Storybook Fun!

Class 301 all dressed up for fun!

Teacher particpation: A+

Our celebration was low-key. Most of us were in books!

Time for giggles!

Great 301 costumes

We're all glad Nicolas is back!

Ms. Heras dropped by to check in on her boys.

Sweet treats

Yum time!

A Jam-packed November

November 2: Dia de los Muertos celebration

We will celebrate Day of the Dead with several activities throughout the day. In the morning we will listen to a bilingual read aloud to learn about the holiday. Our own Diana will be reading aloud the Spanish pages. We will also explore some really cool Dia de los Muertos artwork from Mexico and learning about the holiday from photographs taken during the festivities in Guanajuato. We'll also feast on traditional el pan de muerto (dead bread) and sugar skulls while we decorate our own Day of the Dead crafts. Parents, if you would like to join during any part of the celebration, let us know!

November 3: Memoir Publishing Party
It is finally publishing time! Before we move onward to our Interpretative Essay unit, it is time to celebrate our memoirs. We moved through the writing cycle and learned some new strategies to improve our writing. We will be calling upon these skills in our next unit as we grow ideas supported by our life experiences and structure deep meaning within the essay structure. Parents, join us as we share our work, offer feedback and celebrate the end of our first writing cycle.

November 8: Election Day
The second Tuesday in November means it is Election Day! No school for you. We will see you the following day.

November 10: 80's Dress Up Day
The first of the 5th grade fundraising dress up days is here! On Thursday, November 10 you have the opportunity to dress retro and raise money for all of the many 5th end-of-year activities (yearbooks, the trip, the after-graduation dance, etc). So what you weren't even alive then! An adult in your life is sure to remember the era's fashions. This fundraising day is celebrated by all of the school! So let's show P.S. 58 just how awesomely 80's we can be. Parents, remember to send your child in with $1 if they are participating and find a reason to stop by if you can. It's sure to amusing. :)

November 11: Veterans Day
A National holiday? On a Friday? Yes, unlike the many holidays we observe on Mondays, 11/11 is celebrated on whichever day of the week it falls on. This date is significant in America's history; it was the date World War I ended. To honor the veterans of this massive multi-nation war, the observed date is always November 11.
 
November 15: Parent-Teacher Conferences
Class 301 has a half day while we meet with your parents. Parents, please be on the look-out for the time preference sheet. This came so quickly!

November 17: Wolf Visit
You remember that wolf visit from last year? It's kind of going to be like that. Wolf, the sequel.

November 22: Harvest Festival
Our first grade-wide celebration! Stay tuned for festival details on this potluck celebration. In the meantime, enjoy our classroom pumpkin while it's still in one piece.

November 24-25: Thanksgiving Recess
You know how this goes. You eat a lot and see family and boom! it's the holiday season.

What a month!

Best Grammar Lesson Ever!

What an amazing surprise! Our celebration during grammar was so much fun. You all made me feel so special with the cards, delicious vegan snacks and cake, the songs, the toasts, the dances! 5-301 sure knows how to party.


An extra special thank you to Nikita for organizing the celebration and the 5-301 parents for the vegan-friendly snacks and drinks... 
...and to all of 301 for making the day so special.

Ava did a great job capturing the action. 

Let's look at how scrumptious this looks.

This cake was so good! Thank you, Skylar!

Everybody dance now.

Getting In Touch With Our Roots

We put our research skills to work sketching to learn. At the American Museum of Natural History we explored amazing exhibits and artifacts, learning about human origins and evolution.

Check out some awesome reflections and pictures below.

"I think that the Indians/Native Americans decorated their clothing because they had more resources like berries to make paint and clay to make beads unlike the Neanderthals who had less plants and probably no clay because it was the Ice Age and every thing was frozen or very cold (probably to cold for most plants to grow).I came to this idea because in all the display cases of Indians/Native Americans they had tons of beads and colored fabric but in all the display cases of the Neanderthals they had plain fur." More at Emma N.'s blog 

"Today we went to the Natural History Museum.  The idea I learned from today was that Neanderthals have big feet, which probably means that they lived on rocky terrain and had bigger feet to help them get a grip on rocks.  I came to this idea because one time in the museum there was a compare foot sizes and I saw that our feet were much smaller than theirs.  I think that maybe Neanderthals had tough skin for that rocky terrain.  Another reason I think Neanderthals have big feet is for running because they didn't have cars or horses or any transportation.  This affects the greater world because if they did not have that resource then they would not have been able to migrate, and we would not be here today." More at Anjali's blog

"Today me and my class went to The Museum of Natural History!!! Me and

my classmates are studying the Neanderthals. We saw lots of very cool exhibits. We also got three papers to fill out. I made sure to stuff mine and I'm sure lots of other people did too. My class also studying how Columbus got to America and what he did to the Native Americans. So we also got to look at Native American stuff too!!!!! I got a idea from my visit there, I wonder if theNeanderthals noticed that they were evolving. I came to this wonderful idea by thinking that the Neanderthals evolved in to homo-sapians right? Wouldn't they notice the change?  This affects me and all the other people of the Universe because if the Neanderthals didn't evolve then none of you people would be reading this amazing blog update because computers wouldn't have been invented because human race wouldn't exist!!!! "   More at Grace's blog

"How did we get smarter all of a sudden? and we also suddenly started using electricity and stoped using our natual resources. every thing now is being bought at macy's or marshals! this can effect me because sooner or later every thing will get priced higher and there will be so much technlolagy that ther might not even be books,only robots. this can also evect the greater world because there can be oil spills all over th oceans and alot of smoke can be in the are bcause of factories and cigaretts.to much polution and you can say you're last goodbyes to the planet earth you know and love!!!" More at Vanessa's blog

"Today our class went on trip to the Museum of Natural History. We saw a lot of exhibits about different ancient civilizations. The exhibit that was most interesting to me was the one about the Neanderthals. One thing I noticed was that the Neanderthals bones were cracked. The bones of more modern people are not cracked. An idea I had was about why the bones were cracked. It must have been that they did not have enough nutrients to keep their bones healthy. As civilization developed, people became better at eating healthy foods. This affects me because if I don't get enough nutrients I could get sick and have weak bones." More at Paulino's blog

Author Visit!

Anne Ursu, author of the brand new book Breadcrumbs, visited the fifth grade on today!


We all went home with autographed hard cover copies of Breadcrumbs! We look forward to reading your many Reading Responses in the weeks to come. 


Please recommend the book to a friend if you enjoy it!


{Ava, our I.T. technician, shot some great video that we will post shortly!}

Here we are with Anne Ursu!

Change Is Difficult.

Since I was a teenager I have always changed my hair. I've had blonde hair.

I have had red hair.

I've had really red hair.

I have had black hair.

I've had short hair.

And no hair! (Kids, don't try this at home!)

It's easy to change your hair.

It is easy to change your clothes. It's easy to show the world something different on the outside. But it is difficult--very difficult--to change on the inside.

It is more difficult to change what's natural inside of us. And, in many ways, it's growth and change inside of you that really counts. Your hair, bright with all the colors of the rainbow, can't seep into your brain to change you where it means the most. Your hair style, no matter how long you fiddle with hot tools, gels and mousses, doesn't change your thoughts, your feelings or your view of the world.

Thinking back on how my hair evolved through the years, I see now that I was hoping the change to my outside would hurry change and growth inside. But I know now: change is difficult. You can't purchase it at a drug store; you can't try it on in front of a mirror to see if you like it.

Change is difficult.

Guest Blogger Julia Gives the Scoop On Our Pratt Visit!

Hi guys,

Today we went to Pratt college and it told us why we should stay in school and why we should go to college and  at Pratt, it looked like they had a lot of fun,they did plays they are making movies ( and remember... SASHA!) It looked like a lot of fun!! I am now positive that I really, really, really, want to go to college.

Human Origins...

In social studies we are beginning to research the first people inhabiting the Western Hemisphere. Here's what you are wondering about the Paleo-Indians...

Did children get educated?
[Julia]

Did you have music? What kind?
[Theo]

What do you use for transportation?
[Vanessa]

Did you want more from life?
[Nilajah]

Can you be a vegetarian?
[Skylar]

What kind of toys did kids and babies play with?
[Jenna]

Did you have a leader?
[Olivia]

Do you stay with a woman all your life?
[Paulino]

What do you drink? What do you drink with?
[Kayla]

How do you know the time?
[Diana]

When were you born?
[Nicolas]

What was the awesome fashion back then?
[Emma D.]

How old did you live to be?
[Diego]

Did you have a language you used to communicated?
[Ava]

Do you use herbs to heal?
[Anjali]

Was it hard to make everything you needed to live?
[Emma N.]

What are you hobbies?
[Freddie]

How long was the journey?
[Grace]

Who taught you how to build, hunt, and fish?
[Philip]

We will be focusing on some of these questions in class, at home, and all the way to one of the most respected natural history museums in the world: The American Museum of Natural History!

October Fundraising!

Some of you may have seen these festive baskets in the main lobby. These seven gorgeously spooky gift baskets will be up for raffle... with all proceeds going to the 5th grade! Look for raffle tickets (and a letter with all the details) heading your way in the coming days.

Extra special thanks to Francine for supplying and designing such amazing baskets!