Monday, December 14, 2009
So Much to Do Before Christmas! Stockings Needed!
I hope everyone enjoyed the nice winter weekend! The students and I chatted this morning about how missing 2 1/2 days last week due to snow was so fun; yet, now we have so much to do before Christmas approaches. We all agreed to focus hard, be involved, and work intensely so that we don't have to come back to activities in the middle of a chapter in math, for example, after the holiday break. It is always nice to start out fresh after the holiday break. So. . . .we are pushing and working hard!!
The plan is to try and work our way to finish our chapter on measurement in math this week. We would then take the assessments next Monday and Tuesday, which there is really no studying for. I would also like to wrap up our unit in social studies on communities so be looking for study information about that to be sent home by the end of the week with the test being next week sometimes (either Monday or Tuesday). I hate to throw 2 assessments at the students before break, but they will really only need to study for the social studies assessment. I know they can handle it and will be ready!
As part of our holiday fun, I am asking each student to bring a holiday stocking from home by this Wednesday. The stockings will be returned the 23rd, next week, in time for Christmas at home. If you do not have a holiday stocking or don't want to send a good one from home, any long sock will work as well. The only requirement is that they are clean! (Don't need any stinky smells in the room. :) I have heard that a Christmas visitor may be stopping every night from this Wednesday thru next Wednesday delivering little Christmas gifts to the students with stockings/socks hung for the holidays in the 3B classroom. Could it be Santa? If you have any questions about sending a stocking with your 3B student, feel free to contact me.
Some students have asked about our December pizza reading calendars. Please keep them over the holiday break, as I hope some students take a little time to read those great books they may get for Christmas, and return them when the students return to school in January. I will then send pizza certificates. Thanks!
As mentioned before, we are working through various actiities on measurement in math. The students have worked with reading rules for whole inch, 1/2 inch, and 1/4 inch as well as whole centimeters, 1/2 centimeters and millimeters. We just started learning about perimeter and how it is the distance around something. Today, students will be creating a farmer's land, including buildings and fields, by measuring and recognizing the perimeter of each building, area, and field. They are so excited about it as it is a great activity that involves some creative planning, careful measuring, and a little imagination. Tomorrow we will be moving into area, which sometimes gets confused with perimeter. To keep them straight in our brains, I will be teaching the students short songs about perimeter (which we did today) and area (which we will do tomorrow). Hopefully that will help the students remember the difference.
I continue to be pleased with the improvement I am seeing in the area of literacy. Their stamina in all areas of the Daily 5 continues to build and or be maintained. We currently have 19 new vocabulary words we have learned from our read to self reading that students have "tuned into" and added to their individual "word collector" sheets. The "word wall worm" continues to grow across the classroom wall! This week the students are practicing their predictions while reading as Mrs. Hartberg and myself modeled/reviewed making predictions and reading to confirm last week. Our mini lessons will also move into the strategy of visualizing Within writing, Mrs. Hartberg and I were very impressed with the "author discussions" going on last week practicing assessing writing on the trait of "ideas". It was kind of cute because I think the students saw themselves as real authors for the first time and were so proud!
As a fun activity before the holidays, we will be doing one or two reader's theater presentations. Reader's Theater is a great way to build reading fluency as it involves many re-readings to practice. It also encourages reading with expression, which is important also. It is like a play in the way that there are different roles, but the difference is there is not any acting. Students focus on reading fluently, with expression, and having fun! My plan is to video taped them and put them on my blog page and/or web page for parents to view. Look for that during the Christmas break of last day of school next week.
So, you can see we are very busy! Be sure to check your child's take home folder every night as information about upcoming assessments will be sent home soon. Please remember to send your child's stocking or sock by this Wednesday also! Thanks so much and enjoy the snow!!
The plan is to try and work our way to finish our chapter on measurement in math this week. We would then take the assessments next Monday and Tuesday, which there is really no studying for. I would also like to wrap up our unit in social studies on communities so be looking for study information about that to be sent home by the end of the week with the test being next week sometimes (either Monday or Tuesday). I hate to throw 2 assessments at the students before break, but they will really only need to study for the social studies assessment. I know they can handle it and will be ready!
As part of our holiday fun, I am asking each student to bring a holiday stocking from home by this Wednesday. The stockings will be returned the 23rd, next week, in time for Christmas at home. If you do not have a holiday stocking or don't want to send a good one from home, any long sock will work as well. The only requirement is that they are clean! (Don't need any stinky smells in the room. :) I have heard that a Christmas visitor may be stopping every night from this Wednesday thru next Wednesday delivering little Christmas gifts to the students with stockings/socks hung for the holidays in the 3B classroom. Could it be Santa? If you have any questions about sending a stocking with your 3B student, feel free to contact me.
Some students have asked about our December pizza reading calendars. Please keep them over the holiday break, as I hope some students take a little time to read those great books they may get for Christmas, and return them when the students return to school in January. I will then send pizza certificates. Thanks!
As mentioned before, we are working through various actiities on measurement in math. The students have worked with reading rules for whole inch, 1/2 inch, and 1/4 inch as well as whole centimeters, 1/2 centimeters and millimeters. We just started learning about perimeter and how it is the distance around something. Today, students will be creating a farmer's land, including buildings and fields, by measuring and recognizing the perimeter of each building, area, and field. They are so excited about it as it is a great activity that involves some creative planning, careful measuring, and a little imagination. Tomorrow we will be moving into area, which sometimes gets confused with perimeter. To keep them straight in our brains, I will be teaching the students short songs about perimeter (which we did today) and area (which we will do tomorrow). Hopefully that will help the students remember the difference.
I continue to be pleased with the improvement I am seeing in the area of literacy. Their stamina in all areas of the Daily 5 continues to build and or be maintained. We currently have 19 new vocabulary words we have learned from our read to self reading that students have "tuned into" and added to their individual "word collector" sheets. The "word wall worm" continues to grow across the classroom wall! This week the students are practicing their predictions while reading as Mrs. Hartberg and myself modeled/reviewed making predictions and reading to confirm last week. Our mini lessons will also move into the strategy of visualizing Within writing, Mrs. Hartberg and I were very impressed with the "author discussions" going on last week practicing assessing writing on the trait of "ideas". It was kind of cute because I think the students saw themselves as real authors for the first time and were so proud!
As a fun activity before the holidays, we will be doing one or two reader's theater presentations. Reader's Theater is a great way to build reading fluency as it involves many re-readings to practice. It also encourages reading with expression, which is important also. It is like a play in the way that there are different roles, but the difference is there is not any acting. Students focus on reading fluently, with expression, and having fun! My plan is to video taped them and put them on my blog page and/or web page for parents to view. Look for that during the Christmas break of last day of school next week.
So, you can see we are very busy! Be sure to check your child's take home folder every night as information about upcoming assessments will be sent home soon. Please remember to send your child's stocking or sock by this Wednesday also! Thanks so much and enjoy the snow!!
Monday, December 7, 2009
"Let it Snow! Let it Snow" Let it Snow" - Please NO!
Well, it looks as if winter is here and going to hit us hard the next few days. I don't know about you, but I am not ready for this. The kids were very excited to play in the snow, what there was of it. Many were bundled and ready for the coldness, but a few students were not. Please remember to send snowpants, boots, hats, and mittens on these cold days. It is also a great idea to send extra gloves and socks as the first pair usually ends up pretty wet by the last recess. I am not a fan of the snow, but I will admit it does look pretty the first snow fall.
I am finally sending home our latest math tests. All students are finished and returned from being gone. These do not need to be returned as I have copied them for my files. We will continue to work on multidigit addition and subtraction throughout the whole year as there are many steps - sometimes leading to confusion for the students. Currently, we are working on measurement and just started learning about perimeter today. I am very impressed with the background knowledge the students have with measurement! Super to see!
Sometime this week I will be sending a note home for a "caring project" for Character Counts. It involves sending packages of mini-candy bars to the troops overseas. Please look for that and consider sending something for this donation project. One of the pillars of Character Counts is "caring" and this would be a great way to show the troops we care about them. We will also be doing a short writing project for Buzz Miller to show him we care about him during his fight with cancer. There's no better time than the present, and around the holiday season, to show others we care.
Today we had a little fun talking about "rating" things. Mrs. Hartberg's husband made us some cookies to look at. (Thanks Mr. Hartberg!) Some were beautifully decorated, some were simple, and some were not decorated at all. The class made rating charts with cue words for each type of cookies that were appropriate and fitting for the rating, 3, 2, or 1, that they were given. These rating charts will be relied on and connected to our assessments we will be making in writing with the traits. Thus far we have the traits of conventions and ideas. Students will begin assessing their own writing according to rating rubrics we will introduce tomorrow. We hope that this will give them some ownership and continue to push them to better themselves as writers. So you may want to ask them about the cookies.. . . . oh, how they wanted to eat them! :)
The "Big Blast" for our fundraiser is coming up. The date has been set for December 22. I am looking for two parent volunteers to come in and help monitor the gym while we are in there celebrating. I am not sure what exact time it will be (morning or afternoon), but I will know that by this Wednesday. If you are interested in volunteering to help out, send me an email, note, or phone call, and I will get back to you with details. If there are many volunteers, I will probably just draw names out of a hat. Just let me know please if you are interested. Thank you.
Stay warm!
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