Sam

= Welcome To My 5th Grade Year =  Last year I was good at math. I know this because I went to Mrs.Knott's office and got good grades on my math tests. My teacher gave out awards at the end of the year, and I was awarded the Math Award. Math is definitely my favorite subject.

 Last year I wasn't good at utilizing my time. I almost always passed in my work on time, but I did a lot of last minute work on long-term projects. I also had a problem with rushing through work and not double checking. I made A LOT of careless errors even though I knew what to do.   Last year my behavior was pretty good. I know this because I rarely got the "evil eye" and my teacher only had one or two gray hairs with my name on it.   As a 5th grader I would like to learn how to utilize my time better, and double check my work. I can get better at these things if I do more work on long-term projects earlier, and make a mental note to always check work(which I have been working on all trimester).  I wonder if after this year my favorite subject will still be math?

=Reflecting On My Work =   I think I did really well on my burger paragraph. The only reason I got a three is because magnificence was spelled wrong, and that my conclusion wasn't gradual enough. My topic sentence was really good, and my conclusion was even better, but they didn't really go together that much. There were a lot of rich supporting details and strong adjectives. If I had to choose the best writing I've ever done, I'd probably choose my burger paragraph. If I could change my project, I would have double checked magnificence in the dictionary, add a sentence to my conclusion(to make it more relevant to my topic sentence), and added more details.   On my reading tri-folds I got fours, so I think I did well. There were certain questions that I had an enormous amounts of detail, others that had a regular amount, and a few without much detail. On the ones without much detail I could have added detail. I could also have added detail to the ones with a regular amount. Overall, I think that I did really well on my tri-folds.  <span style="color: #d27ef7; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">

My work habits in 5th grade are much better than my work habits in 4th. In 5th grade I have been working on utilizing my time, and I have been succeeding at that. I like the fact that I have been very focused and organized(much more than previous years). Right now my work habits are very good, and the only thing that I have to continue working on is utilizing my time. If I could change something about my work habits I would get better at utilizing my time(I have been doing good on it lately, but I could still be better.

My goals are to be able to solve triangle tribulations, to be an even better writer, to exceed the standards more often, and not to rush. This trimester we did biography posters. I was very satisfied with my project. We did an acrostic poem, a diamante poem, a letter from the editor, a crossword puzzle, a venn diagram, a fact and opinion sheet, and a paragraph about their greatest accomplishment. I studied Stonewall Jackson. In writing, we did a how to paragraph. I wrote about Hide and Seek. In science, we had science stations. We mainly focused on plate tectonics and everything related to them. This is my vocabulary jeopardy game that I made in literacy. It stumped the class!!!! http://jeopardylabs.com/play/vocabulary308

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 224.4%; text-align: center;">This is my Lewis and Clark Power Point Presentation that I did in computer. I studied Meriwether Lewis. dasselin.wikispaces.com

Reflecting on My Work Part II

In Social Studies we read the book: Our Journey West. After, we did three reader responses of our choice about the book. As the main Social Studies project, we did a video camera project in which we invented a story about how we went west. In my case, I went to California for gold, but once there, I decided to sell goods to the prospectors. Along the way, my brother died from a wagon accident, many people died from cholera, and there were other mishaps. Overall, I thought the project was really fun, and I liked that there were many cases where I could exceed the standard. I got the project done on time, but the last two days were crunch time. I'm glad I was able to do this project, and I hope future classes can do it.

In Literacy, I did another journal writing piece. The writing I did was outside my box for two reasons. One, it was a story that a Native American tribe might invent to explain things in nature. Two, it was about animals, which I also rarely do. Even though I was outside my box, I got all fours, particularly because I just applied my regular writing skills to the story. I also wrote the most creative writing piece I have ever written. Called: My Wild Self, the story was about how J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a book in which a character wasn't described enough. To describe it more, he asked a group of scientists to recreate the character. They did, and he was able to describe it. But for some reason, he let the creature go, and it terrorized the world. Because it had animal characteristics, it could call certain animals to attack the world. So it invaded London with its army. The scientists made a wall around London, trapping it in. The creature used its last form of defense, burying itself in the ground. Tolkien knew that the creature would only do this if it was in total despair, so he went to the mountains as a madman. He was never seen again. As for the creature, it fell asleep for fifty years. When it woke up, it forgot its identity and lived as a worm.

I am most proud of.... <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 204%; text-align: center;"> The things that I am most of are my fantasy project, my video project, my journal writing pieces, and my wild self. I am proud of these things because I spent a long time working on them and got a good grade. These projects were also fun to work on.

My Favorites....

My favorite project was my fantasy project. It was fun doing a project with multiple things that needed to be done. But, my favorite project may soon be my independent book project. I'm still working on it. Obviously, my favorite field trip was the Boston Museum of Science. I liked the incubator station where I got to see a chick hatch. The math exhibit was also fascinating. Okay. This is going to be a toughie. What was my favorite read aloud? I'd have to say that Leon and the Spitting Image was the best. The characters were so diverse, and you could never predict what would happen. At first, I thought it was realistic fiction. Then, three fifths of t way through, it turned into fantasy! There was a cliff-hanger at the end of every chapter. So far, my favorite topic is the Civil War. It is interesting to learn about what back then, but heart-wrenching to hear about the slaves. I can't wait 'till our Civil War novels project! We will pick books before vacation.

Character traits: responsible, studious, conscientious, keen, trustworthy, and a lover of sesquipedalian words.

jeopardylabs.com/play/enter-title16440

media type="file" key="Sam R..mov" align="center"