Science Fair

Can I get an "YAY!"?  Science Fair 2013 is over and done with.  I have to say, my students made me proud. Every single one of them showed up with their projects.  They presented well and overall represented  us with pride.  I'm hoping the winners will be announced sometime this next week, but until then, enjoy these few pictures.  I did take pictures of all of the students next to their projects, so if your child isn't one that's shown here on the blog, and you'd like a copy, just let me know!  Thanks again for all your support on this!  We wouldn't have been here without it and the hard work of the students!!!

March 3, 2013

So many things have passed, I don't even know where to begin.  Let's go a few weeks back when we took our field trip to Clark Planetarium.  I will not deny I was all kinds of stressed.  We were the first elementary group at our school to take the train for a field trip.  I tried to make sure I covered every base twice, but with so many things that could happen, it was hard to be certain.  However, it went off without a hitch!  I would have to say that it was one of my favorite field trips I had ever been on!  Thanks to all of the parent volunteers who made it possible to have it be so successful!  Below are a couple of pictures from the trip:

Another large project that we've brought to a close was the mask making.  It's such an intricate process beginning with laying the plaster bandages on their faces, and ending with the beautiful finished products pictured below.  I'd bet at least some of you could figure out which is your student's without having it pointed out to you:

The other big thing we wrapped up this week were the rewards for the reading contest.  If we reached our goal of 72,000 minutes, I told them I would bring in donuts.  Well, they read a combined total of just over 78,000 minutes, so as promised,  I brought them Madbrook donuts for their success!  Our school read a total of 1.3 million minutes, so for seven years running now, we also had a Jazz player visit.  This year was Earl Watson, who I am told is fairly big deal.  I'm not a big follower of basketball, but it was fun regardless.  Below are the final two pictures I'll post for this week.  One is of Kourtney, our class's number 1 reader who received a signed basketball.  The other is of Devon, who got to ask Mr. Watson a question.

Earl surprised me.  He's quite a deep character.  Devon's question for him was, "If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why?" His response was an eagle.  His reasons were intense. First off, eagles are able to fly higher than any other bird, so they always soar above the rest.  He didn't stop there, though.  He continued saying that eagles are also able to fly higher than the clouds, so when a storm moves in , they just fly above it.  He ended it by saying, "Think about that for a while and relate it to life."  Deep stuff...

I've have been keeping to the standards I laid out at the start of the term as for missing assignments.  I have given the students a new missing assignment list each week, and with the and of that week the assignments become zeroes, and are unable to be made up.  This last week, I was a little late in getting it to them, so I will be giving them a new one on Monday, but I will not discount any of the assignments until next week.  Most of the students are doing really well at helping me by staying on top of things.  I have given out a few zeroes though, so hopefully, they're learning.

Don't forget that book reports are just two weeks away, but more importantly, that science fair is this week.  The projects should be completed and it should just be a matter of making sure the boards are put together and ready for judging.  It's just a one day event for us.  They'll bring the boards in on Thursday morning and set them up, and they will take them home at the end of the day. It'll be neat and clean and over before we know it.

"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud."  ~ Carl Sandburg

My Fair Lady

I'm posting this here merely as informational, for the parents of my class, if they're interested, but also for others, who I will be directing to this post for information.  As for parents of my students, if you're interested in coming to see it, I'd love to have you.  I'm not sure if the students would get it quite as much as they did Christmas Carol, but it is a family friendly show, so all are welcome.

My Fair Lady will be playing at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse in Washington Terrace from February 22 until April 6.  It shows every Monday, Friday and Saturday night.  Showtime is 7:30.  Adult tickets are $10-12, and children tickets are $7-9.  Honestly, it's not a show I anticipate will sell out too often, but making reservations will guarantee better seats.

I don't have a large part in it, rather several smaller parts, but it is still an amazing show, worth seeing.  Rodney Carlson, who plays Henry Higgins, and Annie Ferrin, who plays Eliza Doolittle are brilliant in their roles, and the rest of the supporting cast definitely follow suit.  A show is only as strong as it's weakest link, and by all means, we have a strong show!  Come on out if you're interested, see me sing and dance, and enjoy yourself a night of fine theatre at a reasonable price.

"Eliza?  Where the devil are my slippers?" ~Henry Higgins

Share-A-Book

February 11, 2013

Dear Parents and Students,

                With these final two terms, as part of our At Home Reading grade, we are going to be doing a book report.  We will only be doing one a term, but I would like to make sure that the students put their best efforts into each of the projects.  It’s not going to be a standard report.  Rather, the student should find a creative way to share their book.  We will be sharing them the Week of March 18-22.  I will assign exact days as we get closer, but the students should plan on being prepared for it starting that Monday.  

                I would like the students to get as creative as possible with their projects, but I would like to approve the ideas before they start.  On the back of this sheet is a list of approved ideas.  If the student has an idea that is not on there, just have them talk to me before starting it.

                Below is the rubric for how I will be grading the projects.  If there are any other questions, please, do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

Aaron Pratt

  

Category	Expectation		Received	Worth
Preparedness	Student should be completely prepared on the assigned date.			/    5
Time Limit	Student’s presentation should be 3 – 5 minutes long.  Shorter or longer than this will result in a deduction of points			/    5
Content	Student should be able to show a full understanding of the book being presented.			/   10
Creativity	Student’s idea shows a strong sense of art and creativity.			/   10
Effort	Student’s project should clearly representational of their efforts.			/   10
		TOTAL		/   40

Posted below are several pictures of quality book reports from previous years, the more creative, the better!

February 8, 2013

It's been a while since I've posted a blog of general classroom information: the 5Ws of the now.  To a point, that's okay because I have been in pretty constant contact in one way or another: specific blogs for specific things, like science fair, the field trip, etc; we've recently had PTCs whether in person or by e-mail; we've also recently had report cards, which I generally love writing comments for.  There are so many positive things for all these kids  I just love them, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Regardless, here's the 411 on the current goings on:

In math, we are currently finishing up the last of our Expressions and Equations units.  Believe it or not, we only have two more math units before we've taught everything they'll need to learn in sixth grade.  Crazy!

We've moved away from our textbook during Language Arts time.  We've started reading the book Tuck Everlasting.  It brings up a really interesting concept.  If there were a well of infinite youth, that would allow you to irreversibly live forever, would you drink from it?  We haven't gotten quite that far in the  book, but it will be a fun discussion  to hold.

We've now finished about two thirds of our science curriculum.  We've gone all through microorganisms.  We've finished up with heat, light and sound.  We've learned about the moon phases, though it is something we are not done touching on.  It is a harder concept to learn to actually understand all eight phases: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent, and then back to the new moon.  Here is a picture of one of the projects we've done based around the phases.  As you turn the plate, it gives you an look at what all eight of the phases look like, the white part of the ping pong ball being the lit half of the moon, and the colored side being the ball being the shadowed side of the moon.  The moon being displayed in the picture is the waxing gibbous moon.

Other than that, just keep in mind what all we have going on.  The field trip is this Thursday.  Do not forget that we are meeting at the train station that day and that the kids need to be in field trip uniform: white top, blue bottom.  There will some time outside, so they'll want to have a coat as well.

The other big project we currently have going on is the Science Fair.  Remember the blog below that has all of the information for the science fair, including the calendar which each part of it comes due.

Also remember that we have tightened up on missing assignments, and we've gone through the first round of zeroes this last Monday, with another one coming up this Monday.  Each week I have given the students a missing assignment list, so as long as I hold up to my end of the bargain, I'm expecting that they do as well.

Other than that, we truck along!  Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll keep you up to date as often as possible.  Thanks for everything you do from home to help support us here at school!

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually afraid you'll make one." ~Elbert Hubbard

Science Fair

It is time once again for the Science Fair. I know, I know, you're all super excited for it, but please try to contain your excitement as we prepare for this project.  The students received a packet on Monday, January 28, 2013, which will guide them through the entire process.  On the bottom of this entry, I will copy the parent letter that is coming home with it.  It is the first assignment required to be returned by Wednesday of this week.  You need to go through the packet and rules with your students.  After doing that, please sign the parent note and have them bring their packet back to me.  At no time do they ever need to take anything out of the packet.  I will either take a quick look to see if it's done, or I will have them turn in the whole packet.  At the start of the packets there is also a calendar which gives them every due date for things involved with the science fair packet.  There should be no question on when something is due.  Science Fair does need to be completed by each student, and will be worth 30% of their third term grade, so I do recommend they get started as soon as possible as to give it their best effort. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Mr. Pratt, apratt@syracuseartsacademy.org.

Dear Parents and Students

The annual Science Fair will be held March 4-7, 2013.  You may enter one of the following projects:

Experiment – a display and explanation if an experiment which follows the scientific method. Volcanoes will not be accepted. Mentos/Coke experiments will not be accepted either.

Invention – a working model which solves a specific problem or makes a job easier to do.  Inventions should test a variable and follow the scientific method.

Biological and zoological projects are accepted at the discretion of the student’s teacher.  However, live and preserved specimens may not be displayed at the Science Fair.

All fifth and sixth grade students are required to turn in a project. Your classroom teacher will give you additional instructions on his/her requirements.

Please see and review the science fair rules, located in the back of the packet, with your child.

Parents are encouraged to guide students, but not build the project.  Remember, a good project is planned and developed over a period of time.  Start planning now!

Sincerely,

SAA 5^th and 6^th Grade Teams 

Annual Jazz/Usborne Reading Contest

The annual Jazz/Usborne Reading Contest is upon us!  There are two different aspects of this contest.  The first is the Jazz Contest.  If our school can be in the top 10 schools in the contest, we will be privileged enough to have a Utah Jazz player come to our school.  Being the amazing school we are, we have been in this elitist category every year we've entered this contest.  I expect this year to be no difference.

The school has offered various rewards to help push the students.  The top readers in the class will get the opportunity to throw a pie at their teacher (if he or she volunteers, which I will).  There are also medallions they can receive if they read at least 2,500 minutes. There will also be several events such as the PJs and Pancakes Party to help encourage more reading during this time.

Additionally, I add several motivators from within the classroom.  First off, rather than turning minutes in weekly, I like to have them turn in daily as daily reminder they should be reading.  So when they pester you day in, day out for initials on their reading calendar, you can thank me.  On the opposite of that, if your student isn't having you sign the calendar, you might want to bring it up with them.  Each day, those who turn in their tickets receive a ticket for use within the classroom.  Top reader each week will receive 5 tickets.  I have also brought in three prizes  for the top readers.  They are  varying prizes so the readers will get to choose which one they want in the order of placing.

We have also set a class goal of 72,000 minutes.  To reach that goal, these kids will need to read, read, read.  If they achieve the goal, I have agreed to buy them all donuts.  They wouldn't even settle for Krispy Kreme, they wanted Madbrook, so I went with it.  If they can reach that goal, which is WAY up there, I will buy them Madbrook donuts.

The final aspect to the contest is the Usborne side of it.  They have a sponsorship competition.  The kids will try to get people to sponsor them in their  reading.  For each dollar they get sponsored, they will get books worth half that amount and the school's library will get the other half.

In any event, please, between now and February 19 encourage your students to read their hearts out.  Push them read and surpass anything they ever thought they could.  What could it hurt?  Nothing, but it can help so, so much, not just in the contests, but in their minds.

"You're the same today as you will be in five years, except for the people you meet and the books you read." ~Charlie Jones