Realistic Fiction Partner Share: Wednesday December 1!

It's time to share our writing once again! With the end of Realistic Fiction writing unit, we will be celebrating publishing with our partners. Please feel free to drop in!

Today is Steele's Special Day!

A Tessellation of Our Tessellations

What wonderful tessellations we received!
Here is a tessellation of our tessellation. If you are interested in creating your own tessellation online, check out this site. It lists several great interactive tessellation-creation websites. Thanks to Aileen (Ewan's mom) for passing it on.

Best of luck on your assessment tomorrow!

Now Available On Our Blog!

Ewan, Dasha, Jose & Ethan M.'s ground-breaking social studies video on Verrazzanno is now on our class blog! Scroll down or click here to take a look!

Thanksgiving Feast! {A Pictorial}

What a delicious spread! Thanks to all who fed us.

The guys of 5-316 wait on the long line for food.

Ethan S. sketches to pass the time in line.

After 2 servings, the gals are ready to smile.

Anna and a pumpkin cupcake.

5-316 Limbo!

Waiting for the raffle results.

The many versions of "unstructured time".

Mr. Rhombus (Steele's creation) wishes you and your family a happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to the entire 5th grade community for a wonderful event!

Social Action Cycle 1: Talking Back to Our World

With the end of the social studies unit we have the opportunity to take action on a social issue of our choice. We collected many issues that surfaced during our discussions and lessons. Each of us selected one we were passionate about and took action. Here is a sampling of how we "talk back". Also, check out our hallway for some of our social action posters!

Anna wrote a letter to McDonalds and urged them to consider the health of their customers!

Dear The McDonalds Company,

I have read tons of books about fast food and how bad it is for kids and people all ages. Did you know that some teenagers that eat at your restaurants are having surgery? Well its true.

I and many other people do agree that your food has tons of bad chemicals and other things that I cannot name. If I were you, I would still make the same food, but healthy. A lot of unhealthy families are coming to your restaurants because of the price, but they don’t approve with there health. So I beg you to please do something about this because this affects the world and people.

                                 

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Anna

Letters are also on their way to President Obama and First Lady Michelle. Jack lets the President know his thoughts on war while Danea addresses her concerns about pollution with our First Lady.

Ethan S. made a compelling video about torture.

Cielo made a thought-provoking film on poverty.


Blogging about social issues:
Andres did a blog posting on genocide here.

Mollie created a Women's Rights page on her blog; watch it grow here.

Nika spread word about how wrong child labor is on her blog, here.

Gabby posted her video on child abuse to YouTube; see it here.


Bumper Stickers! Slogans by Anna, Andres and Solva:

Getting Mollie in the Class Picture, Attempt #2

Ok, I think this is the best I can do. Welcome to the class picture, Mollie!

Turning Desk Decorations into Cupcakes

Some of you may notice tomorrow that the two pumpkins that were on my desk are gone! With the Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow, I thought we ought to give them new life, in the form of delicious pumpkin cupcakes! "Processing" pumpkin is easier than you'd imagine... and fun! And eating cupcakes ain't that bad either. Try one tomorrow and let me know what you think!
- Karen

Recipe for the pumpkin cupcakes:

1/4 cup soymilk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup vegan granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with liners.

Whisk apple cider vinegar into soymilk and let sit to curdle.

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl.

Mix in oil, vanilla, pumpkin and soymilk mixture into dry. Mix until combined. The batter is a bit thick. Add some soymilk, if need be.

Fill up lines about 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool!

Vegan "buttercream" icing:

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening [Earth Balance is best.]

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine [Earth Balance again.]
3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain soymilk

Beat the shortening and margarine together with handheld blender until well combined and fluffy.
Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Documentary Lunch Club Public Service Announcement!

PSA: Toothpaste from K.Z. on Vimeo.

Zander, Anna and Dasha created their first PSA to inform the world about some of the dangerous ingredients in toothpaste. Check it out! We'll screen the informative video in class next week.

Getting Mollie in the Class Picture, Attempt #1

No, no. This will not do.

Raising Money for a Great Cause: Our Trip!

Andres and Issy, the creators of the fabulous raffle stand pictured above, have brought 5th grade fundraising to a new level. Giving up their lunch, determined to see through their idea of promoting our raffle, the self-motivated partnership created this stand with the help of Mrs. Kimball. With this kind of action, the 5th grade is going to raise a great deal of money!

A Food Inquiry

After some research in the computer lab, we learned what many processed food ingredients were. These ingredients were in the food labels we collected a few weeks back. We learned that popular processed foods are often very complicated, containing chemical names we find hard to pronounce! To help share what we learned outside of the classroom, we "became" our researched ingredient. 

The Age of Exploration

All of your great work was highlighted at our first-ever Social Studies project presentations! Each of you was part of a collaborative team, cooperating to shape a unique presentation all your own. We all learned a lot about the roots of North America through the accomplishments of some intrepid adventurers from Europe. Bravo to all of the groups!

Ewan, Ethan M., Jose and Dasha's video is below!

Great Job 5-316!

Zander's Special Day!

November Book Notables

Our Read Aloud
Flying Solo (by Ralph Fletcher)
Kids rule! Kids rule! KIDS RULE! Yes, when the substitute teacher doesn't show up, the kids are flying solo in Mr. Fabiano's class. What kind of lessons will the students learn in their teacher's absence? Tune in to Read Aloud to find out!

The Social Studies Book of the Month
The American Revolution (by Douglas M. Rife)
As we move from North American roots [Unit 1] to revolution and expansion in the newly-formed United States [Unit 2], we move to a new S.S. book of the month! The American Revolution is a wonderful interactive book that recounts the battles and conflicts of the American Revolution. It contains many historically-accurate letters to bring to life the facts of this important time period in our nation's history.

The Math Book of the Month
Sir Cumference & the Great Knight of Angleland (by Cindy Neuschwander)
Yes, it is time for Geometry in math! And what better way to get excited about it than an adventure with Sir Cumference? In this fun book, Sir Cumference's quest brings to light a whole slew of geometrical concepts. This is one book of a series of many zany mathematically-charged adventures starring Sir Cumference.