5th Grade Ski Trip

The 5th grade skiing trip at Hidden Valley is a great time for kids to learn to ski and I think that it is important.
The ski trip gives the kids a break from school and it can let you bond with family. Also
the ski trip is fun and it is good exercise for the kids.
Also personally I think that it is important that the kids ski and have fun. We earned it.
The kids with more experience got to go on the ski lift to the top.
Don’t worry the other kids went through and had to pass ski school to be able to go on the mountains.  At the 5th grade ski trip when you go down the hill for the first time wow.  
It is amazing and the wind in your face feels good.
The 5th grade ski trip is just so awesome and fun for the kids.
The kids deserve the day off for all the hard work for 5 years.

by Jacob

Different Perspective Poems: Settlement

King

They serve me,

Of course, not thee,

They bring me riches, land, and gold,

Those loyal men, they don’t have to be told,

What to do or what to find,

For their minds are carefully aligned,

Since the day they were born,

They honored me,

Of course, not thee,

I can sit back, relax, all day long,

And forever hear the joyful song,

Of being rich, powerful, almighty,

(Though I admit: I still sleep in a nightie)

But I know that you will never see,

How good it is to me,

(Of course, not thee)

Native Americans

They speak a foreign language,

One that none of us can understand,

And yet here they are, on our land,

They have very strange faces,

They must be people of the sky,

For they are very different from

Him, or her, or I.

Our people watch from the dark,

Then a voice from outside strikes,

Like a spark,

We creep out of our hiding spot,

To see what message they have brought,

They signal to us that all they want is peace,

So instead of fighting,

We have a grand feast,

Now that peace between is

Settled and laid,

We gather our items,

to trade

Loyalists

He is my leader, my king, my guide,

I follow him with trust and pride,

His wish is my command,

So here I am, pushed away from the land,

I am at sea, but not to flee,

Instead to search for beautiful gold,

So I can get money,

Sit back, and unfold,

For I am him,

And he is I,

And I have not told a lie.

Patriots

My life was crumbling,

Down the drain,

In England,

My heart was strained,

I wished for

Freedom

Justice

Change

So I got on a ship

And sailed away,

Into the sunset,

Gold and pink,

And hoped that my ship

Would not sink.

Poems written by Sara and Grace

 

A Merge of Cultures

Story teller

Performers from the Scott Joplin House

     What an incredible evening we had at Glenridge.  The halls and classrooms were filled with sounds of music, stories, history, and learning.  Any who attended were taught about the vast accomplishments of African-Americans in our history.  We not only got to learn about Scott Joplin and his significance to Missouri, ragtime, and American music but got to hear his music played.  Students and families also had an opportunity to design their own quilt as they learned about the underground railroad and the special messages of safety and hope certain quilts possessed.  Several 5th graders assisted in the garment station, helping students try on traditional African clothing.  Down in the the art room we had a duel presentation of throwing clay on a potter's wheel and listening to the inspiring story of "Dave the Potter," read by our own Mr. Morris.  The entire school was decorated with student artwork, designed to celebrate various artists and techniques from around the world.  What a wonderful night of cultural enrichment this was!

Student work - highlighting African-American accomplishments

Cooper (5th Grader) taking a picture of a Kindergartener in African clothing

Demonstration of creating a pot on a potter's wheel

Mr. Morris reading "Dave the Potter" by Laban Carrick Hill

Recess

Recess is fun and games. Everyone’s itching to get out of P.E. or whatever they’re  doing to get their free time. When the doors open everyone is racing to get out to their spots where they play things from reading or tag and a competitive game of football.
    Speaking of football a few issues get into the game with all the competition. When it gets too far it gets put to a stop with bans for a day to possibly the whole year. We have a few witnesses of what they think is the problem. Here’s Cooper, “People are being too competitive. They’re causing arguments for no reason.”  We have another witness, Will, “People are being aggressive and hurting each other.”
    A few good things have come out of recess too. Everyone who plays kickball has a lot of fun with no arguments.
    Everyone is itching to get out of their work and have a little free time with fun and games but one grade is itching to get out there the most, that grade is 5th grade. This will be their last year of recess. We have a few 5th graders with their opinion on this being their last year of recess. This is Charlie, “I’m excited, recess has been getting boring.” I personally agree with his opinion. We have Grace telling us her opinion, “I’m kind’ve sad I think kids need exercise but I’m glad we still have P.E.” Most 5th graders are sad about this being their last year of recess and most of us wish we had recess in 6th grade.
    By Tyler

Wydown Fall Play

     Earlier in the year, we went to a middle school play, called "The Great All American Musical Disaster".  We walked from Glenridge to Wydown.   When we walked to Wydown, there was a huge pile of fifth graders, and there was a separated part of the group almost a quarter mile away.  But we all got there and sat in the auditorium and saw the play.  We thought that the play was very good. It was so funny. One of my favorite parts was when the news anchor, who seemed so nice, yelled “GET ME A DIET COKE! NOW!” Another one of my favorite parts was when they were chasing Jr. Dover, Jr. all around the stage.

THANKS WYDOWN! We look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks for your musical!

by Leo

Holiday Sing

     On the last hour of the last day of school for the holiday break each grade sings a holiday song at the Holiday Sing. The 4th and 5th grade chorus also performs a few holiday songs.  Everyone is always so anxious, and the teachers coming out dressed as different reindeer really makes the room excited for Christmas! Even if it takes longer than the school day sometimes, like this year it ended at 3:45 no one even cares because everyone just wanted Christmas to come.  The Holiday sing is something that everyone is excited for and everyone prepares for a long time to sing their song! The Holiday sing is something everyone wants to go to and everyone looks forward to! Thanks to Mrs. Williams for getting each grade ready with a song AND working with the chorus!
By Emma

The Botanical Gardens

This field trip was one of my favorites and I’m sure I’m not the only one. We spent the whole day sitting in the beautiful gardens and writing. I know it may not sound very provoking but it gave us a chance to relax and “Take the day off.” They gave us a packet to work on while we were there but I think the gardens were the best place to work and keep your mind focused. It is very peaceful without the normal chatter and bell ringing that you hear everyday at school. This field trip taught us many things like how to make detailed observations and we even got to test our artist skills and also look at those of others intertwined in the beautiful sculpture art. We ended the day with a leisurely stroll through Oak Knoll Park. It was a very calm and relaxing day.

By Sara

The Botanical Gardens field trip was one of my favorite field trips ever. It gave me an opportunity to write poetry in total peace, look at nature, and draw. Those are actually three of my favorite things to do, and I think a lot of my peers would agree. The Botanical Gardens field trip also helped me prepare for my long fifth grade year by giving me some peaceful time to think about the leadership ahead of me. Also, during this field trip we not only got to walk through the Botanical gardens, but we got to take a little trip to Oak Knoll Park, too! I hope we get to take a field trip like this again!

By Grace

Kindergarten Reading Buddies

In fifth grade we are working with the kindergarteners and to help them improve their reading skills.  In the beginning of the year the kindergarteners were slow with reading skills but as we moved on, the kids were pointing out words they knew or saying phrases in the book.  We later brought "I Spy" books to the kindergarteners and discovered that they were a bigger challenge for them.  Again we noticed that they were improving and getting better with the "I Spy" books.  This started to get easy for the kindergarteners. We started to play logic  games half of the time and the other half for reading.  The logic games taught them to extend their response.  This also gave the kindergarteners an opportunity to improve their reading and logic skills at once.  By the end of the year we expect them to be better than ever.  

By Will and Cooper