Bye Bye January...Hello February!

I cannot believe January is over! Usually it is the most productive month for me but not this year.

Fifth. Grade. Is. Serious.

We also had an unexpected week of Snow Days!!! Don't get me wrong...I greatly enjoyed the unexpected week but if we get anymore our make up days are after Memorial Day and into summer break...ugh.

And I am EXTREMELY behind in my classroom so forget the fun stuff! While I planned to study the Arctic vs. Antarctic this month, I've yet to even finish Mr. Popper's Penguins and Monday is February! Yep. I'm still struggling with adjusting to upper elementary and a new school with an incredible amount of specials. 

So...what did I do in January?!?

We BEGAN this chapter in science...

The layers of the earth and rocks/minerals. Thankfully, I had some study hall high school students come in and cut out all the circles for me...otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten this done. They had to list 3 facts about each layer. 

We also attempted rock candy...

 

Epic. Fail.

This is the only pic I have (it was attempt 2) but I pretty much followed an "EASY DIY ROCK CANDY" recipe that I found on pinterest. It sounded a whole lot easier than the traditional string way. Unfortunately, when we put the sugar coated skewers into the cup mixture, everything dissolved off the skewer. I tried coating them again and letting them dry for an hour (what they are doing in the pic above) vs. the 15 min. the recipe called for but the coating still dissolved. I've been letting the "candy" crystals form in the cup and while it has hardened, it just doesn't seem like rock candy. Getting rid of it Monday morning because I'm ready to move on! 

We celebrated the 100th Day of School for a whole 5 minutes of the morning with a breakfast treat and morning work assignment before they went to their Band/Chorus class. 

Ain't nobody got time fo that in fifth grade! Honestly, I think they were more excited to learn that we only have 70 days of school left!

We also celebrated Milk Day...no intentional pun there. One year I had a first grader look at our class calendar and ask "What is Milk Day?" when he saw MLK DAY. What a funny moment in the life of a first grader learning to read.

 We read a biography on his life and discussed several of his most famous quotes. The students really seemed to learn a lot and then we did this craftivity paragraph writing for display. (Again, this wouldn't have happened except I had some study hall helpers!)

This one was very well drawn and I LOVE the quote above on the right! SO...true! 

 We also enjoyed many snow days. I had parents send me pics of their kiddos in the snow because I thought we'd be at school on Friday...that didn't happen (well, it did for me but not them) so I won't be having a Snow Day Show and Tell. Instead, I took their pics and put them in blue hearts to somewhat bring in Valentines. I wanted a catchy "Love Snow" phrase but this was the best I came up with. It won't stay up long because I'll be getting out the pink and red, but it's a nice way to welcome them back!

I'm really terrible at free handing hearts...

Me and my love enjoying the snow!

Well...Now that January is gone, the only thing in February that I'm ready for is Valentine's Day with my hunny. For the first time in 3 years of marriage, I actually have him a Valentine's gift! I can't wait to give it to him!