Mrs. Huss'
Fifth Grade Class:
BLOG
Mrs. Huss'
Fifth Grade Class:
BLOG
Dear Cheatham Hill Families,
It is springtime at Cheatham Hill, and we are ready to begin our career activities. On May 13th, we will have a “Careers on Wheels” day for our Kindergarten and 1st graders. This day will cover the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics Career Cluster. If you have a career where driving is an integral part of your job and you would be willing to bring your vehicle and talk to the children about it, please contact Teresa Sirmans at teresa.sirman@cobbk12.org .(Examples: Fire engine, ambulance, police vehicles, Ga. National Guard, dump truck, cement truck, Chic-fil-a cow car, mobile dog groomer, mobile radio station, race car, tractor trailer, construction equipment, limo driver, mobile DJ, food truck, delivery truck).
The students will be visiting the vehicles from 8:05 -11:35. We would need you in the bus port at 7:45 to get in position and set up. Each class will visit each vehicle for 8 minutes so you can share information about your career and vehicle. This should be a fun day for all. Thanks so much!
The Cheatham Hill Counseling Department
New information...
As many of you know, we have been working on our social studies units through iTunes University Courses that I have created based on the standards. We have started a new submission and grading process for this using Edmodo. I am able to send the kids an assignment with a due date and then they can take a screen shot of their work and submit it to me through Edmodo. I can then grade it on my computer or iPad and comment and give them a grade right in Edmodo. I have been having then submit their WWII assignments on Edmodo. For the ones I have finished grading, they should get a message in throught their Edmodo that I graded an assignment. I know it is hard to see some of the pictures of what they are submitting (I may need to get lasik surgery again after this), but since I know what I am looking for it is a little easier for me. There were a few that I had no trouble at all seeing, so on Monday, I will get those students to tell us what they did to upload so that I can see them better. If I couldn't see one at all, then I may have put a 0 in for it until they can resubmit it to me with a bigger font. I only did this to remind myself what I needed them to do. If your child does not have anything graded, they may not have uploaded it yet, but it doesn't mean they haven't done anything. SInce this is something new we are doing, I am cutting them a little slack.
Donation Requests...
If you are at the store and could help us out with a few items, I would be very appreciative...
I sent an email home today with a few items that I need some help with. I am going to copy the email as I sent it today.
Our Chapter 4 science test is tomorrow. The kids have known about this since last week. We created a study guide on the Smartboard and I exported it as a PDF and put it on my website. Some of the kids printed it and some just looked at it online. Palmer made himself a set of Quizlet.com flashcards and he really wanted to share it with the class, but I could get his to go public. I went ahead and created one under my account to help them study. Here is the link... http://quizlet.com/_c8ag4
From my email...
Dear Parents,
I need a little help with a few items…
1. Evernote had something that looked like someone trying to hack their system. In an effort to keep everyone's information safe, they reset everyone's passwords. I need your help to get everyone logged back in. Please go to www.evernote.com. Put your child's username in and then click "forgot password." You will enter the email address you used to set the account up. Go to that email account and open the email from Evernote. Click on the RESET PASSWORD link and put in a new password. You can use the same password they used before. Please make sure your child writes their username and password in their agenda.
2. I had 30 pairs of ear buds at the beginning of the year. I am now down to about four pairs. They were very cheap so I did not expect them to last very long. It would be great of the kids had their own ear buds or headphones to use in class. Many of them already have their own, so if your child says they have some, then chances are they have held on to them all this time.
3. In math, we still use a regular white board to practice problems. I have asked the kids for weeks to make sure they have two expo markers in their desk and they just haven't followed through on telling you they needed to have them. If they have two, then if one dries up, it won't be a problem. If you could try to make sure they have at least two expo markers, it would be a huge help. I had about 30, but I am down to having to borrow from the kids if I need to write something on the board.
4. During the last nine weeks of school I will be focusing on how to get them prepared (technilogically) for middle school. Many will have the opportunity to bring their own device to school, but beyond that I want them to be able to save something they are working on at school and then open it at home. To do this, I will need them to have access to the gmail account and the dropbox account that you set up at the beginning of the year. Please have them write this information somewhere in their agenda where they can find it.
5. Please make sure you sign up for the PTA email news blasts for you middle school. This is the best way to find out about upcoming events at your child's new school.
6. The writing assessment is Wednesday. I feel very confident that the kids are ready for it. We have worked hard at improving writing this year. I expect to see some great scores. Not that his is usually a problem, but please make sure your child is here on time on Wednesday.
Thanks for all you do to help your children grow and learn!
Megan Huss
Happy Valentine's Day! A huge thank you to Ann Parker for bringing snacks in for the kids today and for sending some in on my birhday too! The kids and I appreciate it very much! I also want to thank all of you for all the goodies that you gave me for Valentines and the gifts on my birthday. You are all very kind.
Math...As many of you have noticed, I haven't been sending home math homework lately. We are doing a lot of modeling and for some reason, when the kids leave the classroom, they start to get uptight about the models. We are getting to the point where they can begin to use which strategy works best for them. If you want to help them with another strategy then you are welcome to, but please make sure that they can explain their thinking in words. "I followed the steps." is not explaining their thinking. They need to be able to explain the problem and how they got their answer.
Please make sure you sign up for the PTA eNews at the middle school your child will go to. This is one of the best ways to keep up with what is going on. If you have an 8th grader, I would also recommend that you sign up for the high school eNews as well. I know Hillgrove as a Facebook page, but I'm not sure if the others do as well.
Don't forget we don't have school on Friday or Monday, enjoy the break!
This is a contest that Google has each year. The winner gets a $30,000 college scholarshop and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. It is due by 11:59 on March 22, 2013. Each student can only enter one time, but you can have each of your own children enter as well, they must be in grades K-12.
Writing Fair- I have talked with the kids about the writing fair and asked to really think about entering. I think we have some very talented writers in our class. They must have their paper to be by Thursday so we can choose a winner for our class by Tuesday when we return from our long weekend. It can be hand written or typed, but must be typed by the student, not a parent.
Learnzillions- This is a website that has lots of videos to help explain concepts to the students. I really like how the videos and think they would be helpful for the kids when they are at home. I have set up the class and they all have a username and a password, but they can also look up the videos without it if they have the video code. I will have them put their login information on their agendas. The codes for multiplying decimals using models are LZ555, LZ556, LZ557, LZ558.
Hillgrove Hawks Junior Cheerleading Tryouts
HHJC tryouts are being held for the 2013-2014 cheerleading season. Tryouts are open to all rising 6th, 7th and 8th grade students who reside in the Hillgrove High School District.
Informational Meeting: Monday, February 25th at 7:00pm in the Hillgrove High School cafeteria.
Tryout dates: March 18th through March 22nd (5pm – 6:30pm)
Where: Lovinggood Middle School Gym
For more information visit: http://www.eteamz.com/hillgrovecheer/
I think I accidentally deleted our group in Edmodo. I created a new one but I will need to give you the code tomorrow. Sorry about that.
Our Grammar Wiki is up, but we are continually adding to it so keep checking back.
We have been working very hard on our grammar wiki. YOu have to be a member of this wiki to view it so you will have to get your child to log on or you can email me and I will give you the username and password for you to view it.
February 4, 2013
I apologize for not updating my blog over the weekend, the company that hosts many of the websites for Cheatham Hill has been intermittently down for the last week and a half. I am hoping they have solved their issues and we won't have any more problems.
I sent an email out about middle school parent nights that are coming up. As I get any information about any events at the middle schools, I will send an email as well as post it here.
Parent Night at the Middle Schools:
Smitha- Tuesday, March 26, 2013 6:30 p.m.
Pine Mountain- Monday, May 6, 2013 7:00 p.m.
Lovinggood- TBA
The kids have been working hard to prepare for the writing assessment. Each week we are continuing to do a two hour wiritng assignment. I am trying to get them to focus on the revising stage of the writing process and to really look at their own writing critically. As you can imagine, it is very hard for me to get all of the papers graded quickly. I have been hainding the papers back out randomly and we discuss aspects of each paper that we like and sometimes we offer suggestions to make a part of a paper better. This past week, I had the kids take their own paper back after a class discussion and write what they would change about their paper. The grade for this paper will be based on their ideas, organization and how well they did coming up with things they would change.
The kids have been doing great in math until we mixed up all of the different concepts and models. Although they did not do terrible, it was definitely a challenge for them. This week we will be starting multiplication and division of decimals. The models are very similar to the fractions, so I am hoping this will be an easy transition. As we are learning the new material, I will be having the kids continue to practice the fractions. Their math grades for this week will come from that.
They are continuing to work on World War II through an iTunes University Course that I created and we are doing something new and creating a class wiki for the eight parts of speech. As soon as we have a few more projects uploaded, I will share the link with you.
Don't forget the Sock Hop is this Saturday. I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to attend since so many from our class will be there. Please make sure to take lots of pictures and email them to the yearbook committee. (Don’t forget, you can upload your photos directly to our yearbook software. First, go to http://www.community.pictavo.com/. You will be prompted to set up a new account as a parent, teacher or student. Choose our school (ID# 36936). Then, upload your photos just like you would to Facebook, Shutterfly or any other photo site. You will be able to tag student and teacher names or classes. You can also look at other photos that have been uploaded and tag your friends’ photos. We have set up folders for many of the major school events and for each grade and teacher.)
Have a great week!
Megan Huss
January 27, 2013
Are we really in the last week of January? Hard to believe this year is going so fast. I have one bog change for the kids as we begin to prepare for middle school. I will no longer constantly remind them when they haven't turned something in. We are going to talk about different strategies for keeping up with assignments they are working on and we are going to see how they do. When they get to middle school, their grade will suffere when they don't have something turned in on time. For the next month or so, their recess time will suffer, but not their grade. On their report card you will see this in the Work and Study Habits section. I feel like for fifth grade the grade on their report card should reflect what they are capable of doing in that subject and not if they are organized. Haveing said, that I do see the necessity to prepare them for a time when that is not the case. That is why I am going to give them the next six weeks or so to form some good habits and then I will begin treating them more like sixth graders in an effort to better prepare them. Many of you have older children that are in middle school. I would be more than happy to listen to any advice on what you think would better prepare them for sixth grade.
Academics
We are almost done with our multiplying fraction unit and will be moving on to dividing. Keep in mind we are continuing with the models. I understand this can be frustrating for you since this is not the way we learned growing up. Trust me when I tell you that this way is the best way to help them build a very strong foundation for understanding how numbers work. I was amazed at how quickly they have picked up on the models and how well everyone is doing.
We are doing a two hour writing every Friday in order to prepare for the writing assessment. On Friday, instead of them writing, we looked over the papers from the first week. We talked about what they liked from the papers they were looking at and I had them score those papers using the state rubric. By doing this, it is easier for them to see how the writing needs to match the rubric and how to change some things in their own writing to make it better. Some kids got theirs back on Friday and others will get them this week. Time got away from me, but I am catching up.
We have done one science lab on static electricity and they did great. I am always thrilled with the number of "I wonder what would happen if..." questions that I get from this class. They have really become quite a group of thinkers. It makes me very proud. This week we will be doing an electricity lab and I think they will really enjoy it.
For Social Studies we are doing an iTunes course for World War II. We do a lot of this in our Language Arts time. We are also creating a wiki on the different parts of speech. I have uploaded two of the projects to it and I will post the link this week so you can all see the great work your kids are doing.
Misc
Don't forget the Sock Hop is February 9th. I will not be able to go because I will be in Birming ham for a volleyball tournament. I hope lots of you will go and enjoy this fun night for the last time in their elementary years.
I would love to see lots of kids participate in the Science Fair. Please see the information below.
Club Pictures are on Wednesday for the yearbook. Please make sure your child brings their chorus, recorder ensemble or drama club t-shirt!
Yearbook
Don’t forget, you can upload your photos directly to our yearbook software. First, go to http://www.community.pictavo.com/. You will be prompted to set up a new account as a parent, teacher or student. Choose our school (ID# 36936). Then, upload your photos just like you would to Facebook, Shutterfly or any other photo site. You will be able to tag student and teacher names or classes. You can also look at other photos that have been uploaded and tag your friends’ photos. We have set up folders for many of the major school events and for each grade and teacher.
Yearbooks are available for $30. This new community site will allow you to purchase your yearbook with online confirmation for a small 5 percent convenience fee. You will still be able to purchase your yearbooks by check payments without the convenience fee. More details on yearbook prices and purchase instructions are being sent home with your student this week.
Science Fair
Calling All Young Scientists!!
Are you curious about the world around you and interested in exploring and experimenting?
Consider doing a science fair project.
When: Title and Hypothesis Submission: Feb. 13, Media Center
Projects Due: Wed., March 13, 8 a.m. in the Media Center (pick up no later than end of day March 20)
Details: Guidelines for all grades are available in the Media Center and online at http://sciencesnipits.blogspot.com/. This blog will keep you updated on science fair developments and announcements throughout the fair. It also has a large list of kid friendly links to science and engineering websites. A stack of title and hypothesis submission forms also is available in the Media Center.
January 11, 2013
Happy New Year!
As I write this first post for 2013 and for the second half of the school year, I decided to start with a quote I found recently...
"Sometimes we're all to quick to count down the days that we forget to make the days count."
I am going to post this in my room to remind the students and myself that we have a truly amazing thing going this year and I don't want to waste a single second of it. That's not to say we won't hot some bumps along the way, but that is part of what makes us grow. I am looking forward to a great second half of the year! Please don't ever hesitate to tell me if you have any concerns or questions about anything.
A few things to start this new nine weeks...
This week we have the school wide Spelling Bee on the 16th. Eric Penland will be representing our class and Ben Hull is the alternate. I know Eric will do his best and the class knows that if I were to participate, he would beat me pretty quickly!
The 5th Grade Party Committee will have a planning meeting on MONDAY, JANUARY 14TH from 2:30-3:30 PM in Mrs. Crear’s classroom. We will decide on a theme, assign sub-committee chairs and kick off what will be the BEST 5th GRADE PARTY EVER to be held!
December 20, 2012
From Mrs. Brazile...
Dear Parents,
Normally we do not assign homework over the Holiday Break, but this is an assignment that can be completed as a family. A parent informed me of a wonderful project going on for Sandy Hook Elementary who will be returning after the holidays. Please read below J
In an effort to help comfort the Newtown, CT community after the tragedy that took place, the Sandy Hook PTA is hoping to transform their new school into a Winter Wonderland for their students as they welcome them back in January. They are requesting a variety of paper snowflakes to help decorate the hallways of the school.
We would like to encourage you to join us in helping them achieve this goal by making homemade paper snowflakes. We plan to send one giant care package of snowflakes to them. Feel free to get as creative as possible in the making and/or decorating of your snowflakes.
If you or your students are planning on contributing snowflakes to this wonderful effort, please send them in when students return to school on January 8th. We will send one giant care package from the Cheatham Hill School Community!! Thanks so much and I hope you make this the warmest holiday ever with your kids. LOTS OF HUGS THIS HOLIDAY!!
Warm Regards,
Belinda Walters-Brazile
December 18, 2012
Something to do over the break...
Here is info on the Kids Skate Free program. Please consider sending this out with students before the holiday break. This FREE program is simple! All a parent needs to do is visit the http://www.kidsskatefree.com website, select a skating center near them, and register with an email address to start receiving two free skating passes per week per child.
And what is really great is that it is a year round program!
According to the American Heart Association, about one in three American kids and teens today are overweight or obese. This has nearly tripled the rate from 50 years ago! Short of the mere physical effects of being overweight, obesity is also causing a broad range of health and psychological problems including but not limited to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, low self-esteem, negative body image, and depression. That is why rinks across the nation have partnered with KIDSSKATEFREE.COM.
Skating is:
A fun way to increase muscular strength and cardiorespiratory endurance.
A way to burn anywhere from 330 to 600 calories per hour!
A great for improving balance and flexibility.
A fantastic source of aerobic exercise.
A key to weight control.
Easy to learn.
A great tension reliever and enthusiasm builder.
An excellent way to help maintain good health.
If you have further questions, please contact Diane Adams at 770-595-3003 or at dadams@sparklesfamilyfuncenters.com
December 13, 2013
What a great week! We have had teachers, administrators and county employees coming through our room this week to see what we are doing with the iPads. I couldn't have been more thrilled with how the kids welcomed the teachers into our class and were happy to show them all the great things we have been doing. Our latest venture has been the iTunes Courses. These are "courses" I create on my computer and then the kids access through an app called iTunes University. It gives them an assignment and a video, a picture or even a map that will help them complete the assignment. I have a paper for each student and they come and tell me when they finish one of the assignments and I check it off for them. This helps me keep up with where everyone is and how they are progressing. It has been great and the kids seem to really like it.
We are looking forward to our Winter Party on Monday! A big thank you to Mrs. Parker for organizing this and to everyone for contributing to make it a great party for the kids. We will be doing a little gift exchange on Thursday. The kids all drew a name out of a bucket and they will get one gift for that person. I sent a paper home on Friday explaining this. If you do not want your child to participate please let me know as soon as possible.
We will be continuing to finish several assignments and take a few benchmark tests this week, so we will stay busy up through Thursday.
I'm looking forward to a quick week and then a relaxing break. The kids all deserve it, they have been working very hard!
Megan Huss
December 7, 2012
I sent home lots of papers today, including a purple one that is a permission form for the Human Growth and Development Class. Please try and have that back to me on Monday. You can always change your mind when we get closer to the class. If you are waiting until after the material preview, then please just jot a not in your child's agenda so that I know you are waiting.
The kids have been working very hard on a couple of projects lately. They are in different places in their projects so it is hard to tell you exactly what each child is doing. I learned how to create a course in iTunes University and I have created two courses for the kids. In these "courses" the kids can read the assignment and then I attach things like a map or a picture or a video. These are things they can work on on their own. As they work on them if I find things to add or that one website doesn't give them the info they need, I can add materials to the assignments. If you have an iPad, iPod, or iPhone, you can click on the iTunes U link on the bottom of my website and open the links. I will have to approve you for the course, but you would be able to see the assignment and the materials.
The kids are also working on their "Movie Trailers" for the biography they read. WE will be having an Oscar Awards Show the last week before we get out for the break. I am going to try and do the "show" on Wednesday or Thursday of that week.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Megan Huss
Novemeber 29, 2012
I hope everyone had a great holiday last week. The kids all needed a break very badly. We have had a great week and have gotten a lot done.
November Book Reports will be done IN CLASS this month.
The next book report will be due at the end of January and the book is free choice.
We are just about done with our matter unit, so we will have our test by the end of next week. They will have a study guide to study for the test, but it is Chapter 3 in the textbook.
Next Wednesday, we will be attending the Atlanta Symphononly Orchestra at the Cobb Energy Center. This is paid for by Performing Arts, so no money is due. It is very exciting this year because one of the pieces we will hear was written by a former Cheatham Hill student (from my class) named Commodore Primous. I am very excited to go and hear it performed. We like for the students to look nice for this trip. Please do not go buy any new clothes, but maybe wear a shirt with a collar and jeans or kakhis for boys and nice pants and a shirt or a skirt or a dress for the girls. Again, please do not go out and buy anything new for this trip.
We have Human Growth and Development coming up as well. If you would like to watch a preview video,we will be showing it at 8:00 on December 14th.
Progress reports and graded papers will come home tomorrow in the green folders.
Thanks,
Megan Huss
November 8, 2012
October 29, 2012
I really enjoyed having the time to sit down with each of you and talk to you about your child, but I can't tell you how happy I am to have a "normal" week! I have a lot planned for this week and hope to get it all in, but somehow, we always end up with some activities or assignments taking longer than I anticipate.
We will be starting our Matter unit in science and our Westward Expansion and Turn of the Century unit in Social Studies. These are both great units and I always look forward to teaching these. I will be incorporating most of the Social Studies into Language Arts and then we will have science at the end of the day. I will be asking the kids to do some of the science reading at home in order to get it all in.
In math we are working with factors and multiples and fractions. We will be adding fractions by the end of the week.
We will have a snack and a craft on Wednesday and we have a local judge coming in to talk to the kids on Friday.
Please remember that I will be sending home some graded work on Friday in their green communication folder.
Thanks,
Megan Huss
October 21, 2012
Reminders...
I can't thank you all enough alert trusting me enough to take your children on this amazing trip. If you we're a chaperone, you will know what I am talking about, if you we're not, then I hope you have a younger child so you can one day go on this trip. Right now, a finally stopped walking around my house looking for a rocking cincrease to sit in and wait for the dinner bell to tell me it is time to gather together and go have a meal. Then I want to discuss what activity we will be doing next. From the bottom of my heart, this was the best trip yet and I have been going this for eight years! All of the kids were so well behaved and respectful and had great manners. All of the parents were helpful and fun and relaxed (except for those that left me during the preditor prey game). I would have stayed for another two days if they would have let me! In fact, it is hard not to get in my car and drive right back up there. payouts should all be very proud of your children and for those of you that came as chaperones...I am beyond grateful.
I guess tomorrbacks back to reality...I will definitely take it easy on them Thursday and Friday. Don't forget next week is conference week and the kids get out two hours early every day. If you run into a problem with your scheduled conference time, just let me know and we can reschedule. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone next week.
Megan Huss
A hard copy of the Blue Ridge information and how your child is getting home on Wednesday is in your child's agenda. If you already filled out the one online, you do not have to send the hard copy back in.
Conference Forms are going home today. Please let me know if you can't make it that date or time and when is a better time for you.
October 9, 2012
Dear Parents,
Here are some tips and reminders as you get your 5th graders ready to go to Blue Ridge.
Please fill out the Blue Ridge Information Form from the link on my web page. This will help me keep a lot of information in one easy to find place for me (My phone!).
Chaperones…
Dropping off…
Picking up…
October 2, 2012
Please note that all students are required to fill out their agenda each day and get it signed by a parent. If they do not do this, they will lose $100 out of their checkbooks. I would ask that you require your child to bring you their agenda with a pen or a pencil. Please make them responsible for doing this. In their agendas, they should have the classwork we did and homework that was assigned. I will do my best to start checking agaendas in the afternoon, but they need to start showing some responsibility. I had many book reports not complete because they are choosing not to write their assignments down.
September 28, 2012
Our Blue Ridge trip is just around the corner! Please try to have your last payment of $65 ($140 for chaperones) sent in as soon as possible so we can begin to finalize everything with the bus line and Blue Ridge. We will be having our student meeting on Tuesday, October 2nd at 1:30. We will be done before dismissal, so they will not need to stay after school. At this meeting, we will give the students all of their paperwork. Please remember the medical form MUST be notarized. Please do not sign it until you in front of the notary. If you need to get health insurance for you child for this trip, I can get you that information.
We will be finishing up our Constructive and Destructive Forces unit next week. I would like to try to have the test on Friday. If I end up needing to push it back a few days, I will do so to make sure all of the information is covered.
We are also coming to an end in our math unit. We still have to do measurement and then we will be done. There will be a test on measurement at the end of the following week.
I have been very impressed with the Opinion Writing the kids have done. They have done a great job backing up their opinions with actual evidence. The peice we are finishing up was a graphic organizer and a rough draft. That is the extent of how far we will take that peice. The next one was a narrative where they wrote a letter to Lincoln about what it is like to live during the Civil War as a child, soldier, parent or slave. We will be working on our final opinion piece this week and next. We will take this one all the way through the writing process.
I was trying to get our parent meeting scheduled before we went to Blue Ridge, but time is slipping away. I am now looking to do this between coming back from Blue Ridge and conferences. I would ask that you be thinking about questions you have about the iPads and how we are doing things, but I would also like to know what you like and don't like about how things are going. I promise I will not get defensive if you don't like something. I will do my best to explain why I have chosen to do things a particular way. Please just remember that I am working harder than I ever have to make this work, so if something is really bothering you, I just ask that you tell me in a respectful way. For example, all of the kids graded work should be in their graded work folder on their Evernote account. How is this going? Do you feel like you have a good grasp on how your child is doing? For math and the questions in the science text, we do all on paper. After I grade it, I have them take a picture and then put it in their graded work folder on Evernote.
Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns.
Megan Huss
September 21, 2012
The Otterboxes have arrived! I can't tell you what it does for my piece of mind to have these cases. I have been working hard to get the screen protectors on, but it takes a long time to try and get all the little bubbles out. I will speak with Mrs.. Brazile about the best time to do a parent meeting and let you knw early this week when that will be.
We have started our constructive and destructive forces in science. We are doing some reading and answering questions and have done some application within our writing. They are writing an opinion piece by writing to a local government and asking or money for ways to control the damage from these forces. They are having to give reasons for what they are asking for and then they have to support their reasons with actual evidence that they have found on the internet. They also have to cite their sources they used. We are getting lots of great standadrds throug this project.
I sent home the envelope for the last instalment for Blue Ridge which is $65. We are trying to get the money in by October 2nd. They will get all of their paperwork at this meeting. I will need to get all of it back as soon as possible. The medical form will need to be noatrized. Please make sure you do not sign this paper until you are in front of the notary. Chaperones will need to pay $140. We will hav the chaperone meeting the morning that we are leaving. Mrs. Brazile will be there to do a short meeting about being a mandated reporter, so it is mandatory that all chaperones attend.
Please remember to check your child's Evernote account and look in the graded work folder for all grades. I will have a print out of everyone's grades by the end of this week. Please remember that we did not have any grades the first week of school and then very few the second week. We also had a week of ITBS testing in there as well. Because of this, we don't have as many grades for each area that we normally do at this time in the nine weeks.
Septemeber 12, 2012
Parents who are interested in learning how students qualify for the Cobb County gifted program (TARGET) are invited to attend a Cobb County Gifted Eligibility meeting presented by Cheatham Hill Target teachers on Tuesday, September 18th at 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Media Center.
September 7, 2012
We have had another great week and are really getting into the swing of things and then...we started testing. The kids were greatfor the first day. They seemed calm and focused? Please remind yourchildren that this is the itbs and they need to watch the clock. They don't give the kids a ton of extra time so hey really need to watch the clock.
This week in...
Math- We worked on exponents, order of operations and multiplying and dividing large numbers. This whole nine weeks is about making sense of numpops and how they work with each other.
Language Arts- We are working on writoften often for different purposes. I had the kids pick a topic and we began writing informational papers. I had them do aminimal amount of research and showed them two different ways to get information into their Capture Note notebooks. We then placed a "flag" next to the information to remind us that it was a web reference and would need to be cited. We are also working on paraphrasing and quoting and how to incorporate that into their writing.
Social Studies- We have finished up he Bill of Rights and discussed citizenship a bit. We will continue to touch on those topics for the rest of the year. We will next begindiscussing the Civil War. We will intengraving a good bit of that into language arts so we can begin our unit in science on constructive and destructive forces.
The kids have also been taking their iPads to specials. In music, Mrs. Grayburn is having the kids record their recorder karate songs in Evernote. Her goal is tohave them cate an online portfolio. She wants them to be able to listen to t he selves play and her feedback that she will give after they play and then they will learn howa reflection reflection and write what they did well and what they need to work on. Mrs. Holcombe is hoping they will have an online art portfolio as well. We are getting slower to being able to allow the students to take their iPads home. We need to get the Otterbox cases and then we will have a meeting to discuss the rules and get your feedback.
Right now the kids have a folder on their Evernote accounts called "Graded Work". This is where I am having them put any work that I am grading. We are all getting much better at Getting our graded work in one place on Evernote. All math isbeing done on notebook paper, I grade it and then we snap a picture of it and put it in Evernote. I felt this was the best option for keeping everything consistent and in one place for easier access for you. I am happy to listen to any questions or concerns that you have aboutships method. I will soon have egerything entered in my online gradebook and will be ablimpressed electronic reports to you. Stay tuned for more information on that.
Please let me know of you have any questiois or concerns.
Megan Huss
August 28, 2012
Bill of Rights test Friday- Format will be matching. I split the kids up into ten groups. Each group created a bulletin board on Linoit for their assigned amendment. They had to put the amendment in their own words and then come up with three examples of how this right applied to the people who loved 200 years ago and three examples of how the amendment applies to those that are livining now. Today they are looking at everyone else's bulletin boards and reading the examples. At the end of the day, I will have them get back in their groups and they will have to add one example to each bulletin board about how it applies today. I will choose two examples from each bulletin board for the test. Your child can look at the bulletin boards from home by going to www.linoit.com. The username is mrshuss13 and the password is students13.
Math homework is located in the math section of my website. It is called Order of Operations HOMEWORK.
August 24, 2012
Whew! Week two is over! It was nice to be able to start really teaching this week. I am going to make a great effort to let you know each Friday what we have covered in each subject as we navigate throught this new way of learning and communicating your child's progress.
Math- Place value and Order of Operations. Today we did a worksheet on Order of Operations. They had the choice to write or type their answers in their iPad or they could write them on notebook paper. From now on, I will provide them with practice problems on my website and they will complete the assignment on notebook paper. They will then snap a photo of it and upload it to Evernote. By doing this, it will provide consistency on where work is located.
Reading and Language Arts- Set up our notebooks in Capture Note. Went over two yearlong important standards; listening to what another person says and relaying that information in your own words and writing often, across the curriculum in a variety of different formats. We also analyzed a poem by Langston Hughes and a song by John Mayer. The students brought in a song of their choosing and analyzed it and provided text evidence for their opinions.
Social Studies- Bill of Rights- I split the kids up into ten groups and assigned each group one amendment from the Bill of Rights. They had to put it in their own words and then give three examples of how this right applied to the people living 200 years ago and then three examples of how it applies to people today. They put their information into a bulleting board app and today they will look at the other amendments and comment on each one. If you would like to know the username and password for this website, let me know and I will send it to you so you can look at the assignments. Next week they will have a test where I will ask them to provide an example for each amendment and how it applies to their lives today.
Spelling test- We took the spelling test online today through Spelling City. Each student should have theirs in their Evernote account. \
Today you will be getting a letter and a county envelope for the Blue Ridge deposit ($75), Time for Kids magazine ($5), and the 5th grade t-shirt ($10). Please make sure you send the purple paper back with your child's t-shirt size. The informational meeting time has been changed from 6:00 on August 30th to 5:00. There was a conflict at 6:00 that could not be avoided. The Washington D.C. meeting will still be at 7:00.
The kids are doing great and are getting better and quicker with the iPads. We are looking at having a parent meeting sometime in the mid September. As soon as I have a date, I will get you that information so you can make plans to come. I will also ask that you try to submit any questions prior to the meeting so we can get some answers ahead of time. Please don't think that you can't come with questions also, I just thought it would be great if I had some of the questions ahead of time and present in a more logical way.
Thanks,
Megan Huss
August 17, 2012
Well, week one is done! I could not have asked for a better start to the year. We went over lots of procedures and exploring of different apps on the iPads. Next week, we are down to business and I can't wait!
Here are a few items that I didn't get to at Open House...
Please let me know if you have any questions or coclass's.
Megan Huss