February 27th

Hello! It was good to be back today-sorry for not doing the blog yesterday. This morning we had our Speech Contest. The 9 finalists from the three classes all got to give their speeches in front of 4 judges; Mayor Merkes, Mr. Dillon from SCA, Mr. Gillespie, and Mrs. Wallace. After tallying their scores, the top three winners were Jenna Abel, Ashley Siegel, and Rachel Hardginski. Jenna did her speech on Teddy Roosevelt, Ashley did her speech on her cousin Sara, and Rachel did hers on Steven Curtis Chapman. Jenna and Ashley will go to Maplewood on March 17th for the city-wide competition. Congratulations!!!

Homework:

Other:
*T-shirt orders went home today. They are due Friday, March 13th
*Math night is next Tuesday. Please fill out the green half sheet if you are planning to come so they know how many hot dogs to get-they are free!!!
*Fill out your first Fang if you have read each night for 20 minutes for the last few weeks. Bring it to school on Monday.
*Our incentive is on Monday. You can bring board games or cards and a snack/drink.

Whew! It is getting busy here, and it will just continue to get busier as May approaches!!!!

February 25th

Today we had Jump Rope For Heart right away in the morning. It was really fun and we were very energized afterwards! We also had Mentor Pals today with our kindergarten class. Mrs. Hess had us play a top it game with the pals. We are trying to model good sportsmanship while playing a game and how to follow rules.

I will not be at school tomorrow. I am trusting that the class will help out the sub and work hard!

Homework:

Reading: 20 min. for Fang reading club

Math: SL 6.5 (6.4 too if you didn't do it last night)

Spelling: Study

Other: Band tomorrow
Conference slips
study for fun citizenship quiz on Friday
Exercise questionnaire

February 24th

Today felt like a Monday! :) We did some weather trivia to kick off our weather unit. We also started brainstorming some rhyming words for a poem we will be working on this week. Tomorrow is Jump Rope For Heart. Our class goes right away at 8:30. If any parents would like to volunteer some time in the gym-you are more than welcome to! Have yoru child wear tennis shoes that have tight laces and clothing that is easy to move around in. They can also wear red if they would like.

Homework:

Spelling: Study fun words for Jump Rope For Heart.

Math: Studylink 6.4

Reading: 20 min. for Fang Reading Club

Other: No Full Band tomorrow because of Jump Rope For Heart. We still will have Wed. lessons.
Jump Rope for Heart-dress appropriately!

February 23

I have a moment in between meetings today to remind you to finish your cursive final draft of your descriptive paragraph, and to practice your Spanish speech-it is tomorrow!!!!

Hope you are enjoying your day off!

February 20th

Today we had an all school assembly showing how many cans the school collected in the past two weeks. We collected almost 1,000 cans. Festival Foods then matched that-so we are donating almost 2,000 cans to the Salvation Army!!! That is really compassionate! I have video of the assembly that I will try and upload from home this weekend.

Homework:

ILA: Finish writing your descriptive paragraph in cursive for Monday.

Spanish: Practice your speech about your family for Spanish. It is due Tuesday and you can't read it off paper-you need to memorize it!!!!

Other: No school Monday!!!!

February 19th

Happy Birthday to Rachel and Luke! We also had Alyssa's birthday on Tuesday. TOday I passed out questions on a test that people have to take if they want to become a US citizen. I am challenging my students to go over these questions to see how much they know about the United States-seeing that they are already citizens! For fun I will be giving the test next Thursday. Until then, they can take home the packets to study. They have the answers on them so you can help them out. See if you know the answers as well! It is not as easy as you might think!!!


I also entered the Math grades online for Unit 5-the only problem is that I entered them in the "writing" slot. Since I spent so much time entering the scores, I am not going to change where they are. So, please check the writing slot for Math scores.

Homework:

Spelling: Study

ILA: Show descriptive paragraph rough draft to a parent. Please have your parent help to add more descriptive words to the paragraph. Also make sure you have made one comparison in your paragraph. Edit any mistakes. We will be writing the final draft tomorrow. Please have your parent sign the page.

Reading: 20 minutes for Fang
Write one descriptive word for each page in chapter 2-most kids did in class. I will be collecting chap.1 and 2 tomorrow.

Math: Study pg 173-Mathboxes- for the quiz tomorrow.

Spanish: Practice speech for Tuesday.

Other:
T-shirt design due tomorrow.
Last day to bring in canned goods.
Popcorn $.

February 18th

Today we had a special computer time with Mr. Staehler. He is showing us how to compare and contrast things on a computer program called inspiration. Students are choosing two countries to compare and contrast. We also read books to our kindergarten pals.

Homework:

ILA: get descriptive writing notes signed-it was homework last night and a lot of students did not have it done.

Reading: 20 min for Fang

Spelling: study

Spanish: Your child needs to practice their Spanish family speech each night a few times. They will be giving it on Tuesday of next week. a lot of students make excuses in Spanish class-"I don't understand...etc." Most of the time from what I see it is lack of attention in Spanish class, and not doing work to prepare.

Other: canned goods
T-Shirt design due Friday
Band
Bake sale
return conference slips ASAP

February 17

Today we got to go to the library and watch a video about how the author of the Charlie and Lola books makes her collages. We also worked on writing details about a person, place, or thing that students chose to write about.

The Fang Reading Club has started once again. If your child can meet the reading goal for the next 8 weeks, they will be able to get a free Timber Rattlers ticket -usually for a game in May. I stapled a chart in the back of everybody's agenda today. They can mark of yesterday as a freebie. Each night they need to read 20 minutes. Then they can mark off that date-or parents can initial it. At the end of each 2 week period-parents need to sign a Fang (there are 4 of them), and send it back to school. I told students to keep the Fang paper on their refrigerator so it doesn't get lost.

Homework:

Math: Studylink 6.2

Reading: Read 20 minutes for the Fang Reading Club, finish reading the intro and chapter one of the book you are reading in your group. Write down at least one thing on your chart for each page. This chart is in your three-subject notebook.

ILA: Have an adult look at your list of details and describing words you started in class about your person, place, or thing. You should have around ten details. If you can't think of that many ask for help at home, or change your topic.

Spelling: Study

Other: T-shirt design due Friday
Canned goods
bake sale tomorrow
band

February 16th

Today we talked about the Pilgrims in Social Studies. We made a timeline of all of the explorers/colonists that we have studied so far so we could see how they relate in time to one another. We also had library time, and the Battle of the Books contest at lunch.

Homework:

Social Studies: Finish your Pilgrim book for tomorrow. It is very easy, so I am asking for no mistakes in spelling or capitalization. Please check their book for accuracy.

Spelling: Study words. DC group is now in a vocabulary group and will not have a normal Spelling test. Their workbook will be at school until Thursday-then they will take it home if they have not finished.

Math: finish SL 6.1-I gave initials to the students who didn't have it done. Check initial cards to see if your child was one of them.

Other: T-Shirt designs due Fri.
Speech contest Friday 8:30-9:30
canned goods
Conference slips due Friday

Feb. 13th

Today we had fun at our party-I will post the video soon!

Homework:

Math: SL 6.1

Other: Spanish rough draft of family paragraph due Monday
Canned goods
t-shirt design due 2-20

February 12th

Today we finished up our speeches. The three finalists from our class are Ashley Siegel, Rachel Hardginski, and Abbey Hintze. congrats to them, and to the whole class who put forth a great effort!

Homework:

Spelling: Test tomorrow-study!!!
Finish 20 sentences for tomorrow.

Other: Bring valentines tomorrow
Bring treats for party tomorrow
Letters to Scott due tomorrow
Book order due tomorrow
T-shirt drawings due 2-20

Feb. 11th

Today we had about half of the class give their speeches. I am very proud of the effort the students have put into their speeches so far! Tomorrow we will finish it up and I should have my top 3 winners by Friday. We also made valentine books with our kindergarten pals.

Homework:

ILA: Practice speech if you are giving it tomorrow.

Spelling: Study

Other: Book orders due Friday
Valentines on Friday
Canned goods
Letters to Scott
Decorations for Valentine boxes

Daily News

Feb. 10th

Today we watched a video about the Jamestown colony, and the lost colony of Roanoke. Ask your child about them. They were very interesting! Some students give their speeches in class tomorrow-practice, practice, practice!!!

Homework:

ILA: Practice speech

Math: Study for test-we had to move it to tomorrow.

Spelling: Study

Other: Book order due Friday
Valentine boxes-we will decorate tomorrow
Valentines/letters to Scott(our penpal in Iraq) due Friday

Feb. 9th

Today started off a little rocky when I had 9 people that were not done with the poster assignment I sent home on Friday, and I only got 5 out of 24 signed parent notes back about a theft from last week. I hope that the homework problem is something that will get better tomorrow.

We had an assembly about compassion, our character trait that we are focusing on for the 3rd quarter. Please talk about this idea with your child at home. We are having a canned food drive starting tomorrow where the entire school is trying to collect food for less fortunate families. A person from Festival foods was here, and he will match any cans that we collect!!!!

Homework:

Soc. Studies: finish the poster that was sent home on Friday-color it and fill in all of the blanks.

Math: study your Math journal pages from Unit 5 for the test tomorrow.

ILA: Practice speech

Other: Book order due Friday
Bring in a box for valentines
Canned goods
signed sheets about the PSP theft

February 6th

Today we received letters from our soldier penpal in Iraq-an old neighbor of mine. His name is Scott, and he wrote back to any student that wrote him the first time. I had students write new letters to him and we will send them out next week.

Homework:

ILA:Continue to practice your speech

Social Studies: Finish black history month biography poster

Other: Valentines
Valentines for veterans due Monday
Book order due 2-13
PSP note signed

Feb. 5th

Homework:

ILA:speech sheet signed 4 times due tomorrow.

Reading: entry #4 for the 2nd half of the class

Math: Study #2 on pg 154 in Journal. Do SL5.10-get info from parents.

Spelling: finish worksheet and test tomorrow.

Other: t-shirt design due 2-20
Book order due 2-13
popcorn Friday
Wear red

January 4th

Today the class learned about the Powhatan Indian tribe. Back in the 1600s they were living in what is known as Virginia today. Some students helped me "build" a Yehakin-a Powhatan house in our room.

Homework:

ILA: Practice speech

Reading: 1/2 the class has to do entry #4 in their Reader's Response Journal about the Andrew Clements book they are reading. Please make sure to use the checklists you have stapled in your journal to help you do complete work.

Spelling: Study words

Math: Do 1, 2, & 3 on page 154 of your Math Journal. Try your best-we will go over answers tomorrow in class.

Other: Report Card signed (Alex S., Abby P.)
Valentine boxes
Valentines for Veterans

Daily News

January 3rd

Today the class practiced their speeches with partners some more. I gave them a half sheet that gives them some things that you can look for when they practice at home. We also finished watching a podcast of Andrew Clements talking about his career as an author.

Homework:

ILA: Practice speech and continue to get sheet signed. Sheet due Friday

Reading: Finish entry #3 in your Reader's Response Journal. Some students had to do two entries to get caught up.

Spelling: Study the 20 words that are stapled in agendas.

Math: Studylink 5.8-you may use calculators to find the decimals.

Other: T-shirt designs for the contest due 2-20
Valentines for veterans due Friday if you wanted to make them
12 pack soda boxes for Valentines mailboxes.

Daily News

February 2nd

Today we got to practice our speeches out loud with partners. A sheet is being sent home for parents to sign 4 times before Friday. Please listen to your child give their speech 4 times throuhout this week. If you can have different adults listen to it, that would be great. I told them if they have a sibling in high school or above they can have them listen to it as well. Please give them constructive comments to help them make their speeches better. It should be around 3minutes and 30 seconds so if they talk fast during their actual speech they still get 3 minutes. I will be sending home the times they are giving their speeches on Thursday.

Homework:

Math: Studylink 5.7-students may use a calculator to find the decimal answers.

ILA: Practice speech 4 times this week and get sheet signed 4 times by Friday.

Other: Report cards signed (Luke, Alex S., Nate, & Abby P.)
Bring in 12 pack soda boxes so we can decorate them next week for Valentine's Day