Thankful for Tuesday

Good Morning 201 Families,

Right now, your students are retaking the grammar portion of the Unit test on Think Central.  We are working on a test taking strategy that I hope will help boost some of yesterday's scores. The wording is difficult, but this is the new reality!  Let's think of this Unit Test as a great experience in exposure to the new Common Core testing format and rigor.


I hope that all 201 families enjoy a restful and festive Thanksgiving.  I am assigning some enrichment activities this weekend that will help give your child an academic boost. I know that many families have plans this weekend and won't have internet access. They are not mandatory!  Here they are:

• ST Math at home. I am feeling quite competitive about ST Math this year. Let's try to be #1 in the pod!
• Study Island: make sure that you are following the NWEA path, and not looking under Ginn assignments. The NWEA path will take you on your personalized learning path.
• Extra Math:Your child is coming home with a letter that explains how this site works. On the letter, your child has a PIN number.
• Calm Classroom Essay contest: 

Describe what you think the world would be like if everyone practiced calming techniques every day. Be sure to....

• restate the prompt as part of your opening
• describe at least three calming techniques that can be used in everyday situations
• provide clear descriptions, support and elaboration

Rubric:

Conceptually Clear: The topic is clear throughout the essay

Excellent Use of Calming Techniques and examples

Creativity: My ideas are creative. My word choice is strong.

Originality: My writing is original. My sentences are fluent and interesting to read.

Thoughtfulness: My writing shows that I have really thought about the topic and applied my ideas to the prompt.

Conventions: My writing does not contain grammatical, spelling or punctuation error. I indent and use proper formatting.

Writing should be 3 to 5 paragraphs

The winning student will win a pizza party for their family!  The class with the most participation will earn a special prize.

Mastering Roots Monday

This evening at home....

Complete the My Math homework on page 377/8.  Also complete 376, if you did not finish in class. Use either partial products.
Read Science Fusion pp 103-112.  Complete the active reading activities.

Feeling Friday

Hello Team 201 Families!

This weekend at home.....

• complete the Unit 2 Review packet.  We will take the Unit Test on Monday and Tuesday and will hold mini review sessions before each day's testing period.
• get today's Science test signed.  If you want extra credit, complete a fact finder to show what you have learned or  learned again, about the questions that you got wrong.  For example, if you go one one the questions about Fronts wrong, your fact finder will be about Fronts.

Notes about the Science Fusion Tests

These tests are difficult!  The questions are complex and require a careful and close read. Do not despair! We must become accustomed to working through these more challenging questions.  It will be a challenge, but your children are up to the task and need the push!

Talking Turkey Thursday

Good Evening Team 201 Families,

I am so sorry about this late post.  We were experiencing major technical difficulties this afternoon. I just got home.

This evening.....

• Please use your Science book to complete the vocabulary cards.  Add an icon, picture or symbol that will help you remember the term.  Cutting and folding is optional. We can take care of this step tomorrow in class.
• Write a final draft of your Turkey Plea.  Students did a fantastic job working on "sustained" writing today.  Each child is coming home with a sloppy copy/ draft that includes: an attention grabbing sentence, a sentence that states the purpose or topic, a body of evidence/reasons, and a closing sentence.  We worked hard on this today!  Turkeys will be "disguised" tomorrow.
• There is no math homework this evening.

Notes:

• Students will take a Science Test tomorrow on weather. We have devoted the week to reviewing the material.  I think that your kids are ready!
• We will also take a reading test tomorrow. We will review the vocabulary in the morning. We will not take a spelling test this week.
• We spent a great deal of time working on division and multiplication today. Our focus is multi-step problem solving.  Please encourage your child the record the "K" and the "A."  Reading the problem 10 times is not an effective strategy!  We are learning how to take action against difficult problems.  
• We missed our ipads today, but they were very busy getting ready for us.  We will begin ESparks math soon!
• Keep going with the ST Math at home.  Let's lead the pod!
• Correction and apologies are due to you, parents and students.  Yesterday, I incorrectly entered the grades for the Science quiz, using a scale of 10 rather than 100.  This error has been fixed. I sent a few of you into a panic mode, and I am sorry!  All is now well.
• Next week, we will begin our study of plants.  

That's it for today!  It is time to fix some dinner. I will see you all bright and early in the morning.  

Weather Predicting Wednesday

Good Afternoon! Today's title refers to the time we spent on Edheads.com  .  Students used the site to learn about predicting the weather and reporting the weather.  Today we also spent some more time interpreting remainders and estimating quotients.


Tonight at home.....

• Reread the poems about dancing found in your Journeys text, pp 304 and 305.  Complete the Compare Text paragraph.
• Do the MY MATH homework on 371 and 372
• Complete the Science review questions. This page is double sided. The second sheet is a study guide that may help you answer the questions correctly.   We will take a test on this material on Friday.  I think that 201 is ready!

Talented Tuesday

Today we honored students who earned Perfect Attendance, Honor Roll and Citizenship. Congratulations to all of the honorees!


This evening at home....

• Complete the My Math homework on page 363-364: Interpreting the Remainder
• Complete Common Core practice Flying with a Tiger. We will discuss the answers in small group tomorrow.
• Read for pleasure and record the pages/minutes on your reading log.

Mapping the Weather Monday

Today, we talked about high pressure, low pressure, fronts and air masses.  We will look at weather maps tomorrow, and will learn about what happens when air masses collide.

This evening at home.....

• Reread Jose: Born to Dance and the companion poem
• Answer the analyze text questions. Make sure to restate the question within your answer, and to use details from the text to support your ideas.
• Complete math pages 355-358.  Most students are finished or almost finished with 355 and 356. We worked on these pages today.
• Don't forget that 201 is going to the Book Fair tomorrow. We will go at 10:40.
• Tomorrow is our Awards Assembly. Students will be honored for Perfect Attendance, Good Citizenship, or Honor Roll.  Our ceremony is at 9:30 in the CAC.

Not- Feeling- Frustrated- With- Division- Models- Friday

I hope that your children are no longer frustrated!  We got out the dry erase boards and went over all of the homework today!  We stressed the importance of building models and equations to make sense of our work and to demonstrate the operations in action.

We also....

• used double brain power to take this week's reading test on Think Central. Students were able to use the text and discussion/debate to help them arrive at the correct answer. This was a great experience for most.  I hope that this practice will help them develop better test taking strategies, and will help them examine all of the evidence and options.
• read Punished, and chuckled about the clever and often silly puns and oxymorons.  
• continued our research in the Southeastern Region.  Today's stop was Memphis Tennessee.  We asked the question: Why is Memphis an important factor in understanding the South and the United States? We learned about how "king cotton" drove the economy . We discussed the impact of M.L.K.. We also made connections between the blues, rock and roll and Africa.  We discussed the Great Migration too.  
• took a Grammar and Math quiz in the morning. The quiz reviewed concepts covered earlier this year.

This weekend at home.....

• complete the "language" packet. The focuses are idioms, synonyms and antonyms, adages and proverbs.
•  complete the math review: page 207 and 208. Most students need extra practice with rounding and estimation.  Look for the key word: about

Talking About Thunder Thursday

Today we finished our Cloud foldables.  Ask your child to explain the different types of clouds and how they are formed.  We also watched the Thunderstorms Brainpop.  What kind of electricity is lightning? What is a lightning rod?  Why do we see lightning before we hear thunder?  Discuss. :-)

Today we also....

• rearranged the classroom and participated in a "timed pair share" to learn about our new teammates. The topic was food.
• went to the Book Fair.  We will also go next Tuesday.
• worked with partners to study our spelling patterns and antonyms, while Mrs. Ginn had a mini writing and reading conference with each student.
• worked with Mrs. Ginn in  small groups to practice making models to explain long division. We learned some short cuts too!
• finished our Cloud books.
• quested on our personalized eSpark learning path.

Tonight at home.....

• Complete the My Math homework p. 352, front and back.
• Read a book of your choice and write a reading response paragraph.  Do not write a summary.  Write about an event or character in your story.  Try to make some inferences and generalizations. Support your ideas with evidence from the text.
• Revise and edit your paragraph. Do you have a : clear topic sentence, strong, clear sentences, punctuation, capitals, enough evidence to support your ideas.

Notes

Several parents have asked me about more advanced math work. I have assigned two lessons from the 5th grade GO Math series to select students.  These assignments can be found on Think Central under "Things to Do."   Students can "star" problems that are difficult so that we can go over them together.  I will assign new lessons weekly.  I will continue to use the 4th grade curriculum during class. The Common Core curriculum is leading us in a new direction this year. Students are being asked to explore and problem solve in new ways.  It is important that 201 students understand the new model and the new strategies that are expected.  

Other Math boosting ideas:

• ST Math at home: Let's try to lead the Pod!
• Mathisfun.com     This is a fantastic site!  Use it to practice your tables, or for more advanced work.
• Study Island: log on with firstname.lastname@ disney    The password is disney.

Glued to Our Work Wednesday

Thank you, Lucy, for providing today's very creative and appropriate title.  Today we....

• discussed the Jamestown Settlement and how " a clash of cultures" resulted in conflicts between the Native Americans and European settlers.
• we spent some more time modeling multiplication and division.  Students should be able to build models that represent the divisor, dividend, quotient and remainder.
• read two selections that feature snakes. This week's story is a funny one!
• discussed the differences between cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds. Students used cotton balls to model each type of cloud.
• worked on our ST Math goals.

Reminders:

• 201 will visit the Book Fair tomorrow!
• We will not take a regular reading test this week. Because it is a short week, students will work with partners to tackle the comprehension questions, find the evidence, and select the correct answer.  We will be working on analyzing the text, but we will use double the brain power to do it.   
• Please make sure that your child is filling out the reading log each night.  Students should be reading for pleasure each night!
• Please sign your child's Gold Card. This lets me know that you are up-to-date- on assignments and possible missing work.

Tonight at home.....

• Complete the MY Math homework and unfinished classwork that is in the folder.  Students MUST write an equation and make a model for each problem.
• Reread this week's story: Dear Mr. Winston and write a one to two paragraph response that answers the "Analyze Text" questions. These questions can be found on pages 264 and 269.  Make sure to back up your ideas with evidence from the text.  

Feeling Good About Progress Friday

Today we....
!!!!!Did a fabulous job on the weekly reading test!!!!!! The scores this week were way up!  Whoohoo!


Please complete these activities on this very long weekend:

• finish the modeling multiplication and division packet
• finish the reading response page
• finish Dear Mr. Henshaw and write a one to two paragraph critique of the book. Bring it to school

See you at Report Card Pick up!  I can't wait!

Thursday

Tonight at home....

• reread Me and Uncle Romie
• complete one reading response section
• finish math classwork and homework

Weather Wednesday

Let Bill Nye teach you about weather and Earth's atmosphere.  Watch and learn!

Today we....

• talked about the weather. We discussed how wind is created and revisited air pressure.  Is today a high pressure or a low pressure day? Ask your child. He or she should be able to tell you and explain why.
• we discussed the themes in Me and Uncle Romie and began collecting images for our digital collages.
• talked about our new BFF, division.  
• explored the Jamestown settlement.  We also worked on organizing our research into notes with headings and subheadings.
• used ST math to help us solve problems.  

Tonight at home.....

• Read pp. 260-270 in Science Fusion.  This can count as your nightly reading on your reading log.
• Select one of these topics from the SF book: Up in the Air, Under Pressure, or  When the Wind Blows. Create a Fact Finder card. Your card should include: 10 or more facts, and a diagram  You may create several small diagrams or one large one.  Make sure that the diagram is labeled.
• My Math page 233
• Conference confirmations are being sent home today.  If you have not signed up, your child has a revised form that contains the open spaces.  Please indicate your choice and bring it to school tomorrow.

Thinking About A Vacation Tuesday

 Today we.....

•  used our estimation skills to plan a vacation. Students are calculating the cost of hotel, sightseeing and meals.  They are working with an unlimited budget, and the hotel rooms are pretty deluxe!
• watched a Science Fusion lesson about predicting the weather.   We discussed the kinds of data that meteorologists use to predict the weather.
• dug deep into Me and Uncle Romie to analyze the text.  We used Fan and Pick to get the conversations started.
• began thinking about our Me and Uncle Romie Meets Me and Disney digital collage project. We are applying the themes found in the story to our own experiences in the city and at Disney.  

Tonight at home....

• finalize your vacation research.  You should have all of your "exact" numbers with you.  If you want to do more detailed research at home, go for it.  Make a table that shows the event/or item, the actual cost, and the estimated cost. Don't for get to include the total cost of your vacation and the mileage.  Have a great trip!
• complete another section of the Reading Response sheet.
• please select a time for parent/teacher conferences next week.  Make sure to mark your first three choices.  I will confirm your time by highlighting the time and sending it back to you.  These forms should be in the homework folders today.  I am looking forward to meeting with each of you!

Multiplication Test Monday.

Hello Team 201 Families,

This morning we listened to students report on their Pumpkin Projects. Your students did a great job talking about characteristics.  I am so impressed!  We also took a math test today.  We corrected the test together.  I will send them home tomorrow. Last week, we were having some internet issues, and several kids were unable to complete the reading test.  Most finished today. If your child did not finish, you can log on to Think Central this evening to complete the test.  If you are unable to connect, we will carve out some time tomorrow.

Tonight at home....

• ...work on two sections of this week's Reading Response sheet.  Please, students, dig deep and give me details!
• ....complete My Math page 323. We are beginning our unit on division.  If multiplication is your friend, division will be kind to you!  Those students who are "shaky" with the multiplication facts need to practice at home!
• ...record your reading on the new November Gold Card and get a signature.