Colorado's Crazy Climate!

Today we are talking about the regions of Colorado and some of the weird weather conditions experienced in each of these regions. To learn about the Colorado Regions, click here.

We are experiencing quite a cold spell right now in the metro area and across the state. During times of such chilly weather, minimal sunshine, and a below zero wind chill factor, we tend to spend as little time outside as possible. We are happy to get inside and out of the cold!

But what about people who don't have a warm place to go? Homeless people often take refuge in shelters, churches, or other places open to the public to escape the worst of the cold weather. But as residents of this chilly region, what can we do to help those who are less fortunate than us during these difficult times? How can we support those in our community who are cold, hungry, and have no place to sleep at night, when the temperatures are at their lowest?

Respond with a comment that talks about what YOU can do to help the homeless and hungry in your community.

Social Studies Plans for Friday

Hi Students!

I hope your Friday is going well! Your task today is to work with a partner to find out information on some endangered species.

Click on this link:

http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html

Explore the website and some of the animals featured in each of the sections.

Choose 2 endangered animals from different continents.

Compare and contrast these 2 animals using a venn diagram.

Turn in your venn diagrams by the end of the day. Spend some more time exploring the websites of these animals.

Family Literacy Night

On Tuesday, October 6, the Rose Hill community celebrated Family Literacy Night! Our fifth graders participated in a big way! Several students showed up in their pajamas and many entered the Rosebery Award Writing Contest. We had some big winners in our class, too. Congratulations to Irving for winning the Rosbery Writing Award and to Shanel for winning the Class Writing Medal! All of our fifth grade participants did a fantastic job! We had a great time listening to stories read by author and artist, Pat Loehr. The raffle was also lots of fun with many winners. Overall, it was a fantastic evening!

Picture Slide Show Coming Soon!

Surviving in the Wild

This week in Time for Kids Magazine, we read a story about endangered species and conservation efforts around the world.

We learned about the Sumatran rhinos, of which there are less than 300 left in the world! They have become so endangered because of illegal hunting and habitat loss. These large mammals have a very specific diet, including a sap-covered fruit, and zookeepers and conservationists are working hard to restore the rhino population in captive-breeding programs in zoos around the United States.

We also studied the California condors, which nearly went extinct in the 1980s. Condors are scavengers that feed off of the remains of dead animals. At the time, hunters used lead bullets to kill whatever animals they were hunting. Scientists and researchers began to realize that the birds were being poisoned by the lead used in the bullets that killed the animals the condors were eating! In 1982, only 22 California condors remained in the world. But with the help of dedicated specialists, the bird population has grown to more than 350. In 2007, Congress passed a law that banned the use of lead bullets where condors live, making it safer for the condors to survive in the wild.

The article goes on to say that it has to be the responsibility of everyone to take care of our planet, our animals, and their habitats. They use the expression, "it takes a village." We want to know what you think. Why is it important to save species from becoming extinct? If it takes a village to do so, what can we do to help? What will the benefits be?

Battling the Blazes

This week in Time Magazine for Kids we read about the wildfires in California that are causing all kinds of problems. The fires are worsened by the dry, hot temperatures that California typically experiences this time of year. In California, wildfire season lasts all the way into November. Firefighters work around the clock to control the problems, but the fires continue to spread. Over 12,000 structures have been threatened by the fires in Southern California. We want to know what you think: Should people be allowed to build homes near areas that are prone to fires? Why or Why not?

Tinikling in Gym

In gym, we are learning a dance from the Philippines called Tinikling. In the Philippines, they use sticks made from bamboo, but we used PVC pipes that we decorated in art class. Watch the videos to see how we do!

"My Education, My Future"

Today, President Obama gave a speech to school aged children about the importance of staying in school. Click on Comments if you want to leave a question or comment about what the president said today. To view the speech, go here.

Pythons in the Everglades

This week in Time Magazine for Kids we read about the Burmese Pythons that are causing all kinds of problems to the native species in the fragile ecosystem of Everglades National Park, in Florida. The problem is that people buy the Southeast Asian snakes as pets when then are only 20 inches long. But within one year, these snakes can grow to be over 8 feet long. Adult pythons grow to over 20 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds! The owners can no longer care for these large reptiles, so they release them into the wild. The Everglades provide a perfect home for the pythons, because they have no natural predators here. This means that there is nothing to stop them from completely taking over from the top of the food chain! As of July 2009, specialists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) have permitted licensed hunters to come in and capture these pythons so they will stop destroying the native wildlife of the Everglades. There are over 150,000 non-native pythons in the Everglades, and as of last week, only 14 had been captured under the new hunting permits. What else can the FWC and all of us do to solve this problem and save the Everglades?

Glogster

Glogster

A Real HOOT Close to Home

Hi 6th Grade!

Believe it or not, the issue of protecting the owls in HOOT is happening right here in Colorado, not too far from us.

Check it out!


Watch the video and comment on it. COMPARE and CONTRAST the two issues. What is the same and what is different about these two situations?

Glogster

"The Bike" by Gary Soto

Now that you've read "The Bike," by Gary Soto, post a comment below and answer this question: What was the boy's devious plan? Did his plan work out in the end? This should include a topic sentence, an example sentence from the story, an explanation (1-2 sentences), and a closing sentence.

Swine Flu

Students will read this Washington Post article about the swine flu and will complete the document titled "Swine Flu New Article Questions," which has been uploaded on our class website.

Once they have finished the questions, the class will discuss the ramifications of this pandemic and post comment on the blog about thier responses to the videos here.

Live Blog: What is Middle School Really Like?

The 6th grade language arts classes at KMS (Bortner, Brunelli, Mendez, and Springer) hope to have a live blogging conversation (via Cover it Live) with some of the 5th grades in the district in a few weeks time about the "big transition" to middle school.

We envision having the 6th graders talk about what one needs to know, learn, and understand when coming to middle school and transitioning out of elementary school. We hope that fifth grade classes will want to participate, especially those from schools that feed into Kearney. Hopefully, this conversation will be like a question and answer session between students, with the teachers merely facilitating.

We can have students in small groups around individual computers or teachers can choose to have one computer going while students have the conversation with the teacher typing and paraphrasing. I still need to look at the next unit to see how this is going to tie in with the GLETs, but I don't foresee that being an issue.

If anyone has any pointers or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,

Liz

Glogster

Glogster

Earth Week!

Students, it's Earth Week! Let's read some earth related news articles here When you've read some articles, go to our classroom website to download the lesson printout.

Live Blogging

Now that you have participated in the Live Blogging session through Cover it Live, tell me your thoughts. What did you learn? What did you like about the discussion? What can we do differently next time to make it easier to talk to other people outside our classroom? Please post a comment!

Green Glog

First Blogging...now Glogging!

http://msspringer.glogster.com/Ms-Springers-Green-Glog/

It's time to get going on our SUSTAINABILITY POSTER PROJECT for Earth Day. In preparation for Earth Day and the postponed Cover it Live chat with the other classes in the district, we will be making posters at glogster.com. Click on the link above to see my example Glog Poster. You can listen to my 3 recordings as well to hear what you will be required to do to complete this assignment.

Good luck and have fun!

-Ms. Springer

The Lost Generation

Turtle with Plastic Belt

What does this picture make you think and feel? How is it like the "Garbage Island" news article we saw?

Proofreading Skills

Hi Everyone,

Click on the following links to practice your proofreading skills:

Practice A
Practice B
Practice C

Practice D

Double Negatives

What's wrong with this sentence: "We can't find nothing to do."

It has TWO negatives!

"We can't find nothing to do."

As you know, words like

no
not
nothing
no one
nobody
never
nowhere
barely
scarcely
hardly

are all negative words. In English, we can only use one negative at a time.

So the sentence above is correct if we change one of the negatives.

Example: "We can't find anything to do."

"Anything" is a positive word, and now we only have one negative in the sentence.

Click on the link HERE to try some on your own.

Please start with Level A.

Blog, Blogger, Bloggest?

Students, it's time to practice using our comparative and superlative adjectives online!


Click on the first link and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on the button that says "First Exercise."




Click to start.

Complete the first and second exercises and have fun!

NOW TRY THE QUIZ!

Tell me your grade when you finish.

Click here for brain games.

When you finish, you may go onto the brain games website.

Students prepare for CSAP!

This series of questions is for all Colorado students:

What is the best way to prepare for a big test, like CSAP? What have you been doing to prepare in your classes? What are you doing personally? What aspect of CSAP will be the greatest challenge for you?

Keeping our Beautiful World Green

This month in 7th grade we are learning about ways to keep the world green and how we play a major role in this effort, particularly in our own community. Each student has chosen a beautiful place they have been to and written about it in the "comments" section of the post titled, "The Most Beautiful Place." Below are the pictures they've chosen to represent the beauty of their chosen location. Feel free to comment on their pictures and comments. Thanks for reading!

Diana's Beautiful Place--Puerto Vallarta

Jose's Beautiful Place--Hawaii

Joel's Beautiful Place--Hawaii

Isaac's Beautiful Place--Mexico

Yzela's Beautiful Place--Hawaii

Carlos's Beautiful Place--Mexico

Lisa's Beautiful Place-- Brownsville, Texas

Jocelyn's Beautiful Place--Cancun

Daisy's Beautiful Place--Cancun

Arely's Beautiful Place--Chicago

Tiare's Beautiful Place--Cancun

The Most Beautiful Place

For me, the most beautiful place in the world is anywhere far away from traffic and city lights, where I can watch the sunset, or listen to the waves on the shore, or see a million stars in the sky. Nature can be very beautiful if we take the time to appreciate it. Write about the most beautiful place to you, even if you've never been there. If you cannot think of a real place, describe an ideal place from your imangination. Then, discuss how we can work together to keep that place beautiful.

Happy New Year!

Welcome back! We will start the new year with CELA testing to get it out of the way before CSAPs are upon us in March. If you have questions regarding the CELA test, please contact me or the main office.