Monday, December 16, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes December 16-20

Good Week!
As we prepare for our winter break, I wanted to thank all of you for supporting your children in fifth grade: the blood, sweat, and tears! Thanks also to classroom volunteers and extra support, such as the parents who signed up for preparation of our ginger bread village materials. We will construct our village (using our new-found geometry knowledge) on Friday of this week. Speaking of Friday, we will also watch a video in the afternoon: "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." We will compare and contrast plot lines and character development with our read aloud from previous months. In math, we will continue to work on geometry through the new year, ultimately tackling surface area and volume. In writing, we will say goodbye to imaginative writing pieces and delve into informational. In science, we will begin a unit on scientific variables in January. In Social Studies, we will begin to explore "Explorers." We will finish up our Native American unit this week presenting our homework projects on Thursday and our in-class research presentations about our specific tribes. Once again, thank you for your support and your encouragement!

Chinese Family Traditions

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MwhgaIt3PsQbp4pBizisf37eHIbCiW0e8Glaolv8Ck4/viewform

Friday, December 13, 2013

Gingerbread Village Sign-up

Please come in and sign up to bring in materials for next week! It will be posted outside room 20!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes December 9-13

The book reports were very excellent! The kids showed much creativity in how they presented their story. The next book reports will be assigned in January and will be based on a graphic novel. Stay tuned! I just wanted you all to know that I write my notes a week ahead because notes go out on Wednesdays. So, our last week of school (December 16-20) before winter break will include a few deadlines: All imaginative writing will be due. Most students will finish before this. Also, we will have a math geometry quiz, but will not finish our geometry unit until January, so the post assessment will happen in early January. Finally, our Native American home project are due Thursday, December 19th. These are dwellings, a tool, and a representation of a sacred animal from your child's tribe. We are working on an essay in school now about the variety of tribes throughout what we now call the United States. After we finish the essay, the students will begin a research project in class based specifically on their chosen tribe. The last day before break, we will be watching a video based on the audiobook we listened to while making our maps. We will watch "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." It is rated PG. Speaking of maps, students will be taking home their states but not with the display boards. The display boards will be used for future presentations and projects, namely our science fair in late winter/early spring. Students will now be taking their spelling tests online. Students may also do digital homework on spelling city for 20 minutes per night instead of the spelling worksheets along with their math and nightly 30 minutes reading.

Essay of the Week (300 words or more):
*Imagine you find an old letter tucked inside a library book. The letter reveals that there is a hidden passageway somewhere at your school. Write about your search for the passageway and where it leads.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Fwd: Mandela Project



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: Paul Colvin <pvcolvin@comcast.net>
Date: December 7, 2013 at 9:58:32 AM PST
To: Matthew Marchyok <mmarchyok@gmail.com>
Subject: Mandela project

Matt,
Did your class do the Mandela project in the hallway? I'm betting yes. If so, nice job!




Paul

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes December 2-6

I had a wonderful time at conferences. I learned much and will implement strategies to better serve your child due to your insightful perspectives. I wanted to thank the kiddos for working so hard last quarter and hope they can push even harder as they approach their final three quarters of elementary school. This is why students must be prepared and responsible with their classwork, homework, and any school communications that must get home. I wanted to let you know we have implemented three new online supplements. Please ask your child about Newsela (high-interest online language arts articles), SpellingCity (spelling and vocabulary work), and MobyMax (an online reading and math curriculum). These tools are just a few items we have been using, aside from our staple GoogleDocs. We have a walking field trip next Thursday, December 12th! I very much need chaperones for this walking field trip to the Reed Cooley Art Gallery. Please contact me ASAP to help out from 8:50am-11:30am that day. It will be a very interesting focus on Soviet Graphic Arts. For the next three weeks before winter break, we will be learning about Native Americans of what we now call the United States. A homework project will be going home at the beginning of this week and will entail creating a Native American dwelling, a tool (artifact), and creating a symbol for a sacred animal of a tribe that will be assigned this week. For instance, if a student is assigned the Cherokee tribe, they will be creating a dwelling, tool and depicting a sacred animal for the Cherokee tribe. In class, students will be summarizing readings about native peoples and creating a presentation based on the said assigned tribe. It should be a lot of fun!!! See you soon.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes November 18-22

Good Week!
Our last week before conferences is busy! We will witness Mr. Vestal and Ms. Speer's classes' Travel Expos. We all have been working hard to finish up our presentations. We will also be working hard to finish out planet presentations and begin presenting on Wednesday. We finish our week with a community bike ride with our Bike Transit Authority leader Sheilagh. After our break, we will get back into our imaginative writing pieces. We will also continue with our geometry unit in math, particularly finding the area of triangles and parallelograms. We have been learning about the difference between congruent figures and similar figures. In reading, we will finish "Island of the Blue Dolphin." PLEASE REMEMBER to work on your book report/newspaper for your fiction books! Everyone is hard at work reading their book report book. Please ask your child about the plot. We have been working on explaining plot by speaking of what happened in the beginning, middle, and end, and what was the problem and solution, especially when considering the CLIMAX. Also, a good plot synopsis has information about the characters and setting. We created a plot line to show how stories typically travel, starting low by introducing the problem and climbing to the climax, at which resolving the problem. I am very excited to see you all for conferences. Thank you for supporting your child and our classroom! Upcoming walking field trip: Reed's Cooley Art Gallery: Soviet Graphic Arts and Photography 1905-1990. This looks really good. Please contact me if you would like to chaperone. If so, please fill out a background check form in office.

Making Sorbet and Talking States of Matter

Monday, November 11, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes November 12-15

Good week to you! Bike safety will last until the 22nd of November. The weather looks cold, so please make sure your child dresses appropriately, especially gloves! Thank you for returning your permission slips. If you would like to volunteer and you did not indicate on your permission slip, please let me know. We especially need volunteers for our community bike ride the last day of bike safety (Nov. 22nd). As our first quarter closes, I want you all to know what projects are still out there and how they are prioritized: 1. Create a state presentation, including all display regalia. Students may also bring from home pictures or props for presentation. It looks like our EXPO will not be happening until the final week before conferences. We will have the travel expo Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday with all fifth grades. Each class will take a day. 2. Science presentations. We will start presenting our presentations the Wednesday of the last week before conferences. Students are working on their own presentation, but will present with group members on the planet they have been doing research on. We are also doing a project on tech class based on this project. 3. Fiction book report due December 3rd. This is in a newspaper format described last week. If you have any questions, please ask your child first. Further questions, please contact me. We have already had some incredible discussions based on what these will look like, whether digital or hard copy.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Graphic Organizer for Homework

All About __________________________
My state’s name is _________________________________________.
My state’s climate is: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In my state you find the following plants:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These types of animals live in my state:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The people of my state are known as:_______________________________________________________________________________
Our favorite foods include:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As a community we value (art, dance, athletics, kindness, nature, etc.): ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our most important celebration of the year is: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our modes of transportation include: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes November 4-7


Our two plays were a great success, thanks to the dedication of the students, Michael, Laura, and all of the families who helped with this process. Thank you to everyone for making Wednesday night such a wonderful experience. Thank you also to Sarah Bidwell and Sara Fields for helping out during our Johnson Creek watershed study. This week we will be finishing division and multiplication and starting geometry and measurement. In writing, we finish up our personal narratives and begin an imaginative piece. Imaginative writing pieces may not be finished before conference time. For conferences, parents will be able to see students personal narratives, math work samples, and reading scores along with science and social studies projects. We begin bike safety for 5th graders on Tuesday, November 12th for the remaining two weeks before conferences. This is a time where students learn the various road rules of being a cyclist and how to navigate on the road. This is especially important in such a bike-friendly city as Portland Oregon. The last week before conferences we will present our state projects to the entire 5th grade class. Just as an FYI, I am dictating my weekly notes via our new Nexus 7's. Students have been learning how to use these tablets. They are very portable. They also have a camera, which allows for much multimedia flexibility. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes October 28-November 1

I hope you are all well! Students were given last Friday as their last day working on their "Create-A-State" maps. We still have several students who are not finished. They must come in early or stay late and come to homework club on Wednesday to finish these beautiful maps. I will email or call if you have not arranged with me for your child to finish up (you may choose before/after school at one half hour each- whatever time is best for you). Alternately, they can be taken home, but BE CAREFUL! Check in with your child to see what way they would like to finish it up. We continue creating our state flags and our digital travel brochures. We will continue working on a planet research project. Groups will be researching one of the eight planets in our solar system. We start Technology with Mr. Jamesbarry. We will be working on many exciting projects, including tie-ins to classroom curriculum. We also start a research/art project based on illuminated manuscript, origins of letters, and the evolution of a letter throughout history. We did not start this project last week due to working on maps. I still have stragglers for camp confirmation documentation. Please make sure you send it in signed. We have parent volunteers moving the ball forward with fundraising and other camp logistics and we need everyone to turn in all documents, such as camp confirmations. We finish up our personal narrative writing pieces and move into imaginative writing the first full week of November. This will be our second significant piece, aside from weekly essays. The weekly essays have been fun to read. We are such a diverse and interesting group! Thank you for supporting your child's role in the play with Michael. Conferences are coming quickly! I'm very excited to see you all!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

New Art Project: History of a Letter

Illuminated Manuscript Project:


1. Sketch an illuminated letter.
2. Find the origin of the letter and write where it comes from and when it started being used.
3. Show a visual timeline of how the letter has changed over its lifespan from the beginning to today.
4. Final copy of illuminated letter with color pencil or marker.

LINK TO MY PRESENTATION: https://docs.google.com/a/lewiselementary.org/presentation/d/1cK_E25ZofaJEbx--_WP5YWb6BQ5VehLnqrS4T7lpcRk/edit?usp=sharing 

How to Summarize

Your paragraph must have:

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Immigration Game

http://www.tenement.org/ 

You need Flash 8 for this game. Click on PLAY and then IMMIGRATION GAME. You will then "become" an immigrant in tenement housing from 1880-1926. 23 million of you went through Ellis Island during this time!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes October 21-25

Good Week! Please be sure to note two special days ahead of us: Tuesday, October 29th we will go on a walking field trip to Johnson Creek. If you would like to go with us, please contact me immediately. We will depart at 12:20 and get back by 2:15. Also, our CLASS PLAY will be at Wednesday, October 30th. SOS!!!! Support our students!! Students must arrive by 6:00 for the PERFORMANCE starting at 6:30. Please support our classroom! The kids have really worked hard over these past weeks. Also, please help them with their lines at home! Be sure to practice spelling throughout the week via the spelling city link on marchyok.blogspot.com. We are working hard on our Create-A-State project. Students are creating their own states, preparing a trifold display with map, flag, and brochure and will eventually have a showing for the entire fifth grade. I want students to find pictures at home or print out at home images that are similar to the cities, landforms, and plant/animal life found in their state. So, if you have a desert, find a picture of a desert. Big city? Find an image of a big city! You may bring them in now or closer to finishing. We would like to be done with this project by the end of October. While we have been working on this project, we have been listening to the audiobook, "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." Make sure to study multiplication facts and the fifty states and capitals! This week, my notes are short and sweet! Contact me if you need to at: mmarchyok@pps.net.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes October 14-18

Good Week! We had an awesome time creating our class song, "Why." Aaron Meyer and Tim (musicians we worked with) said it was one of the best songs they have ever worked on! Wow! It sure is a powerful song! Our field study down to Johnson Creek has changed to the week of October 29th. We do not need lunches. We will eat at school. Our purpose there is to conduct a field study of the water, plants, and living insects in the stream to measure how healthy our creek is. Please remember to dress appropriately, including warm socks. Make sure to dress in layers, including a weatherproof jacket. If you do not have a jacket at home, we have some at school- let me know ASAP if you need one. I will send a specific time soon- Noah, our friend with Johnson Creek Watershed Council, has had a shake up with his schedule. I will start accepting homework club students after school from 3:00-3:45 every Wednesday starting October 23rd. Students need parent permission to be a part of homework club. This is a good time to have a concentrated time to do homework or get a bit of help from yours truly. This week, we start gardening with Kathleen. We also continue our work with Michael on our play. Please pencil in our performance date October 30th!!! Students must arrive by 6:00pm! Come support your class!!! For writing, we are working on personal narratives and will begin developing a personal narrative for a work sample I will be showing parents at conferences. This week we will include using graphic organizers and including dialogue in our writing. In math, we continue with large multiplication number sense and introducing the algorithm for short cutting big multiplication. In reading, we read a short story about the baseball player Satchel Paige on Monday and Tuesday and continue with "Island of the Blue Dolphins," Wednesday-Friday. We also started a humorous and quirky read aloud called, "Fortunately, the Milk," by Neil Gaiman. In Social Studies, we are working on our Create-A-State maps and in Science we will continue on our planet research projects. This week we also have Run for the Arts! In our new read aloud, one of the characters has a time machine. For homework, I would like students to write an essay about if they had a time machine, where would they go and why? What would you do once you were there? How would you get back? Also, we will have Home Connections 13-16 and spelling words based on "Satchel Paige." I also posted a Spelling City link for the spelling words on my blog. You do not need to login. Please use the free activities.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Spelling Resource

Hi All,
You may go to the following link to work with spelling words. You need not login. We will use the free activities. Part of our work this week will be using this site: http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=498259

My personal favorite is the game, "Sentence Unscramble." :)

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Our Class Song!!!!

Why?
Room 20

Verse:
Always ask the question why,
Every day I shoot for the sky,
And spy a beautiful light and then cry,
I wish the wars would go and die,
Such a beautiful cry,
W to the H to the Y...

Chorus:
I feel like saying why…
Why can’t we live in a world where nobody dies, cries, sighs, and nobody lies,

Verse:
Always ask the question why,
Why are the planets in the sky?
I see with my eye: Why am I shy?
There’s no need to cry,
To Mr. Marchyok and his bow tie,
I fly my helicopter in the sky,

I feel like saying why…
Why can’t we live in a place where there is no such thing as a war, we can all soar, and nobody ignores,

Verse:
Always ask the question why,
I rarely sigh,
but every day I can try,
Why must I try to lie,
When it makes people cry.
W to the H to the Y…

I feel like saying why…
Why can’t we live on a planet where we all live in peace, kindness in the streets, and no war in the Middle East,

I feel like saying why… (pause) (pause)
Why can’t we live in a world where nobody dies, cries, sighs, and nobody lies,






Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tableau Vivant at Reed

We posed using togas and expression as people of old did for entertainment. Families and friends would gather in Parker's and pose- so simple!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes October 7-10

We had a wonderful time at Reed College's Cooley Gallery, including creating a tableau vivant, or a living picture scene using togas and freezing our expressions, much like people did before all this technology started entertaining us! This week, students will continue creating their own states. We will sketch maps and begin creating travel brochures. The students' imaginations are amazing! In science, we will begin a planet research project that will be due at the end of next week. We also continue working with calligraphy every Thursday. In math, we are in unit two starting to multiply large numbers. Having our 1-12 multiplication facts down to face larger numbers is very important. I'm asking students to try and practice every night for at least ten minutes. We also will be working with large multiplication visually, building arrays and finding the dimensions of the arrays. In writing, we begin a personal narrative based on memories from a special place. We have already drawn maps of a special place in our lives and placed X's next to memories. Now, we develop one of them into a narrative. We also are working with our artist in residence Michael, who is helping us with drama. We also work with a musician this week. Aaron Meyer will work with our class on Wednesday on our class song entitled, "Why?" In reading, we continue with "Island of the Blue Dolphins," which we started last week. The book is an excellent story about the influence of European culture on native populations and the fall out when these two cultures clash. It brings up many important conversations about native people's rights. It also dovetails into our next Social Studies concept: Native Americans. Essay of the week is short: "We just finished, "Frindle," which got us thinking about words and where they come from. Please create your own word this week and write about what part of speech it is, a definition, use the word in a sentence, and then write three reasons you think this word should be used instead of the word it replaced. Is it more descriptive? Is it more useful? Finally, write down three synonyms and three antonyms for your word. Students will receive a graphic organizer to help them start out. All homework due Thursday, October 10th. Any Camp documents must be returned! Also, please sign up for conferences!!! Geography Quiz on Western, Midwestern, and Northeastern States and capitals on Thursday.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Gregory's Visit

Gregory came today to talk about the exhibit we will view on Thursday called, "Will Return."

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Essay September 30th-October 4th

Choose One to write your weekly essay:

1. "Tuck Everlasting." We finished "Tuck" on Friday. Did you like the ending? Well, here's your chance to change it. Write an alternate ending at least three paragraphs long. What happens? Does the man in the yellow suit come back? Does Winnie drink the water? You tell me!

2. As we study the map of the United States, I think about all the people I know in the USA and all the places I've travelled. Have you been out of state on a vacation? Have you gone on a road trip? Do you know anyone from another state? You may write about a vacation to another state: What did you see, taste, touch, hear, smell that was different than you were used to? Otherwise, give a friend or relative from another state a call and ask them how it is living in their state. What is the land like? The climate (the weather over a period of years- what is it usually like in the winter/spring/summer/fall). What kind of crops do farmers raise? Anything else that would be useful can be asked. Please write at least three paragraphs about your vacation or your out-of-state interview.


Room 20 Classroom Notes September 30-October 4th

This week, we will have a guest artist working with us for the next five weeks. Michael Wehrli will be working with half of our class at a time for four sessions per week. This week, we will also be vistied by Gregory MacNaughton from Reed College's Cooley Gallery. We will discuss the exhibit we will be going to and prepare ourselves for our journey on Thursday morning from 9:00am-11:30am. We will arrive back at Lewis for lunch. Speaking of guests, next week (October 8th), we will also be working with a musician Aaron Meyer. This week during writing, we will prepare for that musical experience by writing song lyrics about what we have learned so far this year. In math, we will begin a new unit on understanding multi-digit multiplication and division. Since the first unit was an overview, we will not have a unit test. We also started our first multiplication facts quiz last week. Students need to know a fact within a few seconds. Sometimes students think "knowing your math facts" is knowing how to skip count by that number. We started on our two's. If students answer 38 questions within two minutes, they will move on next week to three's. If students do not meet the 38 answers, they will have a week before the next quiz to practice. I will have worksheets, flashcards, and games to help them study. In reading, we did not get to "Thunder Rose" because we got caught up into the final chapters of "Tuck Everlasting." We will read the tall tale of "Thunder Rose." We will also be introduced to "Island of the Blue Dolphins," by the end of the week. We will have another walking field trip to Tideman Station Johnson Creek, which will take place on Wednesday, October 23rd from 9:00-11:30. This will be a scientific field study interacting with and studying water, macro-invertebrates and indicator species (if a certain creature is thriving, it indicates a healthy eco-system), native plant species, and invasive plant species. If your walking field trip permission slips are in, there are no other forms to fill out. October 9th is class pictures. We will be taking pictures at 10:20am. Every Thursday, we will be doing calligraphy. Aside from letter formation, we also started designing our own monograms- a blending of our initials in a creative way. This is a design-based exercise that helps students play with spatial reasoning using their initials. In science, we will continue to work with our Reed friends studying scientific variables and learn about the solar system in class. Homework this week will be: math- Home Connection 10, 11 (possibly 12), writing essay (will go home and be posted on blog), studying the capitals and names of the midwestern states and northeastern states, and "Thunder Rose," spelling pages 5-8 long vowel VCV spelling patterns. Keep viewing the moon!!! In math, homework depends on how far we get. Like most of the week, activities may go as planned, or we might go another direction toward another teachable moment. Thanks for signing up for conferences outside room 20!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Friday Science

Studying Bubble Gum Science Variables with our Reed Friends Nisa and Emily. We described (observation) the gum and compared between two types of gum. We then created a hypothesis based on what we think would happen after chewing the gum. Then we chewed the gum for one minute and measured the bubble in centimeters. We checked to see if our hypothesis was correct. Would a particular gum have a bigger bubble? Based on what observational data?

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Home Essay Due Friday, September 27th

Essay Question Due 9-27-13
Tuck Everlasting

In “Tuck Everlasting,” Winnie discovers a spring of eternal life that the Tucks have kept secret for many years. Your essay question for homework this week is: Would YOU drink the water and thus live forever? Or, would you not drink from the spring?

Please write a paragraph about why someone WOULD drink from the spring.

Then, write a paragraph about why someone WOULD NOT drink from the spring.

Final Draft: WHAT DO YOU THINK? What would you do and why? Please defend/support your answer with examples from the story, such as, “I would not drink from the spring. In the story, the Tucks have a sadness about them that I would not want in my life.”

Monday Night: prewite/brainstorm/start your first draft
Tuesday Night: finish first draft and start editing and revising (reworking)
Wednesday Night: continue editing and revising second draft with changes

Thursday Night: final draft

Room 20 Classroom Notes September 23-27

Good week to you! We will have a walking field trip to Reed College's Cooley Art Gallery on Thursday, October 3rd. This means ALL walking field trip forms must be in or your child cannot go. This walking field trip will begin at 9:00 and we will get back to school just before lunchtime. The exhibition is titled, "Will Return," and created by the Reed alumnus Jamie Isenstein. I have already had the opportunity to see it and it is very thought provoking. In class this week, we finish an art piece based on Mike Selznick's cover art for such books as "Frindle," and "The Landry News." We explored contour lines and sketch and color a simple item (nicknack) from my house I brought in for each student. The purpose was to bring it in closely and view/explore from a close perspective; an everyday object such as a pen, tape measure, or night light. They are turning out great! In writing, I had students create a baseline- showing me where they are as a writer. I didn't assist too much and simply wanted a work sample for their portfolio. This week, we will finish them and do some short daily pieces along with assigning our essay of the week to be done at home. In math, we explore variables and find an algebraic equation that might be applied to different patterns. If I know the rule of each pattern, can I show a formula that could explain the nth arrangement? I will also start a math facts process for our class that will practice and keep track of our math facts from 1-12. Please study facts with your child: flash cards, car quizzes, or a quick check! In reading, we will read a tall tale called, "Thunder Rose," and explore cause and effect. We will be starting "Island of the Blue Dolphins," at the end of this week or the beginning of next. In geography, we will study landform names and play a bit of Pictionary to make sure we know the definitions before we start a big project the week of October 1st. In science, we have been learning about the moon and sun. We will be visited by an astronomer on Monday, Kathy Kornei, who will teach a lesson about relative distances in our solar system and classifying galaxies. We will finish off our week with Reed Science starting their first lesson with us. Reed will be focusing mainly on physics and human body systems this semester. Homework for this week due Friday will be 1. The essay of the week (see my blog for details)
2. Math Home Connections #7, #8, and #9
3. nightly reading
4. Moon calendar
We will have a quiz on the western states again this Friday. The week of the 1st of October, we will be studying two regions, The Midwest and the Southern states. I am not distributing materials until September 30th, but if students wish to familiarize themselves with those regions' states and capitals, go for it! Finally, I will be asking students to work on math facts this week at home. They will need home support on this. We will have a quiz once a week and I will provide practice sheets and/or games to help them master 1-12. Yet, this first week, please quiz your child on 2's, 3's, and 4's. If they know them already, up the ante. Thanks to everyone who got their forms in on time. Remember, Camp information documents due next week (week of October 1st).

Friday, September 20, 2013

Calling All Cars! Walking Field Trip Coming Soon!

Thursday, October 3rd, we will be taking a walking field trip to the Reed College Cooley Art Gallery. Please wear appropriate gear. The field trip will be 9:00-11:30 am. No need to change lunches, as we will be back before our lunch period. PLEASE bring ALL forms back ASAP, including walking field trip forms.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Room 20 Classroom Notes September 16-20

Happy week to you all! It has been a pleasure working together with your kiddos. We have been getting to know each other, learning how to use the classroom, and solidifying community expectations. Thanks to everyone who has returned all paperwork for the school and student surveys, including volunteering opportunities. I will also solicit volunteer availability at Back to School Night. Speaking of which, I cannot wait to see you all at B2SN! I write these classroom notes every Sunday night, so if you want a preview of the week, please go to "Marchyokverse," at marchyok.blogspot.com. I also sent out our first classroom email. If you did not receive it, please let Tracy know of any email address changes. I sent information home regrading fifth grade camp this May 12-14. Please return the responses by the week of October 1st. It will be a huge fundraising responsibility for our entire fifth grade. We can do it! This week, we continue with our math Bridges program, in which we will work on prime factorization and number sense and number combinations. We also practice clarifying our language when explaining solutions. Speaking of being descriptive, students are finalizing their first writing of the year- "I Am From..." poems. These will be viewable and accompany a portrait of themselves at Back to School Night on Tuesday. In Social Studies, we will work on map skills and master the western states and capitals while discussing the characteristics of the region. Please speak to your child about the diversity of landforms, life, and climate in the west. Weekly, we will be familiarizing ourselves with all regions. The geography unit will take approximately four weeks. We will not do geography every day. We will also begin Reed Biology on Fridays and a unit of study on astronomy, primarily the movement of our solar system. This week would be a terrific time to talk about the moon phases at home. If you google, "moon phases calendar," you can track the various phases and see the nightly differences. Not every night will be clear, but I will be asking the students to skywatch every night starting this week (check online reference if cloudy). Next to their homework/events calendar in their binders, students will have a moon phases calendar for the month of September. We will keep track for an entire cycle, so October calendar will also be available. Aside from the moon phase calendar, students will have a home writing assignment. I encourage students and parents to discuss the writing process together (prewrite, first draft, revise means read it out loud and ask, "Does this sound right?" edit, and final draft.
Monday: Prewrite/Brainstrom/First draft
Tuesday: Revise and make changes
Wednesday: Edit/Final Draft
Thursday: Publish
Students should be working on it every night, so they are in a comfortable place by Thursday night to finish their final draft. Eventually, weekly essays will be five-paragraphs. This week, I am asking students to write as much as they wish. It can be one paragraph or five! I am more interested in knowing them as a writer and helping them build stamina. Now is the time to build stamina in all subjects, but especially writing. See you soon!

RECAP HOMEWORK: 1. Writing essay due Friday. The topic is: Choose from the following...
There are many different kinds of entertainment, such as music, games, books, or movies. 
Explain your favorite type of entertainment and why you like it.
or
What is something you want to learn to do? Explain what you would like to learn and why?
2. Moon Phase calendar filled out every night but collected at the end of the month
3. Know your western states and capitals quiz on Friday
4. Math: Home Connections 5 and 6 and "Goldbach's Conjecture" in math student book due Friday.
Also, IXL accounts are up and running! I will be sending IXL homework in the near future.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

My New and Revised "I Am From..." Poem

I Am From
by Matt Marchyok


I am from the mysterious, exotic Ukraine in the hills of eastern Europe,


I am from mountainous, sophisticated Poland near the border of Russia,


I am from emerald, turfy Ireland next to the sea in the British Isles,


I am from quiet, working-class Trenton, Michigan near Detroit,


I am from the tender, comforting Marchyok family located deep in my heart,


I am from rich, peppery, creamy homemade chicken soup on a winter night,


I am from exasperating, delicate “Watership Down,” reading in the late night hours,


I am from geometrical and clean Mondrian paintings about life’s simplicity,


I am from the intense, stealthy Great Horned Owl in the darkest forests,


I am from the liberating, explosive game of soccer on a damp field,


I am from lavender, crisp sunsets with my wife in my arms,


I am from giggly, sweaty wrestling with my crazy kids,


I am from powerful and vivid Midwest thunderstorms in the middle of the night,


I am from gentle and peaceful meditation after everyone goes to sleep,

I am Matthew William Marchyok.

I Will Be Brave By...

I Will Be Brave By...