Howdy,
No blogging this week due to extremely painful tendinitis. (a result of a full weekend of prying vinyl siding from a 70 year old house. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)
We are in the home stretch though, and I am sad to see the days passing by.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Pioneer Day
Today was pioneer day in fourth grade, so we had a mixed-up morning. We went to specials and had health in the morning. We did writing this afternoon. It's always odd to have a day that isn't "quite right" according to our normal schedule. I'm sure those with 4th grade siblings would say that Pioneer Day was worth the mix-up!
Speaking of, Aussie Day is coming up next week. We are dreadfully short of volunteers so if you can spare some time in the morning or afternoon, please let me know ASAP.
Today students continued working on ranking their facts via importance. We'll share them on Tuesday. We ran right out of time for our spelling test, so be ready for your words on Tuesday (we also didn't get very many homework packets back...) I continued to do reading assessments and hope to get that wrapped up by Wednesday, as well. It's so hard to believe that it's time for us to be thinking about the end of the year.
In math we talked about ranges of data and did some mystery data. Students did a very nice job determining which graphs went with specific sets of data. We also did some work reviewing ways of looking at data. Next week we will plan our very own survey/data collection project, and I am very excited to have the chance for the kiddos to design their own project from start to finish!
Our health work continued on the skin. Did you know that, if removed, the skin of an average adult would weigh between 7 and 9 pounds. I was fascinated by that. We talked today about keeping your skin healthy: Wearing Sunscreen is the #1 thing you should be doing to keep your skin healthy.
Be safe this weekend. Safe travels, safe playing. Wear your helmets.
Speaking of, Aussie Day is coming up next week. We are dreadfully short of volunteers so if you can spare some time in the morning or afternoon, please let me know ASAP.
Today students continued working on ranking their facts via importance. We'll share them on Tuesday. We ran right out of time for our spelling test, so be ready for your words on Tuesday (we also didn't get very many homework packets back...) I continued to do reading assessments and hope to get that wrapped up by Wednesday, as well. It's so hard to believe that it's time for us to be thinking about the end of the year.
In math we talked about ranges of data and did some mystery data. Students did a very nice job determining which graphs went with specific sets of data. We also did some work reviewing ways of looking at data. Next week we will plan our very own survey/data collection project, and I am very excited to have the chance for the kiddos to design their own project from start to finish!
Our health work continued on the skin. Did you know that, if removed, the skin of an average adult would weigh between 7 and 9 pounds. I was fascinated by that. We talked today about keeping your skin healthy: Wearing Sunscreen is the #1 thing you should be doing to keep your skin healthy.
Be safe this weekend. Safe travels, safe playing. Wear your helmets.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Scratch Paper
The first order of business: do any of our families need scratch paper? We have a lot of paper that has been used on a single side and if someone can use it, I'd much rather pass it on than just recycle it. I use it at home in my printer all the time (I only use new paper if it is something that is "official.") Please send me an email if you can use some scratch paper.
On to happenings of today. The jog-a-thon was great fun! Students ran their little hearts out. I think if we had had twice as much time, they would have just kept running. I enjoyed walking against the traffic so I could high-five and cheer on. What great fun. The kids were wiped out after. Everything was amazing. Thanks to the BSPTO for such a well-planned event.
This morning students chose a NF text to read in their table groups and are working on selecting multiple facts and ranking them in order of importance. We are continuing to work on our ability to synthesize what we read and deepen our understanding of an author's intention.
We continued working on spelling concepts, practicing with words that end in -ch and -tch.
We've started the revision process on our all-about books. Revising is much different from editing in that revising involves looking at the ideas and the information presented rather than just grammatical correctness. It's a hard notion for 7 year olds, but we're struggling through.
In math we compiled the data from our data collection yesterday. Each group made a representation of their collected data and then compiled it with other data from the same grade level. We then looked at how the trend of "lost teeth" looked as we progressed through the grades. It was interesting to see the shift from first to fourth grade.
Ask your child about the "happy bucket." Whining, tattling, bickering, blaming, complaining have started to take up more and more of my time, so we've created a place for these thoughts to go. At the end of the day, the bucket gets dumped and all the badness goes away!
Have a wonderful evening. Read a book with your child. Throw the Frisbee or walk the dog together.
On to happenings of today. The jog-a-thon was great fun! Students ran their little hearts out. I think if we had had twice as much time, they would have just kept running. I enjoyed walking against the traffic so I could high-five and cheer on. What great fun. The kids were wiped out after. Everything was amazing. Thanks to the BSPTO for such a well-planned event.
This morning students chose a NF text to read in their table groups and are working on selecting multiple facts and ranking them in order of importance. We are continuing to work on our ability to synthesize what we read and deepen our understanding of an author's intention.
We continued working on spelling concepts, practicing with words that end in -ch and -tch.
We've started the revision process on our all-about books. Revising is much different from editing in that revising involves looking at the ideas and the information presented rather than just grammatical correctness. It's a hard notion for 7 year olds, but we're struggling through.
In math we compiled the data from our data collection yesterday. Each group made a representation of their collected data and then compiled it with other data from the same grade level. We then looked at how the trend of "lost teeth" looked as we progressed through the grades. It was interesting to see the shift from first to fourth grade.
Ask your child about the "happy bucket." Whining, tattling, bickering, blaming, complaining have started to take up more and more of my time, so we've created a place for these thoughts to go. At the end of the day, the bucket gets dumped and all the badness goes away!
Have a wonderful evening. Read a book with your child. Throw the Frisbee or walk the dog together.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Art Literacy
Today we had our final installment of Art Literacy for the year and tomorrow is the first ever Jog-a-thon! Two big things in just two days. The students enjoyed art lit (at least so they say; I wasn't there).
Today kiddos tried to put facts in order of importance from a NF text. I'm finding that it's difficult for us to figure out what the MOST important piece of information is. It's also challenging to determine an author's theme from a fiction text.
We're working on cementing our spelling knowledge and have been focused on suffixes. Help your child out by practicing words where letters must change before -ed and -es endings are added (such as baby or cry).
Students did an excellent job collecting data from other classrooms today. I peeked in on those around and was impressed by what I saw. We also went to the computer lab to begin researching our Coral Reef fish. We found some good places to get fish information. Look for links on the right side if you want to help your child at home.
I'm looking forward to the jog-a-thon tomorrow. It really is a great way to support the school community and have a little exercise.
Today kiddos tried to put facts in order of importance from a NF text. I'm finding that it's difficult for us to figure out what the MOST important piece of information is. It's also challenging to determine an author's theme from a fiction text.
We're working on cementing our spelling knowledge and have been focused on suffixes. Help your child out by practicing words where letters must change before -ed and -es endings are added (such as baby or cry).
Students did an excellent job collecting data from other classrooms today. I peeked in on those around and was impressed by what I saw. We also went to the computer lab to begin researching our Coral Reef fish. We found some good places to get fish information. Look for links on the right side if you want to help your child at home.
I'm looking forward to the jog-a-thon tomorrow. It really is a great way to support the school community and have a little exercise.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
It's Open House Night
Hello All,
Once again this week I am behind in posting. This week has been super busy: I had a training until late on Tuesday, was here at school late on Wednesday and am finally sitting down to blog tonight.
I am looking forward to seeing you all here tonight.
So, the past few days: We've had Junior Achievement three days this week. Today the students voted for a mayor of their Community. It was interesting to watch them struggle with the idea of voting in secret. Overall, the students chose the mayor who had pledged to build an animal shelter, much to the dismay of several vocal boys. It was a good lesson about the realities of being a voter: what you vote for doesn't always win.
We all shared our biography posters (though the Audio wasn't recorded when I recorded them directly into iMovie :-() with the class and with our Big Buddies. Watching the Big Buddies sit and listen to our children was endearing. We've also been practicing reading non-fiction text pieces and identifying the most important fact we've learned.
Work continues on our All About books; revision will take place next week and then we'll begin the production process. I am hopeful that the students who have been working on the book about Bethany will have an impressive product.
We started collecting classroom data regarding the number of teeth lost. Please, please, please, make sure that your child brings back his information from family and friends. We need it for math tomorrow. We will continue to work on data collection, representations and synthesis into next week.
Students will begin investigating a coral reef animal tomorrow for our last research project of the year. I can't wait to see which animals the students choose.
Have a wonderful evening.
Once again this week I am behind in posting. This week has been super busy: I had a training until late on Tuesday, was here at school late on Wednesday and am finally sitting down to blog tonight.
I am looking forward to seeing you all here tonight.
So, the past few days: We've had Junior Achievement three days this week. Today the students voted for a mayor of their Community. It was interesting to watch them struggle with the idea of voting in secret. Overall, the students chose the mayor who had pledged to build an animal shelter, much to the dismay of several vocal boys. It was a good lesson about the realities of being a voter: what you vote for doesn't always win.
We all shared our biography posters (though the Audio wasn't recorded when I recorded them directly into iMovie :-() with the class and with our Big Buddies. Watching the Big Buddies sit and listen to our children was endearing. We've also been practicing reading non-fiction text pieces and identifying the most important fact we've learned.
Work continues on our All About books; revision will take place next week and then we'll begin the production process. I am hopeful that the students who have been working on the book about Bethany will have an impressive product.
We started collecting classroom data regarding the number of teeth lost. Please, please, please, make sure that your child brings back his information from family and friends. We need it for math tomorrow. We will continue to work on data collection, representations and synthesis into next week.
Students will begin investigating a coral reef animal tomorrow for our last research project of the year. I can't wait to see which animals the students choose.
Have a wonderful evening.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Monday
Apologies for missing Friday's post. We had a staff get together after school and after all the hoopla, I never got around to it.
You'll note that tonight your child's spelling homework looks different! We are trying something different in our class and we'll see how it goes. The students and I went over it this morning, so hopefully they will be helpful. I am hoping to find words that our students misspell in their writing to help them become more efficient writers. Kiddos seemed excited about it.
T-shirt alert! Please send your child to school with a plain white t-shirt ASAP. We need them very soon so that we may dye them in preparation for Aussie Day.
Ok, so Monday. No library today as we are headed to the bookfair tomorrow. Students are VERY excited. (Shameless plug: I'm pretty excited too!). We practiced biography presentations today and tomorrow we will start with the first 8-10 biography presenters. We've talked about the importance of looking at the audience and not just reading from the poster. Students are expected to maintain eye contact and engage their audience.
We wrote to our Trucker Buddy this morning. Everyone wants her to come and visit before the end of the year. We'll see what we can do. She is finally back to work after two horrible family emergencies, so I don't know when her next load will have her out our direction.
Students took surveys today in math and made their representations. They are clever thinkers. I could not believe how quickly they got these tasks done! Tomorrow we will talk through one or more sets of data and be on to the next task.
We studied the life cycle of coral today and I am looking forward to your child sharing it with you at Open House. Be on the look out for the LARGE "scuba" mask that hides a gigantic wheel of Coral Life.
Tomorrow our Junior Achievement volunteer will be in for some additional work on communities. The kids love JA.
I hope you're enjoying the sun. I sat on the lawn reading student writing and correcting math papers. It was wonderful!
You'll note that tonight your child's spelling homework looks different! We are trying something different in our class and we'll see how it goes. The students and I went over it this morning, so hopefully they will be helpful. I am hoping to find words that our students misspell in their writing to help them become more efficient writers. Kiddos seemed excited about it.
T-shirt alert! Please send your child to school with a plain white t-shirt ASAP. We need them very soon so that we may dye them in preparation for Aussie Day.
Ok, so Monday. No library today as we are headed to the bookfair tomorrow. Students are VERY excited. (Shameless plug: I'm pretty excited too!). We practiced biography presentations today and tomorrow we will start with the first 8-10 biography presenters. We've talked about the importance of looking at the audience and not just reading from the poster. Students are expected to maintain eye contact and engage their audience.
We wrote to our Trucker Buddy this morning. Everyone wants her to come and visit before the end of the year. We'll see what we can do. She is finally back to work after two horrible family emergencies, so I don't know when her next load will have her out our direction.
Students took surveys today in math and made their representations. They are clever thinkers. I could not believe how quickly they got these tasks done! Tomorrow we will talk through one or more sets of data and be on to the next task.
We studied the life cycle of coral today and I am looking forward to your child sharing it with you at Open House. Be on the look out for the LARGE "scuba" mask that hides a gigantic wheel of Coral Life.
Tomorrow our Junior Achievement volunteer will be in for some additional work on communities. The kids love JA.
I hope you're enjoying the sun. I sat on the lawn reading student writing and correcting math papers. It was wonderful!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
We have WORMS!
The good news is that our eight pounds of worms arrived in the mail today! The students went absolutely gonzo over the worms. We put the worms into each of the worm bins, so the worms should be eating our food waste away in the next few days. I'll add more food tomorrow, and hopefully by Monday we'll be able to see some worm action.
It is a little odd to get worms in the mail, though!
We had a busy day with our field trip today. Before we left we shared facts we learned about Coral Reefs and talked about symbiosis. Symbiosis is the interdependence of animals and other animals or plants. In coral reefs, coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship. The coral depends on the algae for food. No algae means hungry coral, hungry coral then dies.
The bus driver complimented our class and the students were amazing as we picnicked inside at lunchtime. We wrote about our adventure and drew pictures of our interpretations of a coral reef.
We then did our worm bin activities and suddenly it was time for specials. Time flies!
Have a wonderful afternoon.
It is a little odd to get worms in the mail, though!
We had a busy day with our field trip today. Before we left we shared facts we learned about Coral Reefs and talked about symbiosis. Symbiosis is the interdependence of animals and other animals or plants. In coral reefs, coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship. The coral depends on the algae for food. No algae means hungry coral, hungry coral then dies.
The bus driver complimented our class and the students were amazing as we picnicked inside at lunchtime. We wrote about our adventure and drew pictures of our interpretations of a coral reef.
We then did our worm bin activities and suddenly it was time for specials. Time flies!
Have a wonderful afternoon.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
No worms today
and we are sad. I'm sad, Ms. Clifford is sad. The whole class is sad. I'm hoping they come tomorrow. If not, I'll have to call the worm people and find out where our worms are. The bins were on their second day with food waste and do not smell. Covering the food scraps with newspapers really seems to be working. Be sure to come experience the worms during open house next week!
Beyond watching for the worm delivery, we did more work with antonyms today and read a story about Wilma Rudolph. Students were asked whether the pictures were important to the story? If the pictures are (or aren't), why is that? Especially with nonfiction texts, the pictures really help tell the story If you don't know much about Wilma Rudolph, your child! Have him or her tell you about her.
Lori Clifford came today and did a lesson on the damaging power of words. It's really important to understand how much words can hurt someone, even if it's not on purpose. We have worked hard at becoming empathetic peers.
In math we collected pocket data, calculated the total number of pockets worn by our class and made our own representations of the data. It was a big deal to take 22 data points and turn it into a reasonable graphical representation.
Students worked with partners becoming experts on one section of information about Coral Reefs. Tomorrow we will share our info in the morning before the leave and will talk about symbiosis.
Between the worms and the field trip, the kiddos can't WAIT for tomorrow. Be sure to send a sack lunch.
It really is my pleasure to share this energy with your child. I am blessed.
Beyond watching for the worm delivery, we did more work with antonyms today and read a story about Wilma Rudolph. Students were asked whether the pictures were important to the story? If the pictures are (or aren't), why is that? Especially with nonfiction texts, the pictures really help tell the story If you don't know much about Wilma Rudolph, your child! Have him or her tell you about her.
Lori Clifford came today and did a lesson on the damaging power of words. It's really important to understand how much words can hurt someone, even if it's not on purpose. We have worked hard at becoming empathetic peers.
In math we collected pocket data, calculated the total number of pockets worn by our class and made our own representations of the data. It was a big deal to take 22 data points and turn it into a reasonable graphical representation.
Students worked with partners becoming experts on one section of information about Coral Reefs. Tomorrow we will share our info in the morning before the leave and will talk about symbiosis.
Between the worms and the field trip, the kiddos can't WAIT for tomorrow. Be sure to send a sack lunch.
It really is my pleasure to share this energy with your child. I am blessed.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
We are ready for worms
Tomorrow we should begin our vermicomposting adventure. The worm bins are seeded with food waste, damp newspaper and shredded coconut husks. The students are amped and the worms were supposed to have been mailed yesterday by Priority Mail. I'm sure you'll get all the info you need from your student!
This is the last week for most students that spelling will come home on the pink sheets. After this, students will be working on individual vexing words and students will test each other on Fridays. For some students, spelling will continue as it has.
Today was a busy day (they are all, aren't they?). We added food to one of the worm bins, finished our people posters (all but three or four students are DONE!), returned to working on our All About Books (we read with partners trying to make sure we had facts not feelings in our books) and we participated in a survey in math. I showed three different ways to display the information gathered in a survey and tomorrow the students will have their own chance.
As we are headed to OMSI on Thursday and studying Australia, we have begun talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Today the students had a chance to hold some coral ad we talked about coral reefs being a live object. This was something I didn't fully understand until a few years ago. We talked about the things that we can do keep coral reefs healthy, as well.
Ask your student about the zones of the ocean. Today we talked about the fish that live in each zone. The fish in the abyssal zone had little bodies and BIG mouths!
Have a great Wednesday!
This is the last week for most students that spelling will come home on the pink sheets. After this, students will be working on individual vexing words and students will test each other on Fridays. For some students, spelling will continue as it has.
Today was a busy day (they are all, aren't they?). We added food to one of the worm bins, finished our people posters (all but three or four students are DONE!), returned to working on our All About Books (we read with partners trying to make sure we had facts not feelings in our books) and we participated in a survey in math. I showed three different ways to display the information gathered in a survey and tomorrow the students will have their own chance.
As we are headed to OMSI on Thursday and studying Australia, we have begun talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Today the students had a chance to hold some coral ad we talked about coral reefs being a live object. This was something I didn't fully understand until a few years ago. We talked about the things that we can do keep coral reefs healthy, as well.
Ask your student about the zones of the ocean. Today we talked about the fish that live in each zone. The fish in the abyssal zone had little bodies and BIG mouths!
Have a great Wednesday!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Worms, Worms and more Worms
Monday was a great day. The sun is shining, everyone is in a wonderful mood and folks are motivated to do nice work!
We began talking about antonyms today. Talk with your child about antonyms. It is SO much fun to find sets of words that are opposite. I could not believe how many the kids came up with! They covered nearly two pages of easel paper with unique pairs of antonyms.
Work continued on the people posters. We have about half the class with complete posters and we will start presenting them on Wednesday. Students will be assessed on the accuracy of their work, whether they figured out the BIG reason their person was important and the quality of their presentation. It's a big year end project for us.
After library we did Weekend News, and it's fun to catch up with what your families did over the time off. We started a new unit in math, but it continues the data collection theme. Look for the unit letter on Tuesday. We also began talking about the Great Barrier Reef today. Ask your child about the zones of the ocean.
Worm News: I wrote a grant to begin a vermicomposting program at Bethany. We have received four worm bins and our worms will arrive this week. Vermicomposting uses red worms to break down organic materials into materials that can be used for compost. It's a great way for us to reduce the amount of waste we put into the trash cycle and to study the life cycle of a critter. The students are so EXCITED. We put together one of the bins today to prepare it for the worms. The money came from METRO, and our bins and worms are coming from Happy D Ranch. For more info on vermicomposting (it doesn't smell and can even be done in a house, condo or garage) you can look here or here.
We began talking about antonyms today. Talk with your child about antonyms. It is SO much fun to find sets of words that are opposite. I could not believe how many the kids came up with! They covered nearly two pages of easel paper with unique pairs of antonyms.
Work continued on the people posters. We have about half the class with complete posters and we will start presenting them on Wednesday. Students will be assessed on the accuracy of their work, whether they figured out the BIG reason their person was important and the quality of their presentation. It's a big year end project for us.
After library we did Weekend News, and it's fun to catch up with what your families did over the time off. We started a new unit in math, but it continues the data collection theme. Look for the unit letter on Tuesday. We also began talking about the Great Barrier Reef today. Ask your child about the zones of the ocean.
Worm News: I wrote a grant to begin a vermicomposting program at Bethany. We have received four worm bins and our worms will arrive this week. Vermicomposting uses red worms to break down organic materials into materials that can be used for compost. It's a great way for us to reduce the amount of waste we put into the trash cycle and to study the life cycle of a critter. The students are so EXCITED. We put together one of the bins today to prepare it for the worms. The money came from METRO, and our bins and worms are coming from Happy D Ranch. For more info on vermicomposting (it doesn't smell and can even be done in a house, condo or garage) you can look here or here.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Wait, it's Friday?
Well, apparently, I completely missed Thursday! We have had two very busy days!
The students are working hard on their biography posters! Yesterday our room had an eery silence while students were working away. Several kiddos have finished their posters. Mr. Stewart walked through yesterday and gave us a hefty compliment on the quality of our work.
Two Hall of Fame spellers this week: Asher and Natasha. The words because and friends were very difficult.
We've been doubling up on the work on our posters and that has consumed most of our writing time the past two days. I can't wait for the posters to be finished.
We took a math assessment today on data collection and sorting. The students have done a great job figuring out ways to sort information. We're still working on different ways to categorize different types of information, but we'll have more time to figure that out in the next unit.
Our Junior Achievement volunteer came today. He's from Symantec and the children were excited to see him. He has an easygoing manner and I'm confident that JA will be a success.
Enjoy your weekend. I think more yard work is calling my name.
The students are working hard on their biography posters! Yesterday our room had an eery silence while students were working away. Several kiddos have finished their posters. Mr. Stewart walked through yesterday and gave us a hefty compliment on the quality of our work.
Two Hall of Fame spellers this week: Asher and Natasha. The words because and friends were very difficult.
We've been doubling up on the work on our posters and that has consumed most of our writing time the past two days. I can't wait for the posters to be finished.
We took a math assessment today on data collection and sorting. The students have done a great job figuring out ways to sort information. We're still working on different ways to categorize different types of information, but we'll have more time to figure that out in the next unit.
Our Junior Achievement volunteer came today. He's from Symantec and the children were excited to see him. He has an easygoing manner and I'm confident that JA will be a success.
Enjoy your weekend. I think more yard work is calling my name.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
and just like that, Wednesday was gone
I was out on Tuesday, so no blog entry. The sub reported the students were wonderful and said she'd come back any time. It's always nice to hear a glowing report of your students (it's not always that way, i will admit....)
Today was a refreshing day. The students are confident in their abilities and were taking on tasks without batting an eye. We played another round of Synonym Concentration today, and students had to tell me a pair of syllables for their ticket to lunch. My favorite was "Clicker and Remote." Sure enough, that's a set of syllables.
Tomorrow people posters begin. I will talk with the few students who didn't want to do a poster tomorrow to work out what they'd like to do. Most students sketched a rough draft today, and we are excited. I'd like to invite our 5th grade buddies to hear our fact presentations.
Kiddos had another chance today to finish up their partner stories. I really am amazed by what they're turning out. Cooperative talk is wonderful to hear. Tomorrow will be back at our "All About" books.
We learned about Venn diagrams in math and applied our knowledge to more sorting based on Yektti attributes. Tomorrow the students will select two attributes and collect data from our class for their own Venn diagram. We worked on a health assessment this afternoon that involved proper hand washing technique.
We've had lots of kids with colds in our class. If your child has a fever, she must stay home for a full day after the fever has broken. Remember to wash your hands often. It's always sad when students are missing.
Today was a refreshing day. The students are confident in their abilities and were taking on tasks without batting an eye. We played another round of Synonym Concentration today, and students had to tell me a pair of syllables for their ticket to lunch. My favorite was "Clicker and Remote." Sure enough, that's a set of syllables.
Tomorrow people posters begin. I will talk with the few students who didn't want to do a poster tomorrow to work out what they'd like to do. Most students sketched a rough draft today, and we are excited. I'd like to invite our 5th grade buddies to hear our fact presentations.
Kiddos had another chance today to finish up their partner stories. I really am amazed by what they're turning out. Cooperative talk is wonderful to hear. Tomorrow will be back at our "All About" books.
We learned about Venn diagrams in math and applied our knowledge to more sorting based on Yektti attributes. Tomorrow the students will select two attributes and collect data from our class for their own Venn diagram. We worked on a health assessment this afternoon that involved proper hand washing technique.
We've had lots of kids with colds in our class. If your child has a fever, she must stay home for a full day after the fever has broken. Remember to wash your hands often. It's always sad when students are missing.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
A day late and....
Yesterday was a busy day! The day zoomed by and before I knew it the bell was ringing to send your children home to you.
We began putting our biography facts into sentences yesterday so we can organize them for our people posters. I am impressed by what the students were able to glean from their research. We have a group of children who can think deeply about topics.
Synonyms are this week's focus for our spelling lessons. Synonyms are pairs of words that mean the same thing: they are interchangeable in writing and speaking. You can easily play a synonym game with your child: "If I say x, I could also say y." Synonyms are fun and a great way to show your cleverness. (And kids think it's great!)
We worked on a super secret project for the volunteer luncheon yesterday. If you've done any volunteer work for Bethany (classroom, carnival, etc.) come join us for lunch at 11:05 on Thursday.
Students were introduced to Yektti's yesterday. They are fictional characters with multiple attributes used by our math program to help students understand concepts of data sorting. They are fun and it's great to hear the students identifying them by their attributes, such as "ringed eyes" or "rhombus body."
Our study of germs continued, and we talked briefly about how quickly germs can grow and spread in your body. Our goal is to keep those pesky germs OUT. You'll find a homework page this week that asks you and your child to brainstorm ways to keep germs under control. It's truly fascinating to me that thousands of individual virus cells can fit on the head of a pin. Wow.
We began putting our biography facts into sentences yesterday so we can organize them for our people posters. I am impressed by what the students were able to glean from their research. We have a group of children who can think deeply about topics.
Synonyms are this week's focus for our spelling lessons. Synonyms are pairs of words that mean the same thing: they are interchangeable in writing and speaking. You can easily play a synonym game with your child: "If I say x, I could also say y." Synonyms are fun and a great way to show your cleverness. (And kids think it's great!)
We worked on a super secret project for the volunteer luncheon yesterday. If you've done any volunteer work for Bethany (classroom, carnival, etc.) come join us for lunch at 11:05 on Thursday.
Students were introduced to Yektti's yesterday. They are fictional characters with multiple attributes used by our math program to help students understand concepts of data sorting. They are fun and it's great to hear the students identifying them by their attributes, such as "ringed eyes" or "rhombus body."
Our study of germs continued, and we talked briefly about how quickly germs can grow and spread in your body. Our goal is to keep those pesky germs OUT. You'll find a homework page this week that asks you and your child to brainstorm ways to keep germs under control. It's truly fascinating to me that thousands of individual virus cells can fit on the head of a pin. Wow.
Friday, April 27, 2007
100 minutes!
Just a reminder that your child is expected to be reading at least 100 minutes at home each week as part of our weekly homework. The Race to 100 card should be returned on Friday morning. Our class has read 42,550 minutes thus far, but we have several students whose totals are well below 1000 minutes (expectation is at least 2400 by this time in the year).
The play last night was wonderful. The students did an excellent job and parent turn out was amazing. I thought those with speaking parts sounded much older and singing voices were robust! Way to go dinosaur dancers!
We wrote in our interactive journals this morning and finished up the gathering of our facts for our biographies. The students are now expected to have completed their fact gathering and be ready to turn facts into sentences on Monday (we were a little delayed this morning). We played three more rounds of syllable Lotto discussed that each syllable has a vowel sound. It's a hard notion, though, because the bossy e is a vowel but it is not spoken.
Students had a free writing day today and were thrilled. I can't believe how many partner teams are authoring texts. I was amazed at the level of productive conversation. When it gets loud, I'm always tempted to "shhhhh," but after listening in on conversations this morning I determined the students were on-task!
I graded the spelling tests this afternoon. We have several students who were very close to being in the Hall of Fame. One or two letters away! This week's hall of fame students are: Zach, Asher and Teresa.
We continued our conversation about data organization and representation. We began to talk about data sets that involve two attributes and what to do with data points that have BOTH attributes.
Our germ unit started today for health. Did you know that your nose, ears and even lungs have small hairs that act as filters to keep the germs out? We talked at great length about the two most important things we can do to keep ourselves healthy: keep our hands out of our mouths and noses and wash our hands with soap.
Enjoy your weekend. I know lots of you are busy with sports so I hope you have some time for relaxation.
The play last night was wonderful. The students did an excellent job and parent turn out was amazing. I thought those with speaking parts sounded much older and singing voices were robust! Way to go dinosaur dancers!
We wrote in our interactive journals this morning and finished up the gathering of our facts for our biographies. The students are now expected to have completed their fact gathering and be ready to turn facts into sentences on Monday (we were a little delayed this morning). We played three more rounds of syllable Lotto discussed that each syllable has a vowel sound. It's a hard notion, though, because the bossy e is a vowel but it is not spoken.
Students had a free writing day today and were thrilled. I can't believe how many partner teams are authoring texts. I was amazed at the level of productive conversation. When it gets loud, I'm always tempted to "shhhhh," but after listening in on conversations this morning I determined the students were on-task!
I graded the spelling tests this afternoon. We have several students who were very close to being in the Hall of Fame. One or two letters away! This week's hall of fame students are: Zach, Asher and Teresa.
We continued our conversation about data organization and representation. We began to talk about data sets that involve two attributes and what to do with data points that have BOTH attributes.
Our germ unit started today for health. Did you know that your nose, ears and even lungs have small hairs that act as filters to keep the germs out? We talked at great length about the two most important things we can do to keep ourselves healthy: keep our hands out of our mouths and noses and wash our hands with soap.
Enjoy your weekend. I know lots of you are busy with sports so I hope you have some time for relaxation.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
It's the BIG day
The play is tonight and we are ready! The 3rd grade teachers paid the second grade a compliment today after the play, and we are anxious to sing for you. Please be in the cafeteria at 6:45 dressed in tube socks, shorts and a solid color shirt. The dinosaurs are ready for their dancing.
Today was a bit of a disjointed day. We had our dress rehearsal this afternoon and practice this morning. I gave mini booktalks on books I was able to purchase from the book order this morning. Ask your child about the Snake book. (Gives me chills just thinking about it.) We talked about the importance of adding details to your drawings/diagrams in "all about" books and we had a chance to write more about our favorite subjects.
We practiced paths and made a path to get me to the cheese store, yarn store, coffee shop and then to my sofa. We've also begun talking about data collection and organization. If you deal with data at work take a moment to share that with your child.
See you tonight!
Today was a bit of a disjointed day. We had our dress rehearsal this afternoon and practice this morning. I gave mini booktalks on books I was able to purchase from the book order this morning. Ask your child about the Snake book. (Gives me chills just thinking about it.) We talked about the importance of adding details to your drawings/diagrams in "all about" books and we had a chance to write more about our favorite subjects.
We practiced paths and made a path to get me to the cheese store, yarn store, coffee shop and then to my sofa. We've also begun talking about data collection and organization. If you deal with data at work take a moment to share that with your child.
See you tonight!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Worms
Have you ever heard of vermicomposting? Watch here for more information about a grant we received to begin vermicomposting.
Students shared with the facts they have collected for their biography posters. I am impressed with the knowledge they already have and what they want to know about famous people. I cannot believe some of the things students noticed. Tomorrow we will begin to change our facts into usable sentences so that we can prepare our posters.
We played syllable Lotto this morning. The students had an enjoyable time and LOVE to clap out the syllables in words. This is a great way to practice syllabication. You can say a word and have your child clap the syllables. We continued working on our all about books; there will be some exquisite end products.
We continued with paths a little today. Be on the lookout for bits of your child's assessments coming home. I will attach a note to one page indicating whether your child needs extra practice with her rights and lefts.
We're continuing to read The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't ever read it, take some time to do so. It's full of exciting vocabulary (lots of synonyms) and idioms.
Costumes: your child should come to school wearing (or bring) his or her costume for the play. Children are expected to be in costume for the 1:00 pm performance.
Students shared with the facts they have collected for their biography posters. I am impressed with the knowledge they already have and what they want to know about famous people. I cannot believe some of the things students noticed. Tomorrow we will begin to change our facts into usable sentences so that we can prepare our posters.
We played syllable Lotto this morning. The students had an enjoyable time and LOVE to clap out the syllables in words. This is a great way to practice syllabication. You can say a word and have your child clap the syllables. We continued working on our all about books; there will be some exquisite end products.
We continued with paths a little today. Be on the lookout for bits of your child's assessments coming home. I will attach a note to one page indicating whether your child needs extra practice with her rights and lefts.
We're continuing to read The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't ever read it, take some time to do so. It's full of exciting vocabulary (lots of synonyms) and idioms.
Costumes: your child should come to school wearing (or bring) his or her costume for the play. Children are expected to be in costume for the 1:00 pm performance.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Another day closer
The play is one day closer and the students are singing their hearts out! It's wonderful to hear. I've got my days off this week, though, and am constantly surprised that it's only Tuesday night
We categorized facts today and worked on making sure we had facts from every facet of our biography subjects life. The posters are going to be amazing! We chose topics for "all-about" books this morning, and I think we'll have quite a wonderful collaborative book all about Bethany. We'll see if we can keep it in the office for students new to our school.
We finished our measurement unit today and took part of the assessment. Keep working with your child on left and right. Have them determine if you are making a right turn in the car or a left turn. Can they tell you if their bed is on the left or right side of the room?
Tomorrow we'll start a unit on categorizing data, a unit that I enjoy as much as the students.
The lost and found is bursting! Be sure to check for lost items.
We categorized facts today and worked on making sure we had facts from every facet of our biography subjects life. The posters are going to be amazing! We chose topics for "all-about" books this morning, and I think we'll have quite a wonderful collaborative book all about Bethany. We'll see if we can keep it in the office for students new to our school.
We finished our measurement unit today and took part of the assessment. Keep working with your child on left and right. Have them determine if you are making a right turn in the car or a left turn. Can they tell you if their bed is on the left or right side of the room?
Tomorrow we'll start a unit on categorizing data, a unit that I enjoy as much as the students.
The lost and found is bursting! Be sure to check for lost items.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Three more days until the Play
We are MOST excited about the upcoming play. The students are eager, anxious, happy, nervous and scared. It's showing in all areas of our curriculum, not just during music time.
Today was a busy day for fact finding in our room. Everyone worked on picking out interesting facts about their biography subject. I learned a lot about all the subjects. I had no idea that Mother Teresa cancelled her Nobel banquet so the money could be given to charity. I also did not know that Bessie Coleman survived at least one plane crash before her death.
We will be talking about syllables this week. See if you and your child can clap and count out the syllables in the names of all your family members.
We had a rough day in library. I know Mrs. Seawell expected better listening than she received.
Students seem to have a good handle on making paths and raced through some pages in Today's Math. We had time for extra any book reading, and then we zipped off to practice.
More sun for us!
Today was a busy day for fact finding in our room. Everyone worked on picking out interesting facts about their biography subject. I learned a lot about all the subjects. I had no idea that Mother Teresa cancelled her Nobel banquet so the money could be given to charity. I also did not know that Bessie Coleman survived at least one plane crash before her death.
We will be talking about syllables this week. See if you and your child can clap and count out the syllables in the names of all your family members.
We had a rough day in library. I know Mrs. Seawell expected better listening than she received.
Students seem to have a good handle on making paths and raced through some pages in Today's Math. We had time for extra any book reading, and then we zipped off to practice.
More sun for us!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Aaah, Friday
What a beautiful afternoon we are having. I hope everyone has the chance to be outside this afternoon. Ride your bikes, go for a walk, play soccer as a family! Enjoy the sun while we have it.
I want to let you know that we talked about Anne Frank today (as a biography subject). You can imagine that led to many questions. If your child has further questions, help him or her try to understand things on a second grade level. They don't need too much detail, but an honest answer is always better than trying to change the subject.
We've decided that we want to make posters for our biography projects. A few students want to go a different direction, and that's ok, as well. We'll make it work for everyone. Over the next few days students will be gathering facts, sorting them and turning their facts into sentences. We're still reading biographies and we're starting to talk about how to write an "All About" book (minus the girl scout cookies, of course).
Our class did an amazing job working with paths today. We might be finished with the Monday math activities already! We zoomed right through what we needed to get accomplished.
TV Turn-off week begins next Monday. Students are encouraged to participate. I will participate as well. It's a great opportunity to set limitations on TV watching. Even a week can make a lasting change.
Enjoy your weekend!
I want to let you know that we talked about Anne Frank today (as a biography subject). You can imagine that led to many questions. If your child has further questions, help him or her try to understand things on a second grade level. They don't need too much detail, but an honest answer is always better than trying to change the subject.
We've decided that we want to make posters for our biography projects. A few students want to go a different direction, and that's ok, as well. We'll make it work for everyone. Over the next few days students will be gathering facts, sorting them and turning their facts into sentences. We're still reading biographies and we're starting to talk about how to write an "All About" book (minus the girl scout cookies, of course).
Our class did an amazing job working with paths today. We might be finished with the Monday math activities already! We zoomed right through what we needed to get accomplished.
TV Turn-off week begins next Monday. Students are encouraged to participate. I will participate as well. It's a great opportunity to set limitations on TV watching. Even a week can make a lasting change.
Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday...
Well, now that we've got the date of the 2nd grade performance all ironed out....
Today the student's chose the subjects for their biography projects. Subjects range from César Chavez to LeBron James. Inventors were a big hit as were sports figures. We also worked on adding -ed, -ing and -s to words during spelling today. Students will be asked to generate a list of words that where you change the y to an i before adding an ending, so be on the lookout.
We learned that a straight path is always shorter than a path with turns to the same destination and had a chance to visit the Science Fair. We have some impressive scientists in our building!
Ask your student why Epossamondus has no hair on his tail. It's a fun story with a funny ending. How many books feature a persimmon eating opossum.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Today the student's chose the subjects for their biography projects. Subjects range from César Chavez to LeBron James. Inventors were a big hit as were sports figures. We also worked on adding -ed, -ing and -s to words during spelling today. Students will be asked to generate a list of words that where you change the y to an i before adding an ending, so be on the lookout.
We learned that a straight path is always shorter than a path with turns to the same destination and had a chance to visit the Science Fair. We have some impressive scientists in our building!
Ask your student why Epossamondus has no hair on his tail. It's a fun story with a funny ending. How many books feature a persimmon eating opossum.
Enjoy the sunshine!
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