Ms. Kaley's Classroom Room 24

Hello Everyone!

This week we experienced something I never thought I as a teacher would have to experience.  We lost two  amazing students this past week in the horrific car crash on Washington this past Tuesday.  Our school provided support for both students and staff members as the week went on this past week.  Thank you to any of you who provided support and comforted our students and participated in the ribbon tying outside on our fence.  If your daughter happens to be in Girl Scouts, she may wear her Girl Scout’s sash or t-shirt on Monday in honor of Molly Cox who was one of the students who passed.

I taught Molly when she was a 3rd grader during our Studio Friday time.  Back then, I taught theater and Molly was a bright light that enjoyed every minute of my class. She was such a joy to have.  She would always tell me how much she loved theater and always had a smile to show.  She and her brother, Troy, will be deeply missed.  I’m waiting to hear about their services and will decide if I am able to make it.

Past Week:

This past week I did an introduction to what was the cause of the Revolutionary War.  Students learned that America wasn’t free and was ruled by England at the time by a King.  Our students then learned that the King put taxes on products,  who Paul Revere was and his role, and that America wanted to be free with their own form of government.  I went over the meaning of the colors on the American flag and what the Pledge of Allegiance means with 1st graders in Geography this week.  Our whole class then learned what the colors of the USA flag means and then they got to create their own redesign of the American Flag and decided what their door choices meant.  The ideas were beautiful and the students really embraced the feeling of love, peace, protection, and freedom for our country.

My favorite lesson this week went to working with the 3rd graders this week on learning improper fractions.  I showed them how to solve a fraction that has a larger numerator than its denominator with our fraction materials and also using abstract division skills.  The group really enjoyed this lesson and all interested in how to solve fractions like that.  We will continue to continue learning about improper fractions through practice and reviews this week and into next.

2nd graders had a review in time to the hour and half hour this past week and will move onto time to the quarter hour and quarter past.  We talked about the word “quarter” and how that relates to the 4th’s family also this week in their fraction lesson.  If you can point out time to the hour, half hour, 15 minute mark, and 45 minute mark with your 2nd grader, that will help them practice at home.

Everyone worked on a practice narrative this pat week with brainstorming skills and using a graphic organizer that helped all students come up with a topic sentence, have a beginning/middle/end, and a closing sentence.  This week we will talk about transition words like: first, next, last etc. in their writing. Students will then move into how to revise and edit (which some students already got to last week) and learn to write a final draft in their purple notebooks.

In cultural this past week we had Geography, a little Zoology and History, and Botany to catch up on.  With the passing of our two students, emotions were also felt pretty high in our class, so I had students do some reading on books I assigned them that matched their cultural for that day with our COW Wednesday afternoon.

Level 1s: American flag and color meaning, kinds of trees

Level 2s: Layers of the Earth, time to the hour/half hour review, and leaves

Level 3s: Sound waves and vibrations, Electricity and static electricity

Upcoming Week:

Tuesday– Evacuation Drill practice.  Pizza money is due.

Wednesday– Our Halloween Party is upon us!  Wednesday afternoon from 12:45-2:30 will be our time to enjoy the holiday.  Please NO COSTUMES to school on Halloween.  Any treats and things the students make at the party will be taken home.  Having a class party is also a privilege to have and attend.  Some students are currently testing boundaries and classroom rules.  We sat down as a class community and the students said we should have 3 goals that everyone should follow in order to participate in the class party.  The students voted on 3 rules:

1. Do silent clean ups silently (This is done before recess and at the end of the day).
2. Focus (if you are off task and are disrupting others or yourself then you are not focusing in class on your work or lesson).
3. Body rule (no part of your body should be disrupting or invading someone else’s.  No pushing, kicking, pulling etc.).

I’m hoping everyone can follow the goals they set as a class and everyone can participate.  Any student who doesn’t follow the goals will do Halloween themed work with me and Misha (we will rotate) and any work needed from their planner.

If you want to help out with our party with volunteering or bringing supplies, here is the link again!

SIGN UP for HALLOWEEN PARTY!

If you are volunteering please come at 11:30-11:45.  We will have our class eat out in the kiva space so stations can be set up.

PLEASE NO HALLOWEEN CANDY IN LUNCHES AFTER HALLOWEEN.  Thanks.

Have a great rest of your weekend, upcoming week, and Halloween.

Ms. Kaley and Ms. Misha