Sunday, March 27, 2011

Week of March 28th

Wow! Last week was one of the hardest weeks ever!! Moving back into my classroom is a wonderful thing, but oh what a job it was!  Your children were amazing! They helped me so much!  They were also very well behaved which enabled me to get a lot done! Love them dearly!!  Everything is almost back to normal.  We are so very thankful to be in our big beautiful classroom with a sink again!  The room looks awesome!  Henson construction did a terrific job, especially following the lead of Randy, their site foreman! Our custodians and Mr. Rainey worked their tails off this week helping to move everyone.  So thankful for them too! 

We have 8 weeks of school left.....can't believe it! We will be very busy these last weeks!  There are lots of fun days ahead.  I will be posting and sending home a letter of events and dates soon.  Here is what this week looks like:

Reading - We will be finishing up our leveled novels....they need to be read by Friday.  Some have already finished their books.  I will give them their book report homework project when they complete their stories.  These book reports are due next Friday, April 8th.

Math - On Monday, we will finish up our Geometry Towns.  They are doing a fabulous job on them! Tuesday - Reading thermometers, Wednesday - Range, Median, and Mode, Thursday - Area and Perimeter on a grid, Friday - Polygons and Solid Shapes.  On Monday, I will send home a homework assignment which involves constructing 3D shapes.  This project is due on Friday.

Spelling - List 19 on spellingcity.com,  List 19.5 - enriched

English - Usage of I and Me, We will spend the whole week in computer lab on our stories. 

Science - Our body unit begins! Fun!

Social Studies - The Midwest Unit study is due in completion on Friday.  About 2/3 of the class are managing their time well and have all or most of the work completed, but the other 1/3 are struggling.  They will be having homework this week. :(  During our work time, I enforce a quiet working atmosphere. Some are just simply not using their time wisely. They have a lot to learn and hopefully through these experiences will understand how to better manage their time for future success. :) We will get them there!

Friday will be our March Madness Reading Celebration!  We are currently in the lead against Mrs. Herbel's class.  I don't know yet the results of last week, because we were too busy moving, but I will check the current score on Monday.  Hopefully, they can get my computer and smart board hooked up correctly and working too!  That helps me in checking AR totals.

That's all for now.  Please be checking the blog for current information as well as the dates of events coming up!  You may want to mark your calendar with due dates and also the family day event when I get the list out. :)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Americana Basket Donations needed

If anyone can donate an item for our American-themed basket, (for the Spring Fling auction) please do so soon.  I've received word that they are needing to get the basket made.  As of yet, we have had no donations.   Thank you in advance if you can help with this. :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Week of 3-21

Happy Spring Break!  Hope you have a great week!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to move to our new classroom today. :(  It was a big disappointment, but one more week after Spring Break and we will get to move.  We can't wait!  After Spring Break, we will be doing the following:

Reading - 2 reading groups - One group will be reading How to Eat Fried Worms and one group will be reading Maniac Magee.  Both are wonderful stories!  The children will have a book report project for homework after their stories are complete.  They will have 2 weeks to finish their book......due April 4th.  The book report project will be due April 8th. 

English - online stories...We have also been working on and will keep working on figurative language. 

Spelling - List 18 on spellingcity.com (soft and hard "c" and "g")  The enriched list is List 18.5.

Math - We will review long division and large number multiplication.  We will also be doing geometry......polygons and line relationships.  We will begin a math project in which the children will draw a map of  their own Geometry Town.  The Geometry Town will have directions and specifications to follow.  It should be a fun project!

Social Studies - We will continue to work on our Midwest Individual Unit.

Science - Clouds and Precipitation

Hopefully, the children told you that we are no longer required to do Spanish

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Geography and Spelling Bee Class Champs!


Brennan won the class championship for the geography bee, but unfortunately was sick the day of the
school bee.  Sorry Brennan, but good job for winning first place in the class bee!
 
 Shelby tied with Jack for second place in the class geography bee, so the day of the bee, I drew names between the two and Shelby won the drawing to represent our class in the school bee.  Proud of you Shelby!
 Kayla won the class championship for the spelling bee and then went on to win the school championship in the 4th and 5th grade division!  Wow! Super work Kayla!  She went on to represent our school and was the youngest contestant there!
 Jack won 2nd place in the class spelling bee and tied for 2nd in the class geography bee!  Talk about a well-rounded learner!!  Great work Jack!

Week of 3-7

Here is a look at the agenda for this week:


Math:  Long division, estimating quotients, geometry, review


Reading: We will finish our reading BINGO that we started last week.  Most of the kids only have their biography and biography poster to do.  These posters are due on Friday.  The kids have been taking AR tests like crazy!  We won the first week's round of March Madness against Mrs. Herbel's class! Go Corderman's kids!  The score is 146 to 110.  Please encourage your child to read at home.  The top reader last week was Jack with Hayden in second place, and Sydney in third!  Great work kiddos!


Spelling: List 17 on spellingcity.com with list 17.5 being enrichment


English: online story writing....These stories will be a continuing assignment over the next several weeks.  We will work on them in computer lab 2 to 3 days a week.  The children are practicing making good sentences, as well as working on grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  When children start to finish typing their stories, I will have them peer edit as well.  They will learn A LOT through this way of editing!  Some of the children have taken their codes home and have been typing at home as well.  I encourage you to look at their stories and help them to edit as well.  Last year many of my parents helped their children to download pictures for their books.  The published books turned out fabulous!!  In May, we will have a Family Day.  This is a very special event!  I will let you know ahead of time, so that you can hopefully take off work for an hour to come.  The children will be sharing their published books, as well as reciting their poetry.  We will also be having an art show displaying your children's favorite art of the year!
Social Studies:  Midwest independent study......The children are learning about important events and people of the Midwest like skyscrapers, railroads, Henry Ford, and Sitting Bull through reading nonfiction books, articles, and passages.  They will also view videos on Lewis and Clark and the Wright Brothers!