Ms. Kaley's Classroom Room 24

Hi Everyone!

We had a nice productive week!  Our kids have come up with some great systems to help out our classroom management.  They have come up with 2 solutions, so far, to help everyone out.  Our first problem was a common step by step process for if someone isn’t going to listen to a direction from a teacher.  Here is what they came up with:

Problem 1: Some students won’t listen to a direction from a teacher.  What should happen?

Solution: Students came up with a 3 strike system.  If a teacher has to tell the direction the student then has 3 chances/steps to go through.

Strike/Step 1- You get a strike against your Friday afternoon earned free time.  If you collect 3 strikes by Friday.  You don’t get free time-you do work.  If you strike out early, you go to strike 2

Strike/Step 2- You stay in from recess and work if you are asked in the morning.  You stay after the bell for a few minutes and have a discussion with a teacher.  Your parent might need to pick you up too if you are asked in the afternoon

Strike/Step 3- You get a school behavior report

Problem 2: Tattling is an issue.  What can a STUDENT do first?

Solution: Students came up with another 3 step system to help them feel like they are a powerful person that can help them understand that they need to practice their social skills with someone.

Step 1- Set your boundary with that person.  Another person’s words or thoughts might not be like yours.  Have that discussion with your classmate.

Step 2- If it continues and you begin to get annoyed, irritated etc., but are still in control, count to 10 and take some needed deep breaths.

Step 3- If you are upset and are not able to have step 1 right away, you remove yourself to a safe space of your choice until you are able to be more in control and have step 1’s discussion.

These solutions may change as needed and might need tweaking.  However, this is what your child has come up with and feels comfortable implementing.  As teachers, we feel proud of them for coming up with great solutions and work on how to solve rather than how to blame or not learn to take responsibility for themselves.

Upcoming Week:

We have a busy upcoming week!

Monday- Music/PE.  Please make sure your child has sneakers to run around in.

Tuesday- Level 2 bread making and Level 3 dessert making for our Holiday Luncheon on Wednesday. BOX TOPS MIGHT BE THIS DAY

2nd graders will be making homemade dinner rolls.  They will learn about yeast and measurement

3rd graders will make 2 chocolate pies.  They will learn about measurement in a no-bake pie.  Alicia Thomas will help oversee

Wednesday- Level 1 soup making, Holiday Luncheon 12-1pm

1st graders will make homemade chicken noodle soup.  They will learn simple vegetable cutting skills and measurement.  Alicia Thomas will help assist.

Friday- Christmas Party 12:45-2:30pm.  Alicia Thomas has sent out an email for signing up to help out.

International Festival is NEXT week!  Our lower el presentations will be Tuesday the 20th.  We have ours in the afternoon and will start around 12:30-1pm.  Parents and families are welcome to come and see the projects and tour the school to see what other classrooms did on the morning of the 19th and the afternoon of the 20th.  Please scroll down to Week 14 on International Festival Expectations.  We had a few girls this past week who worked on their project a little bit because they wanted to partner up with another classmate.  Again, your child is welcome to bring in their project and work on it at school if at home doesn’t permit much time.

Past Week:

In group lessons this past week:

Level 1s: Color the fraction according to the numerator

Level 2s: Vertical angles introduction and the 4 kinds of angles review

Level 3s: Equivalency in fractions and different kinds of triangles game called Detective Adjective

Tuesday we had our monthly Botany lesson with Ms. Rachel Bush on stems from kinds of trees

In cultural this past week: Zoology/Physiology

Level 1s: All about our 2nd vertebrate class: Amphibians.  Students also learned the lifecycle of the frog

Level 2s: All about the ear (parts of the ear)

Level 3s: All about the invertebrate class: Annelids.  Our focus was on the earthworm for this class

I look forward to seeing a lot of you on Wednesday at our luncheon and our party on Friday!

Have a great upcoming week and rest of your weekend!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hello Everyone!

I must say, from coming back from a week long break, our classroom really responded this week with getting works done and showing more of their best!  Ms. Anna and I are very proud of them for how they are exuding their actions and hard work.  As much as we told them this week, please ask your child how they did this week and discuss what did they do this week that they feel the most proud of?  What did the class do their best at this week?  Students and kids alike are prone to be informed more about the negative and what is wrong.  Have your child always talk about a few positives for every negative that they might speak of.  Let’s continue the positive vibes going!

December Holiday Feast- Our holiday luncheon will be held on December 14th at 12 noon.  Here is the sign up sheet to sign up to bring supplies or a dish: LUNCHEON FEAST SIGN UP

International Festival- I went over the International Festival with our students this week.  We had a discussion about topics and read them the expectations that were posted in green and red last week.  Please follow those expectations.  If you are unsure or need clarification, please email me or find me after school.  My parking lot duty is by the fence on the north side.  Projects are DUE December 20th.

Holiday Classroom Party- I would love to do a holiday party for our students on December 16th at 12:45pm.  I have told Alicia the date as well, so if you would like to contribute a craft/activity idea, please let Alicia know at tempygirl@gmail.com.  Alicia will also want to know who can bring supplies and who would like to come in and help out!  That Friday, the 16th, our students do not have studio, so they will be at recess first from 11:30am until 12 noon and then will eat from 12-12:30pm.  After their clean up, we will have them come to circle to hear what activities will occur.

Upcoming Week:

Monday- PE class is on Mondays and since the colder days have brought boots, please make sure your child has sneakers to run around the gym in.

Tuesday- We have our 4th monthly lesson with Ms. Rachael Bush from 1:50-2:50pm

Friday- Early Out!  Please make sure your child is picked up at 1pm.  Lunch still happens on early outs 🙂

Past Week:

In group lessons this week:

Level 1s: Pennies and nickels, 2D and 3D shapes, fraction’s numerator and denominator, Personal Narrative writing

Level 2s: Money tower with all coins, naming fractions, names of angles (acute, obtuse, right, and straight), Personal Narrative writing

Level 3s: Equivalent fractions, parts of a triangle (base, altitude, hypotenuse), Personal Narrative writing

In cultural lessons this week: History

Level 1s: Past, Present, Future review.  What is a decade, century, millennium?  Making a clock to prepare for how to tell time lessons

Level 2s: What is the sun and how far are the planets from the sun?

Level 3s: PreCambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian time periods

Snack for upcoming week: Tae’Lynn

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and some enjoyable time off!

We had a nice past week with our little reset right before the Thanksgiving break.  We enjoyed some group cooperative games/activities together, went over expectations again, and worked on our work cycle.  It was nice to have that right before break.  We still continued with cultural lessons in the afternoon to keep those lessons going.  We introduced some silent reading time and 3 activities to do at afternoon circle, and the day’s circle challenge.  Each day there will be a note on the morning board that states what the day’s circle challenge will be.  This past week we had challenges such as sit by boy/girl, shirt color, and if you could choose questions.  It helped mix our circle seating and put a little fun into the day.  Also, we introduced having an afternoon circle leader who will choose between a song, book, or game to do before we begin the afternoon part of our day.  They all really enjoyed that!

Book Reports were due Friday and we got through 6 of them on Friday.  We will do more projects when the kids get back from Music and PE on Monday afternoon and finish up with everyone’s this week.

Blue Reading Folder– Reminder to have those kiddos who take home a reading folder to have their homework in by tomorrow so I can hand out new hw sheets.  On Mondays when I give them their new hw sheets I leave them to be picked up on our black table outside our classroom.  If your child forgets to pick his or hers up or was absent, the folder will be right there.

December Holiday Feast!- Our classroom does a Holiday luncheon every year.  This year our luncheon will be December 14th.  It will begin at 12pm.  Parents and siblings welcome to come!  A sign up sheet for food to be brought will go out this week.  We’ll have each grade make something for the feast.  1st graders will make a soup, 2nd graders will make a bread, and 3rd graders will make a dessert.  If you would like to help out with cooking, we will be making these dishes the 13th and 14th.  1st and 3rd graders will get theres ready on the 13th and 2nd graders will make theres the morning of the 14th.

International Festival is December’s Home Project!- Every year, our school celebrates different cultures and facts about other countries and continents in the month of December.  On December 20th will be the  lower elementary date.  Upper elementary goes first on the morning of December 19th.  They start at 9am and go until 11am.  Some junior high will also present that day.  December 20th in the afternoon will our time to present.  We usually begin around 12:30 and go until 2:30, but I’ll make sure those times are confirmed for this year.  Projects will be on either the continents of Australia or Antarctica.

Expectations for Lower Elementary International Festival

1. Choose to present a point of interest from the continent of either Australia/Oceania or Antarctica
2. Have a visual presentation (trifold board, diorama, puppet show, etc.) Get creative!
3. Must have topic’s name displayed and be easy to see
4. Must have flag displayed
5. Must have a map displayed and geographical area highlighted that topic lives or comes from. (examples: If the topic is koalas, then the map will display where in Australia koala’s live.  If researching Tasmania, then Tasmania will be highlighted on the map.)  We are wanting students to know where they are talking about.
6. Have at least 10 facts displayed about their interest and know them in case questions are asked.  
7. Be able to give an oral presentation about their project.  
8. Food is allowed, but not required for project. 
9. Project is DUE December 20th.  Families welcome to come and see!

*Please let me know if your child needs support in getting their project completed (email me).  We can have your child work on it in class.

Up next for snack: Jaxston

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hi Everyone!

Snack: Nobody has signed up for snack for this coming week!  Please take a look at our snack link to the right of this blog.

Assistant change: This week was Ms. Emilee’s last week.  Ms. Anna and I met on Friday to discuss what kind of transition we wanted to take place.  This coming week we will go back and do a mini renormalization.  It will help Anna understand the procedures and routines for our class, but also have the kids get used to her expectations that she is going to bringing to the classroom.  We will be doing cooperative team building games amongst work cycle.  The first half of the week will be dedicated to working together and relearning the expectations from the teachers and school rules.  The second part of the week will have the kids do a shortening work cycle to help our students utilize Ms. Anna so that when they come back after Thanksgiving break they know what to expect.  I’m very optimistic for what will transpire from this change.

Upcoming Week:

Monday– Original Art work form (That was handed out around the week of Halloween) is due tomorrow.

Tuesday– Box Top store

Wednesday– COW (computers on wheels) in the afternoon.  There will be another MyOn assignment that the kids will begin in class

Thursday– The school’s Gratitude Feast for members in our community will be going on that day.  It will also be a fire drill for the school. Ms. Lori will be in to read with a few of our students as well.

Friday– Book report #2 is due today!  We will get to around 6 book reports and then have the rest of the kids finish up when break is over.  Anna and I have a great plan for how Friday afternoons are going to go an we wanted to begin that process with the students this Friday.  We are also going to continue weaving.  Ms. Anna and I are thinking about creating a service project for our class that involves weaving.  Please bring back yarn for Friday.

Past Week:

I moved our room around in terms of the layout and the students really responded to that.  Having a change of the environment made for Ms. Anna’s transition an easier step.

Thursday we had the COW and students began their reading assignments from me.  I chose books that would enhance our Geography lessons for each grade level, as well as some Australia books for the level 2s and 3s.  Your child should have these books finished by today.  Most students were able to finish that afternoon, but level 2s and 3s had more books, so a few were still working on them.

3rd graders finished up their practice SAGE tests!  Tomorrow is a makeup day for only 3 students who either need to finish a test or because they were absent on testing day.

This week in group lessons:

Level 1s: *No afternoon group lessons because of Botany and COW in the afternoon on their group days.

Level 2s: Naming angles

Level 3s: Fractions equivalency

Weekly writing- graphic organizer was due

Monthly Botany: Ms. Rachel’s monthly Botany lesson took place this past Tuesday afternoon

This week in cultural: Geography

Level 1s: About maps and kinds of maps, continent and oceans naming on map

Level 2s: Faults and folding of the Earth from tectonic plates moving

Level 3s: Atmosphere review, 7 weather elements, and kinds of fronts

Reminder that towards the end of this week (Thurs. and Fri.) the weather will be getting chilly.  Please provide coats and outside garments for your child to wear at recess.

Have a great upcoming week and rest of your weekend.

Blog is back up and working this week!

Reminder: Ella has snack this coming week (Week 13)

Last week the school’s administration and I made the decision to go through with an assistant change.  Ms. Emilee has been great support for almost 2 years, but with her other other job and the needs of our classroom, we are looking for what is best for our class.  Ms. Anna, who many of you know from the office, was the one who approached me and wanted to be back in our classroom.  3 years ago, Anna, was my wonderful assistant, and I am very excited to have her back.  She will still also take care of our school’s athletic program from 3pm-4pm and during the morning studio hours when I am teaching 3rd grade studio.  She will also be our class in the afternoon hours on Friday too!  Ms. Emilee’s last day will be this coming Thursday (the 10th).  

Upcoming Week:

Friday is a Professional Development afternoon for the teachers, so dismissal is at 1pm this week.

Monday is the last SAGE practice test for 3rd graders.  They will be taking their Math test from 10:45am-12:00pm.  3rd graders will stop and clean up at 10:10, so they can get their recess in before testing.  Again, they are allowed a snack and their water bottle.

The computers on wheels (COW) cart is back in our room this week!  Thursday right after lunch until dismissal, students will be doing IXL lessons from lessons they have received in the classroom and also begin their first MyOn assignment that I will create.  Our first one will be an in class assignment.  Assignments not completed by the end of the day will be due by Sunday.  Since cultural is Geography this week, each grade will read assigned geography books that I pick from the MyOn library and each student will do a simple assignment in conjunction with the reading.

I signed our classroom up to have Officer Childs’ do a simple DARE presentation that will be 30 minutes long.  Officer Childs is our usual officer that patrols our school.  I put in for him to come in Friday, so we’ll see what day works out best for the other 2 classrooms he’s presenting to also.

Reading Folders!  If your child has been doing the take home reading folders, I only received 2 back this past Friday (Janessa and Hunter).  Monday is that cushion day where they can turn it in and still be considered on time.  I give out the new homeworks on Mondays.  Have a look and maybe a chat with your child who is doing those folders to make sure they get them in.  I still make copies for those kids who aren’t turning them in, so I am hoping they make it home.

Please have your child be working on a Non-Fiction book choice (MyOn books allowed).  Here is the project list for book reports:

Book Report Presentation Choices

*You may only do 1 choice once

___Book cover

___Oral report to the teacher and/or class

___1 page written report

___A wanted poster for a character in your book

___Poster advertising your book

___Design a bookmark

___Make a poem about your book

___Create a picture book about your favorite parts from the beginning, middle, and end

___Create a video about the book

___Dress up as favorite character and tell about the book

___Create a mobile with 5 events

___Write and draw an alternative ending

___Create a timeline with at least 10 events

___Draw a map describing places

___Create a travel brochure

___Make a puppet show explaining your book

___Create a board game

___Diorama of a scene

___Do a 1 page report about the author

___Create a week long journal as if you were the character

Box Tops will be NEXT Tuesday!  (Nov. 15th)

Past Week:

Thank you to our room mom, Alicia, and for Susan who helped set up beginners crochet.  The kids who had needles found the needles a bit difficult, but they learned a crochet style with their fingers. I gave a lesson on straw weaving and most students found great success between the two lessons.

Individual lessons are moving and goovin according to your child’s needs.  During Friday’s PD, I will be working Anna on who is where and what can be continued and what could use some reworking to help support our schedule.

In leveled group lessons this week:

Level 1s: Penny review, 2D curvilinear shapes and quadrilateral shapes (4 sided shapes)

Level 2s: Naming fractions, simple money adding word problems, intro to angles (right, obtuse, acute, and straight)

Level 3s: Working with numbers that having missing addends, sums and unknowns

Weekly Writing: Personal Narrative graphic organizer.  Our students are going to be working on a Personal Narrative story about a favorite memory.  I gave a lesson on how to use a simple graphic organizer.  It is due this Tuesday afternoon right after lunch.  I have the students keep in a folder on shelf so it doesn’t go anywhere and get lost.

In cultural this week: Zoology/Physiology

Level 1s: All about the vertebrate: Fish! (What is a fish, internal/external parts of the fish, Different kinds of fish)

Level 2s: The eye: How do we see, external/internal parts of the eye, paper parts of the eye book/model)

Level 3s: Platyhelminthes (flatworms) and Nematodes (roundworms, such as parasites): What are each, what do they do, and simple parts of each.  We didn’t get a lot of time with the roundworms, so we’ll pick back up with a review on them next Zoology week.

Have a great upcoming week!  Happy upcoming Election Day!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Thank you coming to PTC this past week!  We had everyone come!

Past Week:

We spent the 3 early out days doing some social skills and some little classroom games that had them working together.  3rd graders were supposed to do their meeting with Ms. Valerie on Tuesday, but she ended up being sick that day, so we are looking to reschedule. On Wednesday we went over how we all can look and sound during work cycle and that we would do work cycle for an hour and I would just observe.  It gave me a lot of feedback watching everyone for an hour.  We’ll have a group of kids, starting tomorrow, who will need more support than others.  Tomorrow, some students will find that they will be able to choose their own work space and will have that freedom.  The others will be around Ms. Emilee and I so we can help support those students with staying on task, how to choose work, and focus on themselves.

Upcoming Week:

Monday will also be the 3rd grader’s first practice SAGE test from 10:45-12:00.  Afterwards they will eat lunch.  Their recess will be before they go into testing.  They will go outside at 10:15 with me.

Wednesday is our field trip!  Please remember we are meeting at Black Island Farms.  Some students are doing carpools with others.  I will be at the school getting the first aid pack and some name tags for our trip.  I am at the school by 7:30am.  I will be leaving the school by 8am to make it to the farm on time to do attendance and start getting everyone on the hayride.  Ms. Jalee’s class is also going with us, so if you need a carpool and you know someone in her class, please let our room mother know.

This week is also Red Ribbon Week!  I haven’t seen a schedule on any guest speakers, but generally there are a few activities such as wearing red, an anti-drug speaker, and door decorating.  It will be a busy week!

Friday’s Class Party!- Friday is our classroom party!  Alicia has sent out a few emails reminding everyone.  Our students eat lunch at 11:30am and then we should be back inside by 12:40ish to go over the activities.

November’s upcoming report!- If you’d like to get a head start, our November’s project is a book report.  The topic is non-fiction.  I am giving the choice between a person, animal, or something of historical reference (example: Gettysburg, Statue of Liberty, invention of the steamboat etc.).  Please revisit your project choices list for a new project.  DUE FRIDAY NOV. 18th.

Pre-Primer-1st grade Reading Homework will resume tomorrow (Monday the 24th).

Have a great rest of your weekend and upcoming week

Cheers!

Ms. K

Good News!  Ms. Emilee doesn’t have to leave anymore!  Her other job is willing to work around her school schedule, so the assistant search is off!

Reminder of PTC/Home Project!- Tomorrow begins our PTC.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are all early outs (1pm dismissal). I have a lot of openings for Monday and some Wednesday.  Tuesday is pretty filled, but some spots open.  Here are the parents that need to sign up still:

Kaulin

Jaxston

Brett

Lili

Anna

Michael

Karsten

Naomi

Lucy

Volunteer to help at our Halloween Party!- Alicia has sent out a sign up sheet for our parents to help out in our class for our Friday October 28th party.  If you would like to contribute in some way, please sign up!

Field Trip Approaching!-  During PTC, I will have the permission slips for our Black Island Farms field trip.  This field trip’s transportation will have you or a carpool drop off your child at the field trip site instead of getting a ride from the school to the farm.  Please be there around 8:40 at the very latest.  This will allow time for our parent chaperones to check in and get the classes onto the hayride to learn about corn and crops.  If you need help setting up a carpool for your child, please contact Alicia Thomas (our room mom).  Her email is at the bottom of our new permission slips!

3rd grade practice SAGE testing!- I just received a schedule for our 3rd graders to get a feel for how the SAGE tests will test them in the spring.  We will start with Language on the 24th of this month, Writing on the 31st, and end with Math on Nov. 7.  If a 3rd grader is absent, they can make up a test on Nov. 14th.  Our testing times for all 3 are from 10:45am-12:00pm.

This past week our class had a harder time, as a whole, giving respect to me as a teacher and with their friends.  Our 3rd graders (primarily) are having a very hard time setting good examples for friendships.  There will be a 3rd grade meeting (during school time) with our school counselor, Ms. Valerie.  She’s going to help them by working on replacing the negative they are giving each other, with more positive social skills.  I will be having those kinds of conversations with parents during PTC.  I hope your family will back me up and support in helping give our certain students the tools they need to function in a Montessori environment.  It’s going to take you and I working together to help give them support, but also come up with consequences that are supported by all.  

This coming week I will be rebuilding some of those forgotten social skills and classroom expectations.  Since we have early outs, I figured it be a great time to go back and review the expectations that are non-negotiable.  

Alicia!  We had a lot of students interested in crocheting.  Let me know when your person can be available.  Since there are so many, could she do multiple dates so we could break the kids up into small groups?  Let me know what you think 🙂

This Past Week:

A lot of our cultural/afternoon lessons got interrupted this week by having the computer cart or I was spending the whole afternoon working with students on their behaviors and needs

In group lessons:

Level 1s: What is a Personal Narrative

Level 2s: What is a Personal Narrative

Level 3s: What is a Personal Narrative

In cultural this week: Botany

Level 1s: Plants through the seasons

Level 2s: Simple and compound margins of a leaf

Level 3s: Solitary and Inflorescence flowers, Types of calyxes on flowers

Have a great rest of your Sunday and I look forward to meeting with you all this coming week!  Thanks!

Cheers!

Ms. K

Hello Everyone and Happy October!

We are getting a new 3rd grader again.  I want to welcome Calvin to our classroom!  Calvin will begin tomorrow.  Also, Truman started our class about a week ago.  We welcome him and his family too!

Reminders for October:

Fall Festival is on Oct. 14th.  A flyer went home this past week with the wrist band/ticket prices.  There is also a big poster of that flyer on the front of the school on the left sided window.  MAPA will be at school selling these tickets pretty soon.

PTC- Parent Teacher Conferences begin October 17th and go until October 19th.  I will have the sign up sheet posted, hopefully, by the end of this week.

Home Project- DUE when you sign up for PTC!  Your child may pick from History, Zoology (Physiology for 2nd grade), Geography, Botany, Australia, or some of the science we have done.  The project assignment is for them to pick their favorite lesson so far and give a small presentation to you at our first conference.  The presentation can be how they want it to be.  I do expect to see some writing to go along with it, but it can be in any form they want (computer presentation, handwritten, book, etc.).  For example: If you have a 1st grade student, and they really like Zoology the most, we have done living vs non-living, vertebrates vs. invertebrates, and we are starting to get into the 5 classes of vertebrates.  They can pick one of those topics to focus on.  If they liked learning that vertebrates have a backbone, they can pick their favorite animal with a backbone and tell about that animal.  They could do a report on the spine since we learned what a spine was because all vertebrates have one.  On Friday, I will gather what each student wants to do for their project and help explain to them that the project topics and presentations are up to them, but they need to tie in what they learned in cultural.

*You can help your child right now by asking them what has been their favorite cultural subject so far and if they are ready to pick the lesson, have a discussion on what they remember and help guide them to  what would make a good project for this month’s home project.

1st Field Trip Oct. 26th to Black Island Farms.  You will need to drop your child off at the farm that morning.  Drop off at the farm needs to be between 8:30-8:40.  They begin the hay ride to learn about corn crops and pumpkins at 9am.  This time will give our chaperones time to pay at the check in window and get our classes onto the tractors

Upcoming Week:

Reading Homework: Reading at a PrePrimer-1st grade reading level homework will begin tomorrow!  Tomorrow some of our students will be coming home with a navy reading homework folder.  It will have their weekly 1 page homework.  A purple parent letter is in the folder, along with MyOn information.  I have MyOn ready to go for our new students, so if your child doesn’t get reading homework, they will still get their MyOn info.

*Homework goes out Mondays and is DUE BACK FRIDAYS.

Reading Volunteering: Lori Stewart has signed up to help with reading in our classroom.  She will start Thursday around 9:15am.

Junior High Mentors Begin: Our 2 Junior High ladies will begin coming to our classes on their B days.  They will each have 2 students to read with as well as helping out during work cycle.  They start this Tuesday and each have a team building game to teach us, so from 10-11, we will follow their team building lesson plan.

Past Week:

*3rd graders received their dictionaries from the Rotary Club.

*Studio began this past Friday!

*Please remember sneakers for PE on Mondays.

In group lessons this past week:

Level 1s: curved shapes vs non vs both review and introduction to the penny, Ruler introduction to inches and centimeters (we will first focus on measuring to inches 1st).

Level 2s: labeling/naming fractions from pictures, coin review, quadrilaterals family review, time to the nearest 10 mins review.

Level 3s: Morning warm up help with questions they don’t know how to solve, triangles classification by sides

Weekly Writing: Types of sentences, Capitals, Punctuation

Australia: The Great Barrier Reef

In cultural lesson this week: Zoology/Physiology

Level 1s: vertebrates vs invertebrates

Level 2s: nutrition review with intro to reading food labels and plate visual

Level 3s: Cnidarian intro (Jellyfish, Sea Anemones), Parts of a jellyfish/Model, Box Jellyfish close read, Types of jellyfish

Snack reminder for Week 8: Jackson Carlson

Hello Everyone!

Work cycle has begun!  I am trying out a new schedule that I have made for myself this year and so far it is off to a good start!  I am still working on how I want my work charts to be this year, so for now, the class is using a paper one.

Book Report for September is coming up!  

Can you believe it’s September!  I’m pretty excited.  Our first book report is DUE on SEPTEMBER 23rd (a Friday).  This book report is on your child’s favorite book.  It doesn’t matter what kind of book (graphic novel, comic book, chapter book, non chapter book etc.).  I ask that once your child has reread their favorite book or is ready to present their favorite book that they choose 1 project from this list:

Book Report Presentation Choices

*You may only do 1 choice once

___Book cover (make a new cover for the book)

___Oral report to the teacher and/or class

___1 page written report

___A wanted poster for a character in your book

___Poster advertising your book

___Design a bookmark

___Make a poem about your book

___Create a picture book about your favorite parts from the beginning, middle, and end

___Create a video about the book

___Dress up as favorite character and tell about the book

___Create a mobile with 5 events

___Write and draw an alternative ending

___Create a timeline with at least 10 events

___Draw a map describing places

___Create a travel brochure

___Make a puppet show explaining your book

___Create a board game

___Diorama of a scene

___Do a 1 page report about the author

___Create a week long journal as if you were the character

I am excited to see what everyone’s favorite book is!

Run for the Redwoods 5K- September 17th is the 5K color run at our school.  Please see the link in my previous posts about where to sign up and get all the information.

Local Author- This coming week Gary Hogge, a local Utah author will be visiting our school on Thursday.  He will do an assembly in the morning on writing and teaching our students how to become better writers.  We love having him come and get the kids excited for writing throughout the year!

Pizza Friday- Thank you to those supporting our Pizza Fridays!  Remember that each slice in $1.75 and that money is due by Wednesday!

This week in cultural:

Level 1s: Living and non-living, 5 classes of vertebrates, vertebrates and invertebrates

Level 2s: Nutrition: carbohydrates, fats, proteins

Level 3s: Sea sponges (Porifera)

Did you know that most of our class sat with the Level 3s and learned about how sea sponges filter water?  We watched a video that had a diver explain the different kinds of sea sponges (barrel, fan, tube, vase, and carnivorous) and watched him put a non-toxic green dye around them and saw how they shoot it back out through their osculum (top opening).  They all loved it!

Science- Scientific Method overview and experiment on which ice cube melts the fastest out of room temp. water, salt water, sugar water, and no water at all.  Which do you think melted the fastest?  Most of our class attended the science lesson, a few others were finishing their boomerang Aboriginal dot art paintings

Continent study- We are studying Australia!  Last week they learned where Australia was on the globe.  This week we went over the territories in Australia.  We also played Kai Wed, a game from Australia similar to keep the balloon in the air.  We invited our Upper Elementary mentor class, Ms. Stef’s to play.  They had a great time playing!  I also showed the class how to do Aboriginal dot art.  We looked at a few examples and then did the painting on a boomerang.

We also began our leveled geometry and fractions lessons this week too!

What can I ask my child this week?- Ask your child about how to be a bucket filler and bucket dipper.  Ask them why it is important to be a bucket filler.  Your family can brainstorm ideas on how to be a filler in certain situations

Have a great 3 day weekend and upcoming week!

Cheers!

Ms. K

I have created the last summer book report and mini challenge!  They are both up and running!

3rd book report due August 5th

3rd Mini-Challenge due August 15th

Cheers!

Ms. Kaley