A New Quarter

Wow!  That first one went by so quickly.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did.  This quarter promises to be even more fun!  Tomorrow we'll finish our science experiments if I have cooperation all the way around!

Speaking of cooperation, this month we are focusing on the foundation stone Citizenship.  Cooperation with our neighbors is part of that.  As we work together, we can make our families, our communities and our world a better place.  Just do your part and you will be showing that you are a good citizen.  Tomorrow is election day.  People vote to make laws and put leaders in place to improve our cities and nation.  We all need to do our part.  Let's continue brainstorming about how to help out.  I loved your ideas that you had and picked one I especially liked.  Can you guess?

Well, I won't keep you because I know some of you have big plans for the night.  Please use self-control and don't eat all your candy tonight (and especially not tomorrow before school!)  Thanks for the great treats Andrew and Jacqui! 

Love, Mrs Cardinal

Renaissance Alert!

We've really been learning about the Renaissance period--all the city states, cultures and artists.  Michelangelo was certainly a hard working artist.  He spent four years, lying on his back on a scaffold, painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  You only did it for 15 minutes and you were hurting!  (I loved your artwork, by the way!)

Speaking of the Sistine Chapel, I added the cool website to our links that takes you on a virtual tour of it.  Parents, it is typical Renaissance art so you should have a look at it with your kids.  I sure would love to visit it, as well as St Peter's Basilica. 

I am sending home a new format for the Reading Logs.  Please be sure to look at it right away so you can remind "Junior" to complete it before the "eleventh hour."  It's a 2-paragraph essay that can be done after reading their five 20-minute periods.  I suggest they read over the weekend always to give them a head start.  And, yes, they may read more than one session in a day if they know their week will be crazy.

And on the note about crazy weeks...next week is parent-teacher conference week and I hope it's not too crazy!  I can't wait to spend a few minutes with just YOU.  Thanks for all you do to get your kids here on time and well rested and ready to learn!

Love, Mrs Cardinal

Gunk!

We made "gunk" or "goop" or whatever you wish to call it.  A great combination of glue and borax and water.  See recipe below.  Be sure to find it in your backpack before it goes in the wash!  We'll finish matter with a science test tomorrow.  I believe you are all very well prepared (if you've listened and participated in class.)

Do you have a little compassion for Michelangelo?  His neck must have been very stiff and sore after four years!  What a magnificent fresco he painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  I don't know if he began each assignment with alacrity, but I"m sure he wasn't indolent about doing it.  Do you suppose he felt a little doleful when his patrons pushed him with inexorable taskings? 

Homework topic...if you're reading this, you probably aren't the one who fails to turn in homework.  Please be sure it's in first thing each day it's due or you'll end up with me in recess.  Enough said.  Have a wonderful night! 

Love, Mrs Cardinal

Gooey Gunk:
This slimy, stretchy, gooey recipe has become one of the most popular concoctions of all time.
What You Will Need:
Solution A
1 cup water
1 cup white glue
2 Tbs. liquid tempera paint or 7-10 drops food coloring
Solution B
1 1/3 cups warm water
4 tsp. borax laundry booster
How To Cococt It:
1. Mix ingredients in solution A together in a medium bowl.
2. In a second medium bowl, mix the ingredients in solution B together until the borax is completely dissolved.
3. Slowly pour solution A into solution B (Do not mix!)
4. Roll solution A around in solution B 4-5 times.
5. Lift solution A out of solution B and knead for 2-3 minutes.
6. Store gunk in airtight containger or plastic zip bag.
Concoction Tips and Ideas:
Use red liquid tempera paint/food coloring to create a Lava Gunk, green to create slimy gunk or black to create tar gunk.

Fire Drill

Aren't you glad we didn't cause one?  Thanks for your patience with my lighter...as always, I wish I had better success.  I wonder what experiment we can try tomorrow?  I wonder what we could make if we lengthen the polymers in the element boron, causing them to stick together? 

How do you like Don Quixote so far?  He's full of adventures that will make you laugh.  He's quite the character! 

Just a reminder that the silent auction is coming up soon.  We still have room in our cookie basket if you can bring something to add.  Sprinkles would be great, as well as cookie cutters or a barnes and noble card.  Thanks to those who've donated!  And thanks to Mrs Wright for putting it together.

I look forward to seeing your stories on the Bat and Nightengale, AKA ? and ?  I would like to work on mine some more.  I"m anxious to see how clever Peter Pan can get the keys away from Captain Hook!  Have a great evening!

Love, Mrs Cardinals

!!!HAVE FUN!!!

Have a great weekend. You all are the best! We'll do the science experiment next time since Tom Sawyer took up so much of our time. See you on Monday.  Oh, and by the way, a good site for some examples of the shoebox state floats is:  http://teacherweb.com/TX/ShinerElementary/JillKalich/gallery1.stm  There are other examples you can google...just put in "state shoebox float" and different ideas will come up.  Have fun with it!  Remember, it's due Nov 7th.

Mrs Cardinal

I WILL...

Think before I act...Follow safety rules...Ask permission...Talk at the right time...Look out for danger!  Don't be a rash prairie dog, right?  Let's really work on that more...especially the talking at the right time.  It's the right thing to do!

Be ready for our fun science in the dark tomorrow.  Make sure you practice self control before and during.  I guarantee it's going to be way cool!  We are continuing to learn about matter and elements and atoms and energy levels.  Great job looking for words using the table of the elements.

Tomorrow we are watching Tom Sawyer (Disney version) with Mrs Halbritter's class.  Hope you enjoyed the book.  Now we begin Don Quixote.  Get ready for a new adventure!  Have a great day.

Mrs Cardinal

I Missed You!

Hi everyone.  I had a great weekend but I missed my fabulous fifth graders.  Thanks for being so awesome while I was gone.

Today we introduced our new novel, Don Quixote by Cervantes.  Because the actual book is over 1,000 pages, we will read a short version of it in class.  I plan to read a few chapters of the original version though since it is such a fascinating story.  We are covering so much this month in school, from Renaissance history to matter in science, to great literature and narrative essays and multiplying and dividing fractions.  In other words, try super hard to be at school, on time, well rested.  I saw a few sleepy heads today and there is no way they can learn if their heads are on their desks!  Please get to bed early this week.

It's a short week (yeah!) and so much to do.  Practice that self control so we can do our chemistry experiment on Wednesday.  See you tomorrow!

Love, Mrs Cardinal

Thanks Everyone!

You all are wonderful!  Thanks for the many smiles and notes and CHOCOLATE you honored me with today!  It was very benevolent of you!  It makes me want to prostrate myself and honor you!  I will be a little somber while I'm away from you because I'll miss you.  Even though my voice may not be audible, know that I am cheering for you while I'm away (and also for Air Force as they take on San Diego State in football).  I expect a profuse amount of learning to go on the next two days with your wonderful substitute.

Remember...you matter!  Thanks again for making my day special!

Love, Mrs Cardinal

Does It Matter?

Today we learned that EVERYTHING matters...or EVERYTHING is matter, that is.  Everything around us is matter and is either a solid, liquid or gas.  The state it is in depends on its density, that is, how closely packed all the atoms in it are.  If I keep your desks close together, you are more dense than if I let you roam freely, right?  If I add energy to you (i.e. skittles) then you will be more apt to move around and be like a gas with no definite volume and no definite shape.  But if I turn the air conditioning on or throw you outside when it's really cold, you will mold together with everyone in the class and turn into a solid!  Personally, I like my 5th graders in a solid state when in the classroom!  Definite volume, definite shape!

Today we began learning about the renaissance...the rebirth of the humanities.  We'll be learning so much about famous artists and thinkers and writers and architects.  It's such a fascinating time period! 

That's all for now.  Happy Columbus Day!  Mrs Cardinal

Brrr!

I guess Fall is officially here.  We've had a lot of sick kids so please remember how best to stay healthy:  Dress appropriately for the weather.  Wear a warm coat and long pants on those cold days.  You need to be out at recess unless you are staying in to do work, so dress for it!  Also keep those hands washed.  Lastly, get a good night's sleep.  If you are having a hard time falling asleep at night, just lie in bed and work on your multiplication tables...that will surely help you fall asleep fast!

Speaking of...we are skipping on the mad minutes to multiplication.  The more you practice at night, the faster you'll be a math star!  (Check the "Our Work" board Monday!)  The faster you know your multiplication facts, the better you will do with all your math...and that's a promise!

We finished learning the Scientific Method this week.  Get ready for a fun week coming up where we learn "what really matters."  Does anyone know what we will be learning in science?  And you've already learned a few new words dealing with the Renaissance period...next week we get to begin learning about that time period.  It will be a "royal" blast!  :-)  You all are awesome!  See you Monday!

Mrs Cardinal

Flying High

Fun way to learn the scientific method, right?  Those airplanes were great...thanks for being responsible with them when you weren't flying them.  Congratulations to Jacolby, the lead airplane designer...wow!  I want to learn how to make one his way!

The rainy weather is here...be sure to dress appropriately and have a jacket for recess and pre/post school.  I know I will always have a coat and umbrella at school from now on!  Brrrr.

Have a nice evening!  Mrs Cardinal

Self Control

Today we sure learned what self control means in the area of excess.  We learned that we should only take what we need, whether it's with chocolate malt balls, or with food at the buffet, or even with "stuff."  A couple good rules...figure out, even ask Mom or Dad, what a reasonable portion is when offered a snack so you can make sure everyone gets enough.  Thanks for being my self control guniea pigs today! 

Tomorrow we learn to subtract unlike fractions...are you ready?

I am enjoying where you are going in writing the essay about the Dog and His Shadow.  Keep on looking in your thesauras and have fun with your writing!

Your teacher and friend,
Mrs Cardinal

Science Rules

We sure had a busy day today...get used to it!  I am ready to speed up our learning so hang on tight!!!

I really am proud of all of you the way you sat and worked so quietly and so hard today.  It makes learning much easier.  Please keep it up all week!!  We are learning to add and subtract fractions right now.  Tomorrow we will add unlike fractions with different denominators.  If you are having a hard time, see me on your own so you don't fall behind.

We are at the end of our 50 states identification.  You will know them all by the end of the week.  By the way, whatever you are doing to study, keep doing it...the grades on the states tests were super!!

Science...what fun!  I'm sitting here sipping the final remains of our mentos experiment.  If we have a good week, I'd like to see what happens with a 2-liter bottle of coke and a few mentos!!

See you later!  Mrs Cardinal