More John Henry

John Henry

John Henry

More John Henry

John Henry

John Henry

John Henry- Bad to the Bone

John Henry

More John Henry

This song was sung to The Wizard of Oz.

John Henry Song

This song was made to the tune of The Whole World in His Hands.

John Henry Songs

We have been learning about tall tales in Reading. We recently watched a YouTube clip on John Henry, read the story, and watched the DVD. The students then had to summarize John Henry's life by making up a song. They had to choose a tune for the song that everyone in the group would know. It is interesting to see what type of music they choose as it really shows their personalities. This group chose Boom Boom Pow by the Black-Eyed Peas.

What's Going On...

States and Capitals: The students are learning states, capitals, abbreviations, and locations on the map.  Every Tuesday your child is quizzed over states, capitals, and state abbreviations.  Then, on Friday they take a map quiz to locate each state.  


Basket Raffle: The North Greene Middle School Parent Organization is having a basket raffle.  Each class has been asked to create a basket and the fifth grade chose a gift card basket.  Please send $3.00 with your child to school by November 25.  The money from the basket raffle supports the school and many activities for your child.  You will have a chance to buy tickets at a later date!


AR: I have set a deadline for the students to get seven points by November 30.  They have known about this since the beginning of November, so please remind them to read each evening.  Parents and/or older siblings are more than welcome to read to them or with them.  


Raging Readers: Students received a sheet at the beginning of November to fill out for Raging Readers.  If the students read 300 pages, they will receive a free Raging Rivers Waterpark ticket for the 2010 season!  


Progress Reports: They will come out December 11.  Students need to be turning in their best work!

States and Capitals

Fifth grade students are learning the states and capitals in Social Studies.  Here is a song that will help you learn the states and capitals!

States and Capitals Song- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUDDaEOvuY

Tall Tale Songs

Stay tuned!  The fifth grade students will be creating their own song about John Henry's life after we read the story.  They will get to work in groups and they can sing it to any tune they like.  I will be posting their songs on the blog the week of Thanksgiving.  This is a fun way for them to summarize what happens!  

The Gold Coin

We read "The Gold Coin" in Reading which is about a woman who has a gold coin that a thief would like to steal.  The thief's life is changed by the woman's warmth and compassion.  Before we read the story we discussed material riches and nonmaterial riches.  The students had to draw a picture of something they considered valuable.  Then, we sorted them into material and nonmaterial.  Here were some of their responses!

Material: ring, necklace, chicken leg, American girl doll, computer, X Box, hamburger, guitar, house                                                                                          


Nonmaterial: friends, dog, peace, mom, dad, family, best friend, aunt, cousin

EXCITING NEWS!!!

Last week our school received some great news!  Mrs. Rice and Mr. Stevens worked very hard writing a grant for each of our children to receive their own Apple laptop to enhance their educational experience at North Greene Middle School.  On Thursday, Mr. Stevens received a letter stating our school had been awarded the grant.  The fine details are not yet known, but each child in 4th-8th grade will be given a laptop starting in the fall.  The laptops will give students so many more opportunities!