Busy Bakers!

Busy Bakers

I want to give a HUGE thank you to our guest bakers today! Moms and Grandmas that came today--you're awesome! We tackled some pretty tough recipes and worked with some unfamiliar ingredients (dates, figs, and walnuts--oh my!) and the result were beautiful cookies. On Friday we will get to sample what we made!

Projects!

Tomorrow should be a day of fun for our class. We are going to be making two types of cookies for CBAI (cultural based art integration). Today, to prepare for this endeavor, we read through the recipes, which are very detailed and created flow charts that detail what we are going to do for each step and the person responsible for completing the task.  Tomorrow we are making Italian Fig Bundles and Honey-Dipped Greek Cookies.   I'm looking forward to this experience!

In the afternoon some high school students are going to teach us how to decoupage a glass jar. Please bring your glass jar to school tomorrow and if you have extras, bring them as well.

We are working really hard on our Author's Tea stories. It is a really time consuming project but it gives the students a good opportunity to become a real published author!

Last week we had the opportunity to use Skype to meet Madame Gagne's class who are in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada. What a great experience! Now we can really put a name to a face when we write our letters. We will soon be having one on one sessions with our partners through Skype to discuss wolf issues and share and make connections between life in Canada and the United States.

Winter break is approaching. Students, keep up the good work!

Have a great evening,
Mrs. E.

Teacher Variety Show--Success!

Thank you to all of the parents and students that attended our variety show last week.  It was exciting for the teachers to put it on!  Most importantly, we raised more money for a great cause.  Check out more pictures and video of the event on the Northeast Range Facebook page!

Bear Island Survey Presentation

Last Tuesday we had Don from Bear Island come to help us understand what a surveyor does.  After a discussion about maps and creating maps, we had an opportunity to test out some of the equipment on the playground.  It was really a great tie in to the lessons that we have had in science about map making.  Thank you, Don, for joining us in the classroom and for giving us the opportunity to learn about surveying!

Book Publishing Information

I am sending home this notice today.  Please return the forms by Monday, December 3rd. 

Once again, your student will be a published author!! This year we are working with Student Treasures Publishing to create our Author’s Tea books. Each student is working hard on their story and illustrations.




This company offers each student a book for FREE. You have no obligation to purchase anything. What they need, however, is everyone to sign the form that you have seen the option to purchase additional books. Please do one of the following to ensure that you get at least one book:



IF YOU ONLY WANT THE FREE BOOK:



• Check the box at the bottom of the form that says, “No, I am not interested at this time….” and sign your name at the bottom of the form. Put the form in the envelope and fill out the front of the envelope.



IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL COPIES IN ADDITION TO THE FREE BOOK:



• Fill out the form, sign the bottom of the form, enclose the money in the envelope (if applicable), and fill out the front of the envelope.



Please return this envelope, whether you are ordering additional books or not, as soon as possible. In order for each person in our class to get their book published for FREE everyone needs to have a parent sign the form.



Thank you for all of your help! This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to be published authors!



Mrs. Engman

December Events!

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,




Thank you to all of the parents who have worked with the kids cooking fun apple and wild rice recipes for CBAI! In December we will be making cookie recipes from around the world. Our class will be making Melomacarona (Greek Honey-Dipped Cookies) and Italian Fig Bundles. It would be great to get at least five or six volunteers to help out with this project. I will have six different kitchens available, so the ratio would be 3:1. We will be cooking on Tuesday, December 11, from 8:30 until around noon. Any help is appreciated!! Please email or write a note if you can help out!



On Wednesday, December 19th, we will have our Winter Activity Day. In the morning the students will be rotating through the classrooms, participating in an activity. If any parent would like to volunteer for this event, please let me know! We will start right away around 8:30 and the activities should go until lunch.



This year we will have a gift exchange in the afternoon from 1:30-2:00. Please bring a wrapped gift for a person the same gender as you (if you are a girl, bring a girl’s gift, boys will bring a boy’s gift). Please limit the gifts to five dollars or less. We will play the dice game and each person will have a new gift to bring home.



We will have no school on Friday, December 21st. Classes will resume on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.



Winter Greetings!
Kelly Engman

The "oobleck" Mystery!

Today our fifth grade scientists worked hard to use their knowledge of matter and it's phases to determine the state of an unknown substance called "oobleck."  This mystery substance appeared in Mrs. E.'s backroom and the students worked hard to determine whether or not the oobleck exhibited properties of a liquid or a solid. 

The students performed experiments on the mysterious blue substance.  They rolled it in a ball, observed it flowing from one cup to another, tried to put their finger through it and bounced it.  WHAT IS OOBLECK??

After careful notes and observations, the young scientists have come to some conculsions.  What is oobleck?  Ask a fifth grader to find out what they discovered! 

Techies!



A sixth grade student making poetry using the "Versus Poetry" app. :)



Using the iPads to take a quiz




Concentrating hard on the quiz!



 


Technology Integration

Here at Northeast Range we are working to integrate new technology as much as possible.  Students in my sixth grade class have had the chance to use their creative side while their classmates are MAP testing.  They had the chance to create poetry using an app on the iPads.  The app is called "Versus Poetry" and it looks like the poetry you might create on your fridge using refrigerator magnets!  The students have also been building words with the word game "Word Abacus." 

In the fifth grade we used the iPads as an educational tool to check understanding of language arts.  We have been studying nouns and we utilized an app called "Socrative" that is a way of testing students.  Students entered a virtual "classroom," answered questions on the iPad, and I was provided with the student's responses immediately.  The data that I gained can help me to decide which concepts I should review again.  Students also got immediate feedback on their choices.  I saw many happy faces yesterday when they knew that they were on the right track. 

We will continue to incorporate this great technology into our curriculum in reading and science.  iPads are a great tool and I feel fortunate that we have the opportunity to have them in our classroom! 

If you have an iPad at home, I would recommend downloading "Versus Poetry" and the "Storia" app from Scholastic.  They are both free, and when you download "Storia" you get five free digital books!  Bonus!

Have a great Thursday!
Mrs. Engman

Picture Day/Jump Rope for Heart!

Don't forget that tomorrow is Picture Day.  Dress your best and don't forget your order forms if you are interested in ordering prints.

Bring in your Jumlpr Rope for Heart permission slips and fundraising money!

Mrs. Engman

First Day of School

Today we had a great day!  We switched classes, we got our first two compliments, learned about nouns, proofreading, and created "ME" maps! 

Assignments due tomorrow:
Facebook page--grades 4-6
Grade 5--Nouns Worksheet 1-2

"ME" maps due on Friday.

Please bring back information from folder that was on your desk from open house or the first day of school.

I have a wonderful class!  I can't wait for another great day of learning tomorrow!

Mrs. Engman

MCA TESTING TOMORROW!!

We will be taking the Math MCA test tomorrow and Wednesday.  Please get a good night's sleep tonight and tomorrow night.  Eat breakfast!  A snack of a granola bar, fruit, and water will be provided.  You can do this!  Believe in your abilities and do your best!

The Landform science test is on Thursday.  Look over the study sheet and complete the article assignment for tomorrow.  We will play Jeopardy to review tomorrow. 

Write your spelling words 5x each.  Due tomorrow (Tuesday).

Use all 14 vocabulary words in an original short story (From Walk Two Moons).  Due Thursday.

Your math fraction and decimal sheets are due Thursday.

Remember to bring in the permission slips passed out last week.  You will not be attending the field trip if you do not have a passing grade in ANY subjects by May 7th.  If you are passing all classes by that date you will be coming with on May 10th.  Otherwise you will stay at school in a study hall. 

Keep on trying hard!  Only about 27 more days left of school! 

Enjoy the nice evening!
Mrs. Engman

Author's Tea Tomorrow!

Please attend our Author's Tea tomorrow.  You may come from 12:30-1:00 to have refreshments, view our beautiful school or browse through some of our published books.  We would love to see you there!

Today we went swimming because we have had 50 positive compliments for our behavior so far this year!  Great job, kids!  Keep up the great work.  Your good behavior is noticed throughout the building, and appreciated.  You are good role models for the younger kids in school! :)

The participation for the I Love to Read dress up days has been awesome!  Tomorrow is "Dress Your Best." 

Keep reading....we still have our "Bookworm Contest!"

Have a wonderful night! 
Mrs. E.

Book Character Day!

Here are some pictures from our Book Character Day yesterday!

We are on TV!

Channel 6 and Range 11 wrote a story for our class which was aired on the news last night and this morning.  It was a really great story and I am proud of my students for the work that they have done this year.  :)

In case you missed it, here is the link to the story!

http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/iron-range/Wolves-Without-Borders-Connects-International-Students-Together-139328713.html

Back to Blogging

It seems that the days just rush into one another.  I realized that it had been FOREVER since last blogging!  Here is what has been going on...

Skating: We will continue to skate on Fridays at 2:20.  Feel free to come and watch!

Valentine's Day Party: Will be February 13.  We have a special presentation on Valentine's Day so that is why we are having the party a day earlier.  I will keep you posted, but I'm pretty sure a news team from Duluth is coming on Tuesday to do a story about our class and our "Wolves Without Borders" project.  I'M SO EXCITED!!

I am also excited about Reading Counts!  Now if you go to the Northeast Range website (northeastrangeschool.net) you can access Reading Counts at home.  Students, please just be honest about quizzes.  So far we have earned over 300 points as a class!  WOW!!

I am sending home a note tonight asking for donations for our party.  If you can help out, great!  If not, that's fine.  I just want to know what to buy this weekend. :)

We have finished "Because of Winn-Dixie" in reading and are exploring some other literature.  I really have awesome readers here in class.

Finally, next week we have "Dress as your favorite book character" Day.  I have my costume.  Do you?

Wear your "Reading is Magic" t-shirt on Friday!!

Students, a question for you:

What is the one book that you just haven't been able to put down?  Right now I am reading the "Hunger Games" and it is sooooo good!  I can't put it down.  Leave a comment and share your favorite reads!

Have a wonderful Thursday night!
Mrs. E. 

Start of the 3rd Quarter!!

Good Afternoon!

To celebrate the start of the third quarter, Mrs. K.'s 4th grade and our class joined together to watch a video or play games.  Both of us appreciate all of the hard work that you have put into the first half of the school year.  Keep up the AWESOME work!!

Today we spent the afternoon exploring the science concepts of deposition and erosion using our stream tables.  We were able to see how landforms are formed, and also the effects of water on land.  We also finished up our landform PowerPoint presentations.  I will post those for you to view soon! 

We are going on our annual ski trip tomorrow.  I am excited and so are the students!  Thank you to all of the parents who are chaperoning this event!

Keep up the great work!  I'm proud of all that we are accomplishing this year!

Enjoy the snow, and stay warm!
Mrs. Engman