I hope the kiddoes had a great time at the 2012 Pajamarama!  Thank you for all of the very thoughtful and generous gifts. I am overwhelmed!  Tonight I'll be drinking fancy tea from a fancy new mug and noshing on homemade goodies from a fancy plate in a beautifully scented room.  I was stunned by the very generous gift cards. I can hardly wait for the after Christmas sales!  Thank you very, very much!
     It was a very hard week to be a teacher and several times I welled up just looking at their innocent faces.  I really do have the best job in the world.  Mark Twain said he enjoyed being with children because it is an honor to spend time with those who have so recently dwelt in heaven.  I think he had that right. Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, peaceful 2013!

Pajamarama tomorrow!

I hope everyone likes their wreath! I think the kids had fun making them.

Tonight's math homework is a review of arrays with multiplication facts.  Tomorrow the kids will bring home the Topic 3 test.  They can make corrections and return them for extra points. While we move forward in the curriculum to multiplication and division, I will also spiral back to addition and subtraction problem solving so there will be opportunities for continued practice.

Don't forget about the Pajamarama on Friday!  Comfy clothes or pajamas, breakfast in the classroom, games from home, winter crafty activities and fun stuff, a movie in the afternoon.  Anyone who'd like to add to the occasion is welcome to send in party favor type treats for the class.

Today was surprisingly ok!  The kids were pretty subdued for the first half hour or so, but things were back to normal in no time.  Teachers had meetings before and after school to discuss and review procedures for the worst case. I pray we will never ever need to use them.

There is no spelling homework this week! I will assign math tomorrow and Wednesday.  We'll review multiplication concepts when we get back from the break and have a test on Friday, Jan 4th.  We will also be working on a how-to writing piece, taking it from plan to draft, with revising and "publication".  But that's not until next year!
 

By now everyone will have heard about the sickening tragedy at the elementary school in Connecticut.  I hope that parents will have an opportunity to discuss it in the best way for their child.  I am really at a loss about what I can say if children raise the issue next week.  It was very hard to look at our class of happy, sweet, trusting children and know that we all live in a world where such monstrosity is possible.

My heart and most sincere prayers go out to those families.

Today we began working with repeated addition as an introduction to multiplication. I think we are off to a good start.  The reading selection for the week is very interesting! While we read about all kinds of cool bird nests, we are practicing main idea and supporting detail, using text feature to support comprehension, and using context to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Look for news about the party in Friday's mail.  

     Well, we finally got the topic 3 math test done today AND we had a full class for the first time in almost 2 weeks!  Maybe the virus we've been sharing has left the building.  I sure hope so!
     The kids had some fun with a science activity this afternoon. I hope they showed you the material we worked with and could explain what the investigation was about. Basically, it is corn starch and water, but it forms a colloid which has some of the properties of liquid and some of a solid. The students were asked to choose whether it should be called a liquid or a solid and explain why.
     Tomorrow we're going to read an expository piece  about amazing bird nests.  The skill for the week is using main ideas and supporting details to support comprehension.  The question for the week is about how animals and plants adapt to survive.
     We've begun a cool holiday project for Christmas, and some pretty sweet menorahs will arrive home tomorrow.  

Today we practiced spl, str, thr, and squ words from this week's spelling list.  Author's purpose and using predicting to set a purpose for reading will be the focuses of reading comprehension.  We will practice using singular possessive nouns and antonyms. Our question for the week is about finding fair solutions.

In Math, we worked on the last lesson of the topic: drawing a picture to represent a problem, writing a number sentence and solving 3-digit addition and subtraction.  Tomorrow we'll begin reviewing all 10 lessons in the topic on subtraction.

Kids brought home a weekly ELA quiz to be signed.

Tonight's homework is to complete the Practice side of the 3-10 worksheet, read, log, and do a page in the spelling and vocab packet.

Wow, it's December already!  I was in the classroom this weekend to decorate and organize a bit. I hope the kids will like the new look.  We are just about finished with the math topic on subtraction so I'm planning on giving the test late in the week. Our next topic will introduce multiplication, but timed tests will continue with addition and subtraction for all of the 2nd marking period.

If anyone feels energetic and wants to send in latkes, I will be happy to  bring the applesauce for a Hanukkah celebration on Friday.  Just let me know?  I'm afraid jelly doughnuts aren't on the approved foods list. :(

Our winter celebration will be on the last day of school before the break.  It will be a pajama/breakfast party to start the day. with winter crafts and a movie in the afternoon. Kids can bring games and toys from home to share with classmates. No electronics. I'll send home a request for party items as the day draws closer.

     We began the 2nd marking period by changing our morning routine a bit.  Instead of the children handing in their folders and all the contents, they are now going to bring their folders to their desks. They will hand in their homework, which will be checked in by a classmate.  They will separately hand in any dismissal  notes, lunch money, etc.  It will require more responsibility on their part and I will provide reminders for as long as needed.
     Report cards go home tomorrow.  Please sign the envelope and return just the envelope. Inevitably there will be some disappointments but this is only a starting point. Every child can be confident that they will achieve more than they can imagine right now.
     I've spoken to our principal about teaching cursive and I believe she is forwarding the question to our district administration. At this time there are no materials and no time scheduled in our ELA program.
     Our next math test will be next week. There are a few more lessons in the topic and I will do a couple of review lessons before the test.
    We began decorating the classroom for winter by making snowflakes to hang from the ceiling and window display line. It seemed very appropriate for today's weather and the kiddoes had some

Regarding report cards, there were some rapid-fire emails about the report card distribution date. We received a clarification only today to the effect that report cards go home on Wednesday.

Spelling packets went home today and are due on Friday.
We practiced breaking down 3 digit subtraction problems into smaller problems and there is a math worksheet to practice that. Some students received a challenge page of syllogisms, or logic problems.
All students were assigned a reading comprehension page with questions on the back. This whole assignment can be used toward the daily 20 minute reading requirement.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Sometimes life just gets so hectic!


Tomorrow we will hold the Read a thon to raise money for 2 schools affected by the storm.  I have all my holiday books out and I hope the kids will enjoy reading together.  We have one guest reader for the afternoon.  Don't forget to wear your purple and gold.

I will be working on report cards over the Thanksgiving break so they'll be ready to go home on the 28th.

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!  We will be honoring our veterans at an assembly on Wednesday so please try to wear your red, white, and blue.  The poems we wrote to thank our vets will be given out then.
This coming week and next our math lessons will be good old fashioned addition and subtraction.  There will be lots of word problems in addition to straight computation. The kiddos have asked to have a math challenge folder that they can use when there are a few spare minutes so I will hunt up some "just right"  challenges that will allow everyone to enjoy math!

Following our unit on adding and subtracting larger numbers we are moving into multiplication, but our timed facts tests will not include multiplication until the 3rd marking period.

Well, we finally got the topic 2 math test done!  Tomorrow we begin a new topic: 3 and 4 digit addition and subtraction with regrouping and lots of problem solving with larger numbers.

In ELA we began a non-fiction selection about penguins, practiced common and proper nouns, and practiced spelling words.  Our "big question" is about how plant and animal structures help living things survive.


This afternoon the kids did a wonderful job of writing acrostic or cinquain poems for the veterans who'll be visiting our school on the 8th.

It was great to get back into the swing of things today! We worked on five line poems today and everyone wrote one about themselves.  Our spelling list this week focuses on open and closed syllables. Open syllables end with a vowel and make a long vowel sound. Closed syllables end with a consonant and make a short vowel sound.
We reviewed (again!) for the Topic 2 Math test. The test will be tomorrow.
Our classroom has no internet service for the time being so I'm unable to read emails or listen to voicemail.

Parent Teacher Conferences begin on Thursday. If you haven't already returned your confirmation for your appointment please do so as soon as you can.  If you need to change your apointment please call the main office. They have my schedule and will help you find a time that works for you.

Spelling and vocabulary packets went home today. The homework for tonight is the 3 times each page and to complete the math packet we began in class today.

I hope everyone has power back by now!  Like you, I'm waiting for news from Dr. Bryant about when we can head back to school.  I'm hoping for tomorrow!  Have you tried aaamath.com yet?  Try their rounding and estimating section for some good practice. And don't forget you can get brainpop, Jr at home! The userid is wvcsd100, password is wvcsdkids.  Our next big question is "How do the structures of plants and animals help them to solve problems?"  We also have a subscription to Pebblego.com, for research.  The userid is parkave, the password is school.

HOMEWORK PASSES for the next whole spelling packet to anyone who researches how ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS help an animal find food, shelter, and protect itself. Make a poster about the animal you choose or prepare a 3 - 5 minute lesson for the class.  Bring it to school on Monday (I hope)!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope everyone will be safe and sound over the next few days! I hope we'll see each other on Wednesday. I still plan to have our Halloween celebration on Wednesday, so if anyone has had time to buy treats, please send them!

  Please do a review of the "reteaching" pages (59 - 60) in the math text so things will be fresh on everyone's mind for the math test on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Tonight's homework is to complete the practice math test on pages 60-61 numbers 1-7, 8, 10, 13.
Read the tall tale and answer questions on the 2nd page.

The kids worked on strong beginnings for their personal narratives and on "showing, not telling" in their writing.
In science today, we read and discussed thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes.Might be just in time for some real world experience with the storms predicted for next week!
No spelling test AND no weekly ELA test this week!  The chapter math test will be on Monday. We reviewed today and will do so tomorrow as well.  

My apologies for not sending home reading logs on Friday!  They went home today.  The children completed their unit test in ELA and continued to work on writing independent projects. We began planning, and drafting personal narratives earlier this week.  Hopefully everyone will complete drafting and revising this week.
Our math lesson today was on using "reasonableness" to check sums and differences.

Today's homework is to read for 20 min and complete both sides of the 2-9 worksheet.

Today we practiced some 3rd grade algebra!  18 = 10 + n and similar problems. Students who aren't quick with basic math facts yet will have a harder time to solve these equations.  We practice 100 addition facts almost every day and beginning next week it will be 50 addition and 50 subtraction.  If you have access to a computer AAAmath.com is a great, simple site to practice all kinds of math.  Flash cards are excellent also.

Tonight's homework is to review with you  and ask you to sign the folder for the weekly ELA quizzes. There is a math sheet labeled Daily Common Core as well.

     We have finished our first unit in ELA and I am sending home the weekly quizzes the children have taken so far. There are 20 multiple choice questions and a timed writing activity each week. You will probably note that the questions are very challenging in keeping with the higher level of complexity required by the new Common Core Standards. To succeed on assessments like these, we will continue to practice "close reads" of our stories, going back into the selection to reread and provide proof that an answer is correct.
  I give two grades for the writing. One grade is for the content of the answer, the other is for the mechanics. I label the mechanics "cops" for capitalization, organization, punctuation, and spelling. Writing is grade on a scale of 1 - 4. A grade of 3 or 4 meets or exceeds standards.    

Tonight's homework is to review rounding and estimation for a quick quiz tomorrow, and to complete the reading packet (2 stories with questions).

FRIDAY! We had a fun assembly today to celebrate reaching a school wide goal of 80% of Park kids having a library card.  The Uncle Brothers Band had some funny singalongs to celebrate reading and smart kids.
  Back in the classroom we continued estimating in math, took a spelling test, began personal narratives, visited the school store, and practiced paraphrasing factual material in anticipation of research projects ahead.
    Next week we'll begin a lengthy unit test for ELA after brushing up a bit more on grammar and vocabulary.   Best news of the week? There is no spelling list to practice next week!  yay!
    Have a great weekend and don't forget the children will be dismissed at 2:15 on Monday!

     The kids really worked hard today! To prepare for the big unit test in ELA they worked on vocabulary, challenging comprehension exercises  and writing responses to questions about reading.  It is so important that everyone answer the question AND provide details from the text to support their answer.  Writing at that level of detail is very challenging for the beginning of 3rd grade so we will keep practicing!
     We read about how the president is elected, including the electoral college's role. I helped them use highlighters to mark the most important facts in the passages.  Tomorrow they will use their notes to write sentences (without copying word for word!) about how we elect a president.
     Tonight's homework is to read our old Social Studies text book, pages 152 - 157, study for the spelling test, and log their reading.  Reading logs are due tomorrow!

I think the kiddoes had some fun today sharing their realistic fiction pieces.Picture Day went well. Everybody looked great. I hope all of the portraits come out well.  A little more rounding and estimating on the horizon  Tomorrow we're going to use estimation to solve addition problems.
     Tonight's homework is a reading comprehension worksheet, review the spelling list, and a rounding math sheet for a few students.

Tomorrow is Picture Day!  We will have our pictures taken at about 11:15. That's before P.E.,recess, and lunch.
Tonight's homework is a math sheet (Quick Check 2-5), review spelling words, and read for 20 minutes.
 

Tonight's homework is a math worksheet on rounding, practice spelling review words, and read for 20 minutes. Please remember to log your reading.

     Today we begin two weeks of review, writer's workshop and assessments of all the skills and strategies we have practiced in our first ELA unit.  Children will be rereading the stories, revisiting comprehension strategies, revising and publishing writing drafts, and taking a unit test.  Everyone will plan, draft, revise and publish a personal narrative for assessment during our writer's workshop.
     Since our spelling list is also a review, there is no assigned spelling homework this week. Please go over the list with your child each evening to be ready for the quiz on Friday.
     We will continue to practice rounding and estimating in Math.  This is always a challenging skill for many children so I will spiral back to practice it for the next week or two.  You may also find some additional practice sent  for homework if your student needs it.
   

Today we began learning about rounding to the nearest 10 and nearest 100 using number lines.  Tomorrow we will use place value to round.  The next several math lessons are based on knowing how to round numbers so it's very important that everyone get a big slice of practice on this.
Student's wrote a quick advertisement for a student to do small jobs for you at home. They went home today, and some of them were very cute!
We'll have the usual weekly spelling test tomorrow but the weekly ELA reading comprehension and phonics assessment  is postponed to next week. There's just so much to learn and practice that a four day week just isn't enough this time!
Next week we begin a week or so of review and writer's workshop in ELA.  We'll go back over all of the phonics grammar, and comprehension skills we've done since September!

The question of the week is "What do we need to know about saving ans spending?". We began a realistic fiction writing exercise today about saving and earning to buy something really worthwhile. Students took a short quiz today on the addition and subtraction lessons we've been working on.  I hope to have them graded tomorrow.Today  Mrs. Vanderkruik began our library lessons for the year. The children are learning where to find the various kinds of books based on the call number on the spine. They'll also learn how to use the computers to look up book titles.    

Tonight's homework is to do the 3 times each spelling practice page and read the short selection student's brought home/  They are to read it aloud, hopefully to a listener, 3 times to practice fluent reading.

The new spelling and vocabulary lists are on the spelling page.

My apologies for not posting this week. This is the first night we've had internet access. Time for a new modem!  The children brought home their first math test of the year.  Many of the children needed to go back over their work to complete questions they skipped or misread. Please sign and return the test on Tuesday.  The children can make corrections to earn extra points on their score. They brought home their math books to help. Each question is followed by textbook lesson number in parentheses. Corrections are optional.
I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

  Monday is October 1st! The month of September has flown by.  Beginning on Monday, students will be assigned  20 minutes of  reading every night.  The 20 minutes may be from pages I assign or from independently chosen books.  The books should be appropriate for your child's reading ability.Reading everyday is so important for success in school and beyond!
   Our next "question of the week" is about how people meet their needs and wants.  We'll be looking at how individuals, communities and nations fulfill needs and wants through the interaction of citizens, cultures, and industries.
   In Math we'll begin a new topic which includes number sense with addition and subtraction, rounding and estimation.
   I'll post the new spelling and vocabulary lists on Monday.
Have a great weekend!

Thanks to everyone who came to Back to School Night. It was a pleasure to see you all. For anyone who couldn't make it, I'll send home the information that was given out.  In a nutshell, we talked about the level of rigor in new ELA standards, looked at the materials in our ELA and math series, discussed the new snack regulations, our daily schedule, and when we will begin practicing cursive.  Please email me if you have questions or concerns!  

Homework for tonight is to fix and finish the math review packet, and to complete a page of the spelling and vocabulary packet.

Enjoy the day off everyone!

Another 4 day week! Please help with spelling and vocabulary practice since we will miss one day of classroom practice. This list of words has quite a few twists to it.
Today we worked on the math strategy of making an organized list to answers questions about possible combinations and place-value riddles.  I think its a very challenging strategy to apply but our delightful children said "easy-peasy!". I'm thinking of a Math test on Thursday or Friday depending on how our review lesson goes.
Our story this week is Kumak's Fish, a tall tale from Alaska. If you know any tall tales, please share them with your child!

Our benchmark testing for the beginning of the school year is almost complete (yay!). Just one more math assessment to get a good picture of how everyone is starting the year and we'll be done.  This is all part of the changes in teacher evaluation and the move to Common Core (national) standards.

 I hope everyone will be able to attend Back to School Night on Thursday!

Another busy week!  We worked on fables this week and our big question was "What do we learn by trading with each other?"   Next week we will have our first math test.  We will review in class and I'll send homework for extra review and practice.  Have a great weekend!

We had a good time shopping at the book fair!  If anyone needs to go back to make their purchases, we wil have a little time today.  Since this is a four day week, we have less time to practice for the spelling and vocabulary test so please make sure everyone does their best work with the homework pages for the week.

In ELA this week we are reading a fable and focusing on using sequence to summarize the story. The essential question for the week is "What do we learn by trading with each other". Spelling targets plural spellings, especially changing y to i and add -es. In Math we are working with place value charts, greater and less than symbols

Our Social Studies concepts connect to the fable What About Me?  We will read and discuss barter economies vs. money economies and look briefly into how world cultures benefit from trade.

L'shanah tovah y'all!

Tomorrow we'll have our first chorus lesson!  I know the kids are curious and even a little nervous. I hope they love singing together.  It's one of the things we all remember as adults, isn't it?

What a busy day! We worked through our first day in the new ELA series and boy, is it packed with reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and writing lessons!  I hope everyone received their spelling/vocab packet.  We took the pretest today and you can see how your child did on that on the first page of the packet.  Tonight's homework is to complete one more page of the packet very neatly.

Today's math was reading and writing 3 and 4 digit numbers using words, numbers, and place value blocks. The math page  that went home today is an example of what we will often have for homework.  It directly reflects the day's math lesson.

So far I'm still unable to access our classroom blog at school so my updates may not happen until later in the evening.

We had a great first day!  We interviewed new friends, worked through a whole packet of first day work, began our class book Classroom At the End of the Hall, and started our back to school bulletin board project.  Best news of the day? EVERYONE got a wise bracelet and some people earned 2 of them!
We are going to start next week on all four burners. Jumping right in to ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies!

I saw our class list today! YAY! I am so happy! I have some old friends and lots of new ones to meet.  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.  I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to summer vacation though. I guess we all wish summer could last just a little longer. It feels like only last week that all the teachers waved and waved while the buses left the parking lot on the last day of school. I hope everyone is going to really enjoy the next few weeks! See you soon!

I was in our classroom on Monday this week and it is  finally beginning to look like a classroom again! Did you know that teachers have to pack up their rooms every summer? So before school begins again in September we have to unpack and redecorate everything. It's a lot of work, but I hope you will feel welcome and comfortable in our room.