Andrew Krakeel

Parents and guardians,

My name is Mr. Krakeel, and this is my second year as a JMS dragon! I am extremely excited for the new year and all that we have going on here at JMS. I graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2010 with a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. I have worked as a substitute teacher, special education paraprofessional, and a 5th grade teacher of various subjects including: social studies, science, reading, and language arts. I have certifications in Special Education K-12 General Curriculum, K-5 Early Childhood Education all subjects, Middle Grades Social Studies, and I am currently working towards a Gifted Certification as well. My wife and I currently live in the beautiful mountains of North GA, with two wonderful dogs and our recently born first child. I am grateful to be part of an amazing team of educators at JMS and look forward to playing a role in the education of your child. Please reach out with any questions or concerns, and thank you for visiting my teacher webpage!

Social Studies Curriculum Overview

In fifth grade, students are in the final year of a three year study of United States History in which all four strands (history, geography, civics/government, and economics) are integrated.

Students begin the year learning about the growth of the 19th century industry and innovation in the United States, and culminate with the study of events and impact of September 11, 2001.

The geography stand emphasizes the influence of geography of the U.S. during these same time periods. In civics/government strand, students learn about the rights of citizens contained within the Constitution, and how changes have been made over time (specifically amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to protect the rights of citizens. In the economic strand, students explore the ways consumers and producers have interacted in the American Economy.

Science Curriculum Overview

"For students to come to understand science, they must be able to explain their thinking and develop arguments for their findings. In order to become lifelong learners who are capable of reading and writing about scientific issues, making educated decisions and participating in a democratic society, students must be able to read and understand the writing of others, evaluate its worth, and share the results of their own research and experience through writing (NSTA, 2008)." Source: Boston Public Schools Science Dept.

Students will be learning science from an inquiry based approach and will be expected to incorporate writing into their learning. We will do a lot of investigation and hands on learning to deepen their understanding of science.

We will start the year off by looking at Earth's composition and landforms/how changes occur to the Earth over time. Students at this grade level will able to identify the causes of some of Earth’s surface features, explain the difference between a physical and a chemical change, investigate electricity and magnetism and the relationship between them, use scientific procedures to classify organisms, understand the difference between behaviors and traits, contrast the parts of animal and plant cells, and argue from evidence on how microorganisms can be beneficial or harmful to other organisms.

Current Science and Social Studies Vocabulary -study terms nightly.

SS:

Inventor - A person who invented a particular process or device or who invents things as an occupation.

Wright Brothers - Orville and Wilbur Wright, American mechanics and inventors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who achieved the first sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine — what we today call an airplane.

Kitty Hawk North Carolina - The location of the first sustained airplane flight which occurred in 1903.

Alexander Graham Bell - United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922).

Thomas Edison - United States inventor; inventions included the phonograph and incandescent electric light and the microphone and the Kinetoscope (1847-1931).

Edison Electric Bulb - A carbon-filament bulb which was the first public demonstration of Edison’s most famous invention—the light bulb, the first practical electric incandescent lamp.

Imperialism- A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Using force to control other countries.

Panama Canal- A waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans which cuts through a narrow strip of land in Panama, a country of Central America. Before the canal was built with help from Theodore Roosevelt, ships traveling between the east and west coasts of North America had to go all the way around South America.

Spanish American War- A war fought between the United States and Spain in 1898. The war was fought over the independence of Cuba. The war began on April 25, 1898 when the United States declared war on Spain and ended with a U.S. victory three and a half months later on August 12, 1898.

sci:

Amphibians - Cold-blooded vertebrate animals of a class that comprises the frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders.

Mammals - Warm-blooded vertebrate animals of a class that is distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young.

Vertebrates - Animals of a large group distinguished by the possession of a backbone or spinal column, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.

Invertebrates - Animals lacking a backbone, such as an arthropods and mollusks. The invertebrates constitute an artificial division of the animal kingdom, making up 95 percent of animal species and about 30 different phyla (groups).

Classification - The action or process of classifying something into groups according to shared qualities or characteristics.

Organisms - Living things; an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.

Crustaceans - An arthropod (group of invertebrates) of the large, mainly aquatic (water-living) group Crustacea, such as crab, lobster, shrimp, or barnacle.

Seed Producers - A plant that produces seeds. The gymnosperms and the angiosperms together form the seed-bearing plants.

Non-seed Producers - Lower non-seed vascular plants. The "lower vascular plants" is a group composed mainly of ferns, but also includes the club mosses.