9/30/11

Language Arts: Spelling final test

Packet due Tuesday

Math:

Balke: no hw

Gordon: MJ 42 SL 46 Grab-it gauge

Hall: SL 47

Moen: SL 2.8

Science: Bobber experiment data

Social Studies: ---------

Other: Movie Day!!!

9/28/11

Language Arts: Vocabulary mayhem

Finish small books by tomorrow

Math:

Balke: SL 2.6 - Mult. decimals

Gordon: MJ 41 39 SL 43-45: corrections

Hall: no hw Game day

Moen: no hw Game day

Science: ------------

Social Studies: Begin Ch. 4 - City-States

Other: Parade 5:45 at Mercer - IF you are IN the parade

9/27/11

Language Arts:

Math:

Balke: Multiplication review

Gordon: SL 43 - 45 MJ 39 Cut out "grab-it gauge" Keep the Secret!

Hall: SL 42 (hw) MJ 52, 54, 61 (in-class) re-test

Moen: no hw - some must correct hw -played Mult. Bullseye

Science: Bobber experiment

Social Studies: Brain only test done

Other: HC Parade Tomorrow Night

9/26/11

Language Arts: Spelling - Words with ie and ei

Math:

Balke: SL 2.4 2.5

Gordon: a whole lotta a math goin' on

Hall: SL 2.1 In class MJ 45-47, retest

Moen: Sl 2.7 Time tests

Science: Foil boat data, tomorrow test bobbers

Social Studies: Brain only test LOOK AT YOUR NOTES and the TEXT

Other:

9/23/11

Language Arts: Spelling final test

Math:

Balke: powers of 10, multiplication, 2 assignments Mon.!!

Gordon: SL 35 MJ 36 or 39 (Th)

Hall: Test no hw

Moen: no hw Math Golf!

Science: --------

Social Studies: Brain only test Tues

Other:

9/22/11 - Picture Day Tomorrow!!

No $$, no pictures!!

nb

9/22/11

Language Arts: Small book Finish it

Spelling test tomorrow!!

Math:

Balke: no hw - Powers of 10

Gordon: MJ 33 SL 36

Hall: MJ 42 Test tomorrow

Moen: SL 2.5 2.6

Science: Tested foil boats

Social Studies: Open note test - take home if you didn't finish

Other: PICTURE DAY Tomorrow

9/21/11

Language Arts: Packet due F

Spelling final F

Trapp Family small book- finish

Math:

Balke: SL 2.3 - add and subtract decimals

Gordon: MJ 34 (F) SL 36 (Th) Sign the test and bring it back!

Hall: Finish study guide - test F Bring white board tomorrow

Moen: no hw - probability

Science: ----

Social Studies: Reading notes 3 - F

Open book test Th, TENTATIVELY brain only test F

Other: Advanced band 3:30 at City High TODAY!

Picture day Friday! I will bring ties tomorrow!

9/20/11

Language Arts: Packet

Maniac Magee - Homeless paper tomorrow

DRA

Math:

Balke: SL 2.2

Gordon: MJ 32 33 (1-5, partial sums)

Hall: SL 36 Test Friday

Moen: Mean median mode maximum minimum range - no hw

Science: ----

Social Studies: Ch. 3 Reading Notes - due TBA

Other: Picture day Friday

9/20/11 - Conference Sign Up

Conference Sign Up

I am sending home some forms those of you that have not signed up for conferences. On the form, please indicate 3 possible times, and then I will designate one and send home a confirmation.

Those that have already signed up, I will send confirmation home soon!

If there is not a possible time for you that is listed, I am sure we can come up with something!

nb

9/20/11 - Picture Day Friday!

Picture Day Friday!

The beauty of the internet. I simply copied and pasted this from last year's blog entry!! I am bolding points of emphasis or ideas I have added this year:

Reminder Picture Day is Friday! You need to have your envelope with money that day. If you forget, or your student is absent, there usually is a make-up day.

I had this fun idea last year: If your student wants to, they could wear a tie! We had quite a few takers last year, and they looked pretty sharp. If you are wanting a particular shirt for your student to wear (with no tie), that is TOTALLY fine. Zero pressure.

Why ties? I wear one virtually every day. I have lots of them. I will bring them on Thursday and Friday. I will tie them for the students who are interested.

Guidelines:

1. Parents must okay it
2. You need an appropriate shirt to go with the tie
3. You may bring your own tie
4. Girls may OF COURSE participate. Who doesn’t look good in tie?
5. If you send an expensive tie, I’ll make sure your student wears it only for the picture!
   

Again, this is all for fun, and 100% optional. FuN, but I don't want it to be silly, as these pictures might be proudly displayed at a graduation party in May 2018!!

Have a great day,
nb

9/19/11

Language Arts:

Packet - due date TBA

Spelling - pretest - Dictionary group 5 words!!!

DRAs

Math:

Balke: SL 2.1

Gordon: MJ 31 SL 33 (due ???)

Hall: Study guide - test F SL 34

Moen: SL 2.3

Science: -----

Social Studies: -----

Other:

9/16/11

Language Arts: Packet - due Monday (don't do last 3 pages)

Spelling final

Math:

Balke: Test today

Gordon: no hw Test today

Hall: MJ 39

Moen: SL 2.2

Science: Foil boats - 4, 6, 8 inch

Social Studies: Continuiing Ch.3 The beginning of agriculture!

Other: Patrols begin Monday!!

Carnival tonight

Picture day Next Friday!

9/15/11

Language Arts: Packet - due Tomorrow

Spelling final test - tomorrow

Math:

Balke: Ch. 1 test tomorrow

Gordon: Study for Unit 1 test tomorrow

Hall: MJ 33

Moen: no hw - place value

Science: Foil boats

Social Studies: ------------------------

Other:

9/15/11 - Study Pages for Ch. 1 Math Test (Balke)

In the Everyday Mathematics Student Math Journal, the following are pages that can be used to study for the test tomorrow. Some of these pages have already been done in class, some not. I will not be checking to see if students have done this. I will only include pages that may be on the test.

Pages in Math Journal

6

7

8 (#2 only)

9

14

15

16 (#2 only)

17 (#1 and #2 only)

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 (#1 and #2 only)

28 (#1 only)

29

30

31

32 (#2 and #3 only)

33 (#1 only)

34

35

36

37

38

39 (#2 and #3 only)

40

41

42

43 (#1 only)

9/14/11

Language Arts:

Packet - due F

Spelling - Final test F

Math:

Balke: Reviewing for Test - F

Gordon: SL 24 MJ 24

Hall: SL 29

Moen: Review test - parents sign and return

Science: Buoyancy Displacement

Social Studies: Begin Ch.3

Other: Green note

Carnival F

9/13/11

Language Arts: Spelling - Word Sort, Vowel +r - due tomorrow

Math:

Balke: SL 1.11 1.12

Gordon: SL 25 MJ 24 (Th)

Hall: SL 21

Moen: Family letter Ch.2

Science: Finished Bill Nye

Social Studies: Brain only test

Other: Carnival Friday

9/12/11 - Social Studies Ch. 2

Social Studies Ch. 2

The following are the notes that we took today regarding the "brain-only" test. DO NOT expect to see these posted every time there is a test!

Order of Hominids (1-5, oldest-newest)

Scientific name - other names

1. Australopithecus afarensis - Lucy, Southern Ape

2. Homo habilis - Handy Man

3. Homo erectus - Upright Man

4. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis - Neanderthals, Wise Man

5. Homo sapiens sapiens - Early Modern Humans, Doubly Wise Man

Tools

1. Lucy - none

2. Handy - sharp rocks

3. Upright - fire, hand axe

4. Wise - 60+ kinds, knives, scrapers, spear points, sharp, thin blades

5. Us - bow and arrow, spear thrower, needles, engraving, hooks, sculpting tool

Capabilities

1. Lucy - biped: carry, defend

2. Handy - make tools

3. Upright - fire, move better - left Africa

4. Wise - better at tools, working together, 1st to hunt in a organized way

5. Us - the best at making tools, 1st artists, covered the earth

Also, read the text and other notes. Good luck!

9/12/11 - Spelling Procedures, Dictionary List

Spelling Procedures

As you may have heard, our spelling is new this year. We still have Houghton-Mifflin, but it is now integrated within the new language arts materials. I'm still trying to work it out. Here is the latest:

There will be four groups

A - responsible for studying the first 10 words of the list

B - responsible for studying the first 20 words of the list (the "Basic Words")

C - responsible for studying all 25 words of the list (the "Basic Words" + the "Challenge Words")

D - (The Dictionary Group) Students will come up with challenging, yet useful words. They will turn them in to me, then, if appropriate, I will approve them and create their list. D group students must still do any spelling assignments for groups A, B, and C.

The groups are based on their performance on the first three weeks of tests. Students will have the opportunity to move up.

Mondays:

Pretests for A, B, and C

Dictionary group will spend time coming up with words. Some years I have been able to have them do a pretest, but usually time does not permit.

Class gets an assignment. The assignment has the list in it. That is where the lists are, as opposed to the texts from last year.

During the week:

Students may receive 1-2 more assignments

Friday:

Final test

As always, subject to change!

Dictionary List

You won't get this every week, but I thought I would post it this time:

1. abbreviation

2. authentic

3. metamorphosis

4. augmentation

5. cosmetology

6. electrometallurgy

7. echelon

8. supernatural

9. resemblance

10. hallucinate

11. legislator

12. circulation

13. rendezvous

14. Renaissance

15. mannequin

16. simultaneously

17. pteranodon

18. triangulation

19. multiplication

20. strategize

21. photographic

22. venipuncture

23. embryo

24. barrier

25. Delaware

9/12/11

Language Arts:

Spelling: New procedures, see the blog

Vowel + r sounds - due Wed.

Dictionary group - check blog - may list tonight (otherwise tomorrow)

New reading groups/activities

Math:

Balke: SL 1.9 1.10

Gordon: MJ 23 SL 22

Hall: MJ 23

Moen: no hw- took test

Science: Bill Nye the Science Guy - Buoyancy

Social Studies: Brain only test - see your notes and the text!!!!

Other: Strings - tomorrow remember your instruments!!!

9/11/11 - CNN Education Reports

CNN Education Reports

On CNN.com on September 6th, they posted an essay from educator Ron Clark:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

Which then elicited many responses a couple of days later:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/08/living/ron-clark-reactions/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

I read both of these and I read some of the comments (not a good idea hardly ever!). I agree with some of what is being said. But...

It is mostly negative what you read in these articles. Moreover, the comments that are thoughtful are drowned out by finger-pointing and name-calling.

The most depressing comment came from one who said something like: "There are bad kids, bad parents, and bad teachers, it's just part of life." I believe this person was sincerely trying to put some sanity in the kids vs. parents vs. teachers debate/mud-slinging-fest.

Why did I think that comment was depressing? Because I firmly believe that ALL kids CAN BE good, ALL parents CAN BE good, and ALL teachers CAN BE good. I try as best I can to see the good in everyone. It may be that folks have had some negative experiences with schools, teachers, or students. But if you go by this article, you may feel as though it is rampant, and that there MUST be an adversarial relationship between teachers, students, and parents.

Teachers, parents, and students must work together. And for the VAST majority of my teaching life, this has been the case. Thank you parents, for sending some good kids to my classroom. Thank you students, for learning a few things in my classroom. And thank you teachers, especially the ones I had kindergarten through college, that helped me along the way.

My gut feeling is that CNN is not interested in publishing too many positives about education, because it's more exciting to have the sides duke it out in the comments section. If people get a steady dose of negativity, then they will think negativity is the NORM.

Enjoy your last hours of the weekend,

nb

9/9/11 - Blog, Thanks, Email, Clay Boats

The Blog

I apologize for not getting on the blog as often as years past. This is a new phase in my life: two children off to college! Yes, they are not here in town, but somehow it has taken a lot of time and energy. So far, so good on that front.

Thank You

At Open House, as I was chatting with parents and students, I was reminded how lucky I am to have such tremendous students and parents to work with each and every day. It is humbling and inspiring.

Email list

I am in the process of getting that together. If there is a new or additional email address that I need to know about, let me know! I am going by the list I created through Powerschool. Again, I apologize for being late with this.

Clay Boats

Here are the results of the Clay Boat competition:

Vikings - 208

Raiders - 117

Jaguars - 113

Red Sox - 108

Cowboys - 82

Browns - 53

Red Zone - 34

Ask your students what the keys to good boats were!

Have a great weekend,

nb

9/9/11

Language Arts: Spelling Final test

Math:

Balke: no hw - Circle graphs

Gordon: MJ 28

Hall: SL 20

Moen: Study for the test - Monday - Blue review packet!!!!

Science: Clay Boat test!! Vikings win!

Social Studies: Brain only test is Tuesday!!!

Other: PLEASE check the blog

http://mrbalke.blogspot.com

5th Graders in Band - DON'T FORGET YOUR INSTRUMENT!!!!

Go Little Hawks - crush the Trojans!!!

Go Hawkeyes - humiliate and destroy the Cyclones!

9/7/11

Language Arts: Spelling Final test - Friday

Math:

Balke: Graph, SL 1.8

Gordon: SL 20 MJ 27

Hall: MJ 28 Challenge sheets = extra thingie

Moen: SL 1.9

Science: Clay Boats - Competition tomorrow!!

Social Studies: Hominids completed - Open note/book test tomorrow OR Friday

Other: Open House/Book Fair Tomorrow

5th grade Superlesson

6th grade band lessons tomorrow

9/6/11

Language Arts: Spelling - Pretest

Vowel sounds, spelling word sort - due tomorrow

Math:

Balke: Creating Bar graphs, bring markers or colored pencils if needed

Gordon: SL 17

Hall: SL 16, 19

Moen: Factor Rainbows

Science: Clay boats

Social Studies: Ch. 2 Packet - due Thursday

Other:

9/2/11

Language Arts: Spelling Final test

Math:

Balke: no HW - Rev. multiplication

Gordon: MJ 18 22

Hall: MJ 21

Moen: SL 1.8

Science: Density, Floating clay

Social Studies: More hominids

Other: MAKE SURE papers get home!!!

Book Fair next week!

Open House Thursday (9/8) night!!

9/1/11

Language Arts: Spelling Final Test Tomorrow!!

Math:

Balke: SL 1.7

Gordon: MJ 16, 19

Hall: MJ 20

Moen: SL 1.7

Science: Testing the objects

Social Studies: Hominids - Lucy

Other: