Thursday

Good Afternoon!
*Tomorrow we will have our in-school Field Trip with Creepy Crawly science stuff!
*Kids can pay $1 to wear a hat to school towards the 5th grade trip to Washington, D.C.

Math: Today we worked more on 3 digits x 1 digit.  Students are getting a lot better with regrouping.  We did a lot of one-on-one and small group work today. Students also took a quiz at the end.  Most students did very well, and those that still did not will receive more one on one attention.
HW: practice mult. facts

Reading: Today students made up their own story plot.  They explained the climax, resolution, setting, and characters.  I've read some stories and they are great!
HW: finish story
Lit. Books needs to be finished by Friday if you are going out of town for Fall Break and won't be here next week or next Monday.

Science: Today we began our first day of Science Court on Fossils. The kids had a blast! :) They learned a lot, too! Tomorrow we will do an experiment to decide which person was telling the truth.
No HW

Writing: Today was Health with Miss Timaji.

Have a great night! Hope to see you at Chik-Fil-A!

Wednesday

*Check Wednesday Folders for important info. from the office and graded papers!

*Math and Science tests will come home on Friday after we graph them on Friday

Math: Today we continued with multiplying 2 digits by 1 digit and then added 3 digits by 1 digit.  The kids did a great job! I was able to pull small groups ~ it seems a few students still need help in memorizing facts, but they are really getting better! Thank you for helping!!
HW: 2 problems on large graph paper - please sign after you watch your child do these

Reading: Today we continued learning about story plot.  We made a story plot diagram and worked mostly on rising action and climax in a story.  We modeled one together on Stone Soup  and then students were paired with a partner to do a story plot on their small leveled reader from Treasures.
HW: read chapters in Lit. Book to finish by Friday or next Monday

Science: Today we watched a webcast of a science teacher in Washington, D.C.  As technology does, it turned off in the middle of the cast! :(
Tomorrow we will begin our new unit on Fossils.  I have a cool activity planned where the students are going to be in 'court' and they will be the judges!
No HW

Writing: Today we worked on finishing our memoirs and PTA piece. I'm hoping we can publish this Friday!
No HW

Have a great night,

Tuesday

Short Today due to meetings during planning and after school!

*****I have not received Conference Forms back from about 8 of you. Please turn those in ASAP! Thanks!

*New Book Logs were given today with new MAP Lexile scores. They will be due Oct. 22

Math: We worked on double digit multiplication and worked in centers.


Reading: We worked on plot, character, setting with a story and a laptop organizer.


Science: Students took their test.

Math Centers:

Reading:

KY Kid's Day:

Happy Monday!

Good Afternoon!
Mrs. Yeary told me my class was AMAZING! YAY! She gave the kids 3 PAWS compliments today! So happy the kids were respectful and followed directions! Give your child a pat on the back! :)

Today I was out analyzing CATS scores from last year and going over MAP scores of our kids.  I will be sending home your child's MAP scores as soon as all the kids are finished.  They took the Science MAP this afternoon!

Important Things to Remember:
*Please have your child WEAR their white shirt they decorated TOMORROW
*Science Test TOMORROW - (the kids should have this in their planner from last week, and we have been practicing since last Thursday)
*New Book Logs are coming home TOMORROW with current Lexile scores
*My Reading class needs to have their Lit. Book read by this Friday or the following Monday
*Math: PRACTICE multiplication facts every night!
*If you have not turned in the Conference Form that was given in last week's Wednesday Folder, please turn that in so I can go ahead and schedule conferences for October and let you know what your time is!

Have a good afternoon,

Friday

Happy Friday! :)

*I forgot to remind the kids about the Book Log being due!! However, I was SO IMPRESSED by how many students remembered on their own! YAY! I will take the Book Log on Monday!

Here's what we did today:
For math we worked on our multiplication facts, played Around the World, and Multiplication Bingo.  We also worked on Math Tiles with our 2nd grade Math Buddies. 

During Social Studies time we worked on our new unit - US Regions. We began with the Northeast region. It was fun seeing what the kids knew about the 13 colonies.  After finding the states and state abbreviations for the Northeast Region, students went through a cool website about living in Jamestown during the early settlement.  Students had to choose where the best place to live, what to grow, and how to react with strangers was.  Some of the kids had to try out different methods before they were successful! :)

For reading time, I finished one of the KBA books aloud. Kids could earn AR points for this.  Students also had time to free read during writing conferences. 

For writing time we are working VERY hard at finishing our Memoir and PTA pieces. They are coming together! I think I'll be excited to start as new piece just as much as the kids will be!!

During science time today we spoke mostly about the WEG.  The students were very interested in it and we were able to see a small glimpse of each sport that will be held.  Hopefully you and your family can attend one of these games soon!

Please remember, students need a WHITE SHIRT that they can write on.  Students will be doing this on MONDAY so they can wear their shirt on Tuesday.  I have a few extra if needed.

*I will not be in the classroom on Monday as we have a PD to attend.  I will try and write the blog after Mrs. Yeary (my sub) has a chance to let me know how the day goes.

Have a good weekend,

Thursday

*Please sign the Mid-Terms and send back with your child! I will give them back as soon as I have a signature to make sure you saw the paper!

*White T-Shirts are needed by tomorrow but they can bring one on Monday to do the activity for PTA Red Ribbon Week. Thanks!

Math: Today we took our Unit 2 test.  I hope to have those graded soon! :)
No HW except study for 9's mult. facts for QUIZ on Monday

Reading: Today we worked more with Characterization.  I read the book, Amazing Grace, to the students while they worked on a character web about the main character.  Then they took a quiz over characterization to end this week's unit.  Some students were also able to take their AR test on the Lit. Books.
No HW unless to read in Lit. Book

Science: We finished up our partner ORQ's today. I will grade them and hopefully have them in the hallway! We also took a quiz over ecosystems, food chains, and food webs on the whiteboards.  The kids enjoyed taking a quiz this way and it was easy for me to see where your child needs extra practice with!
No HW (our next test will be on Tuesday)
Email me for the Jeopardy Review Game if you'd like it for the next test on Tuesday. Students have been studying and will get another study guide on Monday.

Writing: We had Health with Ms. Timaji today.

*Don't forget to check out our featured student on the Student Blog! You can find it at the top on the right.

Have a wonderful night,

Wednesday

*Wednesday folders will be coming home with Mid-Terms (progress reports). They will be stapled and EVERY student received one. If you don't have one in the folder, please ask your child about it first and then email me so I can get you another copy! :)

*Students need 1 white t-shirt by Friday that they can write on as a part of Red Ribbon Week next week. Sorry for the late notice!

We are going to try and start (or try our best!) to have 1 student per day write a summary of the day on the Blog.  Today's post is from Alyssa. Check here to view it!

Math: Today we took a mock test and I took notes on what the students were still missing. Then I pulled small groups and we worked hard on similar problems to those that were missed while the other students worked on their skills on the laptops.
HW: do practice problems off any of the 3 study guides - test is TOMORROW!

Reading: Today in reading we continued learning about characterization.  Students took the main characters from their leveled Treasures books and made a character map.  Next students were then able to read their Lit. Book or take the Lit. Book AR test.
HW: read a chapter from Lit. Book novel

Science: Today in science we played a Energy Transformations jeopardy game in teams. Students did a good job with most of the questions and we were able to stop and learn more about certain topics students were confused about.  Then we got into pairs and are currently working on completing an ORQ over beneficial and harmful changes on the environment.
No HW

Writing: Today we wrote the conclusion paragraph to our Memoir.  I also began reading them a KBA book so each child can take a test over it and receive some extra AR points.

Have a great night,

Tuesday

*Will be short due to lots of meetings during planning and after-school meetings.

HW:
Math - back page of study guide #3 (it's on a large piece of paper, it is what the students still needed help on) Test is Thursday

Reading: vocab sheet

Science - none
Writing - none - had Guidance during this time

Have a good night,

*See You At The Pole is Wednesday!! 7:15 Hope to see you there!! :)I haven't seen any posters reminding the kids about it this year, so we wrote it in the planner but we wrote down the wrong day! Hope that doesn't offend anyone - if it does I apologize.

*Mid-Terms go home on WEDNESDAY in the folder. This is a progress report and shows how your child is doing so far. We will have about 4 more weeks to bring up or maintain grades until the actual Report Cards come home. If you have any questions, please email me! megan.burton@fayette.kyschools.us

*Spanish Club meets this Friday from 3-4

Good afternoon! Here's what we did today:

Math: Today we worked on word problems very similar to the ones the kids will see on the test. I've decided we need more practice with this, so the test will be on Thursday of this week. Students have a study guide to go over with you when they get home (we completed this in class) and then a few problems to work on tonight that will again be similar to the wording the test uses.
HW: problems on paper, PRACTICE multiplication facts PLEASE!!

Reading: Today in reading we began learning about character traits. We started with a silly drawing of ourselves to describe our own personalities and then at the end of the class did this same thing to tell about a character in our Lit. Book.  We also read a story in our Treasures book and completed a character trait on the main characters. 
*Lit. Books need to be finished by Oct. 4th. We will have our test then. If your child is going to be absent the week of Fall Break, please let me know so they can take the test early. 
HW: none

Science: Today we continued learning about ecosystems and also began learning about harmful and beneficial changes to the environment. I've asked students to watch maybe 10 minutes of the news today to see anything about the environment on TV. We had a great discussion about whether it is harmful or beneficial to the environment and then harmful or beneficial to humans from building extra hotels on empty land for the WEG games. Please don't think I'm against the games, it just brings up an awesome point in what we're learning. We had amazing conversations back and forth about this! It was neat!  We also finally graphed our Science tests so those should be coming home to you in the Red Folder.
HW: watch maybe 10 minutes of the news today to see anything about the environment on TV
Supplies: Also, if you are able to send in some of the supplies by Friday that would be great!
5 empty 2-liter bottles
gravel
dirt
Writing: During writing time we worked on spelling conferences with the PTA piece and the Memoir.
No HW

*SS tests are also coming home tonight in the Red Folder.

 Have a good night,

Friday

Happy Constitution Day! :) Did you know that was today?! It was!

We had a wonderful Friday!

*I've been looking for a United States cookie cutter and a Kentucky cookie cutter for some upcoming SS Regions activities. Anyone have one I can borrow?? :)

We began the day with Math Centers. Students were SO GOOD during this time. They transitioned well and kept up with all the expectations for each.  Students worked on addition and subtraction math tiles (these are very challenging!), worked in small groups with me over factors and multiples, worked on adding 4 digit numbers, practiced multiplication facts, and worked on a fun multiples game (you can find that under the Games to the right).

Next, we worked more on our PTA Reflections writing piece and our Memoir.  I pulled conferences during this time as well. The pieces are really coming together!

Students then watched a Constitution video that was pretty cute! They learned all about how the constitution came about.  Then students took their SS Map Test. I'll try and get those graded over the weekend! The ORQ was pretty difficult for the kids, but I think they did a good job on all the M.C.

Students then enjoyed Math Buddies with our friends from Mrs. Watts' second grade. I had a puzzle game for my students to help their buddies with on regrouping the tens and ones place.  My students did a great job teaching! Here are some fun pictures~we enjoyed the cool weather and worked very nicely outside!

Lastly, students worked on a food web open response in teams and then graded each others.  I can't wait to read those and see how the students scored each other. 

We also got our Library in our classroom working a little easier.  The students are doing such a great job checking in and out books during the appropriate times and remembering to take AR tests.  The old way of checking in/out was getting a little messy, so we made a new way! I love how much the kids enjoy reading time!

Have a wonderful weekend!

*New School Rewards

*I've been a little overwhelmed with making sure I get all our content in, I've forgotten to list all the new clubs Mrs. Sharp has for rewarding students.

Below is a list of students who've already made these 'clubs'. I will try and be better to just list the names once a week! Sorry!

GSS of the Week (Garden Springs Student of the Week - someone who follows the PAWS expectations of the school and then take a photo with Mrs. Sharp.)
Week 1-Brandon S.
Week 2-Landon
This Week-Olivia

PRO Students (This is from Mrs. Moses, it is for kids who she sees being nice and following the Character word of the month...this month is Compassion. Since she just finds a kid a week, we are doing our own in our classroom. Students can nominate another person in our class)
Brandon S.
Alex
DeArius

Proud Student of the Month (We had this last year. It's 2 students per month who have followed directions, been nice to others, etc.)
August: Molly and Hanley

Thursday

We've almost made it through another great week!

Please place a star next to your signature on the planner if you're reading this! I hope you are all finding this easy and helpful daily!

Spanish Club and Girls on the Run are 2 new clubs we are offering!! If you need more info. about either please email me and I will get the info. for you!

*I've added to the games link on the right. It's the games we've been playing in class and the ones I've posted from previous posts. Also, be sure to check out my WebPage from the GSE websites spot to find lots more! :)

Math:  Today was great in math! I was able to pull small groups along with our assistant, Mrs. Powell to really help students 'get' what they need the most help on with factors and multiples! We practiced a LOT of word problems with factors, multiples, prime, and composite similar to the ones they will find on the test. Students also took their 3's multiplication facts quiz. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet - but hopefully they are great!  We will be having our Unit test either Wednesday or Thursday of next week.  I am going to see how they do on the study guide on Monday before making the decision.  We will also have our 9's facts quiz next Thursday.
No HW but to study for multiplication facts!
*Remember - the Multiplication Bee is Oct. 5th! :)

Reading: Today students took their Treasures Assessment over summaries, compound words and sentences, and main idea.  Next students had extra time to read from their Lit. Novels.  I also got some time to do fluency conferences with some students. I will be conducting this on Thursdays along with the Comprehension/Fluency running records the students do every other Monday with Mrs. Giles. The students I met with today were awesome readers! :) No HW

Below are some pictures of us reading

our different Literature Novels:

Science: Today we presented our Ecosystem/Food Web projects. They look awesome!! We got in small groups and let other students read about our different webs and what would happen if one of the consumers weren't there! Kids did a great job! Next, we took a Candy Quiz! Students used the white boards to hold up the answers and if they got the correct answer they earned a Jolly Rancher! Some students earned up to 4 Jolly Ranchers!! (the picture is to the left!)
No HW

Writing: Today we continued Memoir Conferences with me.  Students were either silent reading AR books or writing and working on their memoirs.
No HW

*SS: We will be having a short test on compass rose, latitude/longetude, and reading maps tomorrow!

Have a great night!

Wednesday

*Don't forget to go through Wednesday Folders!
*Science Tests will come back on Friday after we have time to graph our test scores in our Data Folders.
*Students watched the Lexington Opera perform a play on Nutrition during Specials class, so no Music today.
*Every other Wednesday (starting today) the teachers are having "Spirit Day" where we are allowed to wear jeans and GSE t-shirts (woohoo!) and pay $2 towards the 5th grader Washington, D.C. trip.  Let's have the students participate in the spirit day, too! Of course your child will not pay $2, but it would be fun to wear GSE t-shirts! So the next Wednesday will be Sept. 29th.
*Volunteers - Is the Calendar working out OK for you? I am thrilled I had so many parents respond to wanting to help in the classroom!  If you have not been contacted but would like to help in the room, please email me and let me know your preference (working with students, making activities, copies, etc.). Or if  you'd like to help in a different way than you currently are, let me know!Math: Today we continued learning about factors, multiples, prime, and composite.  We did different types of work problems.  That seemed to get some of the students confused so we will continue working on that! I am planning to have the next Math test Wed. or Thurs. of next week.  It will cover estimation through multiples.  We will work on a study guide beginning next week.
No HW
Here is a fun game students can play at home on your computer:

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/EggStaticDrop.htm

Reading: Today we worked more with writing a summary. A lot of students are still having a hard time picking out what topics need to go in the summary. We started with a small picture book that I read aloud and wrote a summary for the book together.  Then students were placed in leveled groups to read shorter non-fiction texts and write a summary.  Students also had time to read from their Lit. Book.
We haven't been able to read from our Literature Novels daily anymore. We have been asked to use the Treasures Reading series daily with our students. I feel that using literature novels to learn the content and skill is very important and very real-world relevant so we will continue using Lit. Novels but we may have to read them on a slower pace than anticipated!No HW

Science: Today we worked on an ecosystem project. We learned about ecosystems and the things that can make up an ecosystem.  Then students drew their own and made a food web.  Students were to link each animal in the food web and then explain what would happen to the food web if a certain animal or plant was no longer there -  interdependence. 
HW: Some students need to finish coloring or explaining on their projects

Writing: During writing time, I continued pulling students to have conferences on their memoirs.  Most of the students that I pulled were ready to start their next draft.  The other students had DEAR time if they were waiting on a conference.
HW: complete intro or 3rd event paragraph for memoir if needed

Have a great night,

*Please place a star next to your signature on the planner if you read the blog tonight! If you have any suggestions that you'd like for me to add in my daily blog feel free to email me! :)

Tuesday

Short due to meetings during my planning and an hour after school.
Thanks for understanding! :)

HW:
Math: pg. 27 in workbook - problems 1-5 ONLY

Reading: finish main idea worksheet if not completed in class, finish finding 4 compound words from Lit. book if not finished in class

*Ask your child about the President's speech!

We had Health today so our science and and writing was cut short.


Have a great night,

Monday

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I apologize for no blog on Friday - when I left I hadn't had time to sit and write! My husband is doing great and everything went fine!

Math: Today we continued with factors and began learning about Prime and Composite numbers.  I think the kids understand the concept, but they are having so much trouble with knowing the facts! PLEASE help your children at home with these!!! We will be having a 3's facts quiz on Thursday.
HW: students have a sheet to work on with factors and prime/composite

Reading: Today we began our new study for the week on summarizing. Students took what they've learning from main idea and details and used it to help with writing summaries.  We read about a National Park and even got in some good science info.! I enjoyed hearing where all your kids have been in terms of National Parks! Next, we got into our literature groups (finally!) and read the next chapter. Students worked on practicing writing summaries for that chapter.
HW: some students need to finish writing their summary

Science: Today we worked on relating food chains to food webs.  The kids did pretty well! They are starting to learn how everything is dependant on another thing.  We went on a field study outside to see real life food chains and food webs.  Then students participated in creating an ocean food web.  We had 2 sharks trying to get their food chains going! :)
No HW

Writing: Today I worked on conferencing with students on their memoir drafts while students read AR books.  Most are working on a great pace. I am hoping to have these finished by the end of the month!
No HW

*We will be watching President Obama address the students at 1:00 tomorrow. If you would not like your child to participate, please let me know before then and I will see to it they have an 'errand' to run.

*Transportation: If your child is going to start participating in some of the fun after-school clubs we have starting up, please try to remember to send in a note telling me of the transportation change. I need to send that to the office so that we are all clear on where your child goes! Thanks!

Have a great night,

Thursday

Another great day! :)

Specials~Today students took their MAP Reading test during Computer time.  They received their beginning of the 4th grade year score on comprehension and their new Lexile score.  Many of these scores are different, and some lower, than their previous year's scores. This is because the content is all 4th grade and we've only been in school for 20 days! I am certain scores will be improving as the months go by, so I am not too worried. Please don't be either! Once I have all the scores in (some students did not finish today) than I will be sending home the scores.  If your child did not score the same on the Lexile but is understanding the books he/she is reading and passing the AR tests than I would say to continue those leveled books!

Math: Today we continued with Factors. The kids did great! I am allowing the students to use their Multiplication Chart that we did when we are learning about factors because I want to make sure they know how to find factors. However; I want the kids to memorize the facts, too! So we will be taking time in class to practice the facts but any extra time you have at home would be a great help to your child.  Maybe have your child practice during the car ride to his practices, while you are cooking dinner, etc.  If your child needed mult. fact cards he/she should have received them today. If not, please let me know or you can purchase cards from the Dollar Store.  While working with factors, we learned how to find common factors between products, the greatest common factor, and the least common factor. Students did a great job during small group! 
HW: Students have 1 sheet on notebook paper. They need to find the common, greatest, and least factor of 3 numbers. We found the first number's factors together so they will have an example in case they forget once getting home.
Since tomorrow if Friday and I don't usually have my Math group, students will be showing me their work and we will go over the HW on Monday morning.

Reading: Today we learned about the subject and predicate of sentences.  Students did a great job with an activity that taught them why knowing each part makes a complete sentence.  Students were then to make up either a subject or a predicate and make a complete sentence with partners in the room.  The sentences were hilarious!!! You will have to ask your child to tell you one or two! We also got into leveled groups and read a shorter text while continuing to work on main idea and details.  Students were in the process of this activity when we ended. We will finish up next week and get back on our regular schedule!
No HW

Science: Today during science we continued learning about food chains.  We learned how every food chain must have energy, a producer, a consumer, and a decomposer.  Students then made up their own food chains with a variation of different producers and consumers.  Next we played an interactive game to see if the kids remembered what parts they had to have to make up a correct food chain. It was fun!
No HW

Writing: We didn't get to writing today!!! Our science lesson went a little long and then I wanted to make sure the kids had adequate reading/AR time (15 min.) so we will take time for writing tomorrow.
No HW

*I will be here tomorrow morning but not in the afternoon.  I will try and write the blog up until I leave and let you know what all we did (and what the kids are going to do after lunch).  I will still be able to check my mail so let me know if you have a question. Otherwise, if you happen to have a late dismissal change please call the office tomorrow! :)

*I am in the process of sending each student in my class a postcard.  Some students have already received theirs and others will receive one before Fall Break (hopefully sooner!). I am trying to send them after I have my special 'lunches' with the smaller groups of kids.  I love inviting the kids to eat with me every so often so I can have more time with them to just chat. :) I've finished up the girls this week and will be starting my lunches with the boys this coming week.

Have a great night,

Wednesday

*Wednesday Folders will be coming home today! Please look for important info from the Office as well as graded papers!

Math: Today we started learning about factors! We completed a multiplication chart and color-coded different factors of products we kept seeing.  Then we made factor rainbows to help us understand.  Ask your child to make you a factor rainbow for 10! (the factors should be: 10x1, 5x2)  Some of the students were out of the room reviewing items missed from the first test. Because of this, there is no HW tonight since not all the students were here for the entire lesson/practice/independent practice part.  There will be HW tomorrow night to review!
No HW
*I am in the process of getting Mult. Facts cards made for students who asked for them thanks to a great volunteer! If your child does not come home with cards tomorrow and you want some, let me know!

Reading: Eeek! We have been interrupted all week during reading class!! Today we had the boys gone for a bit for the Boy Scouts meeting and then a Fire Drill! We have not gotten through nearly as much as I had planned ~ but this group is so sweet they were doing a great job staying on task and paying attention despite all the distractions! We read a Treasures story about Deserts and discussed main idea, topic sentences, and details.  Students also finished presenting author projects and rated their partner on his/her effort and help.
No HW
We will pick back up reading our Lit. Books next Monday.
*We finished presenting the Author Projects today! They were great! I was very impressed with how well the students worked in pairs, used the internet websites I gave to find information, and learned to present a project! This was never a home project, which is why some of you will get to finally see the completed project when your child brings it home from school today!  Please look to the right at the "Check it Out" section to re-read the guidelines and how your child was graded.  This was also a great learning assignment where students learned to use their time wisely to get their project completed on time and communicate with a partner of their choice.  Another in-school project will be very soon ~ within the next few weeks. I am excited to see how creative our kids get with this one! :) I am hoping to get Mrs. Sharp in to give an extra surprise to let the kids know what a great job they did on their first project.

Science: Today we began our new unit - Energy Transformations. We went through an awesome game and learning SmartBoard activity. We learned where all plants get their energy from, where animals get their energy from, and about decomposers.
No HW

Writing: Students worked on either their 2nd or 3rd event for their Memoir and used Writing Group time to help add in adjectives and get help with spelling.
No HW

Have a great night,

Tuesday!

Picture Day was today! All the students smiled pretty! :)
Individual retake picture day is October 27th.

Spring classroom pictures are scheduled for January 28th.

Hope you all had a great long weekend! I was so excited to brag on all your children this weekend during my family get-togethers! I of course didn't use names, but I told them all how sweet, thoughtful, and attentive my kiddos are! 
Although today is Tuesday and I don't usually have much time to write since we have 2 meetings, I will write while the kids are silent reading to catch up since we didn't have a Monday! :)

FYI:
Infinite Campus still doesn't have my classes uploaded. When it does there will be grades there for you to look at.  You should have a pretty good idea of what your child's grade is by looking at the graded papers that should be coming home in the Wednesday Folders.

Math: Today we reviewed rounding up to the nearest millions place as well as rounded money. The kids did a great job with this! They were able to be in a small with me, Mrs. Powell, and work in pairs. I can successfully say I met with each student and they could round! :)
HW: Rounding worksheet
*We are going to start Factors tomorrow. It is VERY important your child knows his/her multiplication facts! Please let me know if you need a set of cards to practice with and I'd be happy to get some made for you.

Reading: Reading was cut short today due to pictures! However; we were able to get several Author Study projects presented! I was SO impressed with the groups who went today! I could tell they really used their time wisely, read through the websites I provided, and put a creative spin on their presentation! We will finish the project presentations up tomorrow and begin working on Main Idea.
No HW
*Note~if your child did not have his/her project completed today, I will expect it tomorrow but it will be only worth half the credit. You will receive an email if this is your child.

Science: Students took their Unity and Diversity test today.  We will begin the Energy Transformations Unit next!
No HW

Writing: Today we worked on our first or second event for the Memoir and got into our Writing Groups to share and check for a topic sentence and supporting sentences.
No HW

Have a great night,

Friday!

Good afternoon! We had a great Review Friday!
*If your child is in Quest, he/she missed almost everything we did in class today ~ so this may not apply to you. Ask your child what he/she did today! We missed them! :(

**PICTURE DAY is TUESDAY!!!!

This morning we began with our regular SS Flashback and Calendar Math.  Then the kids were able to work on Math Tiles - Addition and Subtraction! They were challenging! :)  While kids were working on those I called back small groups for review of rounding and Mrs. Powell pulled individual students for multiplication review.  It was great and I was able to get a lot of small group work completed!

We also worked a lot on our Together We Can piece for the PTA Reflections contest.  We are going to be writing a poem form and came up with good ideas and a first draft today!

Social Studies was fun today as well! We had this for about an hour and a half today. Students learned about longitude/latitude, Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and Equator.  We also learned about the compass and made our own.  Ask to see your child's globe that we made from playdoh! :)

Next we met with our Math Buddies. We reviewed and helped our buddies with place value and more than/less than. Our kids did a great job helping and playing the game!

We also were able to have some DEAR time. Kids did a great job with the Library and taking AR tests!

Lastly, we had Health with Mrs. Timaji. 

Have a wonderful LONG 3-day weekend! Be safe!

*PS- Don't forget, Science test is Tuesday! :)

Thursday

My homeroom is awesome! We earned a total of 4 PAWS compliments from other teachers today! YAY! :)

Lexile Numbers:
Here is a chart you may want to look at for more information. Please look at the Lexile number on your child's Book Log from me (Homeroom Kids) and then find what grade level your child is currently reading on.
BR = Below first grade Grade 9 1020-1150

Grade 1 200-400, Grade 10 1100-1200
Grade 2 300-500, Grade 11 1130-1230
Grade 3 420-700, Grade 12 1200-1310
Grade 4 600-830, College Freshman/Sophomore 1200-1450
Grade 5 800-920, College Junior/Senior 1300-1500
Grade 6 850-1010, Graduate School 1480-1700
Grade 7 930-1070, Grade 8 1000-1120
*Adapted from The Lexile Framework for Reading. (Lexile score-to-titles reference sheet)

Volunteers:
I finally made up a September schedule and copied it for those of you who are able to help. I tried my best to have you doing what your volunteer sheet said you wanted. Please let me know if a day/time doesn't work for you! Thank you! It will be in your child's red take home folder.
*For the Math Tiles, it will most likely be from 8:45-9:30 but I will contact you to let you know.

Math: Today we continued with our rounding with the tens place and added on rounding to the nearest hundreds and thousands place.  The kids did a great job! We were able to divide up into smaller groups with Mrs. Powell (our assistant) and myself to really focus on what the kids were and were not getting.  At the end of class everyone passed the quick quiz!!! We also had time to play a rounding game. Here it is if you'd like to play it at home! :)  http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/rounding-games.html
No HW except if they want to do the x-tra credit work~
*ALSO: I told the kids they could do X-TRA credit tonight. If your child wants (or you want them too!) please copy down the following problems and have him/her round to the nearest hundreds place.
1.  568       2.  678     3.  451   4. 890

Reading: Today we learned about the different types of sentences; exclamatory, declarative, interrogative.  We played a fun game on the SmartBoard to help us learn.  Then the kids took a quiz over their problem/solution and inferencing they have learned this week.  I should have those in the Wednesday folders.  We also took extra time to finish our Author Study. The kids have had PLENTY of class time to get this finished - over a week. I have even given them the websites to find the information.  Some groups played around and found themselves today trying to get everything ready.  Please ask your child if this is him/her! We will be presenting on Tuesday. I am so excited! Most of the projects look very interesting and I've seen how much creativity and thought has gone into it! :)
No HW

Science: Today we played a Jeopardy game and reviewed some questions that would be similar to the test.  It seems like most the kids are ready!!
HW: bring home Science Journal, Science Folder, and study guide to practice over the weekend
Please email me if you'd like a copy of the games we've played for this unit.

Writing: We continued writing our intro to our Memoir and got into our writing groups.  Groups worked on spelling and content of the first paragraph.
No HW

Have a wonderful night,

Wednesday

*Please remember to check Wednesday Folders! There will be important info from the office as well as graded papers!

*Book Log is coming home today in your child's Red Take-Home Folder. Remember, students should be reading 20 minutes per night.  If your child is reading on his/her level he/she should be able to take an AR test on the book as well to earn points!

Math: Today we reviewed Front-End Estimation and I was super impressed! The kids did a great job on their HW and on the review!  Next, we began Rounding to the nearest TENS place.  After a little practice the students started getting the hang of it! We had a lot of group and individual practice!
HW: one page on lined paper that has 5 questions about Rounding to the nearest tens place - the first problem we did together to make sure that the kids would have an example once they got home.

We also played this game at the end of the class - if you have time let your child play it!
Check out this website at home with your child to review Rounding to the Nearest Tens Place:
http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/rounding/rounding-spaceships.html

Reading:  Hmmm, I am thinking LOTS of awesome parents read my blog last night because EVERYONE had their HW today! YAY! I was a very happy teacher to see that! I had also last night baked cookies for the kids that turned in HW for today. I am so happy to announce that everyone received a cookie!! :) 
We also continued with our reading genre for the week - Mystery.  We discussed the text features found in the story we read as well as made up our own text features for a mystery!  We discussed the problem and solution of this, too.  Lastly, the kids were able to work on their Author Study for an extra 10 minutes today since they are due on Tuesday (tomorrow will be the last day to work on these at school).  Most students are almost finished and it's been great to see their researching skills improve!
HW: None

Science: We completed our study guide for the Unity and Diversity test. It will be Tuesday Sept. 7th. We will be playing a review Jeopardy game tomorrow that will have similar questions to the test. If you would like me to email you the game to play over the weekend or tomorrow night I would be happy too! I would post it here but I can't seem to figure that out. :) So, email today or tomorrow and I will get it sent to you by tomorrow afternoon!
No HW

Writing: Today we worked on our introduction of our Memoir.  Students are doing a good job with this and really working well with peers in their Writing Groups.

**The Bookworm Cafe opened today! Kids were so excited! After lots of anticipation and modeling, the students were finally able to get in the Cafe and check out a book! I gave the students extra DEAR time today because of the special occasion! :)  Check out some of our pictures!

Have a great night,