5B Classroom News: Week of Sept. 14th

A Note from Mrs. Burke: Hello 5B families! Week 2 of school was another success! We have been spending as much time as we can in our outdoor classrooms. We ventured up into our forest space to do some "set up" work, mindfulness activities, and a teambuilding activity with Mrs. Donahey. We are so fortunate to have these spaces as they give the students time to take of their masks and enjoy the great outdoors. This week the students spent time creating a new floor plan for our classroom using flexible seating. The students were very excited to finally use the seating they have seen being stored around the perimeter of the room. They worked very well as a group to create an inviting place to learn. They also spent time reviewing our district's acceptable use policy (AUP) to learn how to properly and safely use their Chromebook, how to follow the document formatting expectations, and how to take care of their Chromebook. They took these lessons very seriously and created posters we have put up in the room as reminders of what they learned:

This week students also learned how to write a blog post for our classroom blog. They will be the reporters for the classroom, letting you know about what we are up to in 5B each week. It's a great way for them to build their communication skills. I also sneak a little language arts in there by teaching them how to use words from the question in their posts, and to be sure to proofread their entries. This is their authentic work so you may see mistakes. It is my hope that over time their proofreading skills will improve and they will learn from their mistakes for future posts. They are very excited to share reflections with you! My only request is that they write at least one post, but as you will see, some have included more than one. Enjoy their posts and don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Thank you for sharing your children with me!

Reflections about the first two weeks of school:

What are at least two things you have enjoyed most since returning to school? Why?

Since coming to school I like see my friends and I dislike being in quarantine.  Another thing I like is going outside and having mask breaks. -Ashlynn

One thing I've enjoyed most since returning to school is that we get to be

outside in nature almost all day. I also love getting the fresh air from the mask

breaks we take when we sit on our stumps. We can take our masks off on the

stumps because they are 6 feet apart. Another thing I've enjoyed since returning

to school is that we still get to check out books from the school library. -Ayela

Two things that I have enjoyed since returning to fifth grade are seeing my friends because I missed my friends, And my other is having p.e. because it is my favorite related art.  

-Brandon

One thing I like about 5th grade is that I get to see my friends because I can

see them in person. Also another thing I like about 5th grade is our outside

classroom because we have a stick fort and we have chairs and we can take

off our masks. -Brody

One thing I have enjoyed since returning to school is meeting new teachers

because I learn new things and they make me feel happy. Another thing is going

outside and going to the woods fort and taking a mask break. -Carsyn

One thing I enjoyed was seeing friends and going outside a lot. -Emma

One thing I liked about school is making new friends because I did not have

many friends up in Vermont and since I went to this school up here I've been

making new friends. -Emmett

One of my favorite things we have done since the beginning of school is going to ¨stick fort¨ and ¨creekside¨ our outdoor classrooms.¨Stick fort¨is in the woods and right next to it is a really cool stick fort that we can go in.It is so peaceful there. Another thing I enjoyed is seeing my friends and meeting new people.

-Gabe

The two things I like the most since returning to school are seeing all my friends

and talking to them because I like talking to them and hanging out with all of them and havingfun during recess. -Hayden

One thing I have enjoyed most about since coming back to school is getting to see all my friends because it was no fun over the summer having to quarantine and sit around doing nothing. What else is fun is getting to go outside and eat snacks and take a mask break as long as we are 6 feet apart. -Jackson

Two things I have enjoyed are that we get to spend more time outside because

I think our outdoor classrooms are really cool and we get a mask break outside

if we´re more than 6 ft. away. I also like that we still get to see our friends and

we get to still use cubbys, books and computers like last year. -Jacob

One thing that I have enjoyed these past two weeks is being outside because i

get to take my mask off outside and get fresh air and  I get to talk to my friends

with my mask off and eat my snack or lunch. -Kira

Two things that i enjoyed most since returning to school is handwashing because we use a timer to see how fast we are.  -Prisco

Some things i've enjoyed since returning to school is, being outside everyday, its nice to get some fresh air. I love seeing my friends again in person, i was getting tired of seeing them on the screen. -Vivian

What are some of your favorite things about 5th grade so far?  Why?

I really like the outdoor classroom because we can take our masks off and we also have chairs to sit on. And we have a huge stick fort but we have to be six feet apart to take our masks. -Brody

Getting to be a role model and making new friends. -Emma

Some of my favorite things about 5th grade are gym because in the class you don't have much fresh air but when you go outside to the gym you get exercise and fresh air.  

-Emmett

My favorite part of 5th grade is the classroom library because we can check out our favorite books in the classroom! -Gabe

Some of my favorite things about 5th grade so far are that we go outside to our outdoor classroom for most of the day. And I also enjoy D.E.A.R. time at the end of the day. 

-Isaac

Some of my favorite things in 5th grade are that we get to make our own cartoons because I really like making cartoons and I also like we get to be a part of the blog your reading.

-Jacob

One of my favorite things to do in 5th grade is go outside and play soccer with all

my friends because they make me happy when I do not score a goal and try to get a goal. Another thing that I like to do is being with my friends and talking to them and playing with them because they are fun to be a rownd and if I am sad they me me happy. Some of my favorite thing to do in 5th grade is doing art in my classroom  because I love drawing cartoons and another thing that I like to do so far in 5th grade is my teacher because she is the best 5th grade teacher I could ask for. -Kira  

My favorite thing about 5th grade is recess because we can play soccer. 

-Prisco

One of my favorite thing about 5th grade so far is having the opportunity to be

outside a lot, because we get to take our masks off if we are 6 feet away from

other people.

-Vivian

Flexible seating in 5B:

What do you like about the flexible seating in our classroom?  Which seat style do you think will be your favorite?  Why?

I think the flexible seating is great because it switches things up and gives us

a more comfortable learning space. I think the red chairs will be my favorite

because they are comfortable. -Ayela

I do like the flexible seating because it makes me focus on work and not other

things. I like the red seat because it has a comfortable back. -Brody

Because I like how we all get use different seats also I like how we get to be

in cool seat. -Emma

Another thing I like is flexible seating, we can have short stools, tall stools, bouncy band chairs, chairs, tall cushioned chairs, and standing desks. -Gabe

I really enjoy the flexible seating because some are comfortable and others

are fun to fidget with. My favorite is probably weather the tall red chairs or the

chairs with the feet fidget band. -Jacob

In my classroom there is flexible seating and i like the red chairs because they are tall.

-Mia

What I like about flexible seating is that we get to sit in fun chairs, i like the stille

and the hight.

-Vivian