March 2019 archive

Purim Day Fun!

Hi 5th Grade Families,

Oh my goodness, my first Purim celebration was an absolute blast!

The whole day was filled with fun, laughter, and joy. I was sad when it was over.

The 5th graders did a fantastic job delivering mishloach manot to our local heroes and partner schools. Every place we dropped off our bags of goodies at was so appreciative. The kids did a fantastic job explaining the purpose of the “goodie bags” and explaining the why behind why we celebrate Purim.

Below are some pictures from the fun-filled day.

I cannot wait for next year. I am already brainstorming my costume 🙂

Have a great weekend,

Gev. McAdams

6th Science – Exploring atoms, molecules, and odors!

Hi 6th Grade Families,

Over the past month, students have been investigating the driving question, “How can I smell things from a distance?” One of our main learning objectives has been on creating models that explain the different phenomenons we are studying. Last week, students created physical, 3-D models out of gum drops and toothpicks to show and explain how the molecules that make up the air are a mixture of gases. The kids have been working so hard and have developed strong definitions of what an atom, molecule, element, pure substance, and mixture are.

As a class, we then continued to investigate why substances have different odors. Students were given unknown smells that they had to guess what the scent they were actually smelling was. The kids noticed that the molecular structure on the label of each odor was different, although made up of the same three atoms (hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen). At the end of the lab, I was so impressed with each groups conclusions. As a class we all agreed that different substances have different properties because they have different arrangements of atoms. The properties are different because the atoms are composed of different molecules.

The kids have been doing a fantastic job exploring and investigating our driving question. I am excited to continue to watch them grow as we finish up this unit in the next few weeks.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Purim Spirit Week! It’s Finally Here!!!!!

Happy Sunday Everyone,

I am so excited for my first Purim celebration and spirit week at MJDS! The kids have been teaching me all about Purim and the purpose of celebrating it. I cannot wait to take part in all the fun and deliver mishloach manot to our local heros.

Posted below shows the theme of each spirit day this week.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in their comfy PJ’s tomorrow!!

Junior Docent Program

Fifth Grade Families!

A reminder of the BIG,exciting event approaching soon!  

Junior Docent Graduation

Tuesday, April 16 

3:30 p.m.

Lubar Auditorium

Milwaukee Art Museum

On April 16, our 5th graders will complete the Milwaukee Art Museum Junior Docent Program they began in 3rd grade! Please be sure to attend this wonderful event that features your child’s presentation about his/her chosen artwork in the museum. The program begins promptly at 3:30 p.m and ends by 5:00 p.m. Students will take the bus to the Museum. You will provide the transportation home. Siblings are welcome to take the bus with us; A permission slip will be coming soon! 

 

Thinking About Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning – 5th Science

This week, 5th graders began to learn about writing a scientific explanation. We discussed and took notes on the three main components of a scientific explanation: claim, evidence, and reasoning. Once students had a strong understanding of what those terms meant and how they fit into their writing, they practiced by writing a short and quick explanation based on an image of a food web. The question they were asked to answer was as follows: “Which organism can be classified as an omnivore.” Students created a claim to answer the question and then used evidence from the food web that proved their claim was correct. In their reasoning each student used what they knew about omnivores to explain how their evidence supported their claim.

This was a quick 30 minute activity to get the kids in that “scientific explanation” mindset. Moving forward, we will be diving deeper into this writing.

The kids posted their short explanations on their blog. Be sure to check them out! They sound great!

Happy Thursday!

 

Solving Long Division Word Problems

Hi 5th Grade Families,

The past two weeks we have been practicing long division. This week, we began to solve division word problems. This required us to think about what to do with the remainders of each problem so our answers made sense. We discussed how to turn the remainder into a fraction and decimal. As well as discussed when a word problem asks for the “extra” or “left over” materials that the answer is our remainder.

Below you will find a link to the Flipgrid the kids did that explain how to solve these word problems and what to do with the remainder.

Please check them out if you get the chance!

Have a great weekend!

Link: https://flipgrid.com/2vb9wzz