Wetu Building

How it all began...rolling 65 poles out of newspaper.

and then we put them together, carefully following the directions and using lots of tape!

Then we managed to fit 20 of our 22 students on the inside...it was kind of tight!

And finally we covered them with decorated (animal skins, aka, paper!)
Dominic said," it was lots of fun to be on the inside".
Zach said, "it was awesome to build."
Andrew said, "it was quite interesting for me."
Nolan said, "it was fun."
Chris said, "it was hard rolling the newspaper."
Cam said, "it was good."
Gus said, "it was hard and clever."
Corey said, "it was fun to go through the process."
Hunter H said, "it was fun constructing."
Lindsay said, "it was fun and hard."
Travis  said, "it was the best project ever that I have done in this school."
Madisyn said, "it was really fun to build and hard to fit us all in."
Maddy said, "it was really fun to build but it got really hot."
Madison said, " it was hard to build but it was fun."
Emma said, "it was fun and exciting."
Hunter D said, "it was a very fun project."
MacKensey said, "it was cool to build."
Chloe said, " it was nice to build, but not to go inside."
Joe said, "it was boring."
Ashley said , "it was really fun to build and to go in."
Sharra said, it was really fun to build."

Decorating Pumpkins with Native American Pictographs

Today we decorated pumpkins with Native American Pictographs.  The students also wrote sentences using the pictographs.  It was interesting to see what they wrote, and how much trouble they had when they couldn't use any words from our language.  They needed to get creative.  Their sentences will be displayed in our classroom, and they brought their pumpkins home.  Thanks very much to Hazelton's Orchard for the pumpkins.

Exciting News

If your child has me for homeroom, you can now access their Social Studies text book on-line.
Please check their home/school folder for an important letter which provides them with a user name and password, and then just follow the instructions.
No Excuses now... :)
Mrs. True

Video's to go with the Native American Unit

http://cahokiamounds.org/explore/video This video is about the Mound Building tribes, and specifically about Cahokia, a mound city of nearly 20,000 Native Americans that was built in the middle portion of our country.  Evidence of this city is still found in Illinois and Ohio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be9gfM_ej8Y&feature=related This video does not have any narration, but does have beautiful music and really shows the architecture of the cliff dwellings very well.

http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v78561-Mesa_Verde-_Cliff_Palace_the_largest_cliff_dwelling_in_North_America-Video.html Very brief video of the Cliff Palace courtesy of Mike's Road Trips.  There is a very brief ad at the beginning.

Hope you enjoy the video's!
Mrs. True

Native American Day

What a great day! We made butter, cornbread and some fabulous dream catchers! We also had quite a few laughs, a few good stories and really outstanding volunteers. It was a great way to "kick off" the unit. Check back next week for some pictures of the dream catchers and keep on checking the blog for updates about upcoming events!
Night All
Mrs. True

Cool Websites to Visit!

Below is a list that I have begun to compile of some cool websites for you to visit.  They are fun and educational, and I will be updating it regularly.  If you find something great that isn't here, please let me know so that I can check it out and perhaps even add it!
http://www.brianpcleary.com/

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/quizzes/

Welcome to Fifth Grade 2011-2012

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to fifth grade. We've got lots of fun things planned for you this year. You are going to have to work really hard, but you will have the opportunity to learn amazing things. Please make sure to bookmark this blog, and also my homework now page. Between the two you will always know what is happening in our classroom.

See you soon!

Mrs. True