Reminder: Free Science Event Tomorrow

Please take a look at the event listed below. It is a great opportunity for some fun, free science! The students are really getting excited about the hands on science experience and this would be a great chance for the entire family to see science in action! I will be at the event and would love to see you there or to see photos of our students in action. Please email or send the picture through classroom Dojo if possible. Not only is there a CD made at the end of the year for 5th grade students featuring their activities, but we are also starting a classroom photo board. I hope to see many of you there!

South East Michigan Science & Engineering Festival at Schoolcraft College-Mind Trekkers

Start Date Oct 10, 2015 09:00 AM
End Date Oct 10, 2015 03:00 PM
Location: Various locations on the main campus
Address: 18600 Haggerty Rd. , Livonia , Mi
Email: sciences@schoolcraft.edu
Phone: 734-462-4453

Can you walk on water? Make ice cream in 60 seconds? Make a magnet float in mid-air, no strings attached?

Michigan Technological University’s Mind Trekkers STEM Road Shows bring the WOW! of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to the hands and minds of K-12 students under the inspirational guidance of the Mind Trekkers team consisting of undergrad and graduate students, who will be working with Schoolcraft College students.

This event is free.

Open to students, their parents and teachers and the general public.

Mind Trekkers- Get your geek on!

Greenfield Village

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to send a quick reminder that tomorrow is the field trip tomorrow. We will be leaving the school by bus at 9:30 and we will return around 2:45. Students need a bagged lunch with no glass containers. The weather forecast is saying it will be sunny and in the mid 70’s in the afternoon. Students should dress in layers if it is chilly in the morning and should wear good walking shoes. Sunscreen also would be a good idea.

I am looking forward to the trip and the follow up historical fiction story that the students will be writing. I can’t wait to read how they imagine their lives would be, if they lived in one of the selected time periods and places!

Have a great night!

Midweek Update

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

I have a few mid-week updates. First, I wanted to send a quick reminder that tomorrow morning is a late start for the students. I also wanted to remind you that Thursday is our 5th Grade field trip to Greenfield Village. If you haven’t already sent back the permission slip, they must be turned in tomorrow. I emailed my chaperons as well and if you can confirm that you are still able to chaperon, I would appreciate it.

Secondly, I suggest that everyone who thinks they may be able to come on a field trip, volunteer in the room or help out in the building, complete the required forms in the office for the required background check to completed and ready.

Lastly, I know we all want the students to succeed in all that they do. I am going to start posting some ideas on the blog about things that can be done at home to help your students improve in various subjects. The link I am sharing today is posted as an idea for something to do with your kids over summer break, but I think it is a great idea any time of the year. Family journals can be easily implemented and written in daily as an ongoing conversation between you and your student. You could even get the entire family involved and have everyone respond to different things. Just like anything we do, the more we write, the better we will get. Writing with you will also provide a wonderful way to get the students excited about writing at home. Please check out the following article and keep me updated if you try this at home!

Family Journals

Have a wonderful evening!

Mr. Hawkins

10-5-15

It is already October!

This week we have many things going on in our classroom and building. Today is picture day and all of the students looked great! We also still have the book fair going on. Tomorrow will be our scheduled time to purchase books so if you wish to have your students buy any books, send the money with them tomorrow. The sheets and went home last week, after they previewed what is for sale. Thursday is our field trip to Greenfield Village. I am sending out emails to the three chaperons today to confirm that they have already completed their iChat background checks with the office. If you wish to help out in our room, go on field trips or do anything in the building, please make sure you go to the office and complete the iChat background check form. It takes a bit to process so it is better to have it turned in ASAP.

This week in class:

Math-This week we are continuing to work on multi-digit addition and subtraction strategies, as well as story problems and decimals.

Spelling- This week our spelling pattern is Long and Short ‘i’ sounds. Our spelling words are dismiss, vivid, shiver, divide, climate, friction, gravity, unsquaring, estimate and exponent.

Science- Last week the students had a chance to explore the forces types of motion in kick ball. This week they are learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion and how these laws help further their understanding of our explorations. We will be using writing in science this week to talk about a real life career option that would require each student to apply force and motion knowledge at work.

Social Studies- The students are continuing their studies with Ms. A and we will be heading to Greenfield Village to look at some specific colonies and homes that are directly correlating to their studies.

Writing- We are continuing to wrap up and publish our personal narratives. We will be using our trip to Greenfield Village to get sensory details about the colonial times, as we will be writing a historical narrative next. The students will be creating a story that uses realistic and historical facts learned during Social Studies and at the village, along with made up details to create a narrative.

As the week continues, I will keep you updated on any changes or new pieces of information that come up. Have a great week!

Mr. Hawkins

Band and Strings Update

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Today the students with permission slips, had a chance to meet with Mr. Gozzard, the instrumental music teacher. He needs the first payment of your payment plan to be submitted before he can pass out an instrument. If you signed your student up for band and they did not come home with their instrument today, he needs the first payment or the entire payment of $70.00 to be turned in. Checks are made out to Nowlin Elementary. Please send these on Monday. Students will not be meeting with him next week but weekly instrumental music will begin meeting every Friday during the following week. His instructions for the students with an instrument is to take the instrument home and keep it safe. He asked them to not attempt to put it together or play and he will be checking how they did on October 16th when they meet. If you wish to have your student participate in instrumental music, permission slips and your first payment/whole payment must be submitted by next Friday. He will not accept any students after that.

Mr. Hawkins

Picture Day, Greenfield Village and Mind Trekkers

Good Evening!

I hope everyone is having a great week! There were lots of forms coming home today so I wanted to make sure everyone knows what is coming up. Monday is picture day and the picture order form was one of the forms coming home. Also a Book Fair order form, October’s lunch menu and a sports information form came home. We will be previewing the book fair tomorrow and then we will have time for students to visit and purchase items next week.

Next week is also the Greenfield Village field trip. I am still in need of one more parent to come with us and I need the rest of the permission slips to be sent back ASAP. All students attending will need a bag lunch with no glass on the day of the trip.

Lastly, I wanted to share a very cool event that is happening at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, on Saturday, October 10th. The college is hosting the South East Michigan Science and Engineering Festival. It is called Mind Trekkers and is a free event that will allow students, parents, teachers and anyone interested to participate in very need hands on science explorations around campus. I will be attending and I would love to see some of our scientists on campus, enjoying this wonderful opportunity. Below I have included a the event description, as well as links to the Schoolcraft Event Information page and the Mind Trekkers page. Watch the video below to get an idea of the very interesting things to expect! I hope to see lots of you there! It will be fun for the entire family!

South East Michigan Science & Engineering Festival at Schoolcraft College-Mind Trekkers

Start Date Oct 10, 2015 09:00 AM
End Date Oct 10, 2015 03:00 PM
Location: Various locations on the main campus
Address: 18600 Haggerty Rd. , Livonia , Mi
Email: sciences@schoolcraft.edu
Phone: 734-462-4453

Can you walk on water? Make ice cream in 60 seconds? Make a magnet float in mid-air, no strings attached?

This event is free.

Open to students, their parents and teachers and the general public.

Mind Trekkers- Get your geek on!

Updates:

Hello everyone,

Today a permission slip is going home with each student. We are going to Greenfield Village next week on Thursday. There is no cost for a student but it is $8.00 per chaperon. We can only take 3 parents as space on the bus is limited so please fill out the form if you are able to chaperon. Student permission slips need to be returned in the next two days. Each student will need to bring a bag lunch with no glass. See the permission slip for more information.

Secondly, family movie night is this week on Friday, October 2nd. Entrance to the field will begin at 6:30 P.M. The Book Fair will run October 1-6. The Book Fair will also be open during Family Movie Night, in case you want to help you child select books.

Week of 9-28-15

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed the break last week and is ready to jump back into our work this week. Before I go through our week, there are a few reminders. Band/Strings permission slips need to returned ASAP as the students will be starting on Friday. Nowlin T-Shirt order forms also went home last week. If you are interested in ordering any shirts or sweatshirts, these forms must be turned into me by Wed. at the latest. Keep an eye out for lots of updates on school events happening in October.

Now onto our week:

Math: Students are working on exponents and factor strings. We will be finishing that up mid week and starting on decimal addition and subtraction.

Reading: Students are working on their second historical fiction book and are pulling out the main features of that genre. This is going to help them as we begin writing historical narratives.

Writing: The Students are working on writing personal narratives. We are becoming more and more familiar with narrative text features and this will lead us into writing historical narratives.

Science: Our force and motion unit continues with the students getting to be hands on and experimenting. We will be using every day objects to see how forces and motion effect objects, as well as working on our interactive science notebooks.

Social Studies-The students are working on maps and will continue this with Mrs. A.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mr. Hawkins

Sunday Evening- Check out the super-moon Lunar Eclipse!

Hello Everyone,

Check out and share this information with the entire family! Tomorrow night will be the first super-moon lunar eclipse! The moon will appear to be red! it hasn’t happened since 1982 so make sure to catch a glimpse of it. Here is an article about viewing it and photographing it, if you’re interested. Have a great weekend!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/09/25/blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-super-moon-need-to-know/72790162/

The 3rd Annual Unity Run

Rivals Unite To Support Scholarships And Promote Unity

On the field or in the classroom, Dearborn High, Edsel Ford, and Fordson (D.E.F.F.) are no strangers to fierce competition, but longtime rivals will stand together on Sunday, October 11, 2015 as Dearborn’s three public high schools host the third annual Unity Run.

This race is open to students, staff and family members of Dearborn Public Schools and community members interested in supporting the work of the high schools students. All funds raised through the Unity Run go to support scholarships for students at Dearborn, Edsel Ford and Fordson High School involved in anti-bullying, mediation, diversity and/or social justice.

The fun begins at 9:30 with a 1 mile walk open to all. Elementary students will hit the course at 10:00 a.m. for a 1 mile race followed by a 2 mile race for middle school students starting at 10:30 a.m. High school students and adults will be able to take part in a 5K run starting at 11:00 a.m. Medals will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (male/female) in each event except the walk.

Student registration is $10 or $35 for a team of four. Adults are $25 for individuals or $80 for a team of four. Entry fee includes a t-shirt and numbered bib. For more information and/or to register for the DEFF Unity Run visit:

https://goo.gl/forms/wSo5iYpwo4 or

https://www.runmichigan.com/calendar/event_detail1.php?recordID=13236

The Unity Run will take place at Ford Field Park in Dearborn, located at Brady Street and Monroe Street. The unpaved trail course will be a combination of slight hills and straight pathways through a mostly wooded area.

You can also follow the Unity Run on twitter at-UnityRunDEFF or Facebook.com/deffunityrun.