Rubix Cube (Almost)

Every week our school Rubix Cube team meets in Mr. Lane's class to practice for the upcoming state tournament! These kids are LIGHTNING FAST!! Miss Barber is determined to solve the rubix cube before the year is over. Today I got one white face and almost made it to having the middle row solved. A big shout out to L.P. for helping me get this far! Stay tuned for more progress!

Benchmark Assembly Homeroom Competition

C represented our class during the Benchmark Assembly this afternoon! One student from every homeroom had to find 5 skittles in a pan of whipped cream. He was so close to winning! 

Way to go, C!

Grandmas and Algebra!

We recently read an excellent book called "The Doorbell Rang" by Pat Hutchins and used it to show off our division and algebra skills.

In the book, a mother makes cookies for her two children and tells them to share.

Then, more and more friends arrive at the house and the number of cookies each child receives gets smaller and smaller.

The cookies look and smell delicious, but on each page we read that "no one makes cookies like Grandma!"

At the end of the story, Grandma arrives with more cookies for everyone!

First, we wrote the mutliplication and division fact families represented by the situation in the book.

Then, we wrote an equation that represented the relationship between the number of cookies, the number of children, and the number of cookies each child would receive.

Finally, we graphed the equation.

And as a big surprise, Grandma came to visit the next day and brought us cookies!

Using Inferencing to Solve Riddles

We have been making inferences all year!

To make an inference you take....

What You Read 

and put it together with 

What You Know.

Test your inferencing skills at this website!

Silent E

During spelling, we learned that a silent final E has 5 jobs.

Job 1: Silent final E makes a vowel say it's 2nd sound (it's name).

Job 2: English words do not end in V or U, so add an E.

Job 3: Silent final E makes a C say "s" and a G say "j."

Job 4: Silent final E makes every syllable have a vowel.

Job 5: Silent final E has no job - He's just hanging out!

Watch this video. Which job of E is it describing?

No Excuses!

Miss Barber's tile for our School Community Project

"No Excuses" is our motto in Miss Barber's class.

We accept responsibility - not excuses! 

It is important for us to learn to take responsibility for...

our learning.

our actions.

our behavior.

our choices.

The Power of Persuasion

Our class recently wrote a letter to our principal asking him to allow our class to watch the videos posted on our class website on our school computers. Follow the link below to see the letter.

Can you identify the topic, author's position, author's purpose, and supporting evidence?

Our Persuasive Letter

Algebraic Patterns

We are learning about finding patterns in algebra. We can see our patterns best when we put our data in a function table, determine if the pattern is increasing or decreasing, then find the rule that describes the pattern. Here's a video that demonstrates what we've been working on in class.

World War I

This week we're studying the causes, effects, and chronology of America's involvement in World War I.

For more information on World War I, click here. At this site you can read and listen to stories from actual World War I survivors, explore a World War I timeline, and read articles and poetry about "The Great War."

Dialogue Journals

Dialogue journals waiting to be read and replied to on Sunday night

We use dialogue journals to practice writing friendly letters and to develop student-teacher relationships. My students and I write notes back and forth to each other throughout the year and it gives me a chance to really get to know each one of them on a more personal level. It also allows me to assess their writing growth as the year goes on and to watch as their punctuation and spelling improves and their ability to write using the friendly letter format with appropriate ideas/content develops. 

An example of our letters back and forth  (student's name has been blurred)

Happy Birthday Arizona - Let the Celebration Begin!

We've been learning about Arizona statehood and are getting ready to celebrate Arizona's 100th Birthday on February 14th. These are our biographies of important Arizonans who helped our state transition from a territory to a state in 1912. As the month goes on, this bulletin board will continue to be Arizona-themed as we display our Centennial Celebration work. For more information about Arizona's 100th Birthday click here. 

Weekly News

Why does Miss Barber talk about ASU so much?

If you're a student, parent, staff member, or anyone within a 2 mile radius of our school, you might find yourself wondering why I talk so much about ASU! I graduated from Arizona State University in December 2009 and I loved my time there so much that I can't stop talking about it! Yes, college is fun. Yes, you learn new things all the time. Yes, you get to pick your classes and choose what you want to study. Yes, you get to go to football games and basketball games and join all sorts of clubs and special groups.

But those aren't the only reasons that I talk about ASU so much.

This afternoon I spoke with a parent on the phone. She told me that before 4th grade, her daughter never talked about college. Now, her daughter talks about going to ASU almost every day. That is why I talk about ASU so much. I don't just talk about college because it's fun - I talk about it because it's a reality!  My students need to know that if they want to go to college, now is the time to begin thinking about it! Now is the time to start developing the work habits and study skills. Now is the time to start caring about grades and tests. Now is the time to start asking for help. Now!


So why do I talk about ASU so much? I talk about ASU because I care. My hope is that each and every one of my students will go to college. College opens the doors to so many opportunities in life. It is an experience that millions of people would give anything to have. So if we have the chance, we need to take advantage of it. And ASU is a great place to make that dream a reality!

We will go to college - No Excuses!

Multiplying Two Digit Factors

Watch this video for a reminder on multiplying two digit factors!

Some (Really Expensive) Food for Thought

Interesting Article:

The Value of Teachers - NY Times

Weekly News

Kit Carson Visits Miss Barber's Class

We have been studying about the Civil War, Navajo Long Walk, and Territorial Arizona. Today we had a surprise visitor - Kit Carson himself! Kit Carson was a guide and scout who explored the uncharted Western territories in the 1800s. He became a colonel in the United States Army and fought in several wars including the Civil War. For more information on Kit Carson, click here!

Long Division

Need help remembering how to divide large numbers? When fact families don't help, use this method that we've been practicing in class!

The First Post

"You should start a blog!"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this during the past two years as I've begun my teaching career. I've always thought that I needed to gain a little more experience, teach for a little bit longer, or come up with more clever ideas before I started this blog. But I've realized that I need to take my own advice. I often tell my students that they have to start somewhere. If we sit and wait until we understand something completely or until we have everything "under control" before trying something new, we'll never get anywhere. So this is me following my own advice. I'm embarking on this blogging journey with a few hopes, a few expectations, and lot of questions. We'll see where it takes us! I'm excited to share my thoughts, ideas, and experiences as I navigate my way through this crazy profession. Thanks for caring enough to come along with me. Please let me know if you find anything that I share on here helpful, funny, encouraging, or confusing. I'd love to hear from you!

-Miss Barber