Free Time Friday

Right Now, your children are singing!   We are enjoying a bit of free time, our first of the school year.

This week at home:

• Work on your Animal Project.  It is Due January 11 and there will be regular homework next week.
• Read for pleasure.  Keep a log of your minutes in your journal and get a parent signature.  There will be a prize for the top readers!
• ST Math at home.  Log on as much as possible. All students should exceed 45%

Have a wonderful and relaxing break!  I will look forward to seeing you all next year!

Winter Concert Wednesday

Yes, today 201 attended the Winter Concert.  Congratulations to Ms. Ahern, Mr. Fahrenbach and Ms. Smith!  Your students were amazing.


Today we.....
-Held our classroom Spelling Bee. Congratulations to Farheen, our winner and Leona our alternate.  It was quite a competition!
-Worked on our Fact and Opinion pieces....We made some corrections, compared our work and published
-Complete the publication of our Peace Poems.  I hope that you will see them in the hallway.  They are inspirational.
-Worked on Math fact families.  We will be moving forward quickly.  Make sure that you know those facts!

Tonight at home:
-Complete the math sheet
-Read a book of your choice for 30 minutes and write a response
-Finish Science pages 168-170 which was classwork


-Progress Reports are coming home today.  Please sign and return them.  Note that these are not final grades.  Your child has four more weeks to improve averages, or  hand in missing work.

Winter Celebration

I want to write a quick note to clear up a few things about Friday's celebration.  We didn't really have time to answer questions about it today.

Students are asking about treats.  Parents, please don't feel "treat pressure!" It is fine if children want to bring a small token to pass out, but it is completely unnecessary! I will not be preparing "treat bags" as we did for Halloween.  If your child does bring something, I will let them pass it out to their classmates.  Because we are not eating during this celebration, please do not send cookies or cupcakes. Thank you!

The emphasis on Friday will be on relaxing and  spending time together and to appreciate  all that we have accomplished in 201 thus far!  We are so fortunate to be able to spend time learning together at Disney each day!  Students may bring in games, cards, or board games to play with their classmates.  The Disney rules about electronics do apply.  Please do not bring them to school.

I will allow time tomorrow morning to answer any questions that students may have!   Thank you for all of your support.

Best,

Mrs. Ginn

Tornado Tuesday

Hello Team 201 Families,

Today we.....

• learned more about the Midwestern climate, natural resources, monuments and industry...Yes, we did talk about tornadoes.
• practiced for a code red and talked about safety
• looked at images of peace, talked about visualizing peace, and brainstormed images that feel, smell and look like peace
• we used these images to draft poems, and created similes and metaphors
• worked with partners to investigate this week's story: Mimicry and Camouflage
• went to lunch and indoor recess
• took our Elapsed Time test and began working on Chapter 9: Relating Multiplication and Division

Tonight at home.....

• Read the Wild Times article and complete the Fact and Opinion organizer.  Each opinion should be based on a fact.  Make sure that your facts are detailed!
• Complete the double sided math sheet
• Get ready for the Spelling Bee.  It is tomorrow!
• Please note the note about our Winter Celebration, which will be held at the end of the day on Friday.  Students may bring board games, or similar games to enjoy with their friends.  

Mimicry Monday

Tonight at home...

• Study for your math test using today's practice test
• Mimicry and Camouflage questions provided by Mrs. Ginn (Your are welcome!)
• Begin your two menu activities
• Don't forget that the final due date for the Animal Project is January 7.  Please follow the format provided!
• Classroom Spelling Bee: Wednesday!

Ticking Thursday

That's right! We are still working on Elapsed Time. 201 students should be ready to test on Monday!

Today we...

• Discussed the purpose of Billboards, and worked on our Adaptations project.  After our discussion, we decided to adapt the project a bit.
• Went to Library with Ms. Fitzpatrick
• Spent 15 minutes reading for pleasure after Library
• Completed a "Quick Shot" to help us think about our texts in a new way...We created a new title and chapter titles for our books.
• Took two sections of the Theme 2 test.  We had time to correct and go over these two sections.
• Corrected and answered questions about the homework...We worked with partners to investigate a problem about elapsed time and sequencing events.
• Went to lunch and Recess
• Spent time researching our animals in the computer lab.  We discussed how to take notes using bullet points, and how to organize notes by sub-topic.

Tonight at home.....

• Study that Study Guide!  We will take the vocabulary, spelling, and grammar portions of the Theme Test tomorrow.
• Complete pages 162-164 in Science Fusion
• Complete  the math sheet.

Announcements:

• Billboard help needed!  We are looking for help next Friday to prepare for our January board.
• Spelling Bee: Our class Bee will  be next Wednesday. the list went home today. The school wide Bee will be in mid January.
• Progress Reports go home next Wednesday.
• We will have a "Winter Celebration" at the end of the day next Friday.

Winter Wednesday

Greeting 201 Families, As usual, we were busy today! Once again, the formatting isn't working, and the post is all jumbled together. Perhaps this is a teachable moment about paragraph structure and text features.

  Today We:
 *Discussed hibernation, watched a Brain Pop, and worked in groups to discover the answers. *Performed our Readers Theater. Your children were amazing! Their reading was clear, and conveyed the speaker's meaning. I am so proud of them!
*Went to music with Ms. Ahern
 *Corrected our math homework. We discussed various strategies for calculating elapsed time. Our new skill is "creating a sequenced scheduled."
 *Worked hard in ST Math. Many students have achieved or surpassed their 41% goal.
*Began creating our our Adaptations Billboards. We are researching examples of physical and behavioral adaptations.

  Tonight at home:

• *Complete the double sided math sheet. 
• *Read the Wild Times article and do the crossword. Bring the entire article to school tomorrow. It will help you complete your Adaptations project! 
• *Make sure that you are studying your vocabulary and spelling words. We will take this portion of the Theme Test on Friday.

Time Tuesday

Good Afternoon Team 201 Families, It is getting pretty chilly out there, and it is starting to finally feel like Chicago in December! Recess was indoors today, but students should be prepared to be outside, even in the cold. Our rooftop is exposed and those Lake Michigan winds are chilly. Tonight at home: -Read the Science handout and write a reflection about what you learned -Do the double sided math sheet

Making- Billboards- About- Animal- Adapations- Monday

Hello Team201 Families! I am having some technical issues. Please excuse the confusing formatting! I will try to change it from home later this evening.

Today we...... *Took a quiz on the NE and SE regions *Read the Play Emerald's Eggs and worked in our Readers Theater groups. *Worked on our Super 6 strategies...Today's focus was on Clarifying and Questioning. *Practiced telling time with analog clocks. We used vocabulary such as: half past, quarter to, ten minutes until... *Discussed the differences between physical and behavioral adaptations and used our Science text and the internet as research tools *Went to Computers with Mr. Hoffman Tonight at home... *Complete the double sided math sheet *Read the adaptations article and complete a written response * Study the words for the Theme Test: Menu activities are due Friday

Family Friday

Today we..... *Watched and played with the Science Fusion digital lesson entitled Animals and their Adaptations. *We discussed the Animal Project that is due on 1/7/13 *took our math test and corrected it *Observed the animals on loan from the Field Musuem and took notes * Went to Gym *took our Reading test and corrected it *went through our portfolios and selected a piece of work to hang up *went to lunch and Science Art This weekend at home *complete the Math text book page about Time "Check What You Know" on page__115__ *Finish your SE region postcards and study for Monday's Quest. I am allowing students to bring home their blue folders to study. They MUST be returned, intact, on Monday! -Locate (color in) the Ne and SE regions. -Locate the Appaliation Mts, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean -name two natural resourced from each region -name three landmarks from each region

Ticketing Thursday

Today we.... -Got ready for our Math test -Went to ST MATH -Worked on our California Weaving text dependent questions -Discussed behavioral and physical adaptations -Worked with independent and dependent clauses Tonight at home....,. -Complete the Math sheet to prepare for the test tomorrow! These are short, open responses. -Finish your California Weaving questions. -ST MATH at home -Read for pleasure Tomorrow we will... -Remember to clean out our work folders and bring home papers -Take our weekly reading test -Take the Chapter 6 math test and begin working on Estimating Time -Discuss the upcoming Animal Project -Work futher on our study of Animal Adaptations -Go to Gym and Science Art I will post the MealWorm Hop song later this evening. It will be on Edmodo. See you all tomorrow!

Hey students, tell me what you think!

Source: smallshopstudio.com via Kim on Pinterest

Click on "comments" to post your response. Don't forget to proofread before you publish! :-) Mrs. Ginn

Weaving Wednesday

Tonight at home....

• Read a book of your choice and respond in writing
• Math text book page 112

Notes:

• We will correct last night's math homework tomorrow.
• We will make up today's ST Math time tomorrow.
• We wll take our Math test on Friday, and tomorrow we will review. Our next unit is on Elapsed Time.  Start studying those clocks!
• Fantastic work last night!  The Adaptation Fact Finders are wonderful!
• I will hand out and explain the Animal Project tomorrow.

Have a wonderful afternoon and evening.  Because I will be in meetings all day, I will have plenty of time to plot and plan new ways to torture you with learning!  Beware!

:-) Mrs. Ginn

Technology Tuesday

Tonight at home...

• double sided math sheet
• Read Science Fusion pages 151-161.  Do a Fact Finder Response on the paper I gave you.  Select one topic and give 8-10 facts.  Use diagrams, headings, captions and pictures to show what you know

Mono Tribe Monday

 Happy Monday 201 Families,


Today we...

• worked on our spelling and vocabulary words
• revisited the Southeast region and discussed important features and landmarks
• worked on our regional mini postcards
• discussed text features such as sidebars, diagrams, headings, and captions
• read Weaving, a California Tradition
• worked on the data analysis skill: Select the Appropriate Graph
• checked out the Create a Graph website.   I will add a new tab so that you can find it easily.
• read about and discussed Animal Life Cycles.  We focused on complete and incomplete metamorphosis. 
•  went to Computer Class with Mr. Hoffman.  He reminded students that their goal for the end of the week is to have completed 39% of the ST Math syllabus.   

Reminders...

• Wednesday is a 1/2 day. Dismissal is at 11:30.
• We need clear plastic cups, colored yarn and tissues!

Tonight at home...
*Complete the Family Traditions questions
*Read The Wonder Weaver in Storytown and answer the Compare Texts questions.  Don't forget to use complete sentences and to use details from the texts to support your ideas.
*Complete the two-sided math handout
*Spelling and Vocabulary work: one spelling and one vocabulary activity are due by Friday.