Welcome to Mr. McKnight's
5th Grade E-Classroom

A young ship’s mate walks across the deck and approaches the man at the helm. “Mr. Columbus, the young man says, “I’m scared. The men say there are sea monsters that could swallow our entire boat. Others are saying we are going to sail off the edge of the ocean. Are we all going to die?”  Columbus put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and said, “Only if we succumb to our own fears of the unknown. I am confident our explorations will be successful.”   And indeed they were.

This year the theme for my class is   "Walking Through the Sea of Time".

The students will themselves become “explorers” as they connect their studies of literature, science, social studies, and math. I too, am confident that my students will be successful in their journey this year and will end the year with a better understanding of each subject area.

For our first adventure we will look closely at exploration and those who have explored. After all,  exploration is the mother of discovery upon which all knowledge is based. We will explore our country’s regions, its landforms, and ecosystems. We will journey with  the Native Americans of our land exploring their past, their culture, and ultimately their demise. We will search through the foundations of our electoral process, its foundations within our constitution and today’s present government elections processes.

The second nine weeks my students will search through our own country’s colonization and the formation of our governmental system. We will learn about the scientific method and how it can be applied to any and all areas of discovery. We will explore all of the discoveries of our own planet Earth. We will hypothesize about the yet unexplored depths of our oceans and what might be found in the years to come.  We will learn that our independence came at a high price for our ancestors and that being free from the control of others is something we must hold dear to us.

The third nine weeks my students, now veteran explorers, will examine how change is all around us and is a defining part of nature and the universe. We will learn, like so many scientists before us, that our senses are the most powerful tools known to science for without them observation would be impossible. We will observe topics in social studies, cultures, economics, mathematics, language arts, and most of all science through the study of plants and the diversity of life.

Finally we will journey with our forefathers as they fought for our present day independence in the Revolutionary War. We will look through the eyes of Thomas Jefferson as he directed the formation of our Constitution.  We will study the forces of nature and its impact on explorations of the past and future.  And we will explore the knowledge of space and space travel.

Fifth grade is a very important year. Students will learn organization and study skills to become successful explorers when they move to middle school next year.  Life skills will also be a focus for the class as we talk about the foundation of successful societies based upon  “Do the right thing”, “Treat people right”, and “Be responsible”.

I have always told my students that going to school is your present job. It will allow you to choose a different job in the future. To this end, we have The Snappy Store.  Students will earn weekly paychecks which can be cashed into play money. Every two weeks on Friday we will have the Snappy Store where they will be able to spend their money on a wide variety of items from candy to books to basketballs and lots of things in between.

I look forward to directing your child’s explorations as their “Columbus”.