New year. New quarter. Fresh start. 1/2-1/10

This quarter in reading we are focused in historical fiction. We are reading Soft Rain and exploring what makes a text historical fiction. We are using it as our model text as we learn the different roles of our literature circle groups. As we read, we are focusing on context clues, inferences, mood, theme, reactions, asking questions, and such. We will be reading and exploring figurative language as well.

In writing we are researching animal adaptations.  We are going through the research process and using print and online resources. Last week we practiced writing topic sentences for each paragraph.  We will be working on concluding sentences this week and wrapping up our research.

In math we are working with area and perimeter. We explored different areas with the same perimeter and discovered patterns. We broke down various word problems and discovered how to use the perimeter or area to fins the missing side. We also took a short assessment on Friday. 

We also explored various quadrilaterals and sorted them based on their angles and sides.

In science we are beginning our animal studies unit. We are starting with learning about nutrition. The class has been learning about planning a healthy meal and eating all of the food groups. Students made a sample meal plan for a day. I challenged them to change some of the foods they eat to make sure they are eating a balanced diet. I have even shared how I am adjusting my calories too.

There are some great games kids can play at my plate.gov. Unfortunately we were not able to explore the games due to technical difficulties.

 We took a virtual field trip to Mc Donald's to learn about different food choices. We talked about the man who only ate at McDonalds for a month and lost 37 pounds. We saw how this is possible based on some of the lower calorie choices.

Specials this week:

Computer

Art

PE

Music

Friday is early release, so we will not have specials. We will be having electronics day as a reward for filling our ticket jar. We will also be having hot cocoa left over from our polar express party. We are in need of some cups.  Please comment below if you can bring in some. Thank you!

*No school on Monday, January 20. Enjoy your long weekend!

Polar express party

We had a great last day of school before tack out. Those days are always a little crazy- especially with the holidays over track out. The class enjoyed wearing their pajamas to school along with their slippers, animals, and blankets. We watched the Polar Express at the very end of the day and were treated with hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows. They also got popcorn and Oreos and bottled water to wash everything down.

Since technology is not my friend, the bulb on the projector popped with about 10 minutes left of the movie. Thankfully Mrs. Schmedding's class was watching the movie too, so we ran across the hall and watched the rest with them. 

Our delicious treats all set up in the hall

We had quite the spread set up in the hall complete with a popcorn machine!

A very special thank you to everyone who helped out, especially Mrs. DuBrow who spearheaded the campaign. The kids had a wonderful afternoon!

November 18-22

This week in language arts we began an accordion research project to wrap up what the students had been learning throughout the quarter.  Students chose a non fiction book to read. Then they identified the main Idea, new vocabulary, facts, and an evaluation.  We will present this week and rubrics will go home Wednesday.

We also learned about primary vs secondary documents and took a quiz on non fiction text structure.

We continue to read Holes and practice making inferences, predictions, asking questions, using context clues, making connections, etc.

In social studies we are still learning about the constitution and we focused on the three branches of government. The class is working on filling out the tree with specific information on each of the branches. We are using various resources to complete the tree. In computer lab, the students also worked on icivics.org to learn more about the duties and process of each branch through an interactive game.

The students all finished and submitted their PROBES this week. Rubrics went home in Friday folders. The class worked on this for several weeks gathering resources, conducting research, conferencing, planning out the format, and then creating the final piece. This will count for most of their writing grade. Below is an example of a level four, although the third page was not necessary.

Looking ahead:

The next two weeks are short.  

We will have school November 25-27, then off for Thanksgiving.

Then December 2-4 will be our last week before track out.

Report cards will be going home on December 4th and will have a slightly different look.

December 4th will also be our Polar Express day.  Student s can wear their pajamas to school and bring a stuffed animal as well. We will have hot cocoa and a few snacks as we watch the movie in the afternoon. In the morning we will read the book and do a few other hands on activities. Please have your child bring their ticket to school (sent home in Friday folders with info on it), we have a surprise that it will be needed for.... ;)

November 12-15

I'm so glad to be back, we've had a great week getting back into the swing of things. 

Here's a synopsis of what we did this week:

In SS we are learning about the constitution and early government. We will continue learning about government until the end of the quarter. We discussed what the colonists wanted in their government and compared it to how England ruled them.

In math we learned about various angles, rotating angles, and measuring angles. We learned about acute, right, and obtuse angles as well as how to measure them with a protractor.

In reading we have been studying non fiction text structure for the past week and learning abound how non fiction texts are set up. There are four main structures we learned about.

The students used this information to analyze the structure in the books they are reading.

Working hard. We also got 4 new boxes of books that we are working hard at sorting by level.

As we look for good fit books, some students are reading books that are too hard or too easy.  We went through lexile.com and used our lexiles to find some suggested books and also looked up the lexile of the books we were already reading.

In writing students finished their PROBES this week. Here is a great example of the finished product. Rubrics will be going home next week and I will send their notebooks home with them so you can see their finished product.

I'm baaaack!

After being home with my babies the past few weeks, I'm (almost) ready to come back to my big kids. I will be returning to work November 12th. I have missed my class and stopped in a few times to see them. They all have met Vella, but you all haven't, so I wanted to share a few pictures of our sweet new girl and her big brother.

Starting next week I will be blogging weekly with classroom updates. Enjoy the long weekend!

Surprise!

We had a little surprise earlier this week and our little peanut came a few weeks earlier than expected.

Arvella Karst Simmons, "Vella", was born Tuesday, 9/17/13 at 6:18pm.

She was 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 21 inches long.

We are all doing well and getting used to our new family.  Here are a few pictures of our sweet baby girl:

Wide awake at the hospital

Big brother Alton already looking after his little sister 

Headed home from the hospital 

Our first outing to the doctor, I think purple is her color

I hope you all have a relaxing track out, I will do my best to continue weekly updates as to what is being taught in the classroom.

Report cards will be going home one week later than previously expected.  

Week 9 9/3-9/6

I am so sorry I missed last week. But here is a synopsis of this past week and a sneak peak into next week.

As we near the end of the quarter there is always time to make sure all the class work gets completed and turned in. And there is everyone's favorite....testing....

This week we took a Case 21 test in math and language arts. These are county wide tests we take at the end of each quarter.  We also took a math quiz earlier in the week and short test today.  In math we wrapped up multiplication and next week we will begin division (with the area model).  That will also be where we pick up in the second quarter.

In social studies we learned more about why/how the early settlers moved throughout the different regions in the state. We learned care and usage of iPads and worked in small groups to read various articles.  Next week we will be studying the revolutionary war.  

Second quarter the focus will be on government.  This will be integrated throughout reading and writing as the focus there is non fiction.

In reading we focused more on making inferences.  Students read several different newspapers (nc weekly) to learn about the lost colony at Roanoke. As they read the various articles, they had to for, their own theory as to what happened to the colony and write a brief essay explaining what their theory was.  They also had to use evidence from the articles to support their theory. 

Next quarter we will be learning about non fiction text features and focus on reading non fiction in class.

In writing we wrapped up conferences and finished up the narratives we started earlier in the quarter.  Students also had time to revise and edit the work they did with Mr. Peacock last week.  Some students finalized the paragraph they wrote, others used the paragraph as a starting point to create an entire story.

Next quarter we will be focused on non fiction writing and researching.

Second quarter in science students will be learning about landforms.

**No specials on Monday, Tuesday we will be in the computer lab doing a other Sri test to show growth from the first quarter.

**reminder that I am having conferences on Wednesday next week.  I will be at school the entire week, but after Friday will not be checking emails until we track back in.

Have a wonderful weekend!