Mr. Sullivan's Blogotastic Page

Grade 5 Media Agreement

Grade 5 Internet Parent Guide

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I can’t believe the school year is over!  Ms. Gabbert and I created a pecha kucha for you to help you survive the summer without school.

We hope you enjoy!

Filed under: Homework, Reading  |   Tagged under pecha kucha, Saigon South International School, SSIS, Sullivan, survival guide | 1 Comment »

I am very excited about some of the Market Day projects I have been seeing!  I can’t wait for Market Day so I can spend some money and invest in some companies.  Make sure you are fulfilling all of the project requirements outlined on the Market Project criteria sheet.

Advertisements for your product or service are due Monday.  We have been discussing marketing and analyzing advertisements this week.  Please watch these two videos.  They will help you better understand how companies try to persuade you to buy products and services.  You many also consider using some of these techniques in your own advertisements.  Remember to keep detailed record of all of your expenditures for creating your advertisements.  And consider the SSIS Advertising Fees if you plan to display a poster.

I am looking forward to seeing your advertisements on Monday.

Filed under: Homework, School, Social Studies  |   Tagged under Economics, market day | Comments Off

As you all end your elementary career at SSIS I think this project is a wonder fit.  We are currently writing personal memoirs, so creating a pecha kucha of personal memories as elementary students at SSIS was perfect.  Thanks to all of you who put forth your best effort and created a narrated slide to the best of your abilities!  You are truly awesome students!

Use this rubric to self assess your slide.

Filed under: Reflections, School, Tools, Uncategorized, Writing  |   Tagged under pecha kucha, Personal Memoir, Saigon South International School, SSIS, student reflection, Sullivan | Comments Off

I hope you all have enjoyed our government unit.  It’s always one I enjoy teaching and discussing with the class.  And it’s fun to be a dictator for the day!

Please review these Brainpop videos and complete the “Pros and Cons of Different Forms of Government” that we have been working on in class.

• Democracy
• Communism
• Monarchy
• Dictator

Watch the following slide show.  Each slide represents a different form of government we have been studying.  Look over your notes and read the research materials you have been given.  Each slide should remind you of one of the forms of government we have studied (federal republic, communism, socialism, monarchy, dictatorship).

Each picture has a number.  On paper or electronically you should use the numbers to tell which form of government you think the picture represents.  If you are not sure just use your best judgement to eliminate some and choose from what’s left.

Additionally you need to write a brief explanation telling why you chose that form of government.  What about each picture makes you think it represents the form of government you chose?  We will discuss your explanations tomorrow before the test.

Filed under: Social Studies  |   Tagged under comparative government, government, Saigon South International School, SSIS, Sullivan | Comments Off

Photo by woodleywonderworks Some rights reserved

On Thursday we will have a paper airplane contest.  We will throw our airplanes from the second floor walkway towards the playground.  There will be three categories:

• Distance – We will measure the distance from the walkway in a straight line towards the playground.  Farthest distance wins.
• Flight time – We will time the flight from the time you release the plane until it lands on the ground.  Longest flight time wins.
• Target – We will place a hula hoop on the ground near the closest sideline of the basketball court.  Whatever airplane lands closest to or in the target area wins.

Think of this contest as a science experiment.  We need to have a fair test!

These are the constants:

• You may have up to three different designs.  But you must use all of the designs you bring to the contest.  For example, you may have one design for distance, one for flight time and one for target.
• You may use one sheet of A4 paper or less for each airplane.
• You may use up to two inches of regular tape for each plane.  More that two inches and your plane will be disqualified.
• You can decorate your plane with color (markers, pencils, crayons), but no other materials besides paper and tape may be used.

The independent variable is your airplane design!

Do some research.  There are lots of different airplane designs out there.  Different designs will have different outcomes.

Watch this video.

Have fun!

Filed under: Math, School, Science, Tools  |   Tagged under paper airplane contest, SSIS | Comments Off

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of an animal?  As I’ve been looking at all of your cool “super species” projects, I was wondering what the world would look like through their eyes.  I found this infographic that answered many of my questions.  Check it out!

Filed under: School, Science  |   Tagged under animals, infographic, science, super-species, vision | Comments Off

I have seen some amazing super-species work going on!  Now you need to share your super-species with the world.

You need to use your blog as a ‘container’ to host all of the different things you have created to teach us about your super-species and the ecosystem in which it lives.  I have seen pictures and pdfs, PowerPoints, Prezis, videos, and more.  I want you to gather all of these electronic pieces of information and create a blog post to teach the world about  your super-species.

Don’t forget to add categories and tags.  You can also add it to your ePortfolio if you want to share it at Learning Journeys.

Filed under: Artifacts, School, Science, Tools, Writing  |   Tagged under Ecosystems, eportfolio, Saigon South International School, Sullivan, super-species | Comments Off

We are now working on our Super-Species projects.  This project is designed to give you lots of creative freedom to design an entirely new species of animal that has super traits.  These super traits should allow your species to out-compete the other animals in its ecosystem.  This will allow your species to survive, find a mate, and pass on these super-genes to its babies, ensuring the survival of the species.

Your can present your project and species in anyway you want.  But, I found this cool website that you may want to consider as part of your presentation.  You’ll have to create an account, but you know how to do that.

I just found a picture on the internet.  But you could scan the drawing you are creating and upload it to this website.  Then have your species tell us about its super-traits and explain how these traits help it to survive in its native ecosystem.  You can also embed the final video on you blog just like this.

Check it out!

Filed under: Artifacts, Science, Tools  |   Tagged under Ecosystems, super-species | Comments Off

ePortfolios are Cool!

Hello Bloggers,

We are going to try some new and exciting stuff here at SSIS using our blogs.  You remember Learning Journeys right?  In the past we have always had binder/paper based portfolios to share with your parents during Learning Journeys.  We want to change that.  Those binders are big and bulky.  The take up too much locker/desk space.  And, do you still have your portfolio binder from last year?  From 3rd grade?  I doubt it.  But, what if we turn our blogs into portfolios?  For as long as you are at SSIS you will have the same blog.  Even if you leave SSIS, you can take your blog with you!  So, we are going to experiment with turning a part of our blog into a learning portfolio to showcase what you believe to be your best work as a 5th grader.  Sounds cool, right?!

To start we need to go to this page and follow these instructions.  This will import a menu section to the top of our blogs that will become the basis of our portfolio.  Kind of like a table of contents of the things we want to share about our learning.  Other than that, your blogs will remain exactly the same.  We will all just have a series of pages that will help us showcase our best work.  Let’s do this!!

Filed under: Artifacts, Reflections, School, Tools  |   Tagged under eportfolio | 2 Comments »