"No one has ever become poor by giving."

~Anne Frank~

As fifth grade Book Clubs came to an end today (11/22), each group gave a brief book commercial, advertising their particular novel to potential reading "customers."  A commercial included: the book's title and author, the setting, introduction to the main character and any important supporting characters, a hint of the problem, and a collection of adjectives describing the novel.  The three novels read in clubs were: Number the Stars, Bud, Not Buddy and The Cay. 



               

                                     

Fifth grade archaeologists examined Native American

artifacts in a presentation made by Mrs. Vitali, grandmother of Christopher Childs. Mrs. Vitali lives on a 55 acre farm in Wallingford, CT. The previous owner of the farm discovered about one hundred arrowheads while plowing his field. Fith graders made some guesses as to what this site might have once been with such a large number of arrowsheads unearthed. Possibly a hunting site, an Nativwe American village, the scene of a battle???  Beaded bags made to hold herbs and tobacco were purchased by Mrs. Vitali when she was a young girl visiting North Dakota.

 

In keeping with a 10-year-old tradition, fifth graders hosted the annual "Gobble-Off" with their reading buddies who are invited to hear a round reading of All About Turkeys, followed by a strut and gobble down the turkey track runway. The kinders arrived decked out in their turkey headdresses and joined in the gobble-off fun!
Even Mr. Fixx and Mr. Howe could not resist visiting the flock and showed off some fine stutting and gobbling alongside 5th graders and buddies.

The fifth grade sends heartfelt wishes for a memorable Thanksgiving 2016!

Out With October: In With November

                                         "November is the           

                                          pearl-gray month,

                                          the changeling

                                          between warm

                                          crimson October

                                          and cold white

                                          December, the month

                                          when the leaves 

                                          fall in slow 

                                          drifting whirls, 

                                          and the shapes of 

               the trees are revealed. . ."

~Alison Uttley

TEAMing-UP to Form A TRIANGLE

Teaming-up blindfolded to join two ropes and then form ONE  ton the floor- sharing ideas, forming a plan and then executing it!!!  Another Friday Team Time challenge!

IN THE SPIRIT!!!

Fifth Graders pose for the camera at "Fun Night" and post parade in the company of our school mascot, showing off its new feathers.

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Fourth Joins Fifth For A Snowball Greeting

On Tuesday mornings the Intermediate Team comes together for Morning Meeting. we open our meeting with a greeting, which can be followed by sharing, an activity, and announcements. Below is this week's greeting activity called "Snowball Greeting." Each student writes his/her name on a piece of paper and then crumbles it into a ball and tosses it into the circle. Each student picks up a snowball from the circle and must find the person whose name appears on the snowball and greets them. Students take turns with their greetings.

"Inhale the present, Exhale the Past"

For our special  WTCS performance this Wednesday(11/9), fifth grade yogees demonstrated 17 different yoga poses they practice or have yet to learn during their yoga sessions in class on Friday mornings or afternoons. The entire WTCS audience began their day with breathing exercises and a 30 second meditation to set their day's intention.

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October Fun In and Out of the Classroom

The fourth, fifth and sixth grades are invited to attend TCS's "Halloween Fun Night and the Haunted Hallway" 

Date:  October 28
Time:  6:30-8:00
Details:  $10 entry fee; wear costumes (choice) for a costume contest (many categories)

Fifth graders gather around the Bashaw maple tree to experience first hand the reading selection "Why Leaves Change Color?" After making some observations and having some fun, students returned to the classroom to read and then summarize an article about the changing color of leaves. The class wrote a 6 sentence summary. This exercise was the first of several lessons on summarizing nonfiction and fiction reading.

Fifth grade mathematicians consider a variety of methods for writing equations using the distributive property. The focus is not on the answer but the method!

When the sun came out last Thursday, so did grades 3,4,5 for lunch. All enjoyed picnicking and conversation on the patio and the lawn.

Continue to try to match a name with a face?

Teamwork at TCS and Beyond

After writing and then typing thematic statements from A Long Walk to Water, fifth graders exchange writing and proofread with a partner's discerning eye.

During Tuesday morning's Intermediate Meeting on 10/11, Isabel Clements, daugther of Liz Lightfoot and a participant in Teachers Across America, spent time with us describing her experience teaching fourth grade in east New Orleans. She shared that many of her students are still living with the effects of Hurricane Katrina with their families having to evacuate their homes and loosing many of their personal belongings. These children have lost part of their own histories.  

Because her students are not offered art or even recess as part of their school schedule, Isabel wants to start an after school art program. Due to lack of funding, Isabel called on our help to provide art supplies that were no longer being used. Fourth and fifth graders immediately seize the opportunity, filling four boxes within three days for Isabel to take back to New Orleans this past Sunday. Imagine the smiling faces when the children open these brimming boxes. Hopefully, we will get to see the benefit of our efforts when Isabel sends photos. This collection of  art supplies will continue as an Intermediate service initiative.

Friday morning fifth graders met their cherished kinder buddies for a hike down the Blue Trail. There was an autumn chill in the air as we entered the woods. We were drawn to observe some of the wonders of nature in the woods that are part of our campus.

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On Friday, October 12, fifth graders reenacted Nya's daily walk with water. Nya is a main character from A Long Walk With Water.  With gallon jugs filled with water and some balanced on heads, students trekked for 45 minutes on the Blue Trail and beyond. This walk required the students to focus on the sights, sounds, feelings and challenges experienced while walking. The goal being to step into Nya's place and sense what she may have when walking eight hours a day for water- dirty water. When returning to the classroom, time was spent jotting down reflections and sharing them in class. Luckily, we wore shoes and did not have deal with pulling thorns from our feet!

Team time each Friday is spent on activities that reinforce such team-building skills as self-control, collaboration and problem-solving. Eventually, we will head out to the ropes course once we feel we can embrace this challenge. This Friday, the Intermediate team was divided into three groups with each group having to carry a teammate from one line to another without any part of their teammate touching the ground!! Think about doing this without collapsing into laughter! All teams showed true grit as they pushed themselves to limit to cross the finish line!                              , r

TEAMWORK IN THE JUNGLE

Our week came to a close with the Intermediate team gathering to watch a 60 minute clip on "Gorilla Doctors," showing that the teamwork of a group of dedicated veterinarians has resulted in saving an endangered species of gorillas from poachers, loss of habitat and disease. "When the first Gorilla Doctor began helping mountain gorillas, the species was almost extinct. Today, they're the only population of great apes that's growing." There are only about 950 mountain gorillas left on earth. The numbers continue to increase during to this amazing group of doctors

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-gorilla-doctors-lara-logan/