Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Today, we took a field trip to Columbia Farms to pick out pumpkins. This trip was special because we went with our Kindergarten buddy class. Each fifth grade student is matched with a kindergartener at the beginning of the school year. Throughout the year, we do a variety of activities together, including reading, writing, games, and art. Today, the fifth graders excelled at being role models for the kindergarten students, guiding them through the pumpkin patch and working together to find the perfect pumpkins!

Back at school, the fifth graders used paper and other supplies to decorate their pumpkins, turning them into all kinds of interesting characters!

Recent Place-based Adventures

Last month, we went to a pond on the island to do an investigation based on our studies of ecosystems and food webs. Prior to the trip, students studied the parts of a food web, roles played by different plants and animals, and the levels within an energy pyramid. They learned about the plants and animals we were likely to see at the pond and their specific roles in the pond food web.
On the trip, students kept track of their findings and data, which we used back at school to create posters about what they had seen.

Last week, we worked with Mark Doyle to learn some old-fashioned leathercraft and woodworking techniques in preparation for Colonial Day. The 5th graders will be sharing these skills with students in other grades this Friday. 

Engineering in Action!

The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize knowledge of, and experience with, the engineering design process throughout the grades. This process refers to the steps engineers takes in order create solutions to problems in the real world.  The process general includes: identifying a problem, designing solutions, building, testing, and improving.

Our class has been working on several engineering design projects over the past couple of months. Above and to the right, you see photos of students during the Egg Drop challenge. Students were asked to design and build a lander to protect a raw egg when dropped to the floor from the balcony in the gym. They had limited materials and time to complete the project, in groups of 3 students. After a first round of tests, students had the opportunity to improve their designs, re-build, and re-test. Through this process, students experienced the entire engineering design process.

As part of the Journey to Mars Unit, students completed an engineering design project at home with the objective of creating a model for a new technology that could help humans survive on Mars. They came up with many creative ideas and build some impressive models! These project were put on exhibit in the library for parents and students to see. The fifth graders gave one-on-one tours to the third and fourth grade classes.

 

Becoming published Creative Writers!

We have wrapped up our unit on narrative writing. After studying Personal Narrative and writing several pieces in that genre, students than imagined, planned, wrote, revised, and edited their own fictional, creative short stories. This process involved mapping their story before writing to ensure that it had interesting characters and settings, rising action, a climax, and a resolution. Students then typed their stories using their Ipads and keypads and sought feedback from teachers and peers to make many revisions. Finally, students peer-edited each others writing to help everyone produce a polished, finished piece. We published these finished stories on a special website called KidBlog. Here's the link to the page where you can read our writing.

https://kidblog.org/class/5thgradesia/posts

Many students also created a work of "cover art" for their story, which are posted in the hallway outside our classroom along with QR codes that link to the KidBlog site.

Happy Reading!

Fall Field Trips!

Fifth grade has been out and about on some awesome field trips over the past several weeks!

At Sauvie Island Center, we sketched plant parts, dissected seeds, and tasted lots of different veggies and herbs!

The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Center was the culmination of our study of the Earth's Hydrosphere, the system of salt and freshwater cycling on our planet. We toured the facility and saw the dirty water coming into the plant through underground pipes. From there, garbage is removed and the water travels through a series of tanks in which solids are allowed to settle out of the water. Next, microorganisms devour the contaminants in the water. At the end of the process, the cleaned water is released into the Columbia River and the solid wastes are composted and sold to farms.

At SCRAP, we got a tour of the store and learned about SCRAP's mission to promote creative reuse and keep usable items out of the landfill. We made our own hanging notepads from re-used materials.

Wondering what we've been up to? Look no further!

We kicked off our year with a study of the Hydrosphere - Earth's water system! Students conducted science investigations, including the one shown above in which they assembled and observed miniature water cycles. This unit culminated last week in an opportunity for students to show all that they have learned by creating a Hydrosphere poster. An example of one student's work is shown here.

Our class teamed up with Mr. Josh to design and paint a life-sized checkerboard on the playground! First, we learned about area and perimeter by making our own smaller checkerboards and thinking about how we would enlarge them for the playground. Then, we learned to the play the game with a friend. Finally, students helped Mr. Josh measure and layout the checkerboard, which was then painted.

 We met our kindergarten buddies and have enjoyed time reading with them, as well as building, writing, and more. The kindergarteners are super excited about any opportunity to work with their fifth grader. And the fifth graders enjoy the experience of stepping into a leadership role and thinking about how far they've come since they first started school - at SIA or elsewhere - so many years ago! We will be heading to the Pumpkin Patch with our kinder buddies next week.

Have a wonderful summer break!

Thank you students, parents, and volunteers for an amazing year! Take a look back at some of the highlights in this slideshow I created for the last day of school.