Too Tired!!

Hi everyone!  I am so sorry, but I am just too tired for a long post.  Right after school I went to another class on the new word study program.  Then I went immediately to two hours of Curriculum Night at Hill where I got to meet Kenna's teachers and go through her schedule at middle school.  After that, I came right home and graded all the math tests and created a reflection sheet for that!  Now, I look at the clock and it is almost 11:00p.m.!!  That is 2 hours past my bedtime!!  YAAAAAWWWWWWNNNNN!

Anyway, I had a super fun day with you!  Or, should I say, I had an EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING day with you?  Yes, that is using better word choice!  Much stronger and more striking that plain old "super fun!"
Tomorrow, we will work on creating a list in our writing notebooks of synonyms for overused words! 

See you tomorrow!

Busy Monday!

Today was a great day!  It was cool and comfortable so we were all very productive! We took our first reading test of the year over Donovan's Word Jar.  We spent a good deal of time going over the vocabulary and you were able to use your reading book ot take this test.  Remember, you won't ALWAYS be able to use your book, but it is a good skill to have, to go back into the story and find information.  It is something good readers do!

We also took our first word assessment today.  Since this was our first one, we did it together and talked about it as we did it.  I will use this first one to see what I need to focus more on for the next lesson.  We are doing all the work for this first and second lesson in the classroom (except sentences) as we get to know this new way of looking at words.

This week, both classes have tests over the first unit.  Mrs. Grezlik will give her Accelerated students the test tomorrow and Mrs. Dodd's group will test on Wednesday.  Prepare by using materials collected in your pendafile over the last few weeks.  All papers corrected in class should stay in the pendafile until the unit study is over.  Good luck!!

This week we are beginning our study in science of the circulatory system.  This is the system in our body that is responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients around our whole body!   We will have some "bloody" good fun with it!  Hee hee!  What do you know about your blood, heart, or blood vessels?

Finally, did you hear that the first woman of Indian descent was crowned Miss America 2014 yesterday at Boardwalk Hall Arena in Atlantic City.  Here is a picture of her, Nina Davuluri, from New York.  How exciting!!

Photo from usatoday site

A Special Day!

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful day!  Sorry I wasn't there to share it with you, but we will all be together again tomorrow!!  I can't wait!  Also, it was a special day today for a special person in our room and I wasn't there to share it, so we will have a do-over day tomorrow (see below)!!

As a reminder, some of you did not turn in your social studies worksheet or map today.  Please remember to do that tomorrow.  As for the rest of the homework, I do not yet know what the substitute teacher was able to get through so I am not sure if you finished your spelling/word study sentences in class.  Some of you may have those to do, if they were indeed assigned. 

Can you all please ask your parents if they got my recent email this week about the Edline permission slip?  Since I was absent today, I was not able to hand the paper copy out.  I will hand that out  tomorrow with the Edline codes I am sending home so you can see our class Edline page!  That will replace these blog posts!  I am excited to share that with you and your parents!

I know you all must be out enjoying this lovely weather and I hope you were all comfy and cozy in the classroom today.  I will see you in the morning!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO J.H.!!!!

image from google images
 

Heat Wave

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. I had to get my girls after school from their sport events and then went to our school board meeting to hear about the plans for the terrible heat we've been dealing with. You all have been great, even though I know you'd prefer jumping in a big pool of water and then standing in front of the turbo fan! We actually had a few more turbo fans delivered to our school today. I missed you all today. I'll miss you more tomorrow!  I can't wait for Thursday when you come back!!

How is your social studies reading going?  Remember that you can break up the reading, read
a few sections of text. Then stop and think about it. Reading nonfiction requires different reading strategies. One is to adjust your reading rate. Slow down!!!  What's the rush?  You want that information to stick, right?! Otherwise, what's the point?  Also, reread to clarify (understand). If you went through a whole section and can't answer one question about it, that's not effective reading!  ?On Thursday, I expect the following to be completed:

Read all of lesson 3 in social studies
Answer lesson 3 question sheet
Complete your map and include the color key for the regions

All kids have math homework and an upcoming test. Use this extra free time to study.

Read at least 20 minutes both days, fill in your title and get a signature in your assignment book!

I hope you're staying cool like the cool dudes and dudettes you are!!  See you Thursday!

A Horse is a Horse

What a great morning we had at Danada Farms today!  It was made 100 times better due to the fact that the weather was PERFECT!  Sunny, but not hot, and no rain!  BEAUTIFUL!  I hope you all had a great time like I did.  In fact, I can't wait until our NEXT field trip together.  I don't think I have ever said that before on the same day of a field trip.  I could have stayed there ALL DAY with you and had a blast (except for the smell!).  Thanks for the wonderful memories!

This was the horse we got to pet. His name was Qazar.

This is where the facility holds the horse shows.
 

 I sent your parents some more pictures of today, so ask them to check their emails!  Speaking of that, there are a few parents I still haven't heard back from that the email provided is working.  Can you ask your parents if they have heard from me by email and let me know tomorrow?  Thanks!

It was a very fun day, with many of you participating in Chorus this morning and Drum Ensemble this afternoon.  Taking the time to do something new is a great way to help your brain in lots of ways!  It makes you see the possibilities beyond what you normally choose to do!

Are you enjoying some of the learning structures we've been using this week?  Which is your favorite?  Mix- Pair- Share?  Rally Robin?  Showdown?  All Write Round Robin?  We will use more tomorrow, so be prepared!  I might even try something new I haven't done before!  My brain could use a boost, too!

Be sure to do your reading and list your title on your assignment book. See you tomorrow!!

wEiRd WeDnEsDaY!

Having the first day of the school week on a Wednesday can be really confusing!  I can't wait until next week when we start having regular full weeks of school (with a few exceptions, of course).   Don't forget that chorus starts tomorrow morning at 7:50a.m. and Drum Ensemble is right after school, if you signed up for either!  You are going to have a blast!!

Today, we did a few interesting activities based on a class the teachers took yesterday during our training day.  As a classroom building activity, our class did a "Rally Robin" activity where shoulder partners met with each other and made a list together of what tasks we do directly upon entering the classroom.  Partners had to work together to create the list, taking turns writing and talking/coaching the whole time.  Then, the teams got up and did a "Mix-Pair-Share"  (to music) and mixed around the room until the music stopped and then paired up with another pair to share what they had come up with and if they saw any differences or similarities in the lists.  We also did an "All Write Round Robin" during writing about how to make our sentences more interesting and flow well. This required groups of 4 to take turns sharing how to make their sentence writing more fluent, but everyone had to write each member's ideas down.  The GINGERBREADS won with a total of 7 ideas that all 4 members had written in their notebooks!  Way to go, Gingerbreads!  Yum, yum, yum! 

Tomorrow, we have our first field trip to look forward to!  I can't wait!  The weather looks amazing, so I think we are going to make some wonderful memories!  Please be on time tomorrow and dress appropriately (I suggest gym shoes)!  Water bottles will stay at school and we will have lunch in the lunchroom when we get back.  Hot lunch and milk will still be available!  

Thanks for another wonderful day!  I loved seeing how you all shared with each other during our activities and helped each other remember some of the directions given.  Tomorrow, you will see how many DOJOs you have earned (both positive and negative).  Please do your part to help your teammates and classmates to follow directions and make good choices!