Good morning!
I cannot believe the last day is here! As I wait for the class to arrive, I think back to our first day together - they have all grown so much! Together, as a team, we have watch them grow not only as better students but as better people - their kindness and empathy for others warms my heart and I know they will make a mark on our world! This group of kids is a very special group and I hope they keep in touch as they accomplish the many goals they set (and reach) in the future! Thank you for the privilege of teaching your children! They are amazing people! Have a great summer! Maura
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Happy Friday all!
What an exciting week we have had! We finished up a math assessment to see what we have learned all year and maybe remind us of a few things we should continue reviewing over the summer! We also really got our engineering brains going with our Egg Drop Challenge! It was so great to see the randomly selected groups work together towards a common goal. We learned a lot during our first round and are now re-engineering as part of the STEM process to come up with a new design for our drop next Wednesday. A big thank you to Mr. Thayer for climbing up onto the roof to really bring this experience to life for our students! In Social Studies, this week we talked a great about what it meant to be a Loyalist vs a Patriot. We read about the feelings each side had and then discussed the happenings at the Second Continental Congress. Students now have an understanding of why John Hancock signed his name "loud and proud"! We also had some great discussions about how outnumbered the colonists were in the American Revolution, but how their emotions helped to keep them strong in their fight for Independence. Looking forward to more great conversation next week! Today we had our last visit with our Connections Groups and read The Most Magnificent Thing. Students were then asked to design their own " Most Magnificent Thing" - we definitely have some designers and engineers among us! In Reading, we finished our fantasy unit with students looking at character growth in their independent novels as well as creating flip grid book talks to help get others to want to read this genre. We also worked with Mrs. Fuller to put together our summer reading plans. These will be in student's report card envelopes at the end of the year! We continue our reading of Avi's The Fighting Ground which follows along with our study of the American Revolution! Jonathan was captured by the Hessians this week, ask your child about this book! We are also having some fun reading about Frederick and all of his crazy friends in Lions & Liars by Kate Beasley. Frederick unknowingly ends up at a disciplinary camp for boys and some crazy adventures occur. This is a fun, light-hearted book to end our year together! I hope you all had a wonderful time at the Fifth Grade Celebration. The committee put together an AMAZING event to celebrate each and every one of our Cole School Fifth graders. As Mrs. Burns mentioned, this class is a very kind, caring and empathetic group of students and my wish for them all is that they strong in these characteristics as they move to Middle School. I know I will miss their kind hearts each and every day! Enjoy the weekend! George's Island for us on Monday RAIN OR SHINE! The buses are LEAVING Cole at 9am sharp in order to be sure we are able to secure seats on the boat! Have a wonderful weekend! Cheers! Maura Important Dates to Remember:
Happy Friday everyone!
What a busy week we had! We started the week performing our last band concert at Cole School and then spent a beautiful day walking the Cape Cod Canal. Congratulations to all of the honorable mentions in the essay contest and to our winner, Alex Otero who won the contest and has named next year's fitness program Y.E.T. - Your Exercise Tracking. Alex reminded us in his essay that when we are faced with something we think we cannot do, we need to add "yet" to our statement. "I can't do this yet!" and use this as motivation to accomplish new things! Students had a great time at Scusset Beach after their 3 mile fitness walk, always a special memory from Cole School. We continue to learn about the American Revolution, this week focusing on No Taxation Without Representation and what made colonists become either Loyalists or Patriots. As a class, we did a few simulations in order to get students to understand the frustrations of the colonists. Great conversations continue, especially as we make connections to The Fighting Ground by Avi. This novel is about a young boy who wanted to fight in the war even though he was too young and his parents did not want him in harms way. It is great to hear students discussing what they would have done and why, making connections like these really helps to bring history alive for all! In Science, we have begun work on my favorite stem challenge of the year - our EGG DROP CHALLENGE. Students were put in random teams and given a list of materials and a budget. They are working together to make a sketch and a list of materials needed to build a contraption that will protect an egg that is dropped from the roof of Cole School. Great creativity so far! I will be sharing videos of our contraptions next week - stay tuned!! On Thursday, we went to the Middle School for a fabulous tour ! We met with administration and guidance counselors to review some of the things to expect when we arrive at the Middle School. Then each class was taken on a tour of the building so we could see our 6th grade wing and also found the gym, cafeteria, music room and foreign language classrooms. Students asked some great questions and I do feel they are all feeling a bit more comfortable! Norwell Middle School did a fabulous job with students and, for me, it was great to see former students continuing to shine! Field Day is always a blast and this year did not disappoint. I was particularly proud listening to our fifth graders sing the National Anthem to kick off our day of fun! I took over 200 pictures so be sure to check out the photo gallery!! As a fun, year-end Read Aloud, we are reading Lions and Liars. Be sure to ask your child about Frederick and what they think will happen to him at camp as he pretends to be someone he is not. This book is very different from The Incredible Journey of Coyote Sunrise, but kids are enjoying the light hearted fun of a group of kids at summer camp. IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
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June 2019
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