Collins & Co. Room 204
Week 35: Update May 15th - May 20th
Welcome!
Hello Families,
Wow, so much going on these days it's hard to keep up! We had lots of special events including an author visit, a Science Assessment, and the end of the Civil War Simulation.
On Monday, Susan Barwick, a 5th grade teacher in Deerfield came in to share her book, Sylvia's Story- The Chicago River Tragedy of the S.S. Eastland. Mrs. Barwick has a personal connection the story as her grandmother was just a few people away from being aboard the boat when it capsized in the Chicago River before leaving for the Western Electric Company picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. Mrs. Barwick read the story and discussed some background of the story. She also talked about why she decided to write this book. She had always looked for a way to tell this story to children, and when she wasn't able to find any books on the topic, she decided to write one! The students also participated in some extension activities that connected them to the story. Some chose to write a song, create a budget for the family in 1915, and research other boats that had incidents around the same time to look for similarities in each disaster.
The students did a wonderful job on Tuesday by taking their mandated Science test for the state of Illinois. It was a computerized test that all 5th graders need to take and they did a wonderful job! Phew- now it's over!
It was wonderful to see many of you on Thursday at our Open House. I could tell the students enjoyed showing off their work to their families and it was a pleasure to get to see all of you who stopped in!
We also had our last Art Adventure of 5th Grade. Many thanks to Mrs. Bertler, Mrs. Lawrence, and Mrs. Raymond for coming in to do our "Glass Act" activity. The students enjoyed the activity and are looking forward to taking home their art work next week.
The ABC Countdown has been a hit! Check out the upcoming week to help your student prepare if necessary. Since we missed "Career Day" while we were on our field trip, we decided to make O-day "Occupation Day".
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Sincerely,
Ms. Collins
A Glass Act Art Adventure
ABC Countdown
Math: Chapters 14 & 15 3-D Shapes
This week we took a break from volume and learned about Surface Area. The students were struggling to find a difference between area and volume. For example, if we are carpeting a room, are we calculating area or volume? If we are filling a pool with water are we looking for area or volume? Students were able to make meaning of this, but when asked about tiling the pool, there was some confusion. After learning about the ideas, students picked an object around the room and were asked to find the surface area of the object. Then, they had to calculate the amount of wrapping paper they would need to wrap each object. Students enjoyed this real-world problem and were able to differentiate between the two concepts surface area and volume.
We will finish learning about volume next week and take our test on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Writer's Workshop
Social Studies/Civil War Simulation
It took five "Final Jeopardy" questions to determine a winner, but we finally have a winner for the Civil War Simulation.........
Congratulations to the South! After many hard fought battles, and jeopardy questions, their team had the highest average of the Final Jeopardy Secretive quiz and won the battle to win the war! Every student did a wonderful job in this year's simulation and should be proud of their hard work. Our generals did a great job helping everyone work as a team and stick through this exciting experience.
Ask your students about their favorite thing they learned about the war!
Ask your Student about:
- Sylvia's Story- The Chicago River Tragedy of the S.S. Eastland Author Visit
- Science Test
- Art Adventure
- ABC Countdown
- The END of the False Prince!!!! (New book to come next week!)
Things to come:
- Thursday, May 26th
- PTO Pizza Lunch
- Monday, May 30th
- No School: Memorial Day
- Tuesday, May 31st
- All Library Materials Due
- Wednesday, June 1st
- County Fair
- Thursday, June 2nd
- Robert Crown 5th Grade Presentation 1:45-3:15
- Wednesday, June 8th
- 5th Grade Celebration and Yearbook Signing 2:30-3:30
- Thursday, June 9th
- Last Day of School
- Field Day -Morning
- End of Year Assembly- Golden Folders 1-2p
- 5th Grade Video Yearbook 2-3p
Students sharing the Gettysburg Address and Civil War facts at the All School Assembly
Collins & Co.
Greenbriar Elementary School
Email: ecollins@northbrook28.net
Website: http://fs.greenbriar28.net/~elisabethcollins/Ms._Collins_Class_Webpage/Welcome_to_Collins_%26_Co..html
Location: 1225 Greenbriar Lane, Northbrook, IL, United States
Phone: 847-504-3711