September 28, 2015

This past week we tackled division. We began our learning with division as equal groups, division as repeated subtraction and division on a number line.  This coming week we will look at the relationship between multiplication and division and the inverse property of division.

We have come to the end of our first reading unit. This week we will have a test over the skills we have learned as part of this unit. Some of these skills include: synonyms, multiple meaning words, metaphors and compound words. We have also covered cause/effect, main idea with supporting details, sequencing and text structure. We will take this test in three small parts over three days. Currently I have scheduled the testing days for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Monday and Tuesday we will be doing mini review lessons and working in strategy groups to review the skills and continue to develop proficiency. This test is an application test so there is nothing the students will be expected to review at home as we will be doing all of the review in school.

The students finished their Pirate Maps utilizing the map skills we have been learning. I have kept the maps to display at school, however, all of the rough draft information and their final rubric was sent home in their Friday Folders. This week we will begin Science and learning about Living Things.

The students have been working hard to earn tickets for behavior and for extra reading minutes on their reading log. They voted to fill a larger jar rather than the small jar to earn a larger prize so it was official on Friday that they filled the jar. On Friday we will be celebrating with a pizza party and game day. Each student is permitted to bring in one game that they already know how to play. The game should be one that can be played by at least 2-4 players and be a game that your child is able to explain the directions. Please make sure that games have all of the needed pieces and the game is labeled with your child's name. They should bring all games in on Friday.

September 18, 2015

Wow! What a fun filled week for our fundraiser. It was so exciting to come in each day and see what different ensembles everyone was wearing to school. Today the high school football players and cheerleaders joined us for our culminating pep assembly launching elementary school night at the football game. There was even some silliness from the teachers, but you will have to ask your children about that one!

This week we had our summative test regarding our understanding of multiplication. Those final tests will come home next week in their Friday Folders. We also began working in small strategy groups targeting specific strategies that are individualized for each student.  We launched another component of the Math Daily 3, Math With Someone. The students worked in pairs playing the game, What's Your Product? The students are continuing to build stamina while they work on Math by Myself. Next week we will begin learning about division. 

We have begun individual conferences during our rounds of Daily 5 and we have had some small groups as well. Next week we will have more opportunities for small strategy groups that will help the students build their proficiency with reading and writing strategies. 

We made an anchor chart for the classroom to help the students understand the meaning behind each letter grade. This is the first year the students are receiving letter grades so it is important for them to understand what that grade reflects in terms of their performance. Each letter grade relates to how they are understanding, how neat and complete their work is and how much effort they are putting forth. This also can be an indicator to them of times when they need to tune into when they need to ask questions when they aren't understanding or are unsure of their understanding. 

September 11, 2015

This week was a short week but one that was filled with good learning. We continued our learning of multiplication by building arrays. We have started putting notes and examples into our JAMs (Journal About Math), so your students will be bringing them home next week to review before our Math test. We will soon start multiplication timed tests so please begin practicing those facts at home, there are some multiplication games on multiplication.com that may be helpful.

We are continuing to work on Personal Narrative writing and this week worked on using a graphic organizer to organize moments that inspired different emotions. The students completed this and glued them into their writing notebooks. 

We have launched three parts of the Daily 5: Read to Self, Work on Writing and Word Work. The students are doing a great job identifying what they need to do during this time and they are continuing to build stamina during these activities. 

Please don't forget that a current event is due by October 15 but the sooner they complete and turn it in then the less they have to worry about completing this.

Thank you for having your child turn in any reading logs that were not turned in last Friday and then remembering to turn in another on this Friday. It looks like everyone is doing a substantial amount of reading and many students have earned extra tickets for reading beyond the required 105 minutes.

Friday Folders are going home today. There are a significant amount of returned papers in them so please make sure to review them, take them out and then return the folder with the signed sheet for the week of September 7. Inside the Friday Folders this week is an informational sheet regarding Progress Book usernames and passwords. Please sign and return the sheet stating that you have received and read this information sheet. There is also a Scholastic book order form in your folder, this is completely optional for all parents and can be done easily online. When you order books online we earn bonus points to purchase books for our classroom library. 

Friday, September 4, 2015

Well we survived the heat this week! The forecast says the beginning of next week will be hot also, so when the children return to school on Tuesday please feel free to send them with a water bottle. 

This week we continued to work on mapping skills. All students completed an alphanumeric map of their bedroom along with a self reflection rubric rating. Next we moved on to making a Pirate Map. The students were given the opportunity to create their own island and a map to a buried treasure, there were certain items that they needed to include in their map with a check in along the way with the teacher.

We also began multiplication this week and discussed that multiplication is like repeated addition. We also began to investigate arrays. We will continue working on multiplication and the students will begin to start mastering their multiplication facts. 

In our classroom story this week we discussed and practiced using visualization as a way to create a picture of what is occurring in the story in our head. We also learned summarizing strategies and using context clues to determine the meaning of words. 

We began the first steps in writing a personal narrative. We talked about some key strategies when writing such as: get materials and get started right away, write the whole time, stay in your bubble space and work quietly. We also discussed the strategy of GUM when coming to a word that you are unsure of how to spell, they should give their best Guess, Underline it and Move on. This strategy allows them to keep building their stamina when writing. 

Friday folders are coming home today. In the folders you will find work that has been completed, reading logs for the next two weeks and an explanation of current events.
Current events are due by the end of the quarter, October 15, but the sooner they complete them the less they need to worry about completing it.

This week I discussed with the class and put in their agendas that vocabulary test will be on Thursdays. Friday can get heavy with tests and I want to have a better balance for the kids when it comes to taking tests. Please make sure to review the vocabulary words with your children, they will always be in the front clear pocket of their take home folder, one side is the spelling words and one side is the vocabulary words.

Reading logs for the week were due today but because this is our first week of completing them if your child did not complete it I will give them until Tuesday to turn it in, but please continue to read and fill out next week's reading log. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend and enjoy your time with your families. 

Upcoming dates:
No school-September 7-Labor Day
PSO Spirit Week-September 14-18
Elementary Football Night and PM Pep Rally-September 18
Picture Day-September 25.