This morning, in place of our regular quotes, students read, line by line, the famous Robert Frost poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."  I believe the students enjoyed it. Students will now choose a Robert Frost poem by this Friday, and memorize it. On Monday, January 9th they will recite it to the class, and possibly other guests.  I do hope that the choice will be driven by a connection to the poem and simply not because of its short length.

The 5/6 students have been doing a fine job with the bridge unit. They first created bridges that would span a 20 inch space between two desks. The bridges had to be 24 inches long by 8 inches wide made with one piece of oak tag paper. This first round was a real learning experience. Now the groups are applying their new knowledge by creating bridges with the same dimensions but by using two pieces of the oak tag. I believe that the students' bridges will perform better than their first designs.  This is all in preparation for the teams building wooden truss bridges. Specifications will ensure that the bridges are true truss bridges. The teams will be able to strategize by deciding to build a strong bridge out of the maximum available materials or spend less money on materials and hope that the design will result in the most efficient bridge when cost per pound held is calculated. This unit is a lot of fun. It's rewarding seeing such focus and creativity.

We had several students who were not prepared with completed reading for chapter eight of Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. Tomorrow we will discuss chapters 8 and 9.  Many students have read ahead and the folks who are not keeping up are holding us back. Please make sure your child completes both chapters tonight. Students had the entire reading period to read since there was no discussion.

With a high rate of reading work completion, we had wonderful discussions of chapters 6 and 7 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Tomorrow we will discuss chapter 8. Please make sure your child has it completed. Students worked well during our Egypt project time. I'm very impressed with their projects. Some have worked outside of school, and the effort shows. Fifth Grade Math: Students worked on visual representations of multiplying fractions to find common denominators. I provided written directions, but if your child is having difficulty that is ok. We will work on it more tomorrow.

We are now reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry as a class. Today, we had an outstanding discussion of chapter 1. Chapter 2 is due tomorrow, August 4th, along with the guiding questions. I hope that you are able to read the book and have discussions at home. The word problem, "Sleepy Time", is due Monday. Students have had time for the last couple of days to work on it in class.

We are working hard in history learning much about Ancient Egypt. It is amazing to think that the Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for 3000 years. We are historical babies. The student groups are working together on topics of interest. I believe they are working hard on research. Today in writing students tried out two different ways to write introductions that were different than their "go to" intros. Students should be reading independently every night and on the weekends. In fifth grade math the class demonstrated good understanding of total surface area of rectangular prisms and

Reminder: Due Tuesday, October 11th: Book project (either a book cover / written book review / or oral presentation (not read off of a paper)           Quote response        5th grade: Terrific Twins.