Five for Friday {January 30, 2015}

I can't believe that it's already Friday again!  Seriously, where does the week go?!  We have an inservice day today and we're talking about Smarter Balanced Assessments.

I'm liking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again for Five for Friday!

First a foremost, I am so excited about the new blog design that went up this week!  I had it custom designed by Dreamlike Magic Designs.  Alicia created my friend's blog and I have loved her blog for years.  She came highly recommended and she did not disappoint me in any way!  She created exactly what I wanted and gave me control over details within my navigation bar, sidebars, and social media icons.  I really couldn't be happier with the look and feel of my blog.  It completely fits who I am and I just want to share this new gorgeous design with everyone!

I've had a few compliments on my blog name so I want to share with you where the name came from.  Of course, I teach 5th grade.  I hope that part is obvious.  ;)  I have always favored 5th grade and I am incredibly lucky to be in my ideal grade level.  However, the "Keep Calm and..." part came from a different part of my life.  I have been a part of a summer camp in London for the past 5 years (and a year before at UPenn in the states).  I direct the camp for the majority of my summer break.  I have had a long-standing love affair with the UK and all things British.  Needless to say, the "Keep Calm and Carry On" image has found its way onto far too many of my personal belongings.  This blog is no different...I just put my own spin on it!  :)

We were really into art this week!  We completed and hung two posters for Black History Month on Thursday afternoon.  We also have one more in the works and a 4th planned for when that one is finished.  Here are the two that are up right  now.

Don't they look great?!  Art With Jenny K. is one of my favorite stores on TeachersPayTeachers and my students are constantly begging me for new projects.  We also started some pop-art Valentine's Day hearts but I'll save those for another post!  They're cute!

We had a test this week on adding and subtracting fractions.  Boy, was it hard!  Check out this question...

"Lila decided to make more baked goods for the bake sale.  She used 1/8 lb less flour to make bread than to make cookies.  She used 1/4 lb more flour to make cookies than to make brownies.  If she used 1/2 lb of flour to make the bread, how much flour did she use to make the brownies?  Explain your answer using a diagram, numbers, and words."

Really, my 5th graders had to solve that.  They worked so hard and everyone gave it their best shot! I'll have to grade the tests today to see how they did.  I'm always proud of how much effort they put into their work.  They are the hardest workers!  They always give it a go, even if they're not sure.

After our test, we decompressed with some fractions coloring sheets.  Yes, I said it!  Coloring sheets.  They needed the brain break after all of that hard work!  Especially because we also retested our computational fluency this week too.  We used some coloring sheets by Coloring Squared.  The students enjoyed the change for the day.  We completed the pig picture to support students' ability to find equivalent fractions (a huge skill when adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators).

I hope that you'll join Five for Friday and share your week with me!  Also, leave a comment, I love to respond and chat with other teachers!