Oct. 31 - Nov.4

Crazy Hair Day!

     I hope everyone has been enjoying the extended weekend!  It's good to get a little extra time for ourselves.  What a pleasure it was to meet with so many of you for conferencing.  Students have done well in this first quarter, and it is my hope they will continue to do their best.  Thanks for all of the hard work put into the math subtraction test.  We are now in the money chapter and have reviewed how to count it, starting with largest values first.  When we start learning how to count change, the opposite holds true.  Begin with pennies to get to the nearest 5 or 10.  Then use the larger coins to count back the change.  Please practice both counting money and counting change.  

Here's what's in store for this week:
Math:  We will finish Chapter 6 (Money) by the end of the week.  Our test will most likely be on Monday or Tuesday of the following week.

Reading:  We will wrap up the questioning strategy.  We are in the middle of a wonderful story called "A Day's Work."   This book is a great springboard for thick questions!

Spelling:  Green group-test Monday; Blue Group-test Tuesday; Yellow Group-cutting new word cards and one day spelling holiday (computers!)

Science:  Our food chains turned out great!  What a fabulous group of artists!  Hopefully I will have the chains hung for guests to see by party time tomorrow!

Social Studies:  We have finished chapter 5.  We will work on our study guide on Tuesday and then test on Thursday.  After that we will begin the study of government.

Writing:  I will be trying some new ideas in writing class throughout this week.  Look for some short writes on various topics.  We'll work on sentence starts and using interesting words.  Hopefully this practice will be helpful!

Special Events:
Monday:  Halloween parade (1:20) and party (1:45).
Wednesday:  Library
 










    

October 24- October 27

     What an exciting and busy week lies ahead!  We will be celebrate Red Ribbon Week, go on another field trip, and have conferences on Monday and Wednesday evenings.  Our trip to the Old Courthouse last week was lots of fun, and I feel the children learned from the trip.  After all, we are studying about early St. Louis history in social studies right now.  Thank you to the parents who helped with the Old Courthouse trip.  It was nice to have so many volunteers.  If I was unable to have you help for this field trip, it is my hope that you will be available once again in the future.  You will be at the top of my list!  Chaperones are not needed for this week's trip to the Sheldon, however.
Here is what I have planned for this week:

Math:  Please work very hard on all kinds subtraction with regrouping!  This is very hard for the children.  Our test is scheduled for Tuesday.  After testing, we will begin chapter 6 on time and money.  Please get a head start and work on some time and money basics!
 
Reading:  We will be working on the questioning reading strategy.  Ask your child what the difference is between a thick and thin question!

Spelling:  Yellow - test Wed.,  Green- test Thurs.;  Blue - Test Mon.;

Science:  We will be making our food chains this week!

S. Studies:  Our study of St. Louis will move into early transportation.  We will also be learning about and making line graphs in social studies!

Writing:  We will continue writing personal narratives and moving through the writing process.     

Special Events:
Monday:  Wear red for Red Ribbon Kickoff Day (assembly at school);  Evening conferences;
Tuesday:  "I'm a Jean-ious. I'm drug free!"  Wear jeans and spirit wear!
Wednesday: "United we stand for a drug free land."  Wear red, white , and blue;  Evening conferences;
Thursday:  "Hair's to a drug free life!"  Crazy Hair Day;  Field trip to Sheldon Music Hall;
Friday:  No School
                    

Weekly Update Oct.17-Oct. 21

     Whew!  First quarter ended Friday, and we worked very hard to wrap up our subjects so that we would be ready for all new experiences in quarter two.  This will be a busy week as well as we have a field trip on Thursday and a lot to accomplish each day.  In this quarter I will begin a new type of homework as I step up the reading expectations.  You will notice that a short story will come home about once a week for students to read and respond to questions.  I'll generally send the stories home on Monday.  Here is what else I have planned for the week:

Math:  Subtraction of larger numbers with lots of regrouping.  One of the most important skills of the year - subtracting across a zero- will also be learned.  This will take a lot of work to master.  Please look over homework papers to catch any problems your child may be having as bad habits form quickly.

Reading:  There will be a continuation of main idea.  Students will also beginning new books in guided reading.

Spelling:  All groups will begin new words, but tests will not be scheduled until the following week.

Science:  We will be studying foods chains food pyramids.  Students will be making food chain mobiles.

Social Studies:  We will begin chapter 5.  This starts with a little St. Louis history, which will work in perfectly with our Old Courthouse field trip.  Students will also be rehearsing a Reader's Theater Script entitled The Bubble Gum Trial.  They will put on this trial at the Old Courthouse which should be fun.  Please remember to pack a lunch for the trip, and if your field trip permission slip and fee have not been turned in, please do so as soon as possible.

Writing:  We will continue story time by student authors, as well as our continued writing of personal narratives.

Special Classes this week are PE-M, W, F;  Art-T;  Music-Th
Library Thursday
Bingo Night October 21 - I'll be there!  Hope to see some of you!
 

Weekly Update Oct. 10- Oct. 14

     As you can see from the videos, the children certainly enjoyed the fun provided on Dairy Tour Day.  Hopefully you heard all about it!  This Wednesday there will be another special event.  We will be walking the distance children in Africa walk to get water.  This is the official kickoff of the Water Project.  The video we saw in class a week ago about this project was very moving.  In fact, it was so moving, we will be seeing it again tomorrow.  This time we will reflect our thoughts in our Water Project Reflection Book.  Please help us with our endeavor.  Support your child's walk on Wednesday by sponsering your child's walk.  Ask relatives or friends if they would consider helping us with our cause.  Thank you for all that you do!

Math:  Wow!  How hard your children worked in chapter 4!  Fine test scores are the result of all that hard work.  We will begin this week by going over the September Math Tungsten.  Then we will take the Tungsten test for October on Thursday.  We will also begin chapter 5, which is a subtraction chapter.  Again, students will need to know their subtraction facts well in order for this chapter to not be too tedious.

Reading:  We are working an main idea.  From there we will begin to learn how to write summaries.

Spelling:  Tests:  Yellow Group-Wed., Green Group-Thursday, Blue Group- Fri.

Science:  We are wrapping up our chapter on ecosystems, producers, consumers,and decomposers.
The test will be given either Thursday or Friday of this week.

S. Studies:  We will test over chapter 2 this Wednesday!

Writing:  Our first stories have been published, and I am very excited about everyone meeting the first quarter deadline.  Several students have already written a mini report about their ecosystem as well.  We have also begun personsal narratives, which happen to be my favorite to read.  We will also practice letter writting by writing a letter telling about the Water Project.

Have a wonderful week!

Weekly Update 10/3/11-10/7/11

     What a beautiful weekend!  This will be the last day I will be playing the piano for the musical production of Bye Bye Birdie.  I have had a couple of very busy weekends, but I love what I do both at school and away.  The following is what I have planned for the week:

Math:  We are working on addition and regrouping.  Please keep practicing the facts!  I can tell that many students have been doing so because of the ease with which they they doing the work.  Our test for Ch. 4 will tentatively be this Friday.  Please continue to enjoy the practice online in the Harcourt Math Book!

Spelling:  Green Group will test Monday;  Blue Group will test Tuesday.

Reading:  Our new skill will be Main Idea.  This is a diificult skill for many students, but we'll see how it goes.  I'll be assessing frequently in the next two weeks over comprehension.  However, there is no way to study for these reading assessments.  The best practice is to read, read, read.  I hope students are involved in their books at home.

Science:  We are continuing ecosystems.  I have not yet decided when the test will be, but it will likely happen this week.  Please check the planner for that information.  This chapter also includes a graded ecosystem project in which the students will plan an ecosystem on poster paper.  Most, if not all, of the work for this project will be done at school

Social Studies:  We are continuing geography chapter 2.  I will give a short quiz over the states bordering Missouri on Wednesday.  We will go over this information tomorrow.  Our chapter test, however, will be next week.  Study guides will come home by Friday of this week.

Writing:  We will be putting the finishing touches on our published stories.  I will takes two grades from them.  The first will be the child's "finished" product.  The second will follow assistance given through teacher editing.  I think most of you will enjoy the stories when you finally get to read them!

Monday:  Cardinal Day!  Wear the colors!
Have a great week!