Plant and Animal Cells

In Science we have been studying the cells of plants and animals. Students have been working on their drawings and participating in class discussions about the similarities and differences. One student took the plant and animal drawings into a whole new level and made a plant cell cake.

Not only was it accurately depicted, but it was also delicious!!!!

Skyla's plant cell cake! Delicious!

Community Service

This year our class has decided to take on a very interesting project: Community Service.

In class we will be writing essays titled, “Why is getting involved in your community important?”

Some students have participated in community service by helping a neighbor or grandparent do a task they are no long able to do alone. Some students have helped around the school by helping a teacher or classmate. Some students are new to the idea of community service.

Our hope is to introduce the idea of community service by actually participating in different activities.

So far our class has decided to write Valentine’s Day cards to the Holbrook Senior Center and to soldiers stationed in Bahrain.

Our next idea is to help clean up litter around Hulet and Holbrook. This event will probably take place around April 22nd, Earth Day.

Our third idea was to give the janitors a night off and clean our classroom for them. We would clean all the desks, countertops, and even vacuum!

Our final idea is to write thank you cards to our friendly cafeteria staff. They do so much for us every day, and deserve our appreciation.

These ideas were all generated by the students in our classroom! As you can see they are very excited to help others and learn the true sense of community service!

Funny Cause & Effect Holiday Stories

Every holiday season there seems to be one or more things that happen thanks to cause and effect.

Mrs. T's Holiday Story

My holiday break started immediately after dismissal from school. I was excited to get on the road early and see all my family again! It's been since July, so I was pretty excited to see them. There's really only 2 ways to get to El Paso (where my family was having Christmas), and we chose to take I-40. And here is where the fun begins...

Because it snowed all over I-40, they closed the roads. Because the roads were closed, we were forced to spend the night in Grants. The next day we got up, but the weather wasn't much better. We drove to Albuquerque, but because the snow had traveled south I-25 was closed. Since I-25 was closed we were forced to stay the night in Albuquerque. The next day the roads were clear so we were able to make it to El Paso in time to see my brother before he deployed to the Middle East. My trip was directly linked to every cause and effect! 

See how easy cause and effect affects our daily lives!

Below are some of our class made holiday cause and effect stories. We passed our papers around the class having people add to the cause and effect. These papers had the best ideas and the funniest stories!

My Holiday

Started by: Kiah D. (but helped by the whole class)

On Christmas morning I woke up and it was super cold because I was outside. I was on Santa's sleigh. Then he said, "Ho! Ho! Ho! You're awake! Sorry, but you're on my sleigh." So I fell asleep on his sleigh because I heard someone on the roof. When I went up there they knocked and I thought it was Santa. I was so happy to see him, because he had all of my presents. Then he saw me and screamed because he didn't know me. I was happy to meet him because he was my favorite person in the whole world beside my parents. So I wanted to meet him inside my house. Once Santa came in, I gave him a glass of milk because he was thirsty because he was dehydrated. Santa said he had a tight schedule so I said goodbye and he left.

My Holiday

Started by: Alexis (but helped by the whole class)

When I woke up this morning I went to California, so on the way we had stopped for a snack so I asked for a drink of lemon juice so when I got the lemon juice I drank it all, so I would not get car sick. When we got on the roof I threw up. My mom took me back home because I had chicken pox. It itched because they were supposed to itch and they hurt because I kept scratching them so I finally stopped scratching them because they were too heavy to carry because there was a lot of stuff in it, so I just had to carry it. My skin turned purple, so I went to the doctor and they gave me medicine. My trip to California was over because my pox got in the way. 

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.