Friday Report Cards should be home today

The auction went well today and we had two students in the walk of fame with over 300 points!  Report cards were also sent home.  If you want to arrange a time to meet with me, I would love to do that.  Just get in touch with me and we can schedule a time to sit and talk.

Students took their Anne Frank test today.  Then we went to the website and went through a "virtual" annexe.  Students really enjoyed that.  In math we learned about finding perimeter.  We will keep reviewing perimeter and area so the students keep those two items straight.

In the afternoon students displayed their fantastic solar systems.  Most of the school came and paraded through while we watched a video that compares the sizes of the planets to the stars.  Finally we had the auction and the Walk of Fame.  What a good day.

Next week there will be no school on Friday, March 7, as it is a scheduled teacher work-day.

Thursday - Auction tomorrow if . . .

Today we did our vocabulary words.  We also discussed the use of quotation marks and underlining to show titles.  The interesting thing is today, with so much on the computer, we just italicize instead of underline. In math students reviewed how to find the area of a rectangle.  Then the students had one rectangle in another rectangle and had to find the area of both rectangles and subtract one from the other.  They did pretty well.  Tomorrow we will do perimeters.

Miss Lu has had a great time seeing all of the solar systems come in.  From 12:30 until 1:00 tomorrow there will be a walk-through so you can see what all of the students did.  The other classes will be able to see it too.

Wednesday Soar System Thursday, Friday Auction

Students took their spelling test today.  They have to write any words they have missed five times.  Then, we read an excerpt from the story, "The Diary of Anne Frank."  We discussed the conditions of the world at the time and talked about why this kind of thing happens.  In math students took a test for the last section.  We will be review finding area tomorrow.

The solar system models are due tomorrow.  They can be up to a week late, however, they will be losing point for every day it is late.

Remember to send auction items with your students.

Tuesday - Solar System Thursday Auction Friday

This morning the students finished typing their patriotic essays.  We also learned about using commas and quotation marks.  In math we reviewed for tomorrow's test. We also took an evaluation to see how well students have learned the information this trimester.  We will continue to review these items so students will remember them.

Students have their solar systems due on Thursday.  Many interesting ones have been coming in every day.  They have been fascinating to see the creativity.

Monday Solar Systems due on Thursday

Thanks so much for everyone who came to the HoeDown on Friday.  It was fun.  Today we worked on our Patriotic Essays.  They need to be finished on Wednesday, so we are working hard to finish them.  Students got their spelling papers.  They are due at the start of class on Wednesday.  In math we worked on word problems in metrics.  That really stumped a lot of the students.  We will review it, but the test is much easier than today's work.  I think they will do fine.  We will review tomorrow and then start the test on either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the need for review.

We will be having our classroom auction on Friday afternoon.  Students have been earning 4b bucks for different things, getting homework in, working, doing jobs, just the basic classroom activities.  Please send something with your student to auction off.  Only students with something to auction will be able to participate.  This doesn't need to be something from the store, just something at home that isn't getting much use anymore.  Thanks for all you do.

Thursday

We are reading the book, The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck.  It is causing quite the discussion in class.  Today we reviewed how to write dialogue in our stories.  We also worked on our vocabulary words.  In math we continued our work on the metric system.

Remember, tomorrow is the Hoedown, it begins at 6:30.  Through the funds earned the students will have their field trips.  Thanks for all you do.

Friday

It is the Hoedown tonight.  It starts at 6:30, come eat, see your children dance, bid on auction items, and have a good time.

We took our reading and spelling tests today.  Then we learned  more about metrics.  Today we dealt with changing kilometers into meters.  The worksheet was a bit tricky, but we are getting it.  We also finished the book, The Big Wave.  It has a happy ending.

Please get all the book orders in this week-end.  We need to get those done as we have the new book orders for March.

Wednesday

Students took their spelling test this morning and then we read the story, "The Big Wave." It is a sad story, and we will be reading the book in class so the students can hear "the rest of the story." After the story ended students wrote their genre paper which tells what genre the story is and then information about the story.

In math we learned about millimeters and their relationship to meters and centimeters.  Then in science students learned about the solar system.  Finally they went to music class.

Remember that the Hoedown is Friday.  We hope you can all come.

Homework: Math: MondayWrite this number in written form 234,983  Tuesday: Add these mixed numbers: 2 5/6 + 3 2/6  Wednesday: Sara was three times as old as her little brother.  Her little brother was 4, how old was Sara?  Thursday: Add these numbers; 2,357 + 4,764

Vocabulary words: tidal, wreckage, unconscious, sorrowfully, unfortunate.

Yellow list: exclaim, exclamation, assume, assumption, proclamation, explain, presume, reclamation, proclaim, acclaim, consumption, reclaim, perceive, acclamation, resume, received, explanation, reception, consume, presumption, resumption, perception.

Green list: saucer, awful, also, always, author, almost, August, all right, lawyer, although, awkward, autumn, laundry, laughed, awesome, gnawed, caution, flawless, faucet, already, auction, gawking, sausage, haunted

Blue list: watch, small, thought, salt, walk, though, calm, bought, wand, talk, stalk, bald, wasp, fought, swap, chalk, stall, ought, swat, brought, cough, also, almost

I hope that is all.

Tuesday

I hope your days off were as lovely as mine were.  We got right back to work this morning practicing our spelling words and typing our patriotic essays.  In math students learned to change meters to centimeters.  They also learned that the United States, Liberia and Myanmar are the only countries who do not use the metric system. After lunch students read or worked with me on their math facts.

In science the students were given a paper by Miss Lu to explain their next project.  Students are to make a model of the solar system. It is due February 27th. Then students went to the library.  After recess we looked at maps that showed a lot of interesting information about the world.  Remember, Friday is the Hoedown, a fund raiser that will allow students to go on an end of year field trip.  If you have anything you would like to donate to the silent auction, please bring it to the school.

Thursday no school tomorrow or Monday

Today was fun. We got our work done in the morning. We took our spelling and reading tests. In math we learned how to round six digit numbers and we worked with place value with six digit numbers.  Students had one dice with place values and another with the numbers 1-6.  They would roll the place value dice and then the other dice to determine which number went in which place value.

I would like to especially thank Dana Kay Moyle for pulling our Valentines Day party together.  Also, our thanks go to Kristy Jensen and Jaymi Nance for bringing treats.  The children had a great time.  Thanks to all of you, as parents, who make sure that none of the children get left out, and that everyone feels cared for.  Have a nice holiday with your children.

Wednesday Valentine Party is tomorrow at 12:45

Today was exciting as students spent time getting Valentine boxes made for the Valentine's Day festivities tomorrow. We also had school. The students took the Star Reading test to determine their reading levels. I will have a couple of the students re-take the test as there were extenuating circumstances as to why they didn't score as high as they should have. We also took our spelling test today. In math we began learning how to figure out where numbers are on number-lines. It seems so easy to adults, but teaching children how to figure out whether we are counting by tens, hundreds, or ten-thousands is a little tricky. It is amazing what we take for granted.

We had more than half of the class go to honor choir today. I let them go because some of them wanted to, and others wanted to see what it is like. But if they choose to go next week, they will need parent's permission.

Tuesday

We reviewed our spelling words today. We talked about why the different words were spelled the way they are. The students will have a spelling test tomorrow,and the next test will have to be on Thursday as we have no class on Friday. Math was simple, we worked on reading and writing more 6 digit numbers.

In the afternoon we played a Lewis and Clark game. It is online and your student can go to it by going to www.usmint.gove/kids/games/lewisclarkadventure/ I hope you allow them to take advantage of this learning game.

Monday

We read the funniest story today, McBroom and the Big Wind. It is a tall tale, and it makes me smile. We went to the computer lab to type our patriotic essays. Following directions is a skill the students are still learning, but I daresay that as adults, we often struggle with that too. In math we are writing and comprehending 6 digit numbers. It is fairly simple and we should be able to get through this first part of module 8 very quickly. In social studies we learned about Sacajewea. Then students went to P.E.

We will be making Valentine Boxes this week. If your child has anything they want to use to make one, send it by Wednesday. Our party will be on Thursday as there is no school on Friday.

Friday

It was a day of testing. Students took their spelling test, followed by a reading test, followed by a math test. Sometimes it just works out that way. They did have time to work on their Patriotic Essay, read, and finish their vocabulary words. Students seem to be in a big rush to get AR points, now that the semester is closing soon. Please encourage your student to read everyday, and not just cram it all in at the last minute. It will be easier, and they will be reading at their level.

Remember the Hoedown is coming on the 21st of February. Businesses are being so helpful by putting items in our silent auction. If you have anything for the silent auction, please bring it to the school. And I apologize that these will be close to the same time, but our class auction will be on the following Friday. So if you can think of a thing or two for the class auction, that would be great too.

Thursday

We reviewed capitalization and punctuation this morning. Students began work on a new paper; Patriotism, What Does Red White and Blue Mean To Me. In math we reviewed for our test tomorrow. Then we worked on using fractions in word problems. In social studies we learned about what supplies were taken on the Lewis and Clark expedition. It might surprise you some of their required supplies. Then students went to P.E. where they learned one of the dances they will be doing at the Hoedown on February 21st. We are getting some nice items for the silent auction. You should have received a handout for the Hoedown.

Homework this week is: Math: multiply 32 x 48 using the partial products method of Foil. Math: Write this in expanded and written form: 234,568 Math: Shirlene had 423 cards. She got 14 more from her grandmother, then she gave 25 to her little sister. How many cards did Shirlene have left? Math: Agatha wrote twice as many mysteries as Dr. Watson. Dr. Watson wrote 35 mysteries. How many mysteries did Agatha write?

Vocabulary words this week are: expedition, arctic, glacier, constellation, insulation.

Blue spelling words are:soon, good, cool, crook, fool, wood, could, noon, groom, hood, root, stood, tool, hook, troop, route, hoop, should, brook, stool, proof, wool, would, soot, roost.

Green list is: needle, feather, succeed, season, increase, leather, compete, repeat, defeat, feature, heavy, freedom, pleasant, meaning, indeed, extreme, fifteen, sweater, eastern, steady, healthy, people, reader, thirteen.

personal, personality, hostile, brutal, mentality, general, hostility, fatality, mental, fatal, formality, local, mobile, generality, brutality, locality, original, formal, individual, originality, mobility, fertile, individuality, fertility.

Wednesday

Today we finished the story of Matt Henson. It was a good biography, it teaches us to work hard. It also teaches the students that in the face of great disappointment, they can still do what needs to be done without carrying on. We had our spelling test today. In math we learned out to subtract fractions that required borrowing a one from the whole number. We used number-lines and the standard algorithm. We will just touch on this briefly and revisit it later in the year. In social studies we watched a fun video about Lewis and Clark. Then students played a game to test their understanding of the trip. Finally, we wrote supplies that we think would have been taken on the trip. Students went to music today.

Tuesday

Our Internet was down yesterday so I didn't get this written in. Today the students took the Direct Writing Assessment. We have worked on this all year, and will continue to do so. In math we learned how to subtract mixed numbers on the number-line. This shows students exactly what we are talking about when we say 3 3/4 - 2 1/4. We have nearly all of the students on the Khan Academy. I have gone in and given them recommended work so they are ready to keep moving forward. In Social Studies we learned about Lewis and Clark. We will continue learning about them for the next few weeks.