Welcome to 2010 Rigler's blog

Greetings! Welcome to fifth grade. My name is Ms. L and I am looking forward to having you in our fifth grade class this year.

As school starts, I thought you would like to know a little about me. I was born in Washington State on an island that has a perimeter of about 1 mile. That is a small island! I have lived in three different houses on that island, and my family still lives there.

I went to college at Smith College in Massachusetts. Smith College is a women's college, which means that all of the students were female! My favorite two classes were calculus (math) and dance! I also spent a year attending a university in Ecuador. Did you know they speak Spanish in Ecuador? All of my classes were taught in Spanish. So if English is your second language, I really know what it is like to go to school in a different language.

My favorite things to do are garden, cook new recipes, and take hikes. I also love to play with my two children, Mateo and Natalia. My son Mateo is almost 4 years old and goes to a bilingual preschool. My daughter is 2 years old and stays at home while I work.

I am really looking forward to meeting you and getting to know more about you. I know we are going to have a great year together. Enjoy the rest of your summer vacations and I’ll see you in September.

We have an exciting school year ahead of us. I guarantee that you will learn a lot and have fun learning. Here are some exciting things we are going to do this year:

Math - We are going to have a great year with math. Many of you will get to use an online math program to learn math at your own pace, as well as play lots of math games.

Science - Science is so much fun in 5th grade. First, we will learn all about how you learn! Then, we get into outer space, decode messages that may or may not have been sent to us from extraterrestrials and create tour the universe. Then, we have a full 5 days at a science camp during the fall! And this is just the beginning . . .

Writing - In writing, you get to publish your own writing on this very blog. Then, at the end of the year, your blog will be turned into a published book. You will be a published author by the end of 5th grade. How fabulous is that?

Reading - In 5th grade we read, read and read so more. I love reading and know that you will love reading too. We read both short stories and full length novels, as you are ready.

Social Studies - You will learn all about the history of the United States. We use a program called History Alive, and as we go through time you will face some of the dilemmas your ancestors faced and make your own decisions while you learn about the decisions they made!

Welcome to fifth grade and to the new blog!

Thank you
Ms. L

Here are some photos for you to enjoy!

These are some of my favorite flowers from my garden.
I enjoy flowers of all kinds!

This spring and summer we grew all of the lettuce that my family eats in pots by our house.
I love gardening.

Mateo and Natalia, my children, feeding some chickens we were visiting.
Some day I hope to have chickens, when my kids are older!

Mateo taking a break during a hike.
I love forests, trees and the color green.