Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

 

I would like to take this opportunity to express my warmest wishes to you and your family for a wonderful holiday season. May these days fill your hearts with peace and joy; may the wonderment of a child’s excitement bring a smile to you; and may the New Year bring happiness and good health to all.

Enjoy the winter recess with your families. Rest, relax and have a pleasant break, it’s back to school on Monday, January 3, 2011!

Happy New Year!



 

Homeroom 236's Holiday Party!

Homeroom 236 Holiday Party 

We had a great time! What was your favorite part of the Holiday party?

Homeroom 235 and Homeroom 236 Glogs Are Ready To View

Boys and girls in both my science classes have been hard at work making Glogs based on information they learned from various Earth Science videos. Please take a moment to to view them by scrolling through them, then clicking on one (or many!) that you like. Please leave a comment below for the boys and girls about their Glogs. Enjoy!

Skype A Scientist

To end our Earth Unit today, we were treated to a Skype call from Kelsey Bitting, adjunct professor from Rutgers University. Kelsey answered some of our questions we had about volcanoes and why she got involved in Earth Science. It was a great way to end our unit and I am looking forward to Skyping with more scientists in the future. Here is a short clip from our call.

Volcanic Eruptions

Make a slideshow design

Thank You, Dr. Soliman

Today, my morning Science class was treated to a presentation by Dr. Soliman, Yaseen's father, about how our lungs work and the dangers of smoking. We all learned a lot from his presentation and most importantly, we learned that we will never smoke! Thank you Dr. Soliman!

Pick of the Week

Try a Math Game-A-Day with this great Advent Calendar from Nrich math. Just click on a date for a different math game everyday!

Click here.

Pick of the Week- Logic Puzzles

I couldn't decide between these great logic puzzles so for this week I have Picks instead of a pick.

The first Pick is Mastermind. Just like the classic game, see if you can guess the color pattern in 8 moves or less. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for all directions and a strategy guide.

The second Pick is called Daily Treasures. Each day a new treasure chest game is posted. Make sure to read the "fine print" clue above the treasure chests because they will tell you how many clues are true or false. Then you read the sentences under each chest. Remember, you can’t trust them because at least one will probably be lying — and on some days, they may ALL lie to you!

And the third Pick is a link to daily Ken Ken puzzles. If you have never tried one, make sure to click on the rules button once you select the size of the puzzle you want. You may want to start with a 4x4.

 Have fun!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today my class made Thanksgiving cards for the seniors at Bayshore Nursing Home. The patients were so happy to receive the cards when I dropped them off this afternoon. Great job, boys and girls! You did something small for someone you didn't know, but it made a huge difference in their day!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! :) Mrs. MacConnell

Cyberbullying and Cyber Safety Assembly

Today the entire school took part in an assembly about cyberbullying.  It was extremely informative and I believe the students learned a lot from it. Because of the assembly, I wanted to repost a blog post I did on October 25th on Cyber Safety. There are a bunch of great links to help teach your children how to stay safe on the internet.
Click here to go to the blog post on cyber safety.

Belize!

Pictures of our time with Mrs. Driscoll

BELIZE

Today my homeroom students were treated to a wonderful discussion on Belize from William's mom, Mrs. Driscoll. The students learned all about the culture and customs of this wonderful country. Mrs. Driscoll not only told us all about her experiences in Belize, but she also brought us in a delicious meal of beans and sweet rice, peach juice, and a delicious traditional cake. Thank you, Mrs. Driscoll, for a wonderful experience!!

We love having guests come into our class. If you would like to share a place that you have been to, or if you would like to speak to us about something related to Science or Math, please let me know.
Click here to email me. 

Veterans Day 2010

Today, we (the boys and girls in Homerooms 235 and 236) celebrated Veterans Day by having 7 Veterans come into our room so we could honor them. The Veterans were grandfathers, uncles, dads, and neighbors of the boys and girls in our rooms. The students did a fantastic job! All week they were making stars, thank you cards, collecting items and writing letters for our adopted soldiers in Afghanistan, practicing a beautiful patriotic song, and preparing for the big day. I was so proud of all of them! The best part of the day though, was the lessons we learned - honor, respect, and volunteerism. Thank you again to all of our Veterans,  a special thank you to Holmdel's Mayor Serena DiMaso, for coming in and speaking to us today. Also, thank you to all the parents who donated much needed items to LCPL Michael Bush and his platoon. If you volunteered to mail a box, I will email you when they are ready to go. Thank you!
GREAT JOB BOYS AND GIRLS!!

Veterans Day 2010 from Caren MacConnell on Vimeo.

THANKS TO DEVIN AND WINSTON FOR TAKING THE PICTURES AND THE VIDEO! 

Be a Guest Blogger!

Science Students -
Want to be a Guest Blogger? I am looking for students who would like to write about VOLCANOES. Your blog can be an informational post about volcanoes, a myth story about volcanoes, poems, a song, or a skit that we can film. To post on the blog, it has to be informative and you must do an excellent job. Up for the challenge? Let me know!


Math Students -
If you would like to be a Guest Blogger, your challenge will be to come up with a song, or poem about a Math topic we covered. See my post on Fibonacci for a song inspiration! That is a fantastic Fibonacci song, but I bet you could come up with your own! To get published you must do an excellent job! Up for the challenge? Let me know!

Daylight Saving Time

Do you know why we have Daylight Saving Time? 

Fibonacci

Both of my math classes enjoyed helping me plan my vision for MacConnellville. Students worked hard to come up with all the different combinations of homes that could be made for my housing units in my planned community of MacConnellville. During our planning process, students noticed a wonderful pattern - 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55 etc... The Fibonacci Sequence. We read about Fibonacci, and also watched a great Brain Pop about him.

Students - watch this GREAT video that 2 girls made about Fibonacci to a TAYLOR SWIFT song!!!

What did you think of the song? Do you think you could make up a song like this? Leave a proper school comment (directions are below). 

Bored? Nothing To Do?

Bored? Nothing to do? Here are some things to keep you busy on my website.  :)

1. If you are in my Science classes, try the Club Knowledge questions. They were just updated and remember - prizes will be given out at the end of each marking period! If you have never tried Club Knowledge, now is the time to start!

2. Check out my GAME OF THE WEEK. It is called Star and Coins and it is a fantastic logic game!

3. Watch a Brain Pop movie on Diwali.

4. Send a Thank You card to our troops by following the directions on JUST SAY THANKS.

5.  Leave some COMMENTS on our classroom blog. Remember to use proper commenting skills we talked about (there are directions on the blog).

6.  Play some educational Math, Science, and Social Studies GAMES.

7.  HAVE FUN!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

My Classroom on October 28th. 

My Classroom on October 29th! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO EVERYONE! 

HOW WAS YOUR HALLOWEEN? WHAT DID YOU DRESS UP AS? DID YOU GET A LOT OF CANDY? PLEASE COMMENT AND REMEMBER YOUR PROPER SCHOOL COMMENT WRITING WE TALKED ABOUT IN CLASS. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

LOVE, 

MRS. MACCONNELL

Pick OF The Week - Internet Safety

Too many times, I have found fantastic sites that have not so fantastic safety features for kids. As technology becomes more readily available to our children, it is important to teach them about Internet safety at home as well as in school. Below are some great sites that teach kids about Internet safety in a fun and educational way.

Phineas and Ferb  - fun video to teach students cyberspace rules and online safety tips. 

Think U Know Cybercafe - a virtual environment where students can practice their online safety smarts. In the cafe, students help virtual kids make good choices when using email, texting, instant messaging, web browsing, creating an online personal space, and chatting in a chat room.

Netsmartzkids - great games to help students understand Internet safety.

Garfield Learning Lab  - students learn about Internet safety by watching Garfield video clips and performing tasks. 

Carnegie cyber academy - Students join the Cyber Academy and complete several missions to equip them to be good cyber citizens and defend the Internet.

NS Teens  - Older students learn about cyberbullying, email, IM, chatrooms, gaming, revealing too much, social networking, and other Internet safety tips through videos, games, and comics online.

Explore some or all of the sites. What was your favorite site? Did you learn something new about Internet safety? What did you learn?  :) 

Joe And Olivia's Trip To Disney 2010

For our first Guest Bloggers, we have Joseph and Olivia writing about their recent trip to Disney World. Make sure to leave a nice comment for them! :) Mrs. MacConnell


Joe and Olivia October 3,2010
Day1: The day we were leaving for Walt Disney World, we were both super excited. I, Olivia, even woke up at 4:30 in the morning. We drove to the airport and when we finally got there, we practically jumped out of our seats. We got all situated and then got on the plane. I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then did my home work. Half way there I, Joe watched the same thing and took lots of pics. We got off the plane and met our grandparents and cousin, Scott. We got on the bus and went to our hotel. Our room was really big. We got things situated such as where people are sleeping. Then we went to Down Town Disney. The first thing we did there was we went to the Disney shop. Me Joe went to the Lego shop. Next we ate at Fultons Crab House. The girls went to do Irish step dance and I went to the Harley-Davidson Shop. Then we went on the ferry home.

Day 2: We went to the magic kingdom. We went on the jungle boat tour unfortunately, I cannot remember the name. While the girls were on magic carpet, my dad, my cousin, and I went to the pirates of the Carabean. Next we met up and went to splash Mountain. For lunch we went to the crystal palace. Next my little sisters met Ariel an then we went back to the hotel. Later on we came back to the Magic Kingdom. Then we watched the light parade. After that we went on the Haunted Mansion. I went to Space Mountain with my dad and everyone else went home.

Day 3: Today we went to E.p.c.o.t. We had to wake up early because the girls had a princess breakfast. Then we went onto Soarin’. After that we went on a tour about farming. Next, we went to Finding Nemo and looked at an auquarium. We liked Soarin’ so much we went on again. After that we went to a soda shop. Next, we had ice cream. If You are wondering what the “Giant Epcot Golf Ball” is, it is a ride called Spaceship Earth and we went on that . Then we went to Mouse gear, a shop that sells Disney things. After that we went on test track. Then we left and spent the day by the pool.

Day 4: Hollywood Studios. When we got to Hollywood Studios, we went to get a “fastPass”, which is basically a ticket that allows you to cut lines, for the toy story ride, then went to The Little Mermaid play. It was cool because Bubbles fell down on you. Next, we went to an animation attraction. It told all about how the animators work their magic and said all the steps that animators take to make the movies we watch today. After that, we got a snack and headed to Tower of Terror. My little sister, Marissa, and I stayed outside while the other seven went on the ride. Then my mother, grandmother, and Joe went on the Arrowsmith Rollercoaster, but the rest of us stayed outside. We then went to lunch at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. After we ate, we went to a Star Wars store, and Scott, my cousin, customized a light saber. After that, we split up. My grandpa, sister, dad, and Joe went on the behind the scenes tour while my grandma, mom, Scott, Marissa and I played on the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. It started to rain. We got drinks and snacks and saw the monsters, Mike and Sully, from Monsters Inc. We saw Muppets 3-D and then left.


Day 5: Today, we went to Universal Parks. When we got there, we went strait to Harry Potter World. First thing we did was we had Joe and Grandma go on the ride The Forbidden Journey while Mom, Dad, Alexa, Marissa, and I went on The Flight of the Hippogriff. Grandpa and Scott stayed off. Then Dad, Mom, Scott, and I went on The Forbidden Journey. Next, I got a wand. We then split up, Dad, grandma, and I did Forbidden Journey again while the rest went to Dr. Suess Land. We all met up in Suess World and went on the carousel and the One, Fish, Two Fish ride. We bought “Thing” shirts then had lunch at The Three Broomsticks. We went to Honey Dukes candy shop and I got a chocolate frog. Then we navigated our way through that park. We went to the other Universal park and went on the Simpsons ride. Then we went to a play ground the made you feel really small. Next, we went to the Curious George Ball Factory. We went to the Hard Rock Café. Then the day ended and we left Universal.


Day 6: Today we went to three parks, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. First, at Animal Kingdom, we went on a train to the other side of the park. When we got there we did a backyard scavenger hunt. Next, went into a building and pet a lizard, saw a bird getting his annual check-up by the vet, and Disney characters such as Pocahontas, Jimminy Cricket, and Lion King’s Raffiki! We went back on the train and went to lunch at Yak and Yeti. We then saw a Komodo Dragon. Next we went on the River Rapids and my grand parent left. We went on the River Rapids ride again. We went to Dino Land and saw the attraction It’s Tough to be a Bug.We watched a parade and had ice cream. Then we left. We went to Magic Kingdom and went to the castle and Disney’s Philharmagic. We had ice cream and saw the Hall of Presidents. We did the Haunted Mansion and then left. We went to Epcot and ate at the Rose and Crown in front of beautiful fireworks. Joe and Dad got us all different Mickey toys then, left.


Day7: Today we went to Typhoon Lagoon and some of us went to Epcot. We went to the wave pool, body slides, and a big family slide. We also had lunch and funnel cakes and cookies. After that we split up, Mom, Dad, Alexa, Marissa, and I went to Epcot but everyone else went back to the hotel. At Epcot, we explored the different countries at the food and wine festival. We went on a Mexican ride and a fourteen minute movie about China. Then we left. Then my dad my cousin and I snuck out to down town Disney. We went to a magic shop. We got Shirley temples and went to “ride makerz” where you custom make roller coaster cars. After that we went to the Harley Davidson shop then left.

Day 8: We packed up then spent the day by the pool then left for the plane. On the plane I watched holes. When we got home it was really cold compared to Florida.
That was our lovely trip to Disney.

PICK OF THE WEEK - Math

This week's PICK OF THE WEEK is called, Math Playground. Math Playground is an action-packed site that makes learning various aspects of math fun! You can spend hours on this site playing single player and multiplayer games. Two of my favorite places on Math Playground are the Logic Games  and Math Apprentice.  Math Apprentice connects math to real world careers by allowing students to be apprentices at various companies, applying their math skills to real world challenges. It introduces students to more advanced mathematical ideas as they read about additional math concepts used in each showcased career. Make sure to check it out! 

10-10-10

Today is October 10th, 2010 or 10/10/10. As a math teacher I feel the need to bring some math into this special day :) Below is a great video about the Powers of 10!!!

FRIDAY FUN!

MANCALA

This week, we finished our first chapter in Science which was all about rocks and minerals. I thought it would be a fun reward for the students to learn a game that has been dated back to as far as 7AD in Ethiopia. The game Mancala, although played and named in various forms around the world, is a classic "count and capture" game. Students learned to play the game in many forms - on the Smartboard, computer, with a partner and a store purchased board, to a homemade version using an egg carton and marbles. Regardless of the way they played they all enjoyed learning a new strategy game with their friends. To play an online version of Mancala visit my web page and click on "Game of the Week" or CLICK HERE.

Logic Day

On Friday in my math classes, after going over our Problem of the Week, we had "Logic Day." Breaking up into groups, students worked alone or with a partner to solve different logical thinking puzzles and problems. The students rotated through various stations which all offered a new challenge. The stations were: 1. The First in Math site that allows the students to play an online version of the famous 24 card game. All students have a username and password so they can play this at home as well. 2. Cracker Barrel game. Students were given a wooden triangle with one missing peg. The object was to figure out how to only have one peg left after jumping over all other pegs - easier said than done! 3. Mind Teaser puzzles. This station was a favorite! It offered each student a puzzle with a clue. They had to figure out how to logically solve the puzzle. Some were harder than others - some students thought they were impossible - until that wonderful "AHA" moment happened! And finally, Station 4. Interstate 99 and Dodge Ball. Students worked together or alone to try to solve these tricky logic problems.

It was a fun, yet challenging, day in Math!!

Pick of the Week

MathMovesU is an interactive virtual world where middle school students can interact with algebra, geometry, decimals, fractions, and word problems through topics they are passionate about like sports, music, and fashion. As students navigate through MathMovesU they will encounter math problems delivered through games, polls, and fun facts. You do not have to register to play on the site, but you should register if you want to save points you have earned. Registration is free.

If you try MathMovesU, leave a comment and tell us what you thought of the site. What was your favorite game? Where is the game on the site?

Pick of the Week (click on the highlighted text for the link)

This week's Pick of the Week comes from my daughter, Carleigh. She has recently become very interested in Greek Mythology. I found a few books on the subject that she enjoyed, but then I found, Winged Sandals. She has really enjoyed this sight and has learned so much about Greek Mythology. If your child enjoys Greek Mythology, have them check out Winged Sandals.

Who's With Horace?

Today in my math classes, after a quick quiz, students were given the challenge problem, "Who's With Horace?" Working with a partner, students were given four clues to help them figure out who came with whom to a party. The clues only gave part of the information so students needed to use logical problem solving to figure out the order. If they got the "Horace" problem correct, they moved on to solve "Photo Line Up" in the same manner. For this problem they needed to figure out the order of the students in a class photo. Unfortunately, time ran out - we will continue next week so everyone will get a chance to solve these fun, challenging problems!

Can you think of a "Who's With Horace?" problem? Try to and put it in the comment section - we will try to solve it in class!

PICK OF THE WEEK

Weekly, I will try to post some of my favorite sites. I spend a lot of time looking for resources that I can use in my classroom and thatare appropriate for my students. I would like to share them with you to further your child's learning at home.

This week's site is a fantastic math site if you want to enrich your child's math learning. The site is called, NRICH. NRICH is a site from the University of Cambridge, England. Here you will find all sorts of wonderful, rich, mathematical problems to solve. British math programs run in stages, therefore, 5th graders should click on Stage 1&2 (See the chart below to match age with stage if you have older children who may benefit from the site as well).

:) Mrs. MacConnell

Click Here For the NRICH Website

Rocks and Minerals

Today we started our first unit in Science - Rocks and Minerals. The students were asked to look at sugar and salt and try to figure out their crystalline shape. After close inspection, most groups came up with hexagonal prism shape for sugar and cubic for salt.

Next the students were given a bag of "mystery rocks and minerals." They were asked to separate them into two categories - rock or mineral. All the groups did well with this and were able to explain to me, using their science vocabulary that they learned the night before, the difference between a rock and a mineral. WELL DONE!!

For the next week or so we will be learning more about rocks and minerals.

Do you have any rocks or minerals at home that you would like to share? Feel free to bring them in.

The Red Fish Thingy Lab!!

Today my Science classes conducted their first experiment to learn about the Scientific Method. They had fun trying to figureout how a red fortune telling fish works. Most groups thought it was heat, or water, or static electricity. Everyone did a fantastic job testing their hypothesis. In the end we learned that the fish reacts to moisture in our hand (and heat helps too). The fish are made of the same chemical used in disposable diapers - sodium polyacrylate. Sodium polyacrylate will grab onto water molecules that it touches, changing the shape of the molecules. When the molecules change shape, so does the shape of the fish! The purpose of the lab was to get the students to start thinking like scientists - mission accomplished!!

What did you think of the experiment?

We will be reviewing how to post proper school comments next week, but until then if you would like to post a comment you may. Follow the directions on the blog.

First Day Of School

After much anticipation and preparation, the first day of school had finally arrived! Everyone was a little nervous at first, but by the end of the day I can already see that lasting friendships have already been formed! To see a detailed account of today, click here. At the bottom of the page you can click on a link that will tell you all about your son/daughter's first day in 5th grade. It was a fantastic first day and I am looking forward to a wonderful year! :)

A New Adventure For My Class

This year I will be blogging all the fun and exciting "happenings" in my class. Students, as well as parents, will also get to blog and leave comments. Sign up to receive our classroom updates via email or rss feed. We will be starting in September so until then, visit my wikipage at

macconnell.wikispaces.com.

Enjoy your summer and looking forward to a great school year ahead!!

:) Mrs. MacConnell