work had paid off! 

Worldly Wise

By: Emilie, Kyra, and Daniel

          Wordly Wise is a program that helps us build our vocabulary. We have a Wordly Wise test each week on Friday.  Each week we get 15 vocab words to study. Everyday we get Wordly Wise homework in our Wordly Wise Workbook. On Monday, we are introduced to the words and review the definitions.  On Tuesday, we look at the parts of speech for each word. On Wednesday, we get a packet with sentences. Each sentence has a missing vocabulary word. We use the text clues in the sentence to fill in the blank correctly. Some of the words this week are abolish, escalate, monstrous, translate, and character.  We have noticed that Wordly Wise improves both our vocabulary and writing. 

 

 

 

Welcome to our Blog! Read on to find out about many of the wonderful things going on in our classroom!

-Alites

Blue Ribbon School Store

By Chris and Logan

"Can I buy that Frisbee?" 

The fifth graders heard this phrase many times on Wednesday.  It was the grand opening of the Blue Ribbon School Store.  We raised a lot of money from selling cool things such as erasers, key chains, and slingshot planes.  The kids enjoyed selling and buying cool things. The school store will come back again at the end of November.        

Fish Dissection

By Stephanie and Kyra

In science lab, we dissected a fish. First, Ms. O’Neil cut open the fish. She told us where its lungs, gills, heart, stomach, intestines, and mouth were. The mouth looked like a cave. Next, we made fish prints with a choice of two different colors of paint. First we used paint brushes to paint the fish, then we put the paper on top of the fish and then we pressed down the paper onto the fish. There was our lovely fish print!  The fish we examined were about the size of a ruler which is about 30 cm. We had a great time in the science lab!

Making Meaning

By Brian, Steven & PJ

In Making Meaning, we are learning about text features by reading passages about sharks. We saw a trailer for Jaws, and then spoke about what we know about sharks. Did you know that the shortfin mako shark is the fastest fish? Then we read about how they survive in the ocean. We filled in a KWL chart about what we knew, what we wondered, and what we learned.

Tuck Everlasting

By Rachel and Becca

Last week we started a new book called Tuck Everlasting. It is about a bunch of families all connected by a forest that the Foster family own. So far we have met the Tucks, the Fosters and the Man in the Yellow Suit. Mae Tuck and her two sons Jesse and Miles have just "kidnapped" Winnie Foster.   Mae Tuck has this music box that Winnie’s mother and grandmother think belongs to elves but it is really just a music box. We really want to find out what the secret in the forest is.   We will be sure to let you know what happens!

Math

By Jared, Sanjyot & Michael

In math this week we wrapped up our chapter on multiplication and started division. In order to finish our chapter on multiplication we had to take a test on multiplication. The test included: word problems, estimation, exponents, and two digit multiplication. We have also done division fast facts. We are looking forward to an educational chapter on division.  

CNN News

By Caitlin and Emilie

  

Every day we watch CNN Student News for about 10 mins. The most covered topic has been the election. The reporters have covered the debates.   Most Americans seem to be worrying about jobs and the economy. CNN always has an interesting human interest story.  Today it was about this 14 year old girl that rebuilds cars.  Some of our favorites features of CNN News are the Shout Outs and Is this Legit?  The host ends the news show with boring jokes that he thinks are funny.  We don’t think they are all that funny.

Fun Friday

By Austin and Daniel

Every Friday at the end of the day our class gets a break from school work. Instead of regular work, we get to have fun!  The helper of the week picks an activity out of a mystery box. So far we have had extra recess, a Halloween craft, food craft and meeting with first grade buddies!            

This week we are making scarecrows! We are really exited!  The amazing part of Fun Friday is that everyone enjoys and loves it.  If you do not bring in your homework, you are not allowed to participate in the fun event.  Tomorrow’s fun Friday its getting closer by the minute.  We can’t wait!

Text Savvy

By Adam and Trevor

Text Savvy is part of our reading program.  First we preview and prepare. That means we scan the page and we determine a genre. We also examine text features and we set expectations for the text.   We also monitor for meaning by rereading the parts of the text. We determine important information and summarize each paragraph in our own words. We ask questions and make connections. Next we infer and interpret by thinking about the big idea and identifying the author’s purpose. We also envision and create a picture or movie in our mind. The last thing we do is… synethisize. We identify what we know about the topic, what the text is mostly about and how our thinking has changed.  

Ready, Set Write!

By Madeline, Sakina & Yunseo

  

 This week we worked on revising and editing our narratives. Each one of us had a totally different, terrific story. We each wrote a personal narrative that was special to us. The steps of writing that we are following are…. 1. collecting 2. choosing 3. drafting 4. revising  5. editing. We are almost up to the most exciting step…. 6. publishing!

One of the things we did to revise was break our stories into paragraphs. We also learned to switch paragraphs when we move to a different topic.

Example:

“ We only have two more minutes,” Joey said.

“ We should hurry up,” Alyssa replied.

As you can see, writing is very exciting!

                Kyra altered our class picture. 

            Look at how awesome  we all look!

 

 

 

Weekly Update with the Alites-October 19th

Welcome to our Blog! Read on to find out about many of the wonderful things going on in our classroom! -Alites

Election Propaganda

 Brian and Steph

In Computer Lab this week, we did an activity about the election. We looked at President Obama’s campaign commercials, and thought about how he used propaganda to influence voters. Then we did the same for Governor Romney. President Obama had a hilarious commercial about Mitt Romney cutting funding for Big Bird. It was meant to make Romney look silly and was a good example of propaganda. After seeing 4 ads for each candidate, most of the class remains undecided.

Making Meaning

By Sakina, Emilie and Austin

Every week we read Time For Kids. This week we used it to learn about text features and how to preview and prepare when reading an article. We also made posters.  Each of the groups got different topics to work on. We had to label the text features. Some of them were captions, pictures, words in italics, bold words, and carrots.   

Nowhere  But The Book Fair

By Madeline and Sanjyot

This week we went to go pick out the new books we wanted at the book fair. There were books of all genres. Boy books, girl books and mixes. There were dog books, cupcake books,  picture books etc. When we purchased our books we could donate money to help buy books for other libraries. The book fair is one of the highlights of the year!

 

Read Aloud

By Logan and Kyra

We have started a new read aloud called, Tuck Everlasting. This book is by Natalie Babbit. The characters in this book so far are Winnie Foster, Mae and Angus Tuck. The setting of this book  is in a small town called Treegap, near a forest, and takes place in the 1800s. So far,  Mae Tuck has set out  to meet her sons for a reunion. There is something mysterious about the Tuck Family! We are excited to read on.

Visit With Jack Gantos

By Adam and Becca

On Monday we visited the Jericho Public Library. We met Jack Gantos. He wrote the Joey Pigza books. He told us about how it takes a lot of drafts to publish his books. He shared his fifth grade journal with us.  We were able to ask Jack Gantos different questions like, “What was your favorite Joey Pigza book?” Getting to meet Jack Gantos was a big honor. Afterwards we were able to chat, eat munchkins, and mingle with Jack Gantos. We had so much fun! 

Music Time

By Yunseo, Michael, Steven

This is a special coverage of what we have done so far in music this year. We just took  a test on the words to the Star Spangled Banner. We are also singing a Calypso song from Trinidad called Water Come a Me Eye. We also auditioned for instruments to play in the concert.  Music is taught by the talented Mrs. Hussey. We will be sure to keep you posted.

Math

 By Rachel and Trevor

 In math this week we learned about exponents. We split up in groups and worked on a sheet to help us learn what exponents are. We played a game on the Smartboard where we were given an exponential problem to solve before time ran out. We all had a lot of fun playing this game. For example,  if the problem was 5 to the 2^nd power, it would be 5x5 not 2x5. 

Also this week, we learned about multiplying decimals. We learned that if the problem was 2.5 x 3.7, we would have to put the decimal two spaces in from the product. We did a fast facts quiz to see how fast we could do them in 5 minutes. We had a lot of fun in math this week!

Squid Dissection

 By Chris and Daniel

 This week in science we dissected squid. It was fun but a little gross. We cut open its ink sack and wrote with the ink. We all saw the squid’s internal structure. The mantel is soft. The siphon takes in water and shoots it out. We can't wait to go back to science.

Writing

By Caitlin and PJ

 We have been writing our wonderful stories. First we wrote down the stories in our writer’s notebook, then we drafted them on lined paper, now we are revising. We replaced boring words with more vivid words. One of the words that Caitlin changed was small. Caitlin changed small to wee.  PJ changed the word said to plead.

 

Groups working on Time For Kids Text Features

 

 

 Mingling With Jack Gantos at the Jericho Public Library

 Squid Dissection in the Science Lab!