Spring Break - Yay!

Have a wonderful Spring Break - it is a very well deserved break after all the hard work that has taken place these last weeks. I hope you all have safe and relaxing holidays wherever you spend them. See you in a week!

Enjoy looking at our 5 Senses Poetry about 'The Desert'. 5B students are turning out to be very talented poets.

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Non Violent Protests

Watch this space for some footage of 5B hard at work protesting in non-violent ways around the school!

In Social Studies, we have been studying Martin Luther King Jr. and the Power of Non-Violence and so we transported ourselves back to MLKJ's time and organised a friendly protest march. Students made signs that said things like "End Segregation" or "Equal Rights For All" and then they found famous quotes from history to write on the backs of the signs to make an impact.

The students marched for only 10 minutes in the heat of the day, and although they were a little embarrassed at first, they realised just how important it had been for followers of MLKJ to protest in this way. And how successful they had been.

The world would be a very different place for most of us if it were not for great heroes like him.

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

African Rice Bread

Today, as part of their Social Studies 'Civil Rights & the Power Of Non-Violence' unit, students spent the morning singing songs about Martin Luther King, listening to Black American spiritual songs and slave chants and then in groups, they cooked traditional African Rice Bread - a daily staple eaten by many slaves in the 1880's and still eaten in West Africa today.

The ingredients included rice, milk, eggs, bananas, sugar, nutmeg and salt. The results tasted better than they looked! They smelled yummy and for the most part, tasted 'Okay'! I think we have to come to some kind of consensus on just how much liquid is in a 'cup' of milk, or how much sugar is actually in 3 Tablespoons! (David must have a sweet tooth as he did a fine job of polishing off the group's bread that had far too much sugar in it!)

We may not have produced wonderful cordon bleu dishes, but I think the students really got a sense of how cheap, simple ingredients can make a hearty meal.

The school oven wouldn't work for us today, so 5B had the honour of cooking the bread in my home! The kids took great delight in making themselves at home in my front room! See the pictures above of them posing!


“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

The Chefs Hard At Work

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Weekly Preview Week Beginning: March 11th 2009

I thought I'd share with you some exemplar student work this week!

Have a little look at Jin Hee's wonderful 3D model creation for her 'Holes Extra Credit Work'. It is fantastic!

The extra credit work was a chance for students to choose tasks to complete from a wide range of options, including performance, music, drama, writing, film & media, song, artwork, creative poetry and mathematical.

Jin Hee managed to capture complete understanding of the novel through this model.

Well done, Jin Hee!

A Preview of the Week

Week Beginning: March 11th 2009

Reading
Martin Luther King
Biography books and read Alouds
‘The Underground Railroad’ Read Aloud
Kinderbuddies

Writing
Holes Related Work
Holes Extra Credit Activities
Martin Luther King
Writing a letter to MLK set in 1955
‘Dreams’ poem by Langston Hughes. Create further verses
Describing Dreams

Math
Unit 4 : Divide Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chapter 12.5: Division Practice
Chapter 12.6 – Problem Solving
Chapter Revision
Chapter 13.1 Algebra & Decimal Division
Chapter 13.2 Decimal Division

Social Studies
Civil Rights and the Power of Non-Violence
Slavery
Using primary sources discuss and write about historical events.
Act out and evaluate various role plays from historical times.
Cooking: Make African Rice Bread
Sing slavery and freedom songs

Spelling/Vocab
Civil Rights Vocab

Fun / Social
Mon – School Holiday.
Tues - Trimester 3 Begins
Fri - LS Awards Ceremony & Newsletter Distribution & Report Cards Issued
Friday & Saturday – US Play ‘Unwrapped’

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Weekly Preview Week Beginning: March 2nd 2009

A Preview of the Week

Week Beginning: March 2nd 2009

Reading
Martin Luther King
Biography books and read Alouds
Novel Study – Holes
Post Reading Activities

Writing
Elements of Mystery Writing
Publishing Mystery Stories
Holes Related Work
Post-reading activities
Holes Summary Book
Holes Extra Credit Activities
Holes Advertising Campaign
Holes Test

Math
Unit 4 : Divide Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chapter 12.1: Algebra: Patterns in Division
Chapter 12.2: Estimate Quotients
Chapter 12.3: Divide by 2 Digit Divisors
Chapter 12.4: Correcting Quotients

Social Studies
Civil Rights and the Power of Non-Violence
Pre-Unit Reading & Activities

Science
Forces & Motion
About Satellite Motion
Activity 4: The Parachute Drop
Activity 5: Basketball Arcs
Activity 6: Ball & Cup Contest
Activity 13: The Clacker Conservation
Forces & Motion Test
Spelling/Vocab
Civil Rights Vocab
Science - Forces & Motion Vocab

Fun / Social
Wed – Dr Seuss Birthday. Watch ‘Horton Hears A Who’ and have a Read-In-A-Thon
Fri – US Drama Play Assembly

Weekly Preview Week Beginning February 23rd 2009

A Preview of the Week

Week Beginning: February 23rd 2009

Reading
Mystery Stories
Forensic Science - Chromatography
Novel Study – Holes
Chapters 46 - 50

Writing
Elements of Mystery Writing
Publishing Mystery Stories
Holes Related Work – Vocabulary, treasure map, Advertising Campaign, cloze activities, post-reading activities.

Math
Unit 4 : Divide Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chapter 11.4: Choosing A Method
Chapter 11.5: Algebra: Expressions & equations
Chapter 11.6: Problem Solving Skill
Chapter 11 Test

Social Studies
Current Events
Citizenship & Etiquette

Science
Forces & Motion
Work, Energy & Power
Activity 10: The Come-Back Can
About Satellite Motion
Activity 4: The Parachute Drop
Activity 5: Basketball Arcs
Activity 6: Ball & Cup Contest
Activity 13: The Clacker Conservation

Mystery Unit
Forensic Science
Fingerprinting; lip printing; handwriting; chromatography

Spelling/Vocab
Mystery & Holes Vocab
Science - Forces & Motion Vocab

Fun / Social
Fri – No School (Professional Development Day)

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Welcome, Michelle!

A very big welcome to our new classmate - Sei Yon Lee (Michelle), who joins us from Korea.

We are so pleased you have joined our class (it is obviously the best class at NJIS!) and look forward to helping you settle in quickly and getting to know you.

The best of luck for a smooth transition - we all know how hard moving to a new country and school is - we are all here to support you as best we can.

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Laments From ‘Holes’

I am so excited to be able to share with you the wonderful poems 5B wrote this week. I am working on finding better ways to publish their work, but here is our very first go! Enjoy!

Laments From ‘Holes’

View more presentations from njisgrade5b.

Belated Happy Birthday Fidelia!

We didn't forget about you on Monday, Fidelia, but I forget to post a very Happy Birthday to you on our website, so here it is...

Happy Birthday!

I hope you had a wonderful day and that the year has very many wonderful events in store for you.

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown