Space Camp 2015

A few days ago, my 5th grade students and I embarked on our annual adventure to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.  You can read about last year's experience HERE and the year before that HERE.  This year marked my 7th field trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and, as usual, I had the time of my life.  I never tire of this trip!  It does require a tremendous amount of planning, but the fun we have makes it all worthwhile. 

We all met Wednesday morning at 5:45 EST and left on our chartered bus by 6:00 a.m.  We arrived at Space Camp around 1:15 p.m. CST and began the check in process.  After being assigned to our dorms, we had orientation. 

While at orientation, all the school groups at Space Camp gathered in one large room and, to my surprise, I noticed a familiar face from another school group.  My best friend from high school was standing a few feet away from me!  I ran up to her--we both squealed in excitement and hugged since we hadn't seen each other in over 10 years!  We now live states apart; she just happened to be at Space Camp as a chaperone for her son's field trip.  What a small world!

After Orientation, we were sorted into groups.  My team's name was Team Carpenter (after Mercury astronaut, Scott Carpenter), and our camp counselor was Ms. Victoria:

We created a team chant, which I later learned was essentially from Bob the Builder.  I've never watched Bob the Builder, so I had no clue about the connection.  I just thought that the chaperone who suggested the chant was quick-witted and creative!  Whenever Victoria said, "Team Carpenter," we yelled, "CAN WE BUILD IT?"  Followed by, "YES, WE CAN!"  This was fun to say, especially when it came time to build our rockets.  ;) 

We did so much on Day 1 and were exhausted by bed time.  Seriously, the kids were begging for bed time!  To sum up, my team explored the Rocket Park, rode the G-Force simulator, competed in a Museum Hunt, created a mission patch, ate dinner, constructed rockets, and learned about the Mercury, Gemini, and Shuttle programs.

Moon rock from the Apollo 12 mission.

We also ran in to Karl with a K!  To understand the significance of this encounter, read last year's post.

Day 2 started with breakfast at 8:30 a.m., but most of my students were up by 7:00 a.m. (some even earlier!?).  I was a little surprised because students in the past have been dragging on the second morning due to the exhaustion from Day 1.  These kids were energized and ready to hit the ground running!

On Day 2, we had beautiful weather, which was a huge blessing because there had been a 70% chance of rain forecasted.  The day's activities included training for our mission, riding the MAT (Multi-Axis Trainer) Simulator, visiting Miss Baker's grave, going to the gift shop, exploring the Davidson Museum...and stumbling upon a special surprise while in the museum...

When we entered the museum, I noticed several gentlemen in white coats walking around and talking to various guests.  While my group was looking at a display near the moon rock, one of the men came up to us and began talking about some of the items on display.  We found out that the men in white coats were retired NASA workers who now serve as docents for the Davidson Museum.  We were standing in the presence of Craig Sumner, who had worked on the Lunar Roving Vehicle as a NASA test subject and trained the Apollo astronauts to drive said Moon Buggy! 

His photo from the 1970's:

We really enjoyed listening to his stories:

We also met Ron Brock.  He had worked with Wernher von Braun and told us fun stories as well.  I loved hearing his impressions of von Braun!  He mimicked the German accent perfectly and told us about his interactions with the famous rocket scientist.  I was thrilled to have this experience; I felt like I'd met celebrities....of course, I'm a big space nerd! 

After the high of this encounter, we went to the area where we would complete our mission.  Some students were assigned to the International Space Station where they worked on science experiments.  Other students were assigned to the space shuttle orbiter where they were "launched into space."  The adults were assigned to Mission Control.  We all had different roles, and the simulated mission felt very real.  Once it was over, I felt we had done incredibly well.  We had very few mistakes, and the kids took their roles seriously and acted professionally.  I felt confident that we could win "Best Mission."  At one point during the mission, however, as we were landing the shuttle, I noticed that our payload bay doors had been left open.  I was sooo disappointed!  Thankfully, there was just a glitch in the computer/visual, and this "mistake" did not count against us.  Whew!  I jokingly told one chaperone, "If we don't win Best Mission, I'm gonna demand a recount and request to see the score sheet!"  Yes, they grade each group's mission, and we competed against 10 other groups at Space Camp.

 We were able to see the crew in the ISS and the orbiter:

I was the Flight Director.  The crew could blame me if our mission wasn't successful!  I told them, "Failure is NOT an option!"  ;)

In addition to our mission, my group also rode Space Shot, launched our rockets, rode the 5DF chair simulator, watched a few videos and listened to presentations about what NASA is currently doing, and played Space Bowl on Day 2. 

After saying our team chant over and over on Day 2, these silly girls made up an extended version:

The last comment is cut off at the end: "Oh, why bother?  We don't even need it!"  ;)

Day 3 started with a group devotion.  I led it, and our scripture focus was Joshua 4:1-8.  Just like in previous years, I gave each person a "Space Camp Memorial Stone," and they shared how God blessed them on this trip.  We had spent months praying about this field trip in the classroom, so all of the students were able to see how God answered specific prayers that had been lifted up.  After our devotion and prayer time, we ate breakfast, rode the Mars Mission simulator, climbed the Mars Rock Wall, graduated, and enjoyed Space Dots (ice cream) before boarding the bus and heading home. 

At graduation, awards were handed out.  Guess what?!  Team Carpenter won "Best Mission!"  That's three years in a row that my team has won this award!  I was so proud!  My principal came on this trip as well, and her team (the other half of my class--Team Cernan) won the highest score in Space Bowl!  This was her second year to win Space Bowl!  We were thrilled!

As you can tell, I love this trip.  Space Camp allows us to experience new things, learn more about space history/travel, see space memorabilia, and bond with each other.  This field trip has given me wonderful memories over the years that I will treasure forever.

I'll leave you with one last video: Karl with a K, my team's counselor from last year, met up with us right before we left, and treated us to a song he wrote to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"  It's titled, "Do You Want to Build a Rocket?"

Biography Book Report 2015

Yesterday, the 5th graders presented their biography book reports, and we held a Character Breakfast.  At the beginning of the month, I required the students to choose a biography on either a president, president's wife, or figure from the American Revolution in order to correlate with our reading unit, "Making a New Nation."  The students read their books on their own throughout the month and then came to school dressed as their character on the last day of the month.  Each child had to share about the life and accomplishments of their character as if they actually were that person. 

For those who are interested, you may click the following for links to: the instruction sheet, the grade sheet, and a Fact Sheet sample.

This year, we had the following famous people at our breakfast:

Molly Pitcher

Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Eleanor Roosevelt

Betsy Ross

John Adams

Martha Washington

I'm not exactly sure what Martha is doing, but you can always count on Mrs. Washington to be expressive and dramatic.  I mean, just look at her reaction when Ben Franklin walked in the room!  

Anyway, back to the introductions:

Rosalyn Carter

Abraham Lincoln

Abigail Adams

Mary Todd Lincoln

George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and George H.W. Bush

As you can see, we had the pleasure of having a few couples sharing with us, as well as multiple members of the Bush family. 

John and Abigail Adams

Abe and Mary Lincoln

We also welcomed Benjamin Franklin, but he was so busy socializing that I was unable to get a photo of him alone:

Benjamin Franklin and John Adams

Discussing the events leading up to the American Revolution:

 Uh-oh...Adams just called Franklin a "Loyalist."

 Things started to get a little intense!

 I had to step in and break up this argument.  ;)

 Now, Lincoln is about to get an ear-full!

 George H.W. Bush thinks it's all quite humorous:

 Once things calmed down, the guys were able to take a civilized photo:

 It was so much fun to be in the presence of such famous people!  Once word got out about their appearance, they were surrounded by Mom Paparazzi:

We enjoyed learning about each person while we ate donuts and fruit and drank milk, orange juice, and water.  The parents/paparazzi provided breakfast for us, and we were so grateful. 

100th Day of School

Today we celebrated our 100th day of school.  As you know, this is typically a celebration for younger grades, but 5th grade actually celebrated this year because of our Every Day Counts: Calendar Math program.  We started using this program last year in order to complement our Math In Focus: Singapore Math program.  EDC (Every Day Counts) is one of the first things we do each day, and it only takes around 10 minutes to discuss a variety of concepts including measurement, geometry, patterns, money, time, place value, graphing, probability, etc. (the concepts change each month).  HERE is a brief clip of me leading one of our discussions at the beginning of the year (I intentionally did not call students by name).

Since the first day of school, we have been counting each day in decimal form, using hundredths.  We write each day/number in decimal form, fraction form, and a percentage so the students can see the connections between decimals, fractions, and percents.  Because we are counting in decimals, our 100th day marked "1 Whole" for the 5th graders:

We celebrated by walking next door to Circle K and getting Polar Pops:

This was a special treat because the students never get sodas, and we've never walked off campus to get these treats.  It was a surprise mini "field trip" that everyone enjoyed!

Happy 100th/"1 Whole" day of school!

P.S.  Just for some silly fun, here's a video showing 100 people, ages 1 to 100 (in chronological order), playing the drums: 

Grandparents' Day Program 2014

Yesterday, we held our annual Grandparents' Day Program, and I wanted to share with you the skit that my 5th graders performed.

To read more about Grandparents' Day and view last year's skit, click HERE.

While my students set up their props on stage, I greeted the audience and introduced the skit.  I reminded the crowd, "If you have come to our Grandparents' Day Program in the past, you know that 5th grade usually performs some type of skit.  What you may not realize is that each skit is unique and different and reflects my current group of students' grandparents.  I gather my students together each year and ask them to share with me what they love most about their grandparents, what makes you all special, etc.  They answer my questions and tell stories about you, and based on that information, I write a script.  So today, as my students portray grandparents and grandchildren in this lighthearted skit, be aware that you may recognize yourself on stage!"

I must say, writing skits is not my forte, and I had a few stressful moments as we prepared for this event.  We had sound/microphone issues during rehearsals, and on the morning of the program, I learned that two students would be out sick.  Panic!  Thankfully, one of my students came up to me and said, "I know ______ isn't here today, but I memorized her lines last night and am ready to step in and play her part."  Relief!  I was SO impressed that this child had taken the initiative to memorize her friend's lines.  She saved the skit!!  We also rearranged a few more students in order to make up for the other child's absence.  I learned, "The show must go on!"     

Considering all we went through, the students did a fabulous job, and I am so proud of their flexibility, perseverance, and hard work.  I hope the grandparents were blessed!