Today we had a very special guest, M.J. Evans, author of great fantasy books. During M.J.'s visit, she talked to our fifth graders about how important it is to be avid readers, how to be an excellent writer, and shared her own writing process and secrets. Our students were amazing during her presentation! They were all engaged, asked great questions, and felt inspired afterwards. At the very end of her talk, she announced that a 5th grade book patron has purchased enough for every fifth grader to have as their own. She even signed the books! It was a truly amazing thing to watch. The same person who purchased the books for the students, also provided sets of books for both Mrs. Dalrymple's classroom, the school library, and my classroom library. When we made it back to the classroom all the students just wanted to read, and did for about 20 minutes, which was enough to really get hooked! This was such a great experience for our fifth graders, but it isn't over yet! M.J. Evans told our students that if they were to write her their questions, thoughts, or ideas about her books, she would respond! What an amazing experience.
One of my wonderful students, Collin, nominated me for a fabulous award. What he wrote was very touching and thoughtful. On Tuesday, January 5th I was surprised by the staff of K99 radio, as they presented me with their Teacher Tuesday award. Below is the video they posted on their website of the great surprise.
The Importance of Recognizing and Celebrating Our Heroes Is Not Lost On These Fifth Graders!11/23/2015 On Veteran's Day, the fifth grade decided to write postcards to Veterans. They wrote to a variety of people and today, November 23rd, my students were lucky enough to meet two of those brave men. My brother, Davon Cook, and good friend, Nathan Donoho, spent time with my class and it was the highlight of their week! They came in and answered questions about their time in the Marines, helped us with our writing project, and joined the kids outside for recess. This was truly a heart warming experience. These men are remarkable human beings, and I was excited to share this with my students. A big thank you to Davon and Nate for everything you have done for us!
This week we were lucky enough to have gained another classroom volunteer. This lovely lady is my cousin Lindsey and she has down syndrome. My students were so excited to get to know her and can't wait for her to come back. She instantly made friends with 40 fifth graders. I was so touched by their open arms. After the school day ended Lindsey told me how excited she was to come back because "they love me." Below are the videos I showed to the class as we talked about what it means to have down syndrome. They asked me to post these videos so they could share them with their families. I am so proud of these fifth graders.
We have worked very hard to create a class full of students with growth mindsets! Watch the video bellow to see what it is all about.
Often times I hear children make statements such as "math is too hard for me" and "math isn't my thing." As a class, we watched the videos from the website below and discussed how we could change our mindsets to be more open to the challenges of math. I encourage you to watch these videos with, or without your child. I think even as adults, we can have the same thoughts that you will see in these videos. Enjoy!
https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-math |
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September 2016
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