Updated Calendar

The calendar to the right of the page has been updated through the end of the year! I'm sure there will be several things that will still be added though.

Here are a few of the highlights:
March 6 - Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform for the IGEMS students.
March 9 - End of the second trimester - Grades will go out the following week.
March 12 - No School
March 16 - Our class's Crowded House Play - More information to come.
May 21-June 1 - The Buy One Get One Free Book Fair!
June 5 - Our Folklore Village Field Trip


Also, reading calendars are due tomorrow (Thursday, March 1). Several students turned theirs in early, which is always great!

Math Updates

- We are starting our second math journal of the year. Even though it is past the half way point, we are still on track to finish the third grade math curriculum by the end of the the year.
- With the second set of math journals I am going to have the students tear out and take home the pages as we do them. I tried not tearing them out first semester and I didn't like it. I feel like the math boxes have more value if parents can also see where students are struggling.
- Many of the pages we will do in class, which is why they won't be graded. Math Boxes will be graded though, as the students do those independently.
- The students have seen their geometry tests that we took last week. I will send those home after report cards are sent home. Report cards will be sent home on Wednesday, March 14 and will send the tests home then for you to keep.
- Finally, we are back to multiplication so it's a great idea for the students to go back to the games page on the site and play multiplication games again. I'll post some new multiplication games again this weekend.

Caps for a Cure

This note from Student Council. The same note will be going home tonight as well.

The IGEMS Student Council is sponsoring "Caps for a Cure" to raise money for cancer research. If you would like to participate and wear your favorite cap (or one of Mr. Van Overmeer's cool caps) to school on Friday, March 2nd, please bring in $1.00 to your teacher by February 29th. All the money collected will be donated to the Relay for Life in Platteville on April 20th.

Star of the Week

for Feb. 27 - March 2

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ear

This is the story we read this week and it's read by James Earl Jones. I think he's got such a cool sounding voice that goes with this African Tale. The rest of this unit focuses on tales and folklore.

Weekend Game

Double the donuts! We just did an activity in math to look at how quickly numbers get big when they are doubled. Parents, go ahead and guess. What will be the final number when a donut is doubled 20 times?

Have a great weekend?

Double the Donuts

Reading Rewards Reminder!

- The form for the Six Flags - Read to Succeed program is due tomorrow (Friday, February 24). If you have been working on that please don't forget to turn it in.

- Also, the February reading calendar will be due next week. The due date for that is on Thursday, March 1.

- I've got lots of kids who are excited about reading and are doing a great job of diving into silent reading books. I love to see that!

Wrapping Up Harriet Tubman

We are finishing up our Harriet Tubman unit this week. We have already finished the book, but still have a few things we're working on.
- All the students share their Harriet Tubman home project with the class before we put them out in the hallway. They share how they made them and what makes them authentic to the time. If the students made games we play them in class.
- We are also writing a summary of Harriet's life in class. Those papers will be hung out in the hallway with their projects.
- On Friday about ten students from Mrs. Moen's class and our class will present a reader's workshop about Harriet's life.
- Finally, on Friday we will watch a video where a young man from modern times gets sent back to the era of Harriet Tubman.

I found a great website about the Underground Railroad that I had intended to share with the class, but we ran out of time. I'll put in on the blog if students are interested.

The Underground Railroad

Star of the Week

for Feb. 20-24

Weekend Game - Harriet Tubman

Now that we have read about the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman students can attempt to travel North with this website.

Good luck and be careful!
The Underground Railroad

Adjectives!

We are a little behind in language arts since we are doing our big writing piece comparing and contrasting the book and movie Mr. Popper's Penguins. As we finish that project we'll spend some more time working on grammar again.

Next up are Adjectives:

Updates

- We have some super artists in our room! Luke is the Artist of the Month at IGEMS, and Ryan is having his artwork displayed at Hilldale Mall from Feb. 19-26. Congratulations to you two.

- Don't forget that the Harriet Tubman home project is due on Monday, February 20. Each student will explain their project to the class.

- Next week (Feb. 20-24) will be our last week of the Harriet Tubman project.

- The deadline for the Six Flags Read to Succeed program is coming up on Friday, February 24. Students turn in their completed form to me.

- We are getting to the end of our math unit about geometry too. We have a unit test and a Mid-Year Assessment test that goes with it. We will take the Mid-Year Assessment test on Friday and finish out the geometry unit early next week.

- Finally, a way down the road note. Our field trip to Folklore Village is planned for Tuesday, June 5. There will be more information about that as we get closer.

Star of the Week

for Feb. 13-17

Harriet Tubman Home Project

Please choose one project to do at home. You may have help with your project.
*Design a quilt from either fabric or paper. This was
Harriet’s prized possession.
*Make a shoebox diorama of a scene from the book.
*Write a letter to Harriet Tubman.
*Draw a wanted poster of Harriet Tubman. Remember to
include key information: her description, what she is
wanted for, the amount of reward offered, etc.
*Make a model of Harriet’s log cabin. No legos, please.
*Draw a map of Harriet’s journey.
*Make a game.
*Do you have another idea? Please ask me about it before
you do it.

Your project is due on Monday, February 20th. It will be graded. A sample of the grading rubric is on the back of this page. Have fun!

Language Arts

We started our second textbook this week for Language Arts. The setup is the same, but a new unit with new stories and themes.

Along with the new unit I am going to try to refocus the language arts homework. They will still need to read the weekly story, but I'm going to modify the writing a little.

I am going to only give them one or two Think and Respond questions (the ones after the book), but since they have fewer questions to answer I want more complete answers. Yesterdays homework was this way and I want to refocus on writing with detail and giving complete answers.

For their questions these are things they should have:
- A paragraph with a topic sentence (usually their answer)
- At least two or three sentences to support their answer to the question
- Do not start with "Because" as that isn't a complete sentence.

Valentine's Day Party

Our Valentine's Day party is coming up on Tuesday, February 14. We'll have our party from about 2:00-3:00. The party committee is Lauren, Colin, Olivia, Nic, Courtney, and Brena.

Your child can send Valentine's Day cards if they would like, but they don't have to. If they do bring in cards though, they have to give one to every student. Also, a few treats are okay with the cards, but please have them prepackaged so they can take them home. The Valentine's Day committee will already have treats planned. Thanks

Class List
Jaiden
Avery
Donavin
Ryan
Luke
Mason
Marissa
Josh
Isaiah L.
Jalen
Elly
Lauren
Madison
Colin
Olivia
Nic
Courtney
Brena
Brie
Austin
Grace
Brynna
Isaiah Z.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

In writing we are going to do a compare and contrast paper about the book and the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins. We read the book in January to go along with our Antarctica unit. Today we watched and took notes about the movie, Mr. Popper's Penguins. The next step will be writing a paragraph to compare and contrast. If you have experienced both you know that it'll be much easier to find contrast between the two than comparisons.

Star of the Week

for February 6-10

Elsie's One!

It's hard to believe our Superbowl Baby is already one! You can watch the video to see our happy little Elsie's First Year of Smiles.

Weekend Game

It's kind of hard to find games about geometry, but below is one.

Have a great weekend!

Buried Shapes Game

Reading Calendars

Congratulations to the following students who turned in their reading calendars for January! Pizza Hut coupons will go home with them tonight.

Jaiden
Avery
Ryan
Luke
Marissa
Josh
Jalen
Elly
Lauren
Colin
Olivia
Nic
Courtney
Brena
Brie
Grace
Brynna
Isaiah Z.