Fifth Grade Rocks (Literally!)

We have received so many compliments on our Father’s Day performance.  We sang “First Day of My Life” by Conor Oberst, backed by Mr. Lewandowski and Mr. Boyd.  We also displayed our fabulous Father Figure Portraits.

Robotic Bees!

Room 5 had a special visitor this week – Mr. Dan, a marine biologist visiting from Boston.  Mr. Dan talked to us about the work he’s doing in the robotics lab at Northeastern University, and taught us all about lobsters, jellyfish, and octopi.  We learned that lobsters function using multiple miniature “brains” called ganglia, and that an octopus is intelligent enough to open a pill bottle.

Our class was even enlisted to help Mr. Dan’s fellow biologists in Boston who are building robotic bees.  The bees may be used for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, search and rescue missions, and as a replacement for the dying honey bee populations in the US.  We built artificial flowers using lemon juice, sugar, and dish soap, and trapped bees for the biologists to study.  Our class trapped a total of more than 30 bees, which we then preserved in rubbing alcohol and sent back to Boston.  We’re hoping that our bees will help the biologists study differences between bee species in Boston and La Ceiba, and that they will also help the biologists design their robots.

Spelling Bee Re-Match

Our school decided to hold a second school-wide Spelling Bee on Monday, and our top three spellers – Jorge, Miguel, and Sara – competed for the 5th Grade Championship.  We are proud to announce that Sara accomplished her life-long goal of becoming the Spelling Bee champ!  CONGRATULATIONS, SARA!  We are so proud of all our spellers!

Science Fair!

Science Fair is finally over!  What a relief!  Congratulations to Luis, Nilcio, Monica, Nancy and Adila – our FIRST PLACE winners!  They will be going to San Pedro for the National Science Fair!  Congratulations also to everyone for a job well done.

5th Grade Library

Our class is really excited this week because we’ve expanded our library by over 70 books!  The new titles include Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, Chasing Vermeer, Fablehaven, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and many more.  We’ve also added the entire “Chronicles of Narnia” and “Harry Potter” series, several “Candy Apple” books, and more than 25 Newbery Award winners.  Now, all we want to do is read!

Congratulations, Miguel!

Miguel has been chosen to represent our class at the National Spelling Bee in Tegucigalpa in January. The winning word was EXHAUST. The runner-up was Sara, who got out on the word DIPHTHERIA (Ouch!). Congratulations to all the finalists!

WITCHES!

Our class is currently reading The Witches, by Roald Dahl. Just in case you’re wondering, here’s how to recognize a witch:

1. A witch has no toes. She might be wearing pointy shoes to cover up her square feet.

2. A witch always wears gloves, to cover her clawed fingers.

3. Witches are bald, and wear first-class wigs on top of their itchy, scabby scalps.

4. Witches have blue spit, and can even use their saliva as ink!

5. If you look into a witch’s eyes, you will see fire and ice dancing inside.

6. A witch has extra-large nose holes for smelling children.

7. Witches are always too nice, because they don’t want you to suspect they’re witches.

We’re working on a “Wanted: Witches on the Loose” bulletin board so that the rest of the students at Mazapan will know how to spot a witch.