09
Apr
2020

Spring Break (Virtual) Adventures – Day 5: Space

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

Buckle up! We’re blasting off to visit a place that I know you haven’t been to before: space!

Have you ever wondered how astronauts live in space? How do they sleep? What do they eat? Why are they even living in space in the first place? If you’d like answers to those questions and more, check out this video tour of the International Space Station. It includes four videos. You could watch all of them or only the ones that interest you.

  • Learn about daily life in these videos:
    • “Station Tour: Harmony, Tranquility, Unity”
    • “Station Tour: Cupola and Leonardo.”
  • Learn more about the laboratories and scientific work in these videos:
    • “Station Tour: Destiny, Columbus, Kibo”
    • “Station Tour: Zarya and Zvezda”

Maybe the thought living in the International Space Station reminds you a little too much of quarantine and you’d rather explore something bigger. Check out this video tour of the moon!

08
Apr
2020

Spring Break (Virtual) Adventures – Day 4: Your Neighborhood April 8, 2020

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

Today I encourage you to have an adventure in your own neighborhood… while you practice social distancing, of course! Mrs. Wysocki created a fun scavenger hunt game for families to play while out taking walks. Our game is hosted on a free app called GooseChase. To play, just download the app to your phone or tablet, enter our game code and password, and off you go! Parents, you received an email on Tuesday afternoon that includes the game code and password. This game is shared among our four 5th grade classes and only has 40 open spots. However, if the games become full, we will create an additional so that you can still play. Our scavenger hunt has missions worth different point values. For most missions, you’ll just need to snap a picture or video of something that you find around your neighborhood or wherever you are out walking. Our game starts today at 8:00 am if you’d like to play along. You have until midnight on April 12 to complete as many missions as possible to be the top of our leaderboard. The missions will change daily. This is a “just for fun” game, but hopefully it’ll brighten up your day just a little!

07
Apr
2020

SPRING BREAK VIRTUAL ADVENTURES – TUESDAY, APRIL 7 

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

Do you love Harry Potter? I know many of you do! One of the places I’d love to visit is Harry Potter World in Orlando Florida! If we can’t physically go there, let’s check out a couple of virtual highlights from the attraction!

Harry Potter Art – If you enjoy art and imagining the stories in different ways, read through an interview with Jim Kay, illustrator of the new editions of the Harry Potter series Here.

Check Out Harry Potter at Home! – Welcome to the Harry Potter At Home hub where you’ll find all the latest magical treats to keep you occupied – including special contributions from Bloomsbury and Scholastic, nifty magical craft videos (teach your friends how to draw a Niffler!), fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world. We’re casting a Banishing Charm on boredom! More at Harry Potter at Home!

Harry Potter: A History of Magic Museum Exhibition – I’m delighted to report that the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition can be virtually explored from the comfort of your couch. Originally housed at the British Library in London, the sprawling display has been available to tour online for nearly two years through the Google Arts & Culture site.

06
Apr
2020

SPRING BREAK VIRTUAL ADVENTURE – MONDAY, APRIL 6!

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

In our classroom this year we’ve learned about some different experiences of groups or people who came to what is now America: We’ve learned or read about:

  • The very first Native Americans who migrated from Asia
  • Early settlers who came from Europe to settle in the colonies for a variety of reasons
  • Kek, from Home of the Brave, a modern day immigrant who came to America to escape civil war in Sudan

Ellis Island was the first stop for more than 12 million immigrants who came to the United States between 1892 and 1954. Did you know that the Statue of Liberty was one of the first things people saw as they arrived in New York at Ellis Island? Who knows? Maybe some of your ancestors arrived at Ellis Island!

I’ve been to New York and I’ve had the opportunity to take a tour of Ellis Island. It’s such a unique place to visit! That is why I decided to tour it today! Click here for an interactive tour of Ellis Island. Click through the tabs at each location for photos, audio, and video! If you take the tour, leave a comment to let me know what you found surprising or interesting.

(Note: Comments on the blog are moderated, so they will not show up until I approve them.)

03
Apr
2020

Spring Break (Virtual) Adventures – Visit National Parks

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

Today was supposed to be the first day of spring break. My family, like many of yours, was so disappointed when we had to cancel the trip we had planned.  We won’t be going to Nashville to visit my son this week, but we will be having all sorts of virtual adventures!

I will not be posting school work this coming week on Google Classroom due to it being our ‘Spring Break’. However, if you are looking for something to pass some of your time than take time to explore some of our national parks! Click here to take virtual tours of these beautiful national parks : Happy travels! 🙂

 

  • Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska)
  • Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (Hawai’i)
  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)
  • Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)
  • Dry Tortugas National Park (Florida)
02
Apr
2020

Fun Science!

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta
HELLO, FRIENDS!

I know that Fridays are the day for science and social studies, but when I saw this, I knew that I wanted to share it with all of you!

Steve Spangler Science has 50 science experiments that you can do at home.

  • You can access them for free by clicking here.
  • They are releasing one each day, but you can go back to previous days’ experiments as well.
  • You could do some of them on your own, and others might require some adult help.
  • Always make sure you have permission from a parent or caregiver.
  • You might even be able to earn some bonus points with your parents if you entertain your younger siblings with some science fun!

If you try any of these experiments, send me an email to let me know how it went. I love your photos and videos!

 

31
Mar
2020

Fun Non-academic Learning Opportunity

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hello, friends!

My family is using our time away from school, sports, and other activities to rest and enjoy the slower pace. One thing I’ve enjoyed is having time to cook and bake. I don’t know about your family, but mine is eating c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y while we’re home.  Well, I’m trying to push my family to know how to prepare a few simple meals beyond Ramen, Easy Mac, or PB&J.

I’ve seen a few free online cooking classes for kids that look like fun, so I thought I’d share them here in case you’re looking for something new or interesting to try during your time at home.

$5 Dinners School Cancellation & Kids Cooking Lessons

  • They post videos on the $5 Dinners Facebook and 1:oo PM EST Monday through Friday.
  • You can also access weekly ingredient/shopping lists and each of their videos at any time using the link above.
  • These are mostly main dish options.

Delish Free Digital Cooking Classes for Kids

  • They post live on the Delish Instagram page at 1:00 PM EST Monday through Friday.
  • Videos remain on Instagram for 24 hours, but if you miss the videos, you can still access the recipes and ingredient lists using the link above.
  • These include main dishes, appetizers, snacks, sweets…a little bit of everything!

Happy cooking!

Students, if you try something, send me an email to let me know what you made and how it turned out.

Love,

Mrs. Walenta

20
Mar
2020

Flipgrid Fun!

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Hi friends,

I already miss your sweet faces, and I am so excited to tell you that some of my coworkers have shared an idea that I love! It is called FlipGrid, and it’s a private spot where I can post short videos and you can respond with your own short videos. I’m looking forward to posting some fun ideas for keeping busy and entertained while we’re not in school.

Check out our class  https://flipgrid.com/87fdc335! You will need to log in to access our grids.

**When logging into FlipGrid, be sure to use your child’s school account. The grids are private to protect privacy so only accounts using @hpsstudents.net will work**

 

Check back as I add more topics and new videos, and of course, add your own! I hope to also add this to our google classroom. Have fun!

17
Mar
2020

categories: News from Mrs. Walenta

Dr. VanderJagt sent an email last night that suggested some schedules and resources for at-home learning, and Mrs. Reagan shared some ideas on the Georgetown Elementary blog

I sent a link for all to check out what Google Classroom is all about. Regardless of what (if anything!) you decide to work on with your child, you are doing just fine! I encourage you to focus on family time. This is a great time to step back and take the time to teach important concepts like humanity, kindness, emotion management. Teach a new recipe or a new craft. Try out a new game or make one up. Go outside and explore the backyard. Build. Create. Play! Take time to do all of the wonderful things that we never seem to have the time to do. And try to breathe. 🙂

Here are some ideas:

If you’re worried about missing math…

  • Bake together and discuss fractions
  • Play Yahtzee! (or any other board game) and count up points
  • Practice number sense by playing what-if games or how-many games
    • “If our dog eats 1 ¾ cups of food for breakfast and the same for dinner, how much does he eat in a week? How many meals can we get out of this bag of dog food? Is it a better deal to get the bigger bag or the smaller bag?”
    • “How many grapes do you think are in this bunch? How many grape bunches do you think they have a Meijer? If there is ___ number of grapes on a bunch and ___ number of bunches, how many grapes is that?!”

If you’re worried about missing ELA…

  • Bake together and have your child read the recipe
  • Read a book together, taking turns reading chapters
  • Have your child read to a sibling or a pet or a stuffed animal
  • Write “piggyback” songs or parodies of popular songs

To sum it up, have fun together!

Lastly, please let me know how I can support you and your family. Your child is my top priority, please let them all know that I deeply miss my 5th graders!

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