More info!

I've had several moms say they could help with special days in the classroom! YEAH! That is wonderful! I wanted to give you plenty of notice about a very special day coming up next month. We will be having Polar Pajama Day! That is, if we continue on the upward path to good leadership and self control! :) I have faith! We will tentatively have it on Friday, December 18th. I will find out soon if there will be a scheduling conflict and let you know ASAP if the date changes. I will need several volunteers to lead learning stations set up in the room. The stations will include crafts, a science experiment, math, etc.. We will also be watching The Polar Express while eating s'mores and drinking hot cocoa! Fun, fun! I need help from 8:00 until about 11:30. I do have one other special day planned for Friday, December 11th. We will be making gingerbread houses! We will do the project starting between 1:30 and 1:45, depending on when the lunch ladies are done in the cafeteria. I need help with mixing and making candy bags. I also will need help with getting things passed out and clean up. Let me know if you can help with either day. You can post a comment or email me. I SO appreciate it!

I wanted to say the children did FABULOUS on their American History test over the NE!!!! I am sooooooo proud of them! WOW! They know their history!!!!!

I wanted to also let you know that 4 tests and a project all in one week is NOT the norm! :0 Next week is full, I know, but things just happened to fall that way this time. Let's take a look at it:

NE State Location test - Tuesday
NE Capital test - Thursday Hopefully, since I sent the study guide home so early, the kids are already getting familiar with those states. For the location test, the states will be provided. They will just have to match the state with its spot on the map. The capital test is matching as well.

Spelling test - Thursday, Friday is always a second chance test. :)

Owl test - Friday This test is fairly easy if the children pay attention in class. It is "fill in the blank" over 10 facts.

Turkey disguise project - Wednesday Make this a fun and special family project!

Let me know if you have any questions. If you haven't read the blog in several days, you might want to read the posts below this one.

FYI

Owl pellet day will be Wednesday at around 9:30 if anyone wants to come and observe! It's pretty fascinating!

If you do not want your child's picture ornaments, please return them. If you do, please send payment. Thanks so much!

Thanks so much Mrs. Brice for sending the yummy smelling chocolate playdoh!
Thanks so much Mrs. Dillingham for sending the tasty edible peanut butter playdoh!
The children and I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Leaf Art!

Can you see the different animals/insects made out of the leaves? I think the children did fabulous!!

Week of 11/16

Hi Families!

Sorry I haven't posted pictures of our art with the leaves yet. Check out the blog this evening or tomorrow for those pictures! The children did awesome! I sent home a family homework assignment yesterday that is due next Wednesday, November 18th. It should be great fun! Everybody will design a disguise for a turkey! I sent the directions and the turkey pattern home yesterday. :) Be sure and cut out the the turkey. I am really enjoying getting to know your children. They are a lot of fun! We have a few behavior issues we are working on to get to where we need to be, but we are definitely making progress. This class has the potential to be such grand leaders! We are zeroing in on that skill! I have SO many fun things planned ahead, but I have to have exemplary behavior to do them. :) We have to be able to have self control to handle exciting learning!! We are getting there! Here is what's on the agenda for next week:

Reading: We will finish up the story Owls in the Family. We will also read an owl myth and work on the skill fact and opinion relating to owl facts.

Math: Multiplication - 2 and 3 digit by 1 digit, Daily Morning Math

English: Owl report, Daily Morning English, Adverbs

Science: Owl fact test - Friday, Disecting Owl Pellets - Wednesday - Exciting Learning!!!!!! Hopefully, we can have the behavior necessary for this fun and beneficial project!

Spelling: Contractions - I will put them on spellingcity.com soon! The enriched words are the "r" list.

Social Studies: NE region posters, Location test - Tuesday, Capital test - Thursday Hopefully, your child has the study guides I sent home last week and has been reviewing them some. If the guide is lost, please let me know and your child can take home the text book.

That is all for now!

Whose cute kids are these?

Pictures to come with what we did with all those beautiful leaves!!! Stay tuned! Here they are working hard creating!

Working on multiplication fact mastery with a deck of cards! Practice at home!

Week of November 9th

Hi Families!

It was a great week with your beautiful children! They are precious! Here is what's ahead next week:

Reading: Owls in the Family - Literal/Inferential Comprehension and Vocabulary

Spelling: Contractions Check spellingcity.com for the list (list 11) as well as enrichment words (ENR "s" words)

Math: Venn Diagrams, Line Graphs, and Coordinates, Daily Math review

English: Adjectives including Comparative/Superlative forms, Daily English review

Social Studies: American Revolution, George Washington, NE Region Posters
We will be talking a lot about the Revolutionary War and we will have a test over it on Friday.
I will send home a study guide on Wednesday. The NE locations test and NE capitals test will
both be the week of the 16th.

Science: We will begin our owl research papers!

We started our economy system this week! The kids seem to be very excited about it! Ask them about it. Check out the link on the right to see how our Economic System works!

Keep checking this blog for updates! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. There is a link on the right as well, to contact me or you can call the school.

Reminders!

Hi families!

Today was a great day! Your children are easy to love! My little Eli did super and his babysitter said he was happy all day! Yeah!

I wanted to remind you to remember to have pressed leaves turned in by Thursday. Hopefully, leaves are already collected and pressing by now!

Also, I need to collect the $6.50 for the special Christmas project if your child is doing it.

Spelling is up on spellingcity.com. Look for the list, Owls, and for enrichment words, we will use the "t" enrichment list.

Thanks so much for your support!

Hello kids and families!!

I'm sure by now, you know that I will be back on November 2nd. It's a bittersweet moment for myself and the children. I know that the children must be very attached to Mrs. Barrick and hate to see her go, but yet might be a little excited about what's ahead with me. I, too, am feeling mixed emotions. Staying home with our little Eli has been an absolute joy. It is very hard to leave him, even though he will be in very capable and loving hands, but I love teaching and I feel that it's where I am designed to be. The first week or two might be a little hard with them missing Mrs. Barrick and me missing Eli, but I have a great feeling that it won't take long for us to transition and bond! There are a lot of super fun things ahead as we get into Fall and then the holiday season! I am sending you a paper copy of this post from my blog, but from now on just be sure to check the blog for updates. Please let me know if you are lacking internet access. I will be glad to send you a copy home.

Here is a rundown of what is ahead for the week of November 2nd:

Reading/Science - We will begin one of my favorite units on owls!! We will be reading a book called Owls in the Family. It is a very funny, yet informative book about owls. I will be checking for literal and inferential comprehension each day of the story. The first day of the unit, we will talk about what they already know about owls and read some info about owls and distinguish between facts and myths. My owl unit covers both reading and science PASS skills. We will be doing owl research papers and also be doing a very exciting science project towards the end of our unit!

Math - Pictographs, bar graphs, double bar graphs We will also continue to do daily math practice in the morning as well as multiplication timed tests. Please make sure your child knows his/her math facts. It is so crucial for future math success! The need for mastering the facts will never go away as the children get older, I can assure you! I have taught both 5th and 6th grade and math becomes quite painful for children who do not know their facts. Those facts are built upon with large number multiplication, division, and fractions to name a few. I will teach your child a fun way to practice the facts with a deck of cards, so have a deck of cards handy and have him/her teach you the trick. If he/she is struggling, make sure you practice every day for 10 or 15 minutes. Have him/her earn rewards........anything to get him/her over the hump.

Spelling - Our spelling words for the week will be our Owl Unit vocabulary. I will try to get my spellingcity.com account up and running again so the kids can go online and practice their words. Maybe Mrs. Barrick or last year's teacher used this site, but if you are not familiar with it....it's awesome! I will also put the enrichment words on too.

English - Adjectives We will also continue daily English review in the mornings.

Social Studies - We will begin the week talking about the USA and its regions. We will focus on the NE region...its geography, products, and the states that make it up. I will send home a study guide for the locations of the states and capitals of the NE region. The tests will not happen for a few weeks, but sometimes it helps to start studying early for these kinds of tests! Put the study guide on your frig or in a safe spot. :)

A couple other things: We will be doing a major leaf art project on Friday, November 6th. I have noticed that the trees are absolutely beautiful right now!! Here's some fun homework that is due on November 5th: Go on a leaf hunt with your child. Collect a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors of leaves. Make sure you get several of the same kinds too. Press the leaves after you get home. You might soak them in some warm water for a little while, pat them dry, and then put them in between newspaper with some heavy books on top. The leaves MUST be pressed for the art to work. This project is worth 100 points.
We will be doing an extremely special Christmas project soon. This is a project that I did as a child and my parents still have it. I've had wonderful feedback from parents in previous years! It is a secret because it is a gift from your child to you. :) It is a costly project though, so I need your help. If your child wants to participate, it costs $6.50. Since it is a gift for you, you might want to make your child earn the money.......:). We have to start the project really soon, because it requires sending it off to be processed. If your child wants to do it, please send the money by Nov. 4th. I will be sure and show your child some examples when I get back.

I think that is everything for now, but check back often in case of updates. I will also post pictures on the blog every now and then, if I have a permission slip from you.