Happy Holidays!

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday break. Today was filled with fun and laughter. Thank you for being such an amazing group of kids. A HUGE thank you for the generous gifts. I was overwhelmed with emotions when I opened all of the cards and presents. The gifts were not necessary, but very much appreciated.

It's hard to believe our year together is almost half way over. Enjoy your long break and come back in January ready for another fun-filled semester. I'll miss you.


Enjoy pictures from our holiday gathering and the holiday sing-a-long.

Mrs. Fun!

Today was a day of music! We had our tradtional sing-along this afternoon where we sang songs celebrating Los Posados, Hannukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Afterward we were able to spend some time with Mrs. Fun, an improvisational group. Mrs. Fun was brought to us through the ACE program. It was very enjoyable and got us revved up to try out our own improvs.

Happy Holidays from your 5th Grade Teachers!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I couldn't resist one more...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fun New Sites...

The holidays are right around the corner! It's hard to believe it's December already. Mrs. Bartels shared a lot of fun holiday websites for kids with the teachers at Swanson. I organized them and created links for you to explore underneath the homework section on the right side of the blog.

Make sure your homework is done BEFORE you start playing :)

WISCONSIN HILLS incoming 6th graders!

Attention all 5th Grade Parents!
Mark your calendars for Wisconsin Hills
Parent/Student Information Night

Wisconsin Hills Middle School will be having Parent/Student Information Night on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. For Brookfield Elementary, Hillside and Dixon Elementary, parents and students are invited to attend from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Hills Gymnasium. For Swanson Elementary and private/parochial schools, parents and students are invited to attend from 7:00-8:00 pm in the Wisconsin Hills Gymnasium. The administrative and guidance team will share information at both sessions about Wisconsin Hills and the 6th grade program. In addition, there will be a brief tour following each session. We hope parents and their 5th graders will be able to join us for this informative evening

Talent Day!

I had the privelege of attending talent day today during our music class. I was incredibly impressed with the amazing talents you shared with us today.
Today's presenters were:

Max: played The Entertainer on the piano
Tommy B: played Basic Blues on the saxophone
Kevin: played Mystical Tarantella on the piano
Mia and Gabby: played a duet- Celtic Dance on their violins
Jamie: played the guitar
Caroline: played Frosty the Snowman on the flute
Matt: played a piece his brother taught him on the piano

Bravo 5th graders! The musical gifts you presented were outstanding. If you did not have the opportunity to present today, I hope you're willing to share your talents on Friday.

Food & Nutrition!

We started our new science unit today- Food and Nutrition! This morning we talked about the new food pyramid and the importance of eating a variety of foods so that we're giving our bodies the nutrients it needs. The kids learned that food is made from six groups of chemicals called nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals and water.

After discussing the different nutrients we started conducting our first investigation exploring the nutrient fat. Our Fat Test looked at common foods to discover the amount of fat present. We created a controlled experiment, only changing the type of food being tested, and we'll be comparing it to our standard (35 drops of oil).

Now that the food is measured and smeared, we have to wait two days to find out what happens next! Stay tuned!

Congratulations Brunner Family!

A big congratulations to the Brunner family! They welcomed home baby Simon over the holiday weekend. Mom and baby are doing well. It looks like Tristan is excited to have a baby brother at home- so proud! And, a shout out to the Northwestern Wildcats for their win over our Wisconsin Badgers...I'm going to have to find some purple to wear.

Happy Thanksgiving

We day is quickly coming to an end. I hope you all enjoy your long week off. Have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving.

• For the 25 smiling faces that greet me each morning


• For the smooth transition to a new grade level


• For a good job, a warm house, and food to eat


• For the support that I have received from parents and staff


• For the student teacher that works EXTREMELY hard & puts forth amazing effort


• For the excitement that children bring each day


• For my family and friends


• For the motivation I receive from those little spirits in class


• For the giggles I hear that brighten my day


• For the hugs and high fives


• For the quiet times during independent work time


• For the students that are having difficulty with something and just keep trying and trying until they get it


• For the intriguing minds that click during classroom discussions


• For the notes of encouragement that help me through my days


• For the safe environment we have created in our classroom


• For the silly times we share during the day


• For the serious times we share during the day…
  
  For all of these things and many, many more,
  I am thankful.

the BFG

We finished our classroom read aloud, The BFG by Roald Dahl. We all LOVED the story, especially the ending. After a long week of testing we thought we'd enjoy watching the animated movie of The BFG. The class filled their "bucket" last week so we had a popcorn party coming up- we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to enjoy popcorn and a movie. After comparing the book with the movie and discussing similarities and differences between the two, we all decided the movie was okay, but the book was outstanding!

The day is quickly coming to a close- enjoy your weekend and your long week off!

Our Mayflower Journey

The Mayflower, a 90 foot long ship, held 102 passengers and left Plymouth, England in 1620. The Pilgrims on board were leaving their homeland for religious reasons and they were hoping for a better life in the New World.

On their journey the Pilgrims faced many challenges and hoped that their new life would be worth the heartache. Despite these hardships, the Pilgrims had some joyful, fun moments too. The children had limited space and few toys, but they found creative ways to amuse themselves. Two games they played were Chuck-a-Farthing and Odd-Even. Our 5th graders actually had quite a bit of fun playing these games too!

Our Mayflower Journey has been an exciting one. As we've learned more about this difficult journey, our kids have been writing a journal of their experiences, from a passenger's perspective. I have been very impressed with the quality of writing that the student have had throughout this Social Studies unit.

WKCE testing is complete!

This sign became a classroom staple and hung on our door the last three days. I am happy to state that today was last day of WKCE testing! The students worked really hard these past three days and put forth their best effort. We (teachers included) are all ready to get back to our normal routines.

Although state testing is complete, the students do have end of unit assessments for math and science scheduled for Thursday and Friday. We have been reviewing in class and hopefully the study guides have been helpful at home.

Just think, after this week of testing you have a nice long week off...deep breaths 5th graders.

Kerpoof!

Visit Kerpoof to build your own art, stories, and movies. Not only is it a great creativity tool, you may save your work and send it to friends.

Speakaboos...

Speakaboos.com is a great new site that lets you listen to classic and new stories. Speakaboos is in the process of making it so you can write, publish, and record your own stories.Enjoy Speakaboos by clicking here.

Thank You Veterans...

Today is Veteran's Day...a national holiday to honor and praise those that have served the United States of America. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we want to acknowledge all of those brave soldiers and say THANK YOU! You truly are our heroes!

Veterans day tribute @ Yahoo! Video

Flipping Out...

As we wrap up our study of Variables, we are exploring a flipper system similar to a catapult. The students are enjoying actually being told to throw things in school! We started this investigation by building flipsticks and testing their "flipping" abilities. We have practiced flipping corks and rubber corkers and we even created aluminum foil balls of differing mass. We tried adjusting different variables to come up with ways to get our balls to flip the highest and the longest. We have had a blast through it all! We'll continue flipping through this week and our science assessment will be next week.

Did you know catapults are used in a lot of ways...?

• Jets take off from aircraft carriers using explosives or hydraulics to catapult them off the flight decks.


• Catapults have been used in warpfare since the medieval times.
  
• Catapults are used for sport, i.e. pole vaults flipping over the bar, spingboard to launch gymnasts.

Where Did the Quarter Go?

This week we will be finishing our first quarter of fifth grade! It is hard to believe how quickly the year is going. I hope you all rested up over our 4-day weekend. As we tie up loose ends this week, we will be wrapping up our math unit and our social studies unit on Exploreres. We're just about finished with our science unit on Variables too.

Next week Monday, Mrs. Splitberger, our student teacher, will be joining us. She will be working in our classroom throughout 2nd quarter. Her and I are looking forward to the exciting topics ahead...new math chapters, Mayflower studies, mixtures and solutions, personal jounaling, and much, much more. Expectations will be rising, but I know you are all ready for it! I can't wait for another very exciting and educational quarter.

I am also looking forward to sharing your report cards with you and your parents. It is always a pleasure to report progress and set goals.

Art Show & Book Fair at Barnes and Noble!

Our Swanson students' art will be on display at the Brookfield Square Barnes and Noble November 14, 2009. 15% of all purchases made that day at Barnes and Noble will go to help support the Arts at Swanson School.

If you visit the store between 1-3pm you are invited to create a fall drawing and listen to a special book reading by our very own, Mrs. Wu! Head over to the mall to view their beautiful art and purchase a book.

Run-Walk!

Although it was raining outside, we enjoyed our run-walk inside! To encourage wellness and healthy choices, the Swanson students and staff spent 30 minutes this morning walking through the building.

Come Fly With Us!

This week we began our third investigation. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we worked in partners to build planes and practice flying them along fishline. It was great fun! I was extremely impressed with the groups' abilities to read and follow plane construction directions.

The planes fly along a fishing line called a flight line. The plane and the line together create a PLANE SYSTEM. A SYSTEM is a set of objects working together. The plane system will help us continue to learn about variables and controlled experiments. We will study the parts of the PLANE SYSTEM to find out how they affect the entire system. I can't wait!

We'll post more as we "learn to fly".