Mrs. DeBlock’s Blog

Favorite 5th Grade Memories

Ever wonder about your future teacher? Or what next year in 5th grade is going to be like? Well Mrs. DeBlock’s 2008 – 2009 class have recorded our favorite 5th grade memories that you might want to hear about! Click on the link above and listen!

Here it is! The last podcast of the year! Enjoy!

3rd and 4th Quarter Newsletter Podcast

We read the story of Rip Van Winkle in class, a traditional story written by Washington Irving. The story was about a man who fell asleep in the Catskill mountains for 20 years. I truly enjoyed your “remixed” Rip Van Winkle skits in class, yet I had to think to myself, if I fell alseep for 20 years, what would I find when I woke up? Think about it, if you fell asleep today in 2009 and woke up 20 years later, it would be 2029. What do you think your life would be like? How would the world change?

It’s truly hard to believe that the end of the year is soon approaching, with that being said, many of you will soon be Mrs. DeBlock’s “Alumni.” What advice would you give a new 5th grader coming in to our classroom next year? What are some experiences you can share with them to help them adjust to 5th grade and our classroom?

Even though it’s almost the 4th quarter, and the fact we had many technical difficulties… we finally finished our 2nd Quarter Podcast! A job well done to our class for their great creative writing skills! Enjoy!

2nd-quarter-newscast

Believe it or not, the end of school is rapidly approaching! You will soon be “Movin’ On Up” to QMS! We are heading to visit the middle school talent show this Friday. In lieu of the first transition field trip, are there any questions you have about going to the Middle School? What would you like answered about next year? What are you worried about? What are you nervous about? Any quesitons ask them here! Maybe some of my “alumni” will visit the page and answer them for you!

March always seems to bring out a spring fever in me. Any time I hear a bird chirp, or see the snow start to melt I know that spring is coming soon. I love the change of the seasons! What I look forward to the most in spring is on the first WARM day of the year, I love to roll down my sunroof on my car and play my music really loud.  What is something you are looking forward to do in the spring?

I’m so excited about how our Canada Commerical Projects are going. I think they are so cool! What city are you making a commercial for? What’s a fun fact about your city that you didn’t know before this project?

1/22/09

Dear Class,

How are you? I am fine! Can you believe it’s already January? This school year has sure gone by fast! Soon you will be leaving me and entering into the middle school, yet I know you will be prepared! I have really enjoyed being your teacher this year, you are a great class (one of my best ever!) Think back to the goals you made on the first day of school, have you accomplished those goals yet? One of my goals was to get creative with the SMARTboard, do you think I have accomplished my goal? What has been your favorite memory of 5th grade so far? I really enjoyed our field trip to the U.S.S. Slater. What is something you are looking forward to do in school over the next few months? Well I hope you write back to me, I would love to hear about what you think. Talk to you soon!

Your Friend,
Mrs. DeBlock

It’s hard to believe that we collected over 90 toys to donate to Toys for Tots. I think this was a wonderful community service project, and worth while for us to give back to our global community. Since it is the gift giving season, would you rather give a present to someone, or get one? Why?

The Holiday Season is upon us! With that in mind, and also knowing that so many people celebrate for different reasons, (Christmas, Kwanza, Eid ul-Adha, Chanukah) what Holiday traditions do you hold in your own household? Do you like the traditions that you and your family do yearly? Would you change them? I would love to hear about them!

Please remember when you are writing or responding to a blog, ALL UPPERCASE = you are shouting in online terms. So remember, when you are writing something, make sure it is in regular text form. Unless of course, it is something you want to shout out loud to everyone like, MRS. DEBLOCK IS THE COOLEST!

Also you do not need to sign your first and last name. If you want to put something like Erik M. or Ryan G. or Taylor B. that’s fine! First name only is good!

You also never need to put in your e-mail address or a website. I would prefer that you do not, Thank you!

To be THANKFUL! We all are so fortunate for so many things. We all have so many wonderful things to be thankful for in our every day lives. What are YOU thankful for?

My husband and I put up our “Halloween / Fall decorations” this weekend, as did many of our neighbors on the street. As I was decorating it made me think… where did the tradition or holiday that some celebrate known as “Halloween” come from?

After doing a little research I found out that the night we now know as Halloween is derived from a day that was once celebrated as “All Hallows Eve” or a religious celebration of Saints. After continuing my research I also found out that “Halloween” to those who were very superstitious, was also a night that was believed to be a time when demons and foul spirits roamed the world to celebrate the return of the cold and dark. Men were tormented by the evil spirits and tried to buy their freedom by offering food and assorted treats. This was thus marked by terrible noises, tricks, and pranks. Most of the common images of Halloween – the jack-o’-lantern, masked figures, bonfires, and the famous cry “trick-or-treat” all originated from these customs. The jack-o’-lantern is traced back to Central Europe as a symbol of the cemetery caretakers and the lamps they carried to light the way.

Interesting…

Now knowing a little about the ‘History of Halloween’ what do you plan on dressing up as this year?

I am excited to introduce myself as your fifth grade teacher. Fifth grade is going to be fantastic! I have already started planning lots of fun and exciting activities for us to do throughout the school year. I hope that you are as excited as I am about the upcoming year!

The purpose of this blog is to be able to communicate your questions and have them answered by not only me, but by my former students as well! If you have any questions about 5th grade you can write them here, wait a few days and you might have an answer back!

I certainly hope your summer is going well! School will be here soon! I can’t wait to meet you! 

Ever wonder about your future teacher? Or what next year in 5th grade is going to be like? Well Mrs. DeBlock’s 2007 – 2008 class have recorded many facts about 5th grade that you might want to hear about! Click below on the link and listen!

Click to hear facts about 5th grade!

We’ve had so much going on in the 4th quarter! Listen to our class talk about some of the fun things we did over the past few weeks! Enjoy!

Click Here to Listen to the 4th Quarter Newscast

Middle School is approaching quickly! We are heading to visit Mr. Hick’s 6th grade Math class this Friday. What questions do you want answered about next year? What are you worried about? What are you nervous about? Any quesitons ask them here! Maybe some of my alumni will visit the page and answer them for you!

We are very excited to finish our 1st classroom podcast! A very special thank you to Mr. Clancy for helping our class out! Click here to listen to our “newsletter!”

 march-podcast-newscast-revised.mp3

Our Curriculum Fair Project is underway! We have picked cities or monuments to write a report on this year. What city or monument are you studying? Give us a “fun fact” about your city or monument!

Valentine’s Day and the month of February help us to reflect on the ones (and things) we love! What is a book that you really just love?