Weekly Update: January 22nd-25th

Lemme

Leopards



Hi Parents,

As you might have heard from your child, the flu bug hit our home this past week, leaving me feeling quite under the weather. Carson, my oldest was sick with me. I am crossing my fingers that the rest of my family stays healthy. While I was gone, I told the subs to sanitize, sanitize, and sanitize some more!! Love those Clorox wipes!

I wanted to let you know that I will also be out this coming week on Monday and Tuesday for some professional development. I have Mrs. Galbreth and Mr. Sanders covering my room these two days. 

Language Arts:

This past week students read the informational text, A Tree is Growing by Arthur Dorros. Students practiced the comprehension skill of using text and graphic features to help them better understand text.  Our Essential Question was: How can pictures and labels give you more information? 

Spelling:

Our spelling pattern focused on words with the /k/ sound spelled with ck, k, and c. We also had words that had the /kw/ sound spelled with the letters qu.

Math:

We started Unit 7:Multiplication and Division this past week. Unit 7 extends the basic multiplication and division skills that we learned in the first half of the year. Unit 7 has four main areas of focus:

• To review multiplication and division patterns
• To extend basic multiplication facts
• To practice making estimates of costs
• To explore ratios and geometric figures

Students have fact triangles that they have cut out at school. They keep these in the zipper pocket of their Leopard Books. Students should be bringing these home to practice each night. Please help your child remember to look for patterns when memorizing facts such as; when your multiply a number by 5, it will always have a 0 or 5 in the ones place. Also, reinforce the turn-around-rule, when your child learns 6x4, then they have also learned 4x6.

Here is the Everyday Mathematics website below, I encourage your child to play Baseball Multiplication. If it seems too difficult at first, have your child use their multiplication table to help them. I will sure to print one off for them to keep at home.

https://emgames.everydaymathonline.com/demosite/demo_chooser_3.html

Science

We are beginning our next science unit this week; Structures of Life. I sent out a previous email asking your help with bringing in fruits/vegetables for our investigation on seeds, thanks so much for your quick response; we seem to have everything covered. Please remember to bring in the item you signed up for by Tuesday, January 29th.

Reminders/Events:

Donations: We would love for all of the students in our class to have a 1" binder to replace their current Leopard Books. These binders hold the planners better; as well as papers and folders. Please let me know if you are willing to donate some binders, we only need five more and then every student will have one.

Optimist Reader Program

Students should still be working on their Optimist Good Reader Program reading and summaries, due February 15th. They are working on these in school but can also be working on these at home. The following genres are the ones that students need to be reading:

• Poetry
• Science Fiction/Fantasy
• Non-fiction (2)
• Folktale
• Historical Fiction
• Realistic Fiction
• Biography
• Award Winning

Reading Logs:
Just a reminder that reading logs are due Friday, February 1st. Students should have read 300 minutes for the month of January.

Weekly Update: January 14th-18th

Lemme

Leopards

Hi Parents,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. We took all three of the boys bowling for the first time last night. They had a blast, although Cooper(almost 2) simply wanted to kick the ball and couldn't quite grasp the concept of rolling the bowling ball. It was pretty comical, thank goodness for the bumper lanes!!! It was nice to have an enjoyable night together as a family.

Language Arts:

This past week students read the informational text, The Albertosaurus Mystery: Philip Currie's Hunt in the Badlands. Students practiced the comprehension skill of drawing conclusions.  Our Essential Question was: How can you figure out ideas the author doesn't state directly? The students really enjoyed learning about the discovery of dinosaur fossils, places they were found, what scientists found them, and what type of fossils were found. On Friday, students shared their favorite page from their small group reader with another peer. The students had good discussions and were full of questions for one another.

Grammar and Writing:

This week we focus on adjectives and articles such as a and an. We also learned about the suffix -ly. Student learned that they should add -ly when you describe the way something happens or the way someone or something looks.

Ex. Suddenly, without warning, a storm blew across the town.

How does it happen? Suddenly

In writing, we have been working on Persuasive writing. We have been working on a class letter to Mrs. Martinez, persuading her to let the students have an extra five minutes of recess in the afternoon. We made sure to start with a clear topic sentence stating our opinion, followed by three strong reasons to support our opinion. We will finish our letter with our closing this week. Students will then have an opportunity to write their own, they may even choose to write to you, trying to convince you to do something.

Spelling:  This weeks spelling words focused on words with /j/ sound with a g followed by e, i, or y and the /s/ sound with a c followed by e, i, or y. 

Math:Students will receive their Unit 6 test on Tuesday. Please sign and return this as soon as possible. This week students have been reviewing past concepts from this year, in particular we have focused on the addition algorithms. We have focused on the partial sums algorithm and the traditional (standard) algorithm. I have encourage students to choose the method that works best for them and stick with it. We will review subtraction next week as well. The following link is helpful resource to help gain a better understanding of the algorithms.

https://www.everydaymathonline.com/free_resources_main.html?frnologin=1&PHPSESSID=3b949d56ee050c496e9518d5df8a9194#

Social Studies

We began Chapter 4: Communities and Beyond of our book titled Social Studies Alive!  Students have learned about the reasons why immigrates came to America long ago and the difficult journey that they endured. We have had the chance to explore some interactive websites like the one listed below. I told students I would include it in my blog if they wanted a chance to visit it again with you.

http://www.tenement.org/immigrate/

Reminders:

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Please sign up for a spring conference time if you have not had a chance to do so. Also, for those of you that have signed up for a time, double check to make sure that time still works for you. If the times that are available do not work for you, please let me know so we can rearrange another date/time. Thanks!

Donations: We would love for all of the students in our class to have a 1" binder to replace their current Leopard Books. These binders hold the planners better as well as papers and folders. Please let me know if you are willing to donate some binders, we only need five more at then every student will have them. Thanks so much to Mrs. Cheatum and Mrs. Greving for your donations.

Also, if you have some books that your child has read and you would like to find a new home for them, our classroom would love them. Students are always excited to get new books!

Optimist Good Reader Program: This week I took time to check in with most students to see how they were coming with their reading and summaries. In the classroom, each student has a hanging file in a crate that holds their Optimist Reading Packets, bookmarks they have created, and the summaries that they have written. I am taking time to read through their summaries and ask them questions about their reading. I am then signing off in their packet. Please feel free to check in with your child about their reading and their summaries.

Weekly Update: January 7th-11th

Lemme

Leopards

Hi Parents,

I finally have internet at my house and am able to get back to updating my blog. Thank you for being patient with me:)

On our short (2 day week) back, we spent some time sharing what we did (or a gift we got) over break. The students were excited to share with their class. I loved listening to all the exciting happenings that took place over the break. Sharing always seems to help up build our community and help us transition back into our learning a little bit easier. I shared with them about my move and how not much seemed to go right:) They had a lot of questions and were curious about what my boys thought about their new home.

We also made an academic goal for 2013, we spent time discussing goals that are challenging, but also attainable. We listed some examples together on the SmartBoard to help us brainstorm. I was impressed with their goal setting, choosing goals that were appropriate for them. They are posted in our classroom if you would like to take a peek.

Language Arts:

This past week students read the humorous fiction, A Mr. Rubbish Mood which is an excerpt from a chapter book by Megan McDonald titled Judy Moody Saves the World! . Students practiced the comprehension skill of determining author's purpose. We discussed the four main reasons authors write; to entertain, to persuade, to express feelings/thoughts, and to inform. Students spent time discussing the impact we have on our environment and what we can do to make our world a better place to live.

Grammar and Writing:

This week we continued our focus on adjectives. We have talked about adjectives that tell what kind, how many, and which one.

Adjectives that tell what kind: brave, tight, large, small, etc.
Adjectives that tell how many: many, two, several, etc.
Adjectives that tell which one: this and that
                      Ex. You should recycle that can.

Spelling:  This weeks spelling words focused on the /âr/ sound as in the words air and bear. Students also recognized that ear makes the /îr/ sound as well like in the word year. Students focused on the following spelling patterns; ear, air, and are. 

Math: Students will be taking their Unit 6 Math Progress Check on Tuesday, January 15th. Students should have brought home a review packet on this past Friday. Please help to remind your child to bring it back on Monday so we can go over the review together. Student should bring it back home again on Monday night. Thanks so much! 

Water: Students have completed their unit of study on Water. They should be bringing home their scored science test on Monday. Please sign their test and your child return these to me by Wednesday, January 16th.

 

Lots of Reminders:

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Please sign up for a spring conference time if you have not had a chance to do so. Also, for those of you that have signed up for a time, double check to make sure that time still works for you. If the times that are available do not work for you, please let me know so we can rearrange another date/time. Thanks!

 

Scholastic Book Orders: Scholastic book orders are due Wednesday, January 15th. I tried to change the order date online, but it was not cooperating. Feel free to order online using the website: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs

Our class activation code is: GP2R9

When ordering online, you get a $5 FREE Book Pick Coupon to use on your next online order! Feel free also to send in your book order making one check out to Scholastic Books.

 

Donations: We would love for all of the students in our class to have a 1" binder to replace their current Leopard Books. These binders hold the planners better as well as papers and folders. Please let me know if you are willing to donate some binders, we have eleven students that need them. Thanks so much!

 

Optimist Good Reader Program: Please encourage your child to read for the Optimist Good Reader Program. Your should have received a note describing the program. We teachers especially love this program because it asks for students to read different genres and step outside of their comfort zone.

 

Lemme Hat Day Fundraiser: Lemme Student Council is hosting the annual Hat Day Fundraiser on Friday, January 25th. They are raising money for the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. It's easy! Make a monetary donation and get to wear a hat in school. Your student will also get their name on a green star to be displayed in the hallway.

YUM! YUM! SNOWMEN!!!!

Parents,

 The snowmen must have melted before they made it home to you so here are a few pics for you to enjoy. Thanks again to Mrs. Kucera and Mrs. Michelson for volunteering their time and donating the supplies to make these yummy snowmen! The students loved them!!                                                                       

Sorry, this picture is so blurry:(

Weekly Update: December 3rd-7th

Lemme

Leopards

Hi Parents,

As I am writing this, I am seeing the first snowflakes of this winter fall from the sky. My boys are thrilled about this as they have been talking about it for weeks. I hope you are having a great weekend!

Language Arts:

This past week students read the informational text, Aero and Officer Mike. Students practiced the comprehensions skills of summarizing and determining author's purpose. We discussed the four main reasons authors write; to entertain, to persuade, to express feelings/thoughts, and to inform. We also spent large/small group time summarizing parts of the text we were reading. When summarizing, we focus on telling the important parts of the text in our own words. We also differentiate the difference between retelling and summarizing.

Grammar and Writing:
This week's focus is an extension of last week's subject-verb agreement.  We are now applying our learning to pronouns and verbs.

We also focused on the prefixes im- and in- which mean not. It was important for students to see that a prefix can help us determine the meaning of unknown/new words.

Examples: incomplete-not complete    imperfect-not perfect

Spelling: This past weeks' spelling words had the /är/ sound spelled with ar and the /ôr/ sound spelled with the letters or or ore.

Math: Students will be taking their Unit 5 Math Progress Check on Wednesday, December 12th. Students should be bringing home a review sheet on Monday, December 10th. The challenge this unit has been students learning the place value of decimals. This is a concept that we will come back to again throughout the rest of the school year. 

Science: This past week students observed surface tension by seeing how many drops of water could fit on the surface of a penny. We also observed what effect soapy water and salt water has on surface tension, learning that soapy water breaks the barrier and salt water has little to no effect. Students also made their own versions of a thermometer (pictures to come) and watched what happened as their "thermometer" was submerged in hot and cold water.

Reminder: We increased the reading log minutes to 15 minutes a night for a goal of 300 minutes a month. Thanks for your support with this at home, I appreciate it!

Weekly Update:November 26th-30th

Lemme

Leopards

Hi Parents,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I have been away from the classroom more than I would like to be this past week. I have attended two science trainings, one on Tuesday and another on Friday. The science trainings provide me with an excellent hands-on experience  to gain a better understanding of what we want to students to learn from each particular science unit. It is great to be able to compare and contrast with the students my learning experience to their own. I will have my last science training this coming Tuesday. I have been very fortunate to have Janet Galbreth(a former Lemme teacher) as my substitute over these past few absences.

Language Arts:

This past week students read the legend, Yonder Mountain. Students practiced the comprehensions skills of comparing(how they are alike) and contrasting(how they are different) the characters within the story.

Grammar and Writing: Subject-verb agreement is our topic this week.  Students learned that if the subject is singular in a present-tense sentence, the verb needs either an -s or an -es added on the end. We also focused on adding -es to verbs that end in -ch,-sh,-s, or-x.

Spelling: This past weeks' spelling words were contractions. Your child will get their spelling test back on Tuesday instead of Monday this week.



Math: Students began Unit 5: Place Value in Whole Numbers and Decimals on Monday, November 26th. In Unit 5, students will review place value up to five digit whole numbers. They will read, write, compare, and order before they begin to explore larger numbers. For real life application, students will study population data about the U.S. cities.

Science: Students began their new unit of study, Water. The Water Unit consists of four investigations in which students explore properties of water, changes in water, interactions between water and other earth materials, and how humans use water. On Wednesday and Friday, students observed how water interacts with four different surface; aluminum foil, a paper towel, a piece of paper, and waxed paper. Students used a dropper to put the water on the four different materials. They had a great time, we didn't realize this was going to be so cool and exciting:) I will be sure to add pictures throughout our science unit.

Reminder:
Reading logs are due Monday, December 3rd. Please help your child total the number of minutes that they read and sign it at the bottom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy

Thanksgiving

Hi Parents,

We had a nice couple of days together. The kids were great even with the excitement of having a break. We were able to practice and present a reader's theaters. The kids did a nice job, it gave us the opportunity to practice our fluency including out smoothness, expression, rate, and phrasing.

We also made a turkey craft and a turkey snack. The snack was a little messier than anticipated, but the kids seemed to enjoy making them. I wanted to take a picture of the whole class with their special snack, but most of us couldn't wait to gobble it up. I was able to catch a few students with their turkey snack. Here are some pictures from Tuesday.

Happy Thanksgiving!