We got behind this week and didn't get to see all the Aesop's Fables that I planned to put on the blog. Here are the links to the other four fables.
The Grasshopper and the Ant
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Horses Mistake
Friday, January 29, 2010
Beginning of Third Quarter Update
We are starting several new things this week and next week. Here is an update of some of the things we've done:
Cursive We finished all the letters on Thursday. During cursive time we will still practice cursive however. Often times we'll write final copies of papers in cursive or I'll have paragraphs for them to write in cursive.
Science Beginning Monday we will begin Unit C - Matter, Energy, and Forces. We'll begin by studying matter.
Language Arts We'll exchange books and begin the reading book On Your Mark, which has stories for the second half of the year. We begin reading Papa Tells Chita on Monday.
Math We finally began our Geometry Unit this week in math. As you probably noticed, I did not give the students a geometry grade first or second quarter because we hadn't covered it yet. On Thursday we started our first geometry unit though, and the kids seem excited about it.
Cursive We finished all the letters on Thursday. During cursive time we will still practice cursive however. Often times we'll write final copies of papers in cursive or I'll have paragraphs for them to write in cursive.
Science Beginning Monday we will begin Unit C - Matter, Energy, and Forces. We'll begin by studying matter.
Language Arts We'll exchange books and begin the reading book On Your Mark, which has stories for the second half of the year. We begin reading Papa Tells Chita on Monday.
Math We finally began our Geometry Unit this week in math. As you probably noticed, I did not give the students a geometry grade first or second quarter because we hadn't covered it yet. On Thursday we started our first geometry unit though, and the kids seem excited about it.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Antarctica Temperatures
Here is a chart of the average high temperatures for different places in Antarctica. As a comparision, I also included the temperatures for Livingston.
It is kind of hard to read, but if you click on the chart it will enlarge it to a size that is easier to read.
It is kind of hard to read, but if you click on the chart it will enlarge it to a size that is easier to read.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Star of the Week
I forgot the star of the week last week so I put her picture in twice! The star of the week for January 18-22.
Proverbs and Fables
This week we are learning about proverbs and fables. As the week goes we'll watch several short videos that are from Aesop's Fables. The first video clip gives a definition for what a fable is. These videos may take a little time to load, but they are still there.
A Couple Updates
Here are a couple of quick updates and adjustments because of the snow day last Friday.
1. Report cards will now be sent home on Thursday, January 28. They were previously scheduled to be sent home on Wednesday.
2. Friday was our second day being closed due to weather. The next day that we miss will be added on to the end of the school year. So from here on out late starts and early releases are good, but we don't want to miss any more full days.
1. Report cards will now be sent home on Thursday, January 28. They were previously scheduled to be sent home on Wednesday.
2. Friday was our second day being closed due to weather. The next day that we miss will be added on to the end of the school year. So from here on out late starts and early releases are good, but we don't want to miss any more full days.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Weekend Game
Hope you enjoy your weekend game. While your at home for an extra long weekend, I'm here on a Friday working on grades! Here's a challenging game for you. It's called Make 24. Use the four cards and arithmatic signs to equal 24.
-Ace = 1 point
-Jack = 11 points
-Queen = 12 points
-King = 13 points
Make 24
-Ace = 1 point
-Jack = 11 points
-Queen = 12 points
-King = 13 points
Make 24
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Valentine's Party
Get a Voki now!
Our Valentine's Day Party will be on Friday, February 12th in the afternoon. Brandon, Carter, and Hunter will be in charge of the celebration. We will also make envelopes for Valentine's Day cards. If your child makes cards for students, please have them make cards for everyone in class. Also, as we get closer to Valentine's I'll also send home a class list so the kids know how to spell everyone's name correctly.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Dismissing Early
If you haven't seen or heard yet, Iowa-Grant will be dismissing at noon today. The kids will eat lunch a little bit early, but they will still have lunch at school today.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
DIBELS
Our class will be taking our second round of the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing at the end of the week. The DIBELS testing measures oral reading skills of students.
Here is how it works. Each student reads three passages for one minute each. While they read I keep track of how many words they read then subract any words that they missed from their total. They are left with a dibels score, which is similar to the words per minute score that is associated with typing.
It is a quick and easy test for the kids to take. It gives us another means to measure how each child is doing in reading along with the Reading Counts program, WKCE testing, and MAPS testing that we use.
Here is how it works. Each student reads three passages for one minute each. While they read I keep track of how many words they read then subract any words that they missed from their total. They are left with a dibels score, which is similar to the words per minute score that is associated with typing.
It is a quick and easy test for the kids to take. It gives us another means to measure how each child is doing in reading along with the Reading Counts program, WKCE testing, and MAPS testing that we use.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Weekend Game
This game compares decimals and fits in very well as we justed started talking about decimals yesterday. These can be confusing, especially recognizing the difference between numbers in the tenths place versus numbers in the hundredths place like: 0.4 and 0.04.
Decimal Concentration
Decimal Concentration
Updates
Sorry, the updates have been slow lately. The Van Overmeer family all seemed to catch a bug this week, but hopefully we are all past it now.
Next week for language arts we will not have any spelling since we will be taking the Unit 3 test. That works out well since it will also be the end of the second quarter. The Unit 3 test will be spread out throughout the week.
Also, for language arts we have been keeping up with our silent reading with Reading Counts tests. Each student has their own reading level (lexile) and find books that fit the reading range they are at. After reading the book they take a ten question test on the computer to see if they understand it. So far, this quarter the kids are doing great and really getting into the tests.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Antarctica
Starting today we will be studying Antarctica in Social Studies. We'll spend the rest of our coldest month of the year studying the coldest continent in the world.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Back to School
December is always such a crazy month, but now we're back at school and have three full months with almost no interuptions (look how empty the calendar is) except from those mother nature may still throw our way.
Here's what we will be working on in the weeks ahead as well as a midyear overview:
Math: We are on Unit 5, which deals with place value in whole numbers and decimals. This unit also deals with reading and writing large numbers. There are elevan units total in math so we will actually be a little ahead of scedule at the end of the first semester. That will be very helpful though as the lessons get more difficult second semester.
Language Arts: We are reading Centerfield Ballhawk this week. In this lesson we will also look at pronouns for grammar. For writing the students will be writing a persuasive letter. After this weeks story we have two more before the end of the unit and each story takes a week, so we will be half way done with the reading series right at the end of the first semester.
Science and Social Studies: We will be finishing up the Earth, Moon, and Sun unit in the next week or two. For the rest of January we'll study Antarctica and in February we'll read about Harriet Tubman.
Cursive: We will have finished all the letters by the end of the semester. At that point we'll begin using more cursive in our daily writing. We'll also write all our final copies of our writing pieces in cursive.
Here's what we will be working on in the weeks ahead as well as a midyear overview:
Math: We are on Unit 5, which deals with place value in whole numbers and decimals. This unit also deals with reading and writing large numbers. There are elevan units total in math so we will actually be a little ahead of scedule at the end of the first semester. That will be very helpful though as the lessons get more difficult second semester.
Language Arts: We are reading Centerfield Ballhawk this week. In this lesson we will also look at pronouns for grammar. For writing the students will be writing a persuasive letter. After this weeks story we have two more before the end of the unit and each story takes a week, so we will be half way done with the reading series right at the end of the first semester.
Science and Social Studies: We will be finishing up the Earth, Moon, and Sun unit in the next week or two. For the rest of January we'll study Antarctica and in February we'll read about Harriet Tubman.
Cursive: We will have finished all the letters by the end of the semester. At that point we'll begin using more cursive in our daily writing. We'll also write all our final copies of our writing pieces in cursive.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Reading Calendar
Don't forget that your December reading calendars are due tomorrow (Monday, January 4th). Remember that you get four skip days and that your parents need to sign that it's complete.
See you tomorrow!
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