| Class Videos |
Recent ActivityClass Announcements Congrats Mrs. Burkhart! I got to meet the newest member of the ORAU ECM family last week. Mrs. Burkhart teaches 5th grade at Pigeon Forge Middle School. Her video was amazing so take a look at the $30,000 winning entry.
Mystery Skype with Indiana and Texas 
The students got a double dose of Mystery Skype with Mrs. Allen's class from Texas and Mrs. Bailey's class from Indiana. With the help of some excellent clues, the students were able to locate the two schools. Week 5 Garden   
During the fifth week of the garden, our plants reached new heights. So high, that we are going to have to put in another support pole for the peas. The peas are so large that they are flowing out of the back. Blueberry and raspberry bushes are brimming with berries that are about to turn. I just hope we have some to taste before the kids leave. Week 35 NewsletterWeek 4 Garden     In week 4 of the garden, we added a new section. We planted pumpkin seeds this week. We also picked our radishes. In the place of the radishes, we planted more peppers.Week 34 NewsletterBringing the Soul 
Today the school received a special treat. The students got to leave math early to enjoy the sounds of the Soul Singers. My class has four members: Madeline, Kate, Britt, and Larah. Three of them had speaking parts and al four sung their hearts out. The school enjoyed their spectacular show and showed it with a standing ovation. If you would like to see them, they are singing the National Anthem at the Smokies baseball game on Saturday. Garden: Week 3   
With the abundance of rain and sunshine this week, the garden has really taken off. The students had to string the garden poles because the peas and cucumbers have started to vine. The peppers have finally sprouted through and the radishes are almost ready to be harvested. In the berry box, the blackberries have continued to expand and are covered with flowers. The blueberry bushes are covered with buds and we are hoping the birds do not steal them away. Garden Time    It's garden time in Tennessee! The students planted bell pepper, radish, green bean, and cucumber seeds last week in our garden boxes. They will have to take care of the garden till summer and next year's class will pick up where they left off. Pancake Breakfast
Each year, the PTO puts together a pancake breakfast to raise funds for the school. This year it was at Aubrey's on Papermill. It is a great event where teachers serve their students pancakes, eggs, and bacon. We even got to put out a tip jar. This year I took my family and my daughter had a great time. Easter PowerPoint
Our ePals from Bulgaria sent each of our students a PowerPoint on the Easter holiday. Even though it is a shared holiday, we still have different aspects of the day It is very interesting to see the shared culture of our friends who live thousands of miles away. World Education Games  Right before Spring Break, the students took part of the World Education Games. Students competed with other students from all around the world. In all, the students set a world record with 293,571,830 correct math answers. Magna High Victory  The fifth graders picked up their fourth victory in the Magna High tournament. As of right now, the class is undefeated and they have captured 4 trophies. The school competed with Staunton and Corse Academy from the United Kingdom.Solids and Nets Music VideoDuring production of the newest Math Detectives movie, the need of a solids and nets music video came up to help end the episode. With no luck finding one online, the students created their own.
Class VideosEnergy CartoonsIn science, we are learning about potential and kinetic energy and heat transfer. To help the students grasps this difficult concept, we made cartoons. Take a look at Claire's and Alysia's cartoon. To see other students', check out their blogs.
GoAnimate4Schools.com: Claire and Alysia's Energy Lesson! by Claire B
Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun! A Day of Art 
We have some wonderful special area teachers at Rocky Hill and last Thursday their hard work paid off. Ms. Boyd and Mrs. Bertolini applied and won a grant that brought the Wooden Strings Theater to our school. The company did a puppet making class with each 4th and 5th grade class, worked with 3rd graders on a performance, and put on their own show of Anansi: An African Tale. The students loved making puppets and the show so much, we decided to make our own puppet shows. The students are working on the videos and will be posting them to their blogs. Season Greetings from Bulgaria
The students got a special present when they returned from break, a Christmas card from Bulgaria. Each student received a card with a message on it from their ePal from across the globe. Even though the holidays were over, the students got to relive what makes that time so special. Students Create PowerPoints for EPalsThey added special effects to it but they are not showing up in Slide Share.
Claire's Rocky Hill Power Point! View more presentations from rockyhill. Educreations AppMy new favorite app is Educreations. It is very similar to ShowMe (which we love to use in math) but you are able to get pictures straight from Dropbox and add pages. The students can make their own lessons on a whiteboard, save it on the website, and embed into their blogs. Take a look at Madeline's lesson on similes and metaphors.
Talking with a Friend
Ansh and Allan have a friend in England. They have been writing to him since the beginning of school. Last week, they got to Skype with him and they finally got to meet face to face. The students also have exchanged addresses and sent each other stamps and Christmas cards. Fait-To! with Queenswood My math class took on Queenswood Elementary School from Great Britain last week in a Fai-To! The class kept its winning streak going with a 5-2 victory.Mystery Skype with Texas 
In our 6th Skype challenge, the students met Mrs. Griffin's class from Houston, Texas. With the help of their great clues, the students were able to figure out where their classroom was. From Seed to Stomach Last month, the students literally enjoyed the fruits of their labor. My last year's class planted the seeds and this year's class harvested them.
Studying Space      The iPads are wonderful for studying space. There are almost too many apps! One of the apps we used was Google Earth. The students looked up our ePals from France, Bulgaria, Spain, Israel, and Wisconsin. The students even looked up our school and their homes. The other app we used was Star Walk. The students used the app as a telescope and a star chart. The students also made videos showing rotation and revolution.Veterans Day 
For Veterans Day, we had two special guest talk to our class via Skype. Mr. and Mrs. Platun Skype with the class and answered questions about their service in World War 2. The veterans are the grandparents of one of our teachers, Mrs. Caswell. The students had a fantastic time interviewing the veterans. Our Bulgarian Friends
Through out the year, the students have been writing to
Fai-To!!Challenge 2
In our second Fai-To!, the students took on Our Lady's College Greenhills in Ireland. The students won the trophy in 5 rounds! Way to go math students! Jane Addams and the Hull House To begin Unit 3 Modern America, the students took their study on Jane Addams and the Hull House up a notch. Take a listen to their podcast on the great work Jane Addams did with immigrants.
Claire and Nick's Podcast on Jane Addams Derick and Caroline's Podcast on Jane Addams Diamond and Madeline's Podcast on Jane Addams Eli and Alysia's Podcast on Jane Addams Haley and Branson's Podcast on Jane Addams Kate and Gabriel's Podcast on Jane Addams Podcasts on Inventions To wrap up Unit 2 Westward Expansion, the students created podcasts on important inventions that came after the Civil War. Take a listen!
Allan & Chelsey Inventions Podcast Anna and Haley's Inventions Podcast Britt and Branson on Inventions after the Civil War Diamond and Derick's Inventions Podcast Eli and Ansh's Inventions Podcast Gabe and Nick's Inventions Podcast Hammad and Isaiah's Invention Podcasts Inventions By Claire and Alysia McTeacher Night at McDonalds 
On Tuesday, the teachers picked up a shift at McDonalds to help raise money for our school. Hundreds of Rocky Hillers showed up to support our school and enjoy a meal together. McDonalds held competitions across the county between schools and individual stores held competitions between classes. The school with the most participants gets a prize and so does the highest class at each store. Thank you McDonalds for a great time! Bonjour France
The students got new ePals this week from France. They will be writing to students in Mrs. Calard's 6th grade class. I have been teaming up with Mrs. Calard for the past three years and the students have always enjoyed their French friends. We will be writing to each other weekly and sharing our culture, history, and other educational tidbits. Carving Pumpkins 
Last year my students planted pumpkin seeds among other fruits and vegetables. A couple of days ago, my new students harvested them and carved them. We are entering them in the school pumpkin contest. We are going to have the smiling pumpkin side watching a video with pumpkins in a field and the scared pumpkin side watching a video of the students carving them. When we planted the seeds last year, I had no idea how great they would turn out. I hope the students from last year come to the Pumpkin Party and see how their seeds turned into a story. Heart Prints
Each year the students paint a canvas for our Fall Harvest fundraiser. We are extremely thankful for Mrs. Carter who headed the project. The students really enjoyed painting the trees in the different seasons. Hopefully it raised some money for our school. Where is........Texas and Nebraska The students got a double dose of Mystery Skype this week. On Tuesday, the students met Mrs. Taylor's class from Austin, Texas. On Thursday, the students were introduced to Mrs. Gleades's class from Omaha, Nebraska.
Where is........Oklahoma? In our fifth round of the Mystery Skype Challenge, we paired up with a spectacular class from Oklahoma. Mr. Paul's fourth/fifth grade class gave some excellent clues and we were able to figure out where they were located. With the clue of using sod for houses, the students had it down to either Kansas or Oklahoma. With a few other clues, the students narrowed it down to the correct state.
Fai-To! 
In our first Fai-To! (Pronounced Fight-On in English), we defeated Lodge Park TC from the UK 5-3. A Fai-To is an online math competition between two schools on the incredible math website Mangahigh.com. Our Fai-To hero of the match was Ansh who earned a trophy for his domination on the court. We Got and Sent Mail 
The students received letters from their pen pals from India and Spain last week. It is incredible to see how much the students have in common with someone who lives so far way. The students have already written back to their friends from New Delhi, India and are looking forward to writing back to their friends from Valencia, Spain. Jim Crow Law CartoonGoAnimate4Schools.com: Jim Crow Laws= Claire and Larah by Larah M
Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun!
GoAnimate4Schools.com: Ansh nick jim crow laws by Nick C
Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun!
It's hard to believe at one point our country segregated people because of the color of their skin. To help the students understand the concept of the Jim Crow Laws, they created their own cartoons. Take a look at a couple of students take on the Jim Crow Laws. If you want to see more, visit the students' blogs on the sidebar.
Where is.....Arizona
The Book Fair is Here 
The book fair is here, and it brought aliens with it. The PTO each year partners up with Scholastic Books to help raise money for our library. This year's theme is outer space. So to get the students excited, we had a dress up day to kick off the fair. The PTO turned our gym into a book showcase room with lights, rockets, and space music. The students have really enjoyed shopping between classes. Where is.....North Dakota 
In our second round of the Mystery State competition, we got paired up with Mr. Even's class from North Dakota. The students had to use clues (central time zone, 39th state, Badlands) to guess where the 5th grade class was located. Surprisingly, most of the students figured out the state before I did! Teacher Spotlight
This summer I found out that my class was chosen to be the feature on EPals Teacher Spotlight. I was ecstatic to hear the news and extremely proud of the students' work. Back in May after the state tests, the students wanted to take on a problem that was beginning to spread through the school, bullying. When they made the videos, they had no idea that so many people were going to see them. Thank you EPals for helping to get the message out on this increasing problem in our schools. We Got Mail! 
Today the students received their letters from the Philippines! The letters traveled over 7,000 miles from Berean Christian School in Iligan City. The students are going to write them back today and hopefully build a relationship with someone who lives across the globe.
ShowMe in MathThe students took their learning into their own hands, literally, today in math. They had to use the iPad app ShowMe (which is free!) and make a decimal subtraction problem. The app allows you to upload the video to their website (which is free!) and you can get an embed code for your blog. The students will be posting their videos to their online math portfolio on Tuesday.
Special Guest 
We were very fortunate to have Sarah Jane Wood's mother come in and speak about slavery this week. She is an expert on the subject and travels around the country talking on the topic. Mrs. Wood uses the book The Drinking Gourd to explain how slaves communicated in codes. The students really enjoyed the presentation. Who are You?
Are you a state or a country? What are some famous landmarks in your state? Who are some famous people from your state? These were just a few questions the student asked and answered in our first Mystery State competition. After going round to round with questions the class realized the mystery class was from Georgia. The class from Georgia knew right away who we were after our clue on famous places included Graceland and the Smoky Mountains. We had a great time with Mrs. Ponder's seventh grade class and I know the class is looking forward to the next round of Mystery State. EVERYONE IS ON FACEBOOK 
Well, not everyone. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth are not alive but if they were I bet they would be! The students made fake Facebook profiles for famous abolitionists. You can check out more Facebook pages on the students' blogs. Guess Who 
To spice up Open House, the students made wordles. The students had to describe themselves using adjectives, nouns, and verbs. During the Open House, the parents had to guess which one was their child's. Walking Time in Tennessee
After years of planning and hard work, the PTO opened Rocky Hill's first walking trail. The trail goes around the intermediate playground and through the primary playground. The school had a big kick off to celebrate the occasion. Even though it was a hot day, the students enjoyed being apart of history. Crafty Cells
Students had to bust out their art skills yesterday in science during our craft cell activity. With the help of pasta, beads, pipe cleaners, yarn, and some other random items, students worked with their portfolio partners to create homemade plant and animal cells. The students will be posting their projects on their blogs this Friday so check out their hard work. ONE DOWN 179 TO GO!
What a great first day! It was only a half day, but I really got to know my new students. Now that we have got the forms, schedules, and rules out of the way, tomorrow we will bust out the technology. I can't wait to see what great things these kids are going to do. Videos and Podcasts Slideshows |
Daily Schedule
7:45 - 8:20 Morning Work
8:20 - 9:35 Math 9:40 - 10:25 Specials (Music, Art, Library, PE, Music) 10:25 - 12:20 Reading/Language 12:20 - 12:35 Writing 12:35 - 1:05 Lunch 1:05 - 1:30 Recess 1:30 - 2:35 Science/History Grammar/Writing (Wednesday) 2:35 - 3:50 Tech Club (Wednesday) |
Mrs. Panayotova's class in Haskovo, Bulgaria. They are fantastic ePals, and they write to us every week. The students have written about their school, town, and country. Click 
