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.
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