Mrs. Chappell's Newsletter
For and about the wonderful and curious students of room 19!
How We Survived By: Luke Packard and Eryn Comer
On Monday January 12th our class went on a Winter Survival trip. "It was a hard, joyful time." a fifth grader quoted about the experience. On the bus it was a very educational ride as our naturalist explained how to build a fire and what materials we needed. As we got off the bus we had to walk a short distance to get to our site. Before we started gathering of supplies, we were shown a demonstration of how to build a fire. First, you have to wipe away snow from your spot, then you gather logs to make a platform (make sure you wipe the snow off before making the platform.) Next, gather twigs, weeds and medium sized sticks. When you're done gathering make sure to get a match from your naturalist. Once our fires were started we were told to feed it to make sure it didn't die out. We started cooking after our fire was steady. No help was offered for anyone with their cooking. "It was challenging to make a fire and cook our food!" said Eryn. Another 5th grader, Keira stated, "It was a relief when we got our food started, I was very hungry. I ate a burnt hamburger, but it was pretty good with a lot of ketchup." Believe it or not it was time to clean and get ready to leave. As groups were cleaning, "10 seconds left!", called out our naturalist. About a split second later you could hear and see everyone moving at a faster pace. The naturalist called us over and everyone rushed over. He showed us how to put a fire out. "Make sure that you use a stick to dig the soil and cover the white ashes." We went back to our groups and cleaned up our spots. After he checked all of our spots to make sure the fire was out and that everything was cleaned up, we headed back to the bus. Elliot and Zubaidah sum up the experience saying, "It was completely awesome" and
"It was fun bonding with other people."
Please visit our class website for the slideshow of our field trip! We Survived! on PhotoPeach
"It was fun bonding with other people."
Please visit our class website for the slideshow of our field trip! We Survived! on PhotoPeach
We survived winter survival!
Lucy
"It was hard but fun at the same time."
Senna
"I felt proud to make the fire."
Luke
"It was a challenging, joyful experience in the woods."
Incorporating technology makes learning interesting!
Our classroom now has a class blog! Mrs. Chappell has a link to the blog on our class website. You can also get to the Kidblog.org website if you click on the We're Blogging title above. It is a safe, ad-free website. Only people with our password can get to our blog. We can have conversations and academic discussions in a whole new, fun way. We are doing everything from book reviews, meaningful conversations, and academic talk. It is a fun and efficient way to learn. We love to blog!
Fractions and Energy By: Ava, Elliot, and Evan
These past weeks we learned about fractions! It was really fun! We did many fun hands on activities like Lego fractions. We also started guided math where we were split into small groups and we learned about separate fraction ideas at each rotation. It was a great math unit, everybody loved it.
In energy, we learned about eight different types of energy. (Motion, chemical, gravitational, elastic, heat, light, electrical, sound) "It was an awesome experience and we all learned a lot.", said one fifth grader. The fifth graders learned about heat transfer and that there is no cold energy. Mrs. Chappell's class started on Dec. 8 and ended on Jan. 13. Everyone learned a lot this unit about energy.
In energy, we learned about eight different types of energy. (Motion, chemical, gravitational, elastic, heat, light, electrical, sound) "It was an awesome experience and we all learned a lot.", said one fifth grader. The fifth graders learned about heat transfer and that there is no cold energy. Mrs. Chappell's class started on Dec. 8 and ended on Jan. 13. Everyone learned a lot this unit about energy.
Email: chappell@aaps.k12.mi.us
Website: chappell5thgrade.weebly.com
Phone: 1
Social Studies By: Leela and Keira
In social studies we are learning about Pangaea and the land bridge. We learned that the land bridge help the spread of people from Africa to all parts of the world. We had an introduction about three Mesoamerica groups, the Aztecs, the Incas and the Mayans. We also learned about the 7 elements found in all cultures. Then our class split up into three groups and learned about their assigned group. Then we prepared a lesson for the class. The next day as our fellow comrades presented to the rest of the class, we took notes. We learned that the Aztecs were known for suspension bridges, the Incas were known for their art, and the Mayans thought that the world would end in 2012.
The next day was the fish bowl discussion. A fish bowl discussion is where there is a circle of people inside a larger circle. The inside circle begins the discussion and then if the outer circle wants to say something they tap the shoulder of one of the inner circle people and they switch spots. Our fish bowl question was, "Do you think the Mesoamerica groups were a civilized culture or were they savages?" Our answer was we thought they were a culture. We learned a lot about our groups and we had a lot of fun while doing it.
The next day was the fish bowl discussion. A fish bowl discussion is where there is a circle of people inside a larger circle. The inside circle begins the discussion and then if the outer circle wants to say something they tap the shoulder of one of the inner circle people and they switch spots. Our fish bowl question was, "Do you think the Mesoamerica groups were a civilized culture or were they savages?" Our answer was we thought they were a culture. We learned a lot about our groups and we had a lot of fun while doing it.
Genius Hour By: Senna
This year our passion projects with Mrs. Chappell's class were very exciting to learn, create, and to present. It was hard to pick out what to do our projects on because we had lots of things we are passionate about. Also, it was very fun to gather information about our topics since we learned so many different things. Now that we have learned more about our topic we're pros on the subject. Some of us were so passionate and excited we talked all about it. All of us grew so much about learning facts we didn't already know.
Creating our projects included lots of patience, hard work, stress, and helping each other. Most of our presentations were on the computer and you know how technology is, it sometimes doesn't work when you need it. So that involved lots of stress. Also technology is sometimes slow and that requires A LOT of patience. All of us put lots of hard work into our projects and all of them turned out really nicely. Lots of people helped each other on their projects which was really nice.
Here's where lots of people get nervous, when they have to present it in front of the whole class. Which is not very exciting to some people. Overall everyone did an outstanding job on their projects. As we presented we sort of got the hang of talking in front of the class (and parents). A few people did their presenting on poster boards which was also very creative. The whole class really enjoyed genius hour and wants to do it again.
Creating our projects included lots of patience, hard work, stress, and helping each other. Most of our presentations were on the computer and you know how technology is, it sometimes doesn't work when you need it. So that involved lots of stress. Also technology is sometimes slow and that requires A LOT of patience. All of us put lots of hard work into our projects and all of them turned out really nicely. Lots of people helped each other on their projects which was really nice.
Here's where lots of people get nervous, when they have to present it in front of the whole class. Which is not very exciting to some people. Overall everyone did an outstanding job on their projects. As we presented we sort of got the hang of talking in front of the class (and parents). A few people did their presenting on poster boards which was also very creative. The whole class really enjoyed genius hour and wants to do it again.