October 22, 2010

Another week gone by and we're having a great time! Lots going on! First off, our pictures for this week are student examples of the two art projects we've done in math recently. The first is a factor tree, which is used to find the prime factorization of a number:

The second is the story of the Frog and the Dog, which helps the students understand dividing with decimals: This week at a glance: In science they took bacteria samples and watched them grow under a microscope. Once that project was complete, they began learning about mushrooms and other types of fungi. Quick note, their Microorganisms end of unit test is next week. They should have a study guide for it at home with them.

The reading story this week was Old Yeller, always a good story.

Arts and Technology can be summed up just by saying Cultural Fair. Their Cultural Fair projects turned out amazing. Also, the informace this week was based around the Cultural Fair. I was happy to see as many of you as I did there. Thanks for your support!

In social studies this week, the students have been reading a book called 20 and 10. It's a book about a school with 20 children in it, 10 of whom are Jewish. They've also been really getting the basics as to what history is through definition, and by thinking about their own history.

Math this week we focused on angles and their measurement and dividing by decimals, and writing and grammar we did our second to last poem, the Shape Poem, and learned about common and proper nouns.

Unless I can find the time otherwise, we also had our final Cancer Awareness lesson today. A huge thanks to Deena Bigger, a cancer survivor, for coming in and sharing her story. I think it did the students a lot of good to hear a first hand account of it.

Last couple of announcements, the end of the first term is this week. Unless other arrangements have been made, the grades online, at least for my parts of the rotations minus spelling (so grammar, writing and math) are complete. I have two more groups to give spelling tests to this week before I can upload the final test and be done with those grades.

I seriously can't believe the first term is already over! Can you?! Where has the time gone....

~ "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." - Grouch Marx

October 14, 2010

It feels like so much has happened in such little time, that I don't know where to start. At the same time, I look at my calendar just to see that the first term ends in just two weeks. In one hand, time seems to not be moving, and the other it's flying by. It's hard to tell which is which. This is part of the inspiration for this week's picture. It's an action shot playing football during P.E. Time is going in just about as many directions as the students are.

Keeping in mind that the term does officially end in two weeks, I'm making a deadline for all missing work. This coming Friday will be the last day I accept any late work. To help encourage the students to get caught up, I am making the class time during my rotation on Monday a period to catch up. Those students with no missing work, will have free time, those with missing work will have the 45 minutes to work on it. I will also be giving them new copies of eveything they are missing, so there will be no excuses. Remember, this all needs to be in by Friday, October 22, 2010.

I wanted to take a minute to bring up the discussion we had in class last Friday. It was the first time I had a minute to really get the students to focus on why I've been wearing pink all month. The "goal" of the discussion was to find out what the students knew about cancer, so we filled out the first level of a KWL chart, which is simply what the students know about a topic. The screen shot of that is pictured below.

There's only six things that actually got listed, but more importantly than that was the discussion we were able to hold. Almost every single student was able to share a story about someone close to them who has fought the fight with cancer. It was so neat for me at the end of the lesson to be able to say, "If you listened, almost every single one of you shared a story today. This is why we need to be more aware. There is not one of our lives that has not been affected by cancer."

I could take some time to list out everything the classes have done in the past week, but I would rather just ask you to watch the gradebook closely. The end of the term is coming quick. As I've said, for my room, they will have a list and copies of all their missing assignments on Monday. You might need to be a little more proactive for the other teachers. Either way, keep a close eye so we can end the term strong. Again, my last day to accept any late work will be Friday, October 22, 2010.

A few other important dates coming up are the Cultural Fair, which is this Monday thru Wednesday, October 18-20. The informance is also this week. For those that were here last year, you have previously experienced an informance. For those that were not, an informance is an informal, informative performance. The students take about a half an hour to forty-five minutes to show you just some of the ways that we've been incorporating the arts into the curriculum. If possible, please show your support by attending. It is Wednesday, October 20, at 8:45 in the morning.

With that, enjoy the long weekend. Have your students rest up and be ready to come back working hard!

~ "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." ~ Thomas Jefferson

October 3, 2010

First and foremost, I could like to say congratulations to our classroom's very first student of the month, Sami Christensen! She was not only high on my list, but when the students were given a chance to nominate, she was nomitated by several of her peers. She is a fantastic student who always gets her work in on time, and always has model student behavior! Congratulations Sami!!!

In math this week, we finished up the September lessons in our curriculum map. This lead us to a review on Wednesday and a test on Thursday. As a whole, I'm happy with how the class did. Remember though, anyone below 80% has the required assignment of fixing their test. Now, they're not only supposed to go and circle the correct answer, but they either need to show the work for it, or explain why that would be the correct answer. Doing this will earn them half the credit they missed back.

In science this week they have been diving further and further into microorganisms. This week, they specifically looked at the three different kinds of protists: plantlike protists, animal-like protists and fungus-like protists, as well as the the traits that classify into the different categories.

In the reading rotation this week, they did take the Theme 1 test. After that, they read through an exert of Number the Stars. If this is a book they've never read all the way through, believe me, it comes highly recommended. It is a powerful story about the happenings in Denmark during World War II.

In Arts and Technology this week, they began learning how to use the cameras and tripods. They also began discussing their first whole-class newscast. Our class has decided to do a newscast on Halloween Safety. Whether we trick-or-treat or not, this is a high traffic night, and it never hurts anybody to learn how to be safe during it.

In social studies this week, they have continued learning about the different types of maps. This week focused specifically on time zone maps and precipitation maps.

Finally, in grammar and writing this week, we learned how to write Haikus. We also learned about complex sentences and how they are the combination of a dependent and an independent clause.

Now, this month is a big month in my household. For the entire month, the students will see their teacher wearing either a pink tie or a pink shirt. That's right, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Did you know that about 190,000 women a year are diagnosed with breast cancer and around 40,000 a year die from it? Kids are never too young to start being aware. With that, I am planning a few activities this month based around it. One thing I would like to do, but I will need parent help with, is finish the unit with a visit from a survivor. I know a few survivors, but am not certain they would have time to come in. Also, I think it would be a lot more powerful if it came from a family member of one of our students. I will be sending out an e-mail asking this same thing, but if you happen to know anybody who is a cancer survivor and would be willing to come in and age appropriately share their experience, please contact me. I think it would have a powerful affect on the students.

If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like (no other). ~Lance Armstrong