Spelling Bee Participants

Does being on a stage in front of 50+ people make you nervous? Well, the same is true for our Hulet Spellers. And although they may be a little frightened, they are also very prepared. For the last 3 months the Hulet Spellers have been practice words from every etymology imaginable--Old English, Japanese, Hawaiian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek! Who knew our everyday words came from these ancient languages?
The Hulet Spellers will be competing tonight in front of those 50+ people at the George Gardner Performing Arts Center tonight at 6pm. We have several spellers participating tonight from our very own classroom! We are so proud of them and want to wish them all the very best luck!!
Good luck spellers!!!! Break a spell!

Alexis, Mackenzie, Lorissa, Rashawna, and Skyla represent the Hulet Spellers from Mrs. T's class.

Science Fair Time!

It's our favorite time of year--Science Fair time! Science Fair is a school-wide activity where students learn the rules of scientific method and using precise skills and tools to find the answer to a science-related question. In 5th grade students work alone to create their science fair project. In class we will be working specifically on ideas/topics for science fair, completing the written part of the project, research the topic using the internet, and assembling the board.
Today we began our Science Fair process by generating ideas in class.

Here are some websites to help generate ideas:
www.all-science-fair-projects.com

www.sciencebuddies.org

You can also try Google for ideas by typing in "Science Fair Projects for Elementary School."
I have a board in the classroom filled with ideas for science fair projects that anyone is welcome to look through. Ideas are due by January 20th (Friday). If you have any questions about what topics/ideas are aloud, please email me or stop by to chat about it.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Welcome back to a new year! I hope that everyone has enjoyed their 2 week break from school. I'm excited to approach this 2nd semester with renewed energy and joy for learning! Beginning before the break we had some changes to our classroom routine and schedule. You may have noticed some changes in our classroom procedures. It may be that your child is bringing home an agenda book for daily assignments. Their agenda book will have also have a place for homework. By signing your initials in the agenda book you are acknowledging that you have seen, helped, or are aware of your child's homework assignments. The agenda book was designed to help keep the communication open between the parents/guardians and the teacher. I hope that you will leave comments about homework or concerns. I check for a signature every morning and will be able to better answer any questions that arise. The agenda book is a new idea and may need tweaking before the year is through. I hope that it will keep us both informed of homework and/or missing assignments.
Another change we have made is classroom layout. We have a grouped seating arrangement that allows for pair/share and group activities. I enjoy having group discussions because they keep the ideas flowing and allow for multiple perspectives!
I'm looking forward to all the ch-ch-changes that 2012 has to bring!!


Happy New Year!!!

The Giving Tree

A popular story by Shel Silverstein, "The Giving Tree" tells the story of a little boy and his friend, the tree. The tree gives the little boy everything. Leaves to play in. Branches to build with. Bark to carve into. Finally the tree gives it's body for the boy to build his house with. The tree wants to give all these things to keep his friend happy. As a version of this story, Mrs. Twyla Taylor came to Hulet to talk to students about giving. What better time than Christmas season to give to others. At the end of the story, Mrs. Taylor gave all the students candy and toys as her gift to them. I challenged the students to then "pay-it-forward" and share one of their 2 gifts with someone else. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many students accepted the challenge and passed on one of their gifts. It really shows how much fun giving can be.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Mrs. Taylor acting out the story.

Mackenzie is very interested in the story.

Veterans' Day



Our Veterans' Day collage in the hallway!

Like all of you, I am proud to be an American. I think our country is great for a variety of reasons. The most important reason our country is free today is because of our military forces. For your parent/student homework, I asked the kids to bring back pictures or information about the veterans in their family. I have to say that I was so overwhelmed by the outpouring of information our class received about veterans from our own families. I'm glad to see how many of us have family members in the service! I know we are all proud of our veterans and their service to our great country.

Fire Prevention Week

A big thank you to the Holbrook Fire Department for coming and sharing information with us about fire safety! Fire safety is very important because a fire can break out at any time!
Some things we learned and want to share are:
1. Check your smoke alarms!
2. Change the batteries in your alarm once a year!
3. If you catch on fire Stop! Drop! Roll! (and don't forget hands over your face.)
4. Don't hide from the firemen!
5. Don't touch a doorknob when it's hot!

Now you know about fire safety from our class!

Braven working on his word search!

Angela enjoying the many puzzles of fun from the HFD!

Leanna is excited about her color changing pencil!

Making a fire exit strategy with your family is very important! Take a look at some of our exit plans from our house!


Our Archaeological Dig

Archaeology is an important job to preserving our history. These scientists locate treasures buried, misplaced, or saved from long ago. Not unlike these archaeologists, we can also be "thing-finders" in our own right.

We are all archaeologists. We all find or discover things and can make it a part of our history. Discovering a career as an archaeologists might be something that you or your child finds fascinating. We want to continue to learn about our past as a planet and as a country. Archaeologists can help us do that.

Attached are pictures of our archaeological dig that we conducted at school. Here you will find pictures of our digging, analyzation, and discovery.

 Lacy discovers items left behind by other Hulet students.