Tone of voice

Today we discussed tone of voice.  To do this, we made a poster of different feelings people have.  Then we acted feelings out by saying, "Hey you" with different emotions, like anger, sadness, and boredom.  The purpose of this activities was to practice our tone of voice with people.   Sometimes when we ask for something, we say it in a mean way instead of in a nice way because of our tone of voice.  Then it hurts people's feelings.  This game, though, made people laugh so hard that their lungs and cheeks were hurting.

Students should be paid to do their homework

For our unit on persuasive writing, we have been playing a game called Opinion Continuum.  This game involves students responding to a thesis statement, like "Students should be paid to do their homework."  Their response consists of standing somewhere along a line between two signs reading "Strongly Agree" and "Strongly Disagree."  Then we discuss people's arguments for why they are standing at particular points along the continuum.

So, yesterday we played this game again, and I gave the thesis statement above.  As you may imagine a large portion of the class stood near the "Strongly Agree" sign with one student more towards the middle of the line.  When I asked for students' arguments for their positions, I received responses like this:

"We should be paid to do our homework because it's hard work, and hard work deserves pay."
"We should be paid to do our homework because we deserve credit for our work just like other people who have jobs."
"We should not be paid to do our homework because we will get paid later after we get out of school."

I enjoyed these responses for two main reasons: they all came so naturally and they consisted of the basic parts of persuasion: thesis statement, argument and evidence.  After more time exploring persuasion, I have a feeling that these students will be experts, and woe the person who becomes the target of their efforts.

The verdict is in...

Alexander T. Wolf is guilty of murdering the two little pigs.  There were eighteen votes of guilt and fourteen votes for innocence.  The sentencing will be held at a later date, and Wolf plans to appeal the decision.

Thank you all for coming to our blog, for voting, for becoming followers and for commenting.  We hope that you continue to check out our activities throughout the school year.   We enjoyed having you participate, and we will think of other ways to make this site engaging.  If you ever have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know.

Thank you,
Mr. V

The judge needs your help to decide

Dear Readers,

Please act as the jury and help me decide the verdict of Alexander T. Wolf.  Read the evidence presented below, and answer the survey question to the right to indicate Wolf's guilt or innocence.

Thank you,

Mr. V

Prosecution:

• The wolf is guilty because instead of calling the ambulance, the wolf ate the two pigs.  The third pig was rude to the wolf.  The wolf got mad and blew the house down, but it did not fall.  I declare the wolf guilty.
• When the wolf tried to blow the third little pig’s house down, the police were taking pictures, and the wolf went to jail. 
• When the wolf blew the house down, the pig was in the ground, and the wolf should’ve pulled the pig up to check if he was alive.
• The wolf should’ve walked away.

Defense:

• Welcome Judge.  I want to present that Wolf is not guilty because he was sick and had a cold.  I present to you Perla.
• Thank you Noelia.  Wolf is not guilty because he was just baking a cake for his grandma.  He was so sick that he was sneezing a lot, and he couldn’t hold his sneezes.  Now Marielys.
• Wolf is not guilty because why would he leave the pig.  He might as well just eat it.
• The wolf got mad at the third pig because he was being really mean and talking bad about his granny.  He got mad and started sneezing.
• And that’s why Wolf is not guilty.  That’s all we need to say.

The Trial of Alexander T Wolf

Today we:

• copied arguments for or against the guilt of the Wolf.
• put the arguments onto whiteboards so that we can read them tomorrow at the trial.

Check back in tomorrow to find out how the trial ends.

Persuasive Writing

We know that persuasive writing is used to change people's thoughts.  For example, in our class we are putting the Wolf  from the Three Little Pigs on trial, and some students are defending him while others are prosecuting him.  Mr. V will be the judge, and we are trying to persuade Mr. V that the Wolf is either guilty or not guilty.  We need to give some evidence as to why he is guilty or not guilty in the case of the Three Little Pigs.

In the Outdoor Classroom

Yesterday in the Outdoor Classroom, we observed our plants from last week to see if they changed (like if they died or grew).

Andrea's plant changed by getting softer, more colorful, and larger.  The colors were purple, pink, yellow and green.

Katelyn picked a wheat plant, and she observed that it was cream colored, skinny and tall.

What is a successful student

Today we discussed what a successful student does and what he/she looks like.

A successful student:

• is responsible for his/her belongings.  One way to see this is that he/she will always have an organized back pack.
• always wears his/her uniform because it shows that he/she is a part of the school.
• is prepared everyday.   For example, a person who brings a pencil everyday is prepared.
• always does his/her homework because it shows that he/she is learning.

Today in Math

Today in Math, we:

• made flags with math vocabulary words so that we could earn 10 extra minutes of recess.  Each time someone used a math vocabulary word and the person who had that vocabulary word raised his/her flag we got one tile, and if we fill up the Vocabulary Jar, then we get 10 extra minutes of recess.

• were doing a game called Number Puzzles.  In the game, we work with tiles to make arrays with different dimensions and that fit clues.
• were talking about prime numbers (prime numbers mean a number with only two factors, one and the number itself, i.e., 17 is a prime number because the only way to make it is 1 x 17)

Our first day of Physical Education

Today in Physical Education, we:

• listened to music while we were playing a game of crossing the lines.  We went back and forth crossing the lines.  We played this game because we were following instructions not to bump into each other.
• drew pictures of what we like to do because at the end of the year Mrs. R-L is going to write letters to our parents about how well we did.
• stretched so that our muscles don't get tired and strained.

First day in the Outdoor Classroom in 5th Grade

This is a picture of Christian drawing a flower in the Outdoor Classroom.  He's drawing it because we are making observations in Science Class.  We also labeled and described the plants.  Each person made observations of different plants.

Below are pictures of plants that we are observing over the next few weeks.

The third day

Yesterday we:

• were writing down what we need to do to quietly get books from the library.

• were watching a video of the Twin Towers because it was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  In the video, there was smoke and flames coming from one of the buildings
• drawing pictures that show respectful things like being responsible and doing the right thing in art class.  One example was a picture showing a person giving a pencil to another person who needed it.
• went to art and helped clean off the stage because if we are respectful and follow the rules then we can use that space as a comfortable work space.

2nd Day

Today we:

• saw three pictures (one of the Twin Towers, one of the Pentagon, and one of a Pennsylvanian field) because it is almost the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001.
• explored goals for the end of the fifth grade by visualizing someone we admired, and we watched a short clip from Rocky because Mr. V wanted us to be like Rocky who never gave up and kept trying even though he was tired.
• went to the bathroom because we had to use it, and we discussed the procedures for walking in the hallway so as not to disrupt other students from their work.

Our first day

Three activities we did today:

• We made a star on the rug today with yarn to show that we are stars and that we can help each other as a community.
• We talked about goals and how far we are going to go this year because we want to set up our goals for this year.
• In math, we did adding and subtracting to prepare for multiplication and division.