Mrs. Reuter's Class Chronicles
December 7-11, 2015
Literature Circles: Interactive Timelines
PE: Baseballs
STEM: Submersibles
Our Class
Language Arts
In Language Arts this week, the main focus were our presentations. The presentations were on a part of speech, selected from a hat by a person. There were two people in each group, and each group tried to convince the "Editors of Write Source" why our part of speech was not to be eliminated. The group would make a poster together. The poster had to be colorful, attractive, and accurate. Next, the two people in the group would write a formal letter to the "Editors of Write Source" individually. The writer was to provide three reasons the part of speech should stay in the Write Source books, and reasons opposing reasons why their part of speech shouldn't stay. The letter would also have a conclusion and an opening sentence, which both stated the view of the writer. The winning team got two extra credit points. The winning team was Verb: Tú and Greta. They were amazing! There was no losing team, because people disagreed on which part of speech was least important. This week we also worked on Writer's Workshop. We have to do our writing choices by the end of the quarter (January 8). Finally, we continued with our literature circles for Freak the Mighty and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.
By Nick & Amanda
Science
This week in science we did our STEM project. The STEM project was about submersibles. Our task was to get into our groups where we were supposed to create a submersible to grab vials underwater with a magnet. The highest scoring group got 29 points, which was Serena, Tyree, Lorenzo, and Diane. The groups in second place were tied and they got 28 points. We made the submersibles with vials that were filled and labeled tor present different instruments like sonar and batteries. We also got to use tape, styrofoam, pipe cleaners, and hot glue. We earned points based on our submersible's size, what instruments we attached, and how many vials we picked up. STEM was very fun this week!
By Rand & Ethan F.
Social Studies
In this week of Social Studies, we practiced for our test that was on December 10th. It was about Chapter 4. Chapter 4 included explorers and certain events for that we needed to know about, such as Columbus, Pizzaro and Hernando de Soto. We got out whiteboards and markers and Mrs. Reuter asked us questions that were on our test. We'd write it on our whiteboards and hold it up. We also got to watch an episode of America: A Story of Us. On Thursday, December 10, we took our Social Studies test. Hopefully, we all did well on the test! After that, we had a choice to do Writer's Workshop, our explorer projects, our FIERCE projects, or homework. We had a fun week of Social Studies!
By Katie & Jessica
Design Thinking
Last week in Design Thinking, we had a guest speaker, Madison William's grandpa. His name was Mr. Ostrum. He used to be a doctor at Kaiser Permanente. Mr. Ostrum talked about public health. He wrote down questions and had volunteers (students) read the multiple choice answers. As a whole fifth grade, we tried to pick the correct answer. Some of the answer choices were silly, so we automatically knew what the correct answer was. Mr. Ostrum also told all of us how many calories different snacks have. A lot of us were surprised that a quarter of a Snickers bar is way more calories that a whole bag of carrots. After that, he answered all of our questions. Then, in our groups we researched current solutions to either getting students to exercise more or eat healthier. Learning about public health was so much fun.
By: Maya and Jaina
Specialties
Art with Ms. Martucci
This week in Art, we worked on clay sculptures. Ms. Martucci gave each of us a chunk of clay to sculpt. She said that we could either make owls or cats because of the shape of the head with its ears. Most of our class made awesome owls, but Tejal and Morgan both made these cool ninjas that could actually stand! We used coffee stirring sticks and popsicle sticks to make the texture of the owls. Tedla made a puppet with his clay because he stuck the stick in his clay. All of the sculptures that we made were amazingly awesome.
By Diane & Tú
Music with Mrs. Kim
During Music, we practiced for our concert. In the beginning, we practiced humming and then we said "Red leather, Yellow leather, Red leather, Red" to a certain tune that Mrs. Kim plays on the piano. Then we got our song lyrics and we practiced singing them while Mrs.Kim played the songs on the radio. We sang along to the songs that are being played and Mrs.Kim also helped guide us along. We are split into two groups, one is the echo group were they echo the other group that sings. All our songs are based on America. At the end of the songs that we were supposed to sing, we listened and sung along to "Tour the States". Rod and Tedla danced to that song on the carpet while we were on the risers.
By Matt & Tejal
PE with Ms. Davis & Mr. Ussery
This week in PE we reviewed our fitness test. On Tuesday, the boys went outside and ran the mile. After we ran the mile, we played catch with a tennis ball. While the boys were running, the girls were inside doing yoga with Ms. Davis. They did sun salutation and guided meditation. On Thursday the boys were inside, and the girls went outside. The yoga was fun and we had a good time doing it. Nick got 6:15 in the mile, which is the fastest time in fifth grade so far.
By Tedla & Rod
FIERCE Time with Ms. Johnson
This week in FIERCE we continued work on our family tradition project. Our options were to make a Keynote, poster, or brochure. Morgan did a poster. Rod did a brochure. Abby did a keynote. They are due next Tuesday. On our projects we have to include family traditions, culture, and if you want your family tree. If we didn't finish we would have to do it for homework. We are going to present next week. We are learning a lot and having fun! We all like FIERCE class!
By Abby & Morgan
Spanish with Señorita Webb
This week in Spanish, we took a mini quiz on "ser" and "estás". We learned the difference between those two words and how you have to know the difference. We also played Spanish pong. Spanish pong is a game where you have cups with different names on them. Then you grab a piece of paper with a name on it. If you got Sam, you would throw it into the "él" cup. If you got Sara, you would throw it in the "ella" cup. Spanish was very fun this week.
By Greta & Ethan H.
Coming Up Next
Mrs. Reuter
Parents: Try it out!
Mrs. Reuter's Class 2015-2016
Email: kate.reuter@nlcinc.com
Website: http://www.merryhillschool.com/elementary/sacramento/midtown/parents/our-faculty/teacher/kate-reuter/
Location: Room 207
Phone: 916-429-6055