Wednesday, February 25, 2009
THANK YOU!
I just wanted to say thank you for donating food items for our Read Across America week! I have donations from Matthew, Porter, Sydney, Tristan, Justin R., Jacob, Gabriela, and Cooper. I had several more children state that their parents would send things too, but we have enough now. Thanks so much everybody for being so generous and supportive of all our fun "extras"! I couldn't do it without you!
Monday, February 23, 2009
FYI
I sent home a note about Read Across America week next week. If your child hasn't given you the note, please ask about it.
Book orders are due Friday.
The kids have reading/math homework that is due on Friday. Remember that they can bring a juice to drink while we are going over the homework.
Book orders are due Friday.
The kids have reading/math homework that is due on Friday. Remember that they can bring a juice to drink while we are going over the homework.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Week of 2/23
We had a great week last week! Look at the pictures below of our Space Day and also of our Valentines pics from the week before. Here is what's ahead for this week:
Reading - Literature circles - The children have made great gains since last semester! I am extremely proud of them. Their lexiles have jumped quite a bit since the beginning of the year. Yeah! The best way to become better readers is to simply READ, and to read on your level. You can't grow if you are reading things too hard or too easy. We spend quite a lot of time reading leveled books. Another important aspect of becoming better readers is to discuss what your reading. We do that in small groups. Many of the children are beginning to do some higher level reading skills such as making inferences. We will work on that specific skill in a couple of weeks, but truly it is developmental. This week we will work on the skill, cause and effect. This too is another higher level reading skill.
Math - add and subtract fractions with like denominators, relate fractions to decimals on a number line, compare and order decimals, review previously learned skills
Social Studies - We will be looking at the Midwest Region of the US on Monday using a map and labeling states, land features, and products. On Tuesday, the children will begin an independent study of the Midwest. When they finish their study, they should have a better understanding of the important people and events of that area of our country. We will test on the the state locations and capitals in about 2.5 weeks. This will be the week before Spring Break. (Can you believe that? I can't get over how quickly this year has flown!)
English - parts of speech review, creative writing
Spelling - I forgot my spelling list, but will post the words on the SpellingCity.com site tomorrow. I will also post enrichment words.
Spanish - The children will have a test coming up next Tuesday. We will prepare this week for the test and I will send home the study guide by the end of the week. The test will mostly be over plant parts and habitats.
Have a super week! Don't forget to order your yearbook, if you haven't done that yet and you want one.
Reading - Literature circles - The children have made great gains since last semester! I am extremely proud of them. Their lexiles have jumped quite a bit since the beginning of the year. Yeah! The best way to become better readers is to simply READ, and to read on your level. You can't grow if you are reading things too hard or too easy. We spend quite a lot of time reading leveled books. Another important aspect of becoming better readers is to discuss what your reading. We do that in small groups. Many of the children are beginning to do some higher level reading skills such as making inferences. We will work on that specific skill in a couple of weeks, but truly it is developmental. This week we will work on the skill, cause and effect. This too is another higher level reading skill.
Math - add and subtract fractions with like denominators, relate fractions to decimals on a number line, compare and order decimals, review previously learned skills
Social Studies - We will be looking at the Midwest Region of the US on Monday using a map and labeling states, land features, and products. On Tuesday, the children will begin an independent study of the Midwest. When they finish their study, they should have a better understanding of the important people and events of that area of our country. We will test on the the state locations and capitals in about 2.5 weeks. This will be the week before Spring Break. (Can you believe that? I can't get over how quickly this year has flown!)
English - parts of speech review, creative writing
Spelling - I forgot my spelling list, but will post the words on the SpellingCity.com site tomorrow. I will also post enrichment words.
Spanish - The children will have a test coming up next Tuesday. We will prepare this week for the test and I will send home the study guide by the end of the week. The test will mostly be over plant parts and habitats.
Have a super week! Don't forget to order your yearbook, if you haven't done that yet and you want one.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Space Day!
Wow! What a week! Our Egg Launch was "eggciting"! The children did an "eggceptional" job on their egg containers! A great big thank you to Mr. Starks for donating his time and his bucket truck to "launch our eggs"!
Our space habitats were a huge hit! I am so impressed with how hard your children worked! Hopefully they learned many things from this huge project like........................
Our day was so exciting that it was nice to relax, kick back, and watch Space Buddies while eating a mini Milkyway! We only got to watch about an hour of it, so maybe they can rent it to watch the whole thing!
Our space habitats were a huge hit! I am so impressed with how hard your children worked! Hopefully they learned many things from this huge project like........................Teamwork - This is a biggie! I have seen such growth this year in your children with this important life skill. I've told the kids that many times it does not matter how smart you are, but whether you can work with others. Many very intelligent people cannot keep a job because they have no people skills. Teamwork can be a very hard thing to learn, but it is so important for life!
Geometry - They constructed a 3 dimensional object (cube). We talked about faces, vertices, edges, and right angles in relation to their cubes.
Science - They had to figure out how to keep an air current in their habitat to keep it inflated. They had to problem solve a lot!
Take a look at the space habitats and your cute kids!
Where are the kids? Oh, peace, they are in their habitats "reading". (supposedly!) They were being quiet anyways!
Where are the kids? Oh, peace, they are in their habitats "reading". (supposedly!) They were being quiet anyways!
Our day was so exciting that it was nice to relax, kick back, and watch Space Buddies while eating a mini Milkyway! We only got to watch about an hour of it, so maybe they can rent it to watch the whole thing!And the winner is..............
MATTHEW! For a Valentine activity, we did math and other activities with Conversation Hearts. One of the activities was a "heart stacking on our finger" contest! I, myself, stink at this! I can only stack 3 on my finger! I never can seem to get more than that! The kids always amaze me with how steady they are! Matthew got 7! Wow! That is a record! Good job Matthew!
Valentines Day Pictures!
We played a cute and funny game with our kindergarten buddies. It was called Honey, do you love me? We all laughed a lot at the sillyness this game evoked!
Other close heart stacking contestants! Chloe with 5 
Jacob with 4
Gabriela with 4
Other close heart stacking contestants! Chloe with 5 
Jacob with 4
Gabriela with 4
Thursday, February 19, 2009
FYI
Hi families! I just wanted to let you know that our Egg Launch will be at 1:00 tomorrow behind the school, if you would like to come. I have been hearing some great ideas! Can't wait to see them all!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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