A Chat with our Governor

Governor Branstad took time out of his day on Friday to skype with our 5th grade classes.  The students had prepared questions and then we drew names to see who would get to ask them.  We have been studying government and the election, so this opportunity fit in perfectly.  It was also a meaningful addition to our preparation for the trip to the capitol!  The governor's communications director sent us a nice email afterwards saying, "Your class was fantastic!! They had some great questions. I hope they learned a lot from the governor and enjoyed the experience. I know the governor did."

Jaselyn stepping up to ask the governor one of our questions.

  

A Visit from the MS Band

It has become a tradition to have the MPMS band visit us at KE on their way back from Fall Festival.  It was a beautiful afternoon to enjoy their music!

Homecoming Week

Next week is Mid-Prairie Homecoming!  Here is how KE is celebrating.  We will also have a Pep Rally on Friday afternoon and will hear from the captains of the volleyball, football, and cross country teams!
Monday--Twin Day OR Dot Shirt
Tuesday--Neon Day (Bright Colors)
Wednesday--Hat Day
Thursday--Class Distinction Day--5th grade is to wear yellow
Friday--Black and Gold Day

Ecosystems

We started devising tests in science this week that focus around the question "What factors affect ecosystems?"  We will continue to work on this next week.  The students are creating materials lists and a procedure; they are also thinking about how they will measure and collect their data. 

Unit 2 Learning Targets

Our learning targets for Unit 2:  Estimation and Computation are as follows:

We are working hard to meet these targets on a daily basis and they have really given the kids (and myself) a real focus for our work.  After any quiz or assignment, they always ask, "Did we meet another target?"  Here is some of the work we did this week that focused on our current learning targets:

                             Practicing our subtraction skills through a game called 1000 and out (Learning Target #2)

                          Practicing addition and subtraction through a game called First to 1000 (learning targets #1 and #2)

                                                         Reading and writing numbers to different place values

         Finding the product of multi-digit numbers and decimals through creating a cross-number puzzle for a friend to solve

Pam Holz

We enjoyed a visit from Pam Holz, our Washington County Naturalist, on Monday of this week.  She had us draw and look at different insect wings and legs with the microscope; we then classified them accordingly.  Here are a few photos from our afternoon!

Dot Day!

Dot Day is based on the book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds.  To check it out, click here:

http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/home_tumblebooks.asp

          and then search, The Dot.

Dot Activities

We did many dot-themed activities throughout the day today.  We created our own dot so it could be part of the school gallery tour and learned about Braille.  We used split peas to write our names in Braille--it was harder than it looked!

Making Dot T-shirts!

Mr. Cayton purchased a t-shirt for each child to decorate on Dot Day--thank you, Mr. Cayton!  We used potatoes and carrots dipped in fabric paints to create our dots; each shirt is unique!  These will be coming home on Monday.  Washing instructions are pinned to the shirt.  Everyone is to wear their shirt on Tuesday, September 18.

Dot Day--Finding Dots!

5P students found many dots within our classroom and around the school as well.  We used flip cameras to take pictures of these dots.  We then uploaded our pictures to iPhoto to create a slideshow that was shared with the class.

Spanish Class

Kalona Elementary welcomed a new Spanish teacher at the beginning of this school year, Samantha Ham.  Mrs. Ham comes into our classroom two times per week for Spanish and has been reviewing colors and numbers, and getting to know the kids.  In these pictures she had them up and moving reviewing their Spanish numbers--they had to line up in order and could only communicate in Spanish.  Please check out the new Spanish blog at:

http://shamspanish.blogspot.com/