Mr. Stan's Math Homework

Math Homework:  Students are required to do XtraMath 10 out of 14 days, Sunday-Saturday, for at least 10 minutes.  They should race the teacher twice.  Each day will earn 10 points with a total of 100 points every two weeks.  This will be recorded as a math grade at the end of the two week period.  If there are computer issues at home, the students have been given the option of doing their math practice at school.  

Class Pictures

Literacy & Social Studies Homework for August 24-28

Due Thursday:  Choose ten word study words from week two and write 10 well developed sentences.  These sentences must be at least 10 words each.  They should begin with a capital letter and have ending punctuation.  All words must be spelled correctly.  The sentences must have correct grammar.  A parent must sign the bottom of your literacy homework.

Thursday,August 27^th Reading Test:  On Thursday there will be a quiz over the first 100 pages of Freedom Train.  Students need to review their study questions and the vocabulary words 1-10 from last week.

Friday’s Literacy Tests:  There will be a word study test on week two words on Friday.  The students should be able to identify the correctly spelled words and be able to place words in sentences according to their meaning. The students will also be tested on Vocabulary Words 11-20 from Freedom Train on Friday.

Social Studies:  The students should be studying their social studies typed notes throughout the week.  We will finish Freedom Train next week and we’ll have a Unit Test on the related social studies notes next Thursday, September 3.

Book Reports: Each student must turn in two book reports by Monday, August 31.  On registration day each student received an information sheet on how to do the book reports.  If you have lost this, you may go to hitchcock5thgrade.blogspot.com for the requirements for the book report.

Geography:  Next week students will be expected to study all of the eastern United States.  We will practice identifying the states on a map throughout the week. 

Open House:  Our open house will be Thursday, August 27^th.  Both Mr. Stanislawski & Mrs. Hitchcock’s classes will meet in Mrs. Hitchcock’s room.

Summer Book Reports Due Monday, August 31, 2015

Due:  August 31, 2015

Students should have read at least two books over the summer.  A suggested reading list was sent home with the fourth grade report cards.  Please have your child complete two book reports as follows by the end of August.

Write a two page paper about the book you read.  Introduce the book.  Tell about the main characters and the plot summary.  Conclude your paper by telling whether or not you liked or would recommend the book to others.  Please write neatly.  Draw a picture to go with your paper, and be sure to put a caption at the bottom of your page.

I look forward to reading your reports.

Mrs. Hitchcock

Word Study for Week of August 24-28

Fifth Grade Word Study:  Week Two (More Words that Relate to the Word “Said” But Are Much More Specific)

*Students should be able to identify the correct spelling for each word and know how to use each word correctly.

hissed                        uttered                      asked                         grumbled

begged                      thought                     told                             argued

barked                       scolded                     confessed                 interrupted

exclaimed                 moaned                    requested                 questioned

gasped                      described                 disagreed                 chuckled

Vocabulary for Week of August 24-28, 2015

Week Two Vocabulary From Freedom Train

l.  abolished                        formally put an end to (p. 42 Now there was a growing community of people, North and South, who believed that slavery should be abolished.)

2.  vowed                            promised to do something (p. 49 When she was brought home, more dead than alive, he vowed to sell her if she recovered.)

3.  defiance                         bold disobedience (p. 49 Her act of defiance, resulting in the loss of a valuable slave, could not go unpunished.)

4.  extravagance               luxury (p. 55 If she scolded him for his extravagance or begged him to look for work, he’d throw back his head and laugh, teasing her until she joined in with him.)

5.  vigorously                      strongly; powerfully; forcefully (p. 57 She shook him vigorously. “Master’s dead.  They say well all be sold.”)

6.  gravely                            seriously; in a serious manner ( p. 61 Gravely, Harriet stowed the note in her market basket and made ready to depart.)

7.  glumly                             in a depressed, sad manner. (63 “We could be going around in circles all night here, for all we know,” Benjie glumly insisted.)

8.  wharves                         a place where boats are docked in a harbor (p. 67 Where the river flowed into the bay it formed a busy harbor, lined with wharves and fishermen’s huts and sailing vessels loading up for Baltimore.)

9.  dismay                            to cause someone to be upset, to appall or horrify (p. 71 With dismay, Harriet realized that they were building a fire.)

10. desirous                        eager for or longing for (p. 75 He was desirous of purchasing some of my hay, and he stopped the night with us.)

Dinner with Abe Lincoln

Look who Mrs. Hitchcock ran into when she was eating lunch in Knoxville this Saturday.  Pretty awesome, huh?

Mary Todd and Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln

Vocabulary Words for Freedom Train

Vocabulary Words for the study of Freedom Train

1.     crooned                    said in a soft, low voice in a loving manner

2.     fretful                         upset; agitated

3.     vessel                         boat

4.     brooded                    thought deeply about something that makes you unhappy

5.     sullen                         gloomy; depressed

6.     despairingly             losing hope

7.     parched                    extremely thirsty

8.     discontented           dissatisfied with your circumstances

9.     liberation                  setting someone free

10.                        gawking                    staring at openly

11.                        abolished                  formally put an end to

12.                        vowed                       promised to do something

13.                        defiance                    bold disobedience

14.                        extravagance           luxury; a thing on which too much money has been  spent

15.                        vigorously                strongly; powerfully; forcefully

16.                        gravely                      seriously; in a serious manner

17.                        glumly                       in a depressed, sad manner

18.                        wharves                    a place where boats are docked in a harbor

19.                        dismay                       to cause someone to be upset, to appall or horrify

20.                        desirous                    eager for or longing for

21.                        wretches                   unfortunate, unhappy people

22.                        beckoned                 made a gesture with the hand to encourage someone to come nearer

23.                        exulted                      showed happiness, especially as the result of success

24.                        dignified                    having a serious manner that is worthy of respect

25.                        plodded                    walked slowly with heavy steps or worked slowly at a boring task

26.                        harboring                 keeping secretly; giving a home to

27.                        pretensions              trying to impress someone in a fake manner

28.                        contemptuous        insulting; disrespectful

29.                        sedately                    calmly; unhurried

30.                        slackened                 to loosen or relax

31.                        apprehension          fear that something bad will happen

32.                        patriarchal               controlled by men

33.                        secession                  withdrawing formally

34.                        surged                       moved suddenly and powerfully forward

35.                        contrabands                        goods gotten illegally

36.                        liaison                        communication that helps bring a close working relationship

37.                        destitute                   poor, without the bare necessities of life

38.                        proclamation           an important public announcement

39.                        expedition                a journey with a specific purpose

40.                        dinghy                       a small boat

41.                        delegation                a group of representatives for people

42.                        pension                     money paid for work

43.                        rheumatism             a disease that causes swelling of joints

 

Literacy & Social Studies Homework for Week of August 17-21

Read 20 minutes every night.  Complete reading log.

Choose 10 of your word study words (words that mean “said”) and write well developed sentences with them.  Be sure that each sentence is at least 10 words long and that your words are spelled correctly.  All sentences must begin with a capital letter and have ending punctuation.  Get someone to proofread these sentences before you turn them in.  These are due at the beginning of class on Thursday, August 20^th.

Two book reports are also due by August 31rst.

There will be a word study test on Friday as well as a quiz over the first 10 vocabulary words from Freedom Train.

Students need to study their social studies notes throughout the week.  These are typed notes featuring the time period just before the civil war.

Our First Day

We had a great first day of school.  We welcomed three new kids to Snow Hill:  Dakota Banther, Durby, and Madelyn Little.  We are excited to have them with us.  Today in literacy class we introduced our new word study words and vocabulary words.  We organized our literacy notebooks and began a writing project where the students interviewed a classmate and found out lots of information about their partners. They drew portraits of their new friends.  Tomorrow we'll turn the interview notes into paragraphs.  We also discussed how summer book reports are to be done.  They are due on our before August 31rst.  Tomorrow we will begin our study of Freedom Train and begin taking notes in social studies.  Our first tests will be word study & vocabulary next Friday.  Tuesday folders will be sent home next week with graded work and informative papers. I love my class!

Our Class Schedule

8:45  to   10:40     Literacy and Social Studies  Block
10:40 to  11:20     Small Group Remediation/Independent Reading
11:25 to  11:55      Recess
12:05 to  12:35     Lunch
12:35 to    2:40     Math/Science Block in Mr. Stanislawski's class
2:45   to    3:30    Related Arts:  Monday-PE, Tuesday-Music, Wednesday-Library,
                                                     Thursday-Computer Lab, Friday-PE

Social Studies Notes for Unit One

Description of the North and the South during the Antebellum Period

North:

Farmers began to industrialize, using machinery to become more productive.  They produced more and became an economic powerhouse.  Even though the climate was colder, the growing season shorter, and the soil was rocky, they had more success than southern farmers.  Products were made cheaper and faster.  Factories and mills opened and the railroads were used for shipping.  There were better roads and the railroads provided a less expensive way to deliver products.  Steamboats were also used.  The coastline (Boston) had bays and harbors for fishing and shipbuilding.  The black northerners were free but not equal.  They worked as laborers and servants.  They had to go to separate schools and were not treated with equal rights.  The white northerners mostly lived on farms near cities next to factories or railroad tracks.  Children were expected to help with harvesting.  Most of the northerners were against slavery.

 South:

The south relied on agriculture.  Crops were grown to sell and slaves were used to plant and harvest crops.  They were treated harshly.  Cotton, tobacco, sugar and rice were important crops.  White southerners were plantation owners who made a living off the land.  The soil was rich and the growing season was long.  There were mild winters and long, hot, humid summers.  Towns were built along the rivers.  Products were shipped using water travel.  Slaves were used as cooks, carpenters, blacksmiths, nurse maids/nannies, and most were field hands.  Wealth was measured by how much land and how many slaves farmers owned. 

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826.  She was the first black woman to win a case against a white man (trying to recover her son).  She is famous for her speech “Ain’t I a Woman” which dealt with woman’s rights.  She helped recruit black troops for the Union army.  She tried to get land grants for blacks.

 Frederick Douglas was a former slave and human rights leader.  He was the first black citizen to hold a US government rank.  His father was white and his mother died when he was 8.  He learned to read and write and became a preacher to slaves.  When he was 20 years old he escaped and wrote speeches and a newspaper speaking against slavery.  He recruited blacks for the Union army.

 The Grimke Sisters were white women who wanted to end slavery and racial discrimination.  They were from a wealthy family, and they saw firsthand how poorly slaves were treated.  They even taught their own personal slaves how to read.  They were smart, but back during this time women were not allowed to go to college.  They gave speeches and wrote articles promoting an end to slavery and discrimination.

William Lloyd Garrison was a white abolitionist who wrote a newspaper called The Liberator.  He wanted an immediate end to slavery and was a voice for women’s rights.  He wrote under a different name for protection.  He served jail time for publishing slave traders’ stories.  He even burned a copy of the constitution because it had a compromise putting slavery in it.

 

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 came about because of tensions between pro-slavery and antislavery factions within the US Congress and across the country.  Slavery was a use issue.  There were 22 states, equally divided between slave and free states.  This compromise was to let Missouri be a slave state but allow Maine in as a free state.  It also drew an imaginary line between free and slave regions.  Southerners did not believe congress could make laws regarding slavery.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, showed the harsh reality of slavery and is regarded as one of the major causes of the Civil War.  The store follows the hard and unfair lives of two slaves.

 

The Compromise of 1850 was passed to defuse confrontation between slave and free states.  It was over land gotten during the Mexican American War.  It admitted California as a free state.  Texas surrendered its claim on New Mexico.  Utah and New Mexico territory could decide whether or not to allow slavery.  It did not say that slavery was banned in new states.

Preston Brook’s attack on Sumner was when he attacked Senator Sumner with a cane.  This brutal beating raised tensions and led to the Civil War.  Northerners hated Brooks, but southerners looked at him as a hero.

The Kansas Nebraska Act created territories of Kansas and Nebraska with good farmland.  It repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820.  It allowed white males to decide by popular vote whether or not to allow slavery in each character.   The purpose was to make a feasible Midwestern transcontinental railroad.  It needed farmers as customers.

 John Brown’s Raid was when abolitionists seized the US Armory at Harper’s Ferry.  They killed five men who supported slavery.  John Brow wanted to establish a colony for runaway slaves.  Brow was eventually hanged for treason.  He was known as a martyr, a hero murdered for his belief that slavery should be abolished.

The Dred Scott Case was about a slave who sued for his freedom and that of his wife and two daughters.  He said they had lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin territory for four years where slavery was illegal so they should be free.  The court decided that African Americans weren’t US citizens so they could not file a lawsuit.  This decision created a public outrage and increased tensions between northern and southern states and led to the civil war.

 

 

 

 

Word Study Weeks 1-4

Fifth Grade Word Study  Week One (Words that Relate to the Word “Said” But Are Much More Specific)

*Students should be able to pick out the correct spelling for each word and know how to use each word correctly.

whispered                mumbled                  wondered                pleaded

screamed                 gossiped                   shrieked                    squealed

demanded                announced               wailed                        hollered

bragged                    yelled                         muttered                  shouted

growled                    preached                  cried                           whined

 

Fifth Grade Word Study:  Week Two (More Words that Relate to the Word “Said” But Are Much More Specific)

*Students should be able to identify the correct spelling for each word and know how to use each word correctly.

hissed                        uttered                      asked                         grumbled

begged                      thought                     told                             argued

barked                       scolded                     confessed                 interrupted

exclaimed                 moaned                    requested                 questioned

gasped                      described                 disagreed                 chuckled

 

Fifth Grade Word Study:  Week Three (Words that Mean “Good”)

*Students must be able to identify the correct spelling for each word and know how to use each word correctly.

awesome                  marvelous                superb                       wonderful

terrific                       splendid                    excellent                   stupendous

gnarly                         fantastic                    amazing                    super

tremendous             brilliant                      pleasant                    incredible

perfect                      dandy                        magnificent              grand

 

Fifth Grade Word Study:  Week Four  (Words that Mean “Bad”)

*Students must be able to identify the correct spelling for each word and know how to use each word correctly.

wrong                        dishonorable           corrupt                      villainous

vicious                       malicious                  evil                              mischievous

cruel                           malignant                 unpleasant               disagreeable

nasty                          horrible                     foul                             disgusting

filthy                          vile                              wicked                       immoral                   

Summer Book Reports Due August 31, 2015

Summer Book Reports

Due:  August 31, 2015

Students should have read at least two books over the summer.  A suggested reading list was sent home with the fourth grade report cards.  Please have your child complete two book reports as follows by the end of August.

Write a two page paper about the book you read.  Introduce the book.  Tell about the main characters and the plot summary.  Conclude your paper by telling whether or not you liked or would recommend the book to others.  Please write neatly.  Draw a picture to go with your paper, and be sure to put a caption at the bottom of your page.

I look forward to reading your reports.

Mrs. Hitchcock

Introducing Mrs. Hitchcock

Get to Know Your Teacher

    I'm excited to be your child's literacy and social studies teacher.  It's a true blessing to have a job that I'm passionate about.  Here's a little background information on me:

    This is my twenty-third year teaching.  I've taught many different grades, starting with high school and college English, and then moving to elementary school where I found what I love doing most.  I've taught kindergarten, second, third, and fourth grades, but this year I'm teaching fifth grade.

     I have a Bachelors degree in English Education, and a Masters degree as an elementary school reading specialist, and I am nationally certified as a reading and writing teacher. 

    I've been happily married to my high school sweetheart, Jim Hitchcock, for 30 years.  He is an engineer with Little Debbie.  We have two great children.  Our son, Andrew,  followed in my footsteps and will be teaching this year.  My daughter, Katie Jo, is a sophomore at UTK majoring in architecture. 

   I was raised by a family of educators, and knew early on that teaching was my gift.   It gives me great joy when I see children get excited about learning.  I take pride in preparing fun, meaningful lessons that motivate kids to do their very best.  I absolutely love my job!

Welcome To My Fifth Grade Literacy & Social Studies Class

I'm excited about teaching fifth grade literacy and social studies at Snow Hill Elementary this year.  It's going to be a fun year of learning! Here's who's in our class.

Mrs. Hitchcock's Homeroom:

Boys:
Dakota Banther
Braden Defur
Isaac Durby
Nick Hall
Christian Harvey-James
Keaton Hesson
Jack Matheny
James Nation
Carson Simms
Michael Smith
Matt Standridge
Thomas Wilson

Girls:
Olivia Beck
Emily Dobbins
Cali Downey
Madelyn Little
Rylie Millsaps
Kara Mullins
Gracie Pruett
Hailey Tuzara

Mr. Stanislawski's Homeroom:

Boys:
Xander Akins
Tristan Bass
Gianni Ben-Moshe
William Bradshaw
Jeff Cardwell
Randall Gray
Khaiden Keith
Andy Morrisn
Jayden Nolan
Alex Renfro
Austin Speegle

Girls:
Kaitlyn Glover
Tori Lewis
Sarah-Paige Gross
Hannah Krish
Makayla Morgan
Breanna Phillips
Cadence Young