Week of 3-29-10

Hi Families!

Hope you enjoyed student-led conferences! I thought the children did fabulous! You should be VERY proud of them! Hopefully you got a better feel for our classroom environment. :)

We have 2 weeks until state testing! We will be doing a lot of review these next 2 weeks. We review old concepts ALL the time anyway, but we will be reviewing even more now. Some review will be on the smart board and some in a game format to make it more fun! We will be so glad to get these tests over with, but the kids do NOT need to worry about it. They will do fine!

This week in reading, we will finish our nonfiction book reports and begin historical fiction books. These historical fiction books are awesome! They cover historical events that we have covered such as the Underground Railroad, the Revolutionary War, and the Oregon Trail. They are told through the eyes of a child during that period in history! I think the children will love them.

Math: Measurement - look for a measurement homework assignment to be sent home on Wednesday.

No spelling or English these next 2 weeks to make room for state testing review.

Science: We will finish up our geology unit this week. We will talk more about minerals and also talk about volcanoes. I will send home a study guide on Monday for the geology test that's on Thursday.

Social Studies: I taught the children this past Thursday how to use worldbookonline.com for their 50 state research project. They did super! 5 or 6 of the children were already pros at this because they had already started their research at home. Wow! Impressive! The rest of the children should know how to do it now too, and seemed to like it. Most were eager to get going! The research is due April 20th. The kids will be doing a very fun homework project for a chosen state when they are done with their research.

Well, the kids are doing super with our March Madness Reading Challenge! I am so very proud of them!! Here are the results so far:

Week 1: Boys-66pts. Girls-91pts.
Week 2: Boys-51 Girls-41
Week 3: Boys-81 Girls-57
Total: Boys-198 Girls-189

The last day of the competition is March 30th, so anything could happen! Keep reading! Our record holder reader for the boys is Nick Anderson and for the girls, Brielle Walker!! Super job you two, and everyone else for reading at home!! I'm proud of you! I will announce the winner on Wednesday, March 31st. We will celebrate with a pizza party on Thursday! More details about that on Wednesday! Keep reading!!!!