Ms. Shields' Class

Ms. Shields' 5th Grade Creek View Elementary Alpharetta, GA

Soon it will be August! The new year will be full of changes. Students will be setting their sights on Middle School and preparing themselves for greater responsibilities.
K. Shields

Dear Parents and Students:
What will the new year bring? I will continue teaching Reading and Language Arts and Science. Ms.Moor will be teaching Math and Social Studies. I will continue incorporating a classroom wiki and edmodo and seeking new global projects.

Be on the lookout for more growth and discovery in your students. Students will learn to become better communicators, problem solvers and to use their skills and creativity. Each student has something special to offer and it's my job to find out what it is. You will be surprised at how much you already know and how much more we can learn together this year. I am very interested in developing leadership skills among my students. They will be managing classroom projects and making important decisions about their work.

My focus will continue to be on Visible Thinking. With my help, students will experiment with new ways to communicate their ideas. They will see how technology can enhance and extend their publishing reach, their writing skills.

Highlights from past years:
2011-2012
I am grateful to my first bunch of 5th grade students. Thank you for your willingness to entertain some of my crazy ideas. Thank you too for following my lead and for revealing your amazing strengths and passions.

My last year in grade 3 ended on a high note with a play written, acted and directed by students. It was based on the book, The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl. The last week of school they performed in our classroom to 4 audiences including 3rd grade peers from other classrooms, kindergarten, first grade and family members plus our supportive administrative staff! In my view it was a culmination of all they'd learned throughout the year. They worked collaboratively by scene to write their lines, wrote summaries of their scenes to share with the class and to include in the program. They drew set designs and helped to decorate they elected actors for key roles via tryouts. The planning, preparation and practice engaged them on every level. These future leaders are beginning to grasp their potential as a team and it's very exciting to see them actively learning.

The Inspired Classroom
The IC classroom model was implemented in December of 2009 in my classroom. It affords the students with greater access and more opportunities for blending technology for collaborative communication.The foundation for the model relys on a simple free classroom wiki. We use www.pbworks.com.

It has nearly replaced my use of this asynchronous website because it enables me to interact with students in a safe contained location online in real-time. It's like an extension of our classroom and the students who have access at home can, and do contribute to the wiki on their own time as well. (Note: Weebly has now made multi-site editing a feature!)

The students have developed more confidence to create and contribute via the wiki. They have learned the importance of respecting this shared space and the value of thoughtful comments. Their enthusiasm has encouraged me to set up bite-sized assignments that they can do as enrichment activities. Cyber Safety naturally arises as a meaningful topic when your class is on the web daily.
This school year, I know my students have developed 21st century problem solving skills. They know they can take ownership and responsibility for their own learning.

Animate Your Own Story

Our site of the week is a visual storyteller's dream. The movie feature allows users to layer the actions including, text, sound, animation and transitions. kerpoof is a simple sequencing tool.

Heat Unit Flash Cards

Go to Cramberry and login in:
user name: creekview
PW: cheetah

Her name was Cucumber!

She lived for 3 and a half years! If anyone would like to donate funds for a new Giant Tropical Millipede, I have a vacant terrarium ready for a new arrival. Last time, I used my science camp mini grant to purchase a giant millipede for the classroom and the gentile giant arrived. We have observed it both inside its' habitat and on a tray. It curled up like a shell. Students were eager to touch the shell.

Give a Pig a Pancake...

I taught Kindergarten for 5 years and this is a sample activity. I like to include it because it makes me smile and these students are now in 4th grade! The Wild Horse Group, aka The Cookers of Creek View with the help of Grant's mom made and dcorated pancakes on Wednesday, September19. First the student in charge of the dry ingredients measured and mixed their ingredients. Next, the wet ingredients were added and the mixture became batter. Mrs. Robertson assisted by pouring the batter on the griddle. She produced 7 perfectly round golden pancakes. The students used some chocolate chips and a large marshmallow to make faces on the pancakes. Ella created a pig by placing two chips on top of the marshmallow! Each student was given a little puddle of syrup for dipping. Now we know that if you give a student a pancake they'll probably ask for more!

This year Ms. Moor & I will be sharing a class wiki called, One Curious Year. Here are some previous wikis. Take a look at our 2011 Wiki and our PUBLIC edmodo page or the 2010 Wiki

This is a workspace for student projects both collaborative and independent. Students have individual logins. It is open only to family members as viewers. The wiki is by invitation only for students and parents.

makebeliefcomix.com

studying for your weekly spelling test has never been easier.

MATH LIVE

From Alberta, Canada - This is what we need more of to support student math achievement!

Welcome Parents &Visitors

Parents should always head to the BLOG pages for the latest classroom information. Please email me or ask your child for the password! Visitors: It is nice to know there are so many of you exploring our classroom web pages! You may like to read my professional development blog, also ripplingpond.

Virtual keyboard? Cool!

Wolfram Alpha - I can just enter a fraction and get the percentage. Try it 23/27, what's your grade?

Creek View Elementary

We have a wonderful principal, Matt Rogers! He is an avid runner and supporter of fitness for boy and mind. He enjoys working with our dynamic community of parents, students and teachers. I'm proud to be part of this dynamic team!

Sparkle has retired from travel...

Sparkle has visited several students this fall and he looks forward to future excursions. It's true he doesn't travel light. His cage is a bit awkward to carry and he always packs his bedding, hay food and his own personal cheetah pattern tote. The tote was donated by his dear friend Callie. Sparkle has only good things to say about his time with Thea, Callie and Mary. They made him feel right at home. Now that he is in his golden years, an old man by rabbit standards, he no longer visits homes other than Ms. Shields'. It makes him to anxious. He feels insecure. I'm sure you can understand how he feels.

A Recent Classroom Visitor

The Georgia Wolf Spider is a frequent winter guest! When it gets rainy and cold, they tend to slip in through the cracks.

Identify Verb Tenses

GA DOE Provides a Guide

Click here to view and print a copy of the CRCT Study Guide for grade 3.

XO Laptop Connecting through Education

On September 19 at 9:30 am several groups of students demonstrated educational applications for the OLPC-XO Laptops. Guests observed the students in action and were able to ask questions about the OLPC program. Some video tape of the event will be available soon so CVES families can view it on our website.

Initially I became involved because I thought we could select the recipients of the donations. I made friends with Martin Sebuliba Victor the chairman of a school/orphanage for displaced Ugandan children through Global Gateway. His organization Springs Alive serves nearly 100 children. They have limited supplies, inadequate housing and difficulty paying teachers to stay on. This is just the type of situation addressed by OLPC but apparently on a much larger scale. They must negotiate with governments. It is a difficult existence and not a day goes by that I don't think about how I can bring them hope. I think my role is to let people know they are there and that they need some new friends.

I am a big proponent of Nicholas Negroponte's OLPC initiative otherwise known as One Laptop Per Child. Rolling out like a tsunami this spring, 100's of thousands of students in 3rd world countries will be receiving their own personal link to the world. I am very pleased to announce that Creek View has become a partner in this program by participating in the Give One Get One plan! Thanks to numerous heartfelt donations from students and several parents and a corporate sponsor, our Media Specialist Diane Briggs placed the order to give 10 and get 10 laptops which we finally received at the end of July!