Spelling Lists 10/29-11/2

I apologize for not getting this list out last night. My internet went down and I haven’t been able to get back on until now.

Red Group (beginning sound only) – yo-yo, zoo, vest, yell, zero, van, yarn, vase

Orange Group – peg, net, hen, leg, jet, ten, beg, men, wet

Yellow Group (beginning sound only) – shot, cheese, whip, thorn, ship, chick, whale, thimble, whiskers, thirteen

Green Group – lots, note, done, wax, safe, have, drip, wipe, gum, dune, mule, race

Blue Group – wild, told, film, loss, kind, both, fist, lost, child, gold, ghost, mild, blind, roll, pond, most

Tenth Week Recap and Tidbits

Tidbits:

1 – This week is Halloween, but MMA students should still be in dress code on that day. We are not dressing up in costumes.

2 – Tomorrow, Monday, there is an exception to dress code. In honor of Molly Cox (a longtime Girl Scout and MMA student) who died in a car accident last week, any girl scout may wear a girl scout shirt or sash or uniform tomorrow.

3 – Our next home project is coming soon! This project is part of our Cultural Festival that will be held on Friday, November 16th from 1 PM-3 PM. In years past, the Cultural Festival included projects about all areas of the world, but with our school-wide theme of the United States of America this year, we are asking that projects center around either the history or geography of the United States. Some ideas include but are not limited to: the 13 colonies, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, the national bird or another national symbol, the meaning of the flag or its evolution over time, any of our nation’s presidents, states & capitals, the Declaration of Independence, Native Americans, Pilgrims, National Parks, the Founding Fathers and so much more! The students will need a visual aide to represent their project. They can use modeling clay, poster board, diorama, mobile display, power point, etc.. They will need written titles, explanations, or information. The projects will be displayed in our classroom during the festival for your child to present to parents, teachers, and students.

Recap

This week was our first week without an assistant in the class, and overall it went very well. We focused on how students can individually become more independent and the vast majority of the class stepped into their new roles and responsibilities beautifully. The third graders are now able to check off work for other children (if they feel comfortable ; it’s not a requirement) and the second and third graders are now in charge of writing their own work plans, which I approve once they are done. We also focused on behavior since as the only adult in the room, I cannot give lessons and redirect behavior at the same time. Again, the majority of our classroom responded beautifully to the higher expectations and we had a great week overall!

Imagine Learning

Every Friday afternoon, our class uses the Imagine Learning literacy and reading program. Several of the children have asked for their logins so they can practice more at home. If you would like to have your child’s username and password, please email me and I am happy to send it to you.

To access the program, go to imaginelearning.com. Click “Sign In” and then select “Imagine Language & Literacy: Student.” For both the username and password, you will need to enter the number that I can email you. For the site code, enter 4900144.

This should be enough to get your student started! The program automatically picks up where they left off and it’s a great program to help support them learning to read!

Spelling Lists 10/22-10//26

Here are this week’s spelling list. If you’re not sure which group your student belongs to, ask them! In class they have all known which group they are in (it’s the color of cardstock their list is on), so they should be able to tell you at home!

Red (beginning sound only) – lips, kick, jug, well, log, key, jump, wing

Orange – pot, dog, hot, hop, log, frog, top, job, mop

Yellow (beginning sound only) – whip, thumb, wheel, thorn, whale, think, whisker, thirteen, whistle, thimble

Green – use, jump, tube, shut, huge, club, rude, just, drum, put, cute

Blue – might, quick, why, write, bright, sky, rise, quit, flight, right, since, shy, white, try, sight, twice

Ninth Week Recap and Tidbits

Tidbits:

1 – Tomorrow, Monday the 22nd is the last day to turn in Original Works! Ms. Rachel kindly offered to come in one more day to pick up any orders that might be late, so please bring yours in if you haven’t yet! Thank you to everyone who has ordered already!

2 – Tomorrow is also picture day! Students still need to be in dress code for the day, but you are welcome to send in a change of clothing if you would like them to take their pictures in something else.

3 – Ms. Jane will not be returning to our classroom. This means that our normal workflow will have to be adjusted since there will only be one adult in the room. I ask that you please be patient with me as I navigate this new (and hopefully temporary!) phase in our classroom. On a related note, if you know any qualified individuals who would be interested in a 25-hour per week job working with our wonderful class, please have them contact the office or me!

Recap

I saw most of you last week for Parent/Teacher Conferences and I don’t have much to add at this point. I hope that all of our students were able to rest and be rejuvenated during fall break so that they are ready for a full week of learning this week!

Eighth Week Recap and Tidbits

Tidbits:

  1. Sign-ups are almost full for our first round of Parent/Teacher Conferences! 21 of our 26 families have signed up so far… thank you! If you still would like to sign up, you can follow this link: https://www.trackitforward.com/site/389525/events
  2. This week is also Fall Break, so our schedule is as follows: Early Out Monday-Wednesday (school dismissed at 1 PM) and NO SCHOOL on Thursday and Friday.
  3. Pizza Fridays began last week (but we weren’t at school to get our pizza) and I will be sending home order forms tomorrow! Money is now due on TUESDAYS rather than Wednesdays as in years past.
  4. Original Works orders are due this Wednesday. You can either send your order form and payment with your child to class or drop it off in the office.
  5. The Book Fair is also this week! Our class will be attending a preview in the library on Monday morning. The book fair is open 1 PM – 7 PM Monday-Wednesday of this week, so feel free to stop by either before or after your conference time!

Recap

Last week was very busy and full! We had a fun-filled field trip to Gibson’s Green Acres Dairy Farm and also the Fall Festival at school. In class, we began wrapping up our home project presentations (just a few more to go!), participated in another wonderful botany lesson with Ms. Rachel and also got a do a fun group activity with Ms. Karen’s class. Our third graders baked us a delicious cake from scratch using their recently-practiced volume measurement skills and we learned about the American flag as well as common and proper nouns.

I look forward to seeing most of you over the next few days!

Field Trip Update, Pizza Friday and Inside Shoes

Good morning, parents! Today I have a few brief items to bring to your attention.

1 – We received information from Gibson’s Green Acres Dairy Farm that our times tomorrow have changed slightly. I’m so sorry for the last-minute notice. We need to meet at North Shore at 9:45 AM and we will be done around 12:45 PM. I will also be sending out an email about this so that I reach as many parents as possible.

2 – Pizza Fridays begin this week! I was just given order forms at the end of the day Tuesday and with all that’s going on this week (fall festival, field trip) and since we won’t be at school on Friday to get our pizza, I decided to wait until next week to send home the order forms. I will send them home with your student on Monday so that you can select which weeks you want to purchase pizza. The order form includes all dates for the rest of the year.

3 – With the weather changing, inside shoes are very important. If your child does not yet have a pair of inside shoes, please send them as soon as possible. Crocs or slippers make great options!

Thank you all for all you do!

Seventh Week Recap and Additional Fall Festival Info

Did you know that pill bugs (roly poly bugs) aren’t insects but crustaceans? It’s true! They have gill-like structures to breath and are related to shrimp. Did you know that most geodes sold in stores have been artificially injected with color? It’s true! These are just a few of the fascinating facts that we have learned from our home project presentations on change. So far, we have seen less than half of the presentations and are looking forward to seeing the rest this coming week! We have all loved learning about different plants, animals, rocks and people in our classroom and I have been so impressed and proud of our presenters. It’s clear to see they have put so much work into their projects and they have all been confident and excited to share what they know with their friends.

In addition to home projects, this past week we created our original artworks that came home on Friday, completed our second week of spelling and talked more about timelines of our own lives and the AD/BC (or BCE/CE) timeline of the Earth. We learned about the internal systems of fish, external characteristics of porifera, prefixes, estimation and so much more. It is a joy to teach the children and especially to see when they have “lightbulb” moments of connection and understanding.

This coming week we have our field trip to Green Acres Dairy Farm during the day on Friday, the Fall Festival after school on Friday and another botany lesson with Ms. Rachel to look forward to! It should be a busy and rewarding week!

Finally, some more important Fall Festival Information!

Purchase your tickets online at: https://squareup.com/store/mapa-9

Any tickets/wristbands purchased online will be available for pickup at the “ticket drive-thru” or at the will call booth the night of the festival. Pre-sale prices are good now thru October 11th.

Ticket Drive Thru dates will be: October 8, 9, 10, & 11 in the north east corner of the North Shore parking lot from 2:45-3:30 pm or October 8 & 10 from 8-8:30 am

All of our events couldn’t be as great as they are without the help we receive from our amazing volunteers! Postings for Volunteers to help with Fall festival are on Track It Foward, and our booth is on List 1.

Spelling Lists Week of 10/8-10/12

Some students have asked for their spelling lists to be sent home, so from now on I will be posting them on the blog for anyone who wants extra practice. This week we will be doing spelling tests on Thursday instead of Friday due to our field trip.

Red Group (beginning sound only): fox, can, hose, deer, fan, horn, cow, dice

Orange Group: nap, wag, cap, rag, map, bag, tag, flag, lap

Yellow Group (beginning sound only): cheese, sheep, ham, chief, shave, house, shoe, chain, chop, house

Green Group: chop, hole, hot, stove, come, hose, joke, rock, rose, some, broke, spot

Blue Group: thumb, new, due, knew, junk, do, clue, sew, flew, plump, dew, blue, truth, stew, brush, stuck