February 5

We've had a busy past couple of weeks here in room 14.

In writing most students are wrapping up their first narrative story and many have begun to write their second story. Students are enjoying being in the "Author's Chair" and sharing their stories with their classmates. In the coming weeks we will continue to focus on narrative writing with an emphasis on On Demand writing in preparation for the upcoming District Writing Assessment. Instead of having weeks to work on a story and spending a lot of time focusing on editing and revising their works students will practice having only a short period of time (about an hour) to write their stories and turn them in.

In math we are wrapping up our unit on Measurement and Geometry. The current chapter is focusing on solid objects and finding their volume. I will be assessing them on this on Wednesday of next week. After the February break we will start a new unit on Division.

The Mystery Book Reports that were turned in today were wonderful. I really enjoyed listening to their oral presentations as well. I can tell that most students put a great deal of time and effort into preparing for today. Well done!

In Science we are just to about to wrap up our unit on Structures of Life. Students had to bid farewell to the crayfish that they were observing this week but I know that they really enjoyed getting a chance to explore this wonderful organism. We are still watching our bean plants grow, some of them are as tall as 33 cm now! This has been a fun unit that I can tell students have really enjoyed. After the February Break we will finish the unit and then spend some time on our Drug and Alcohol Awareness program, Too Good For Drugs, before starting the 3rd science unit, Sun, Moon, and Stars.

Our class will be celebrating Valentine's Day next Friday, Feb. 12th. On Monday I will send home a class list with each student that they can use for their Valentine's in they wish. I will also put a sign up sheet outside the classroom door if you would like to contribute to our class party.

As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to call or send an email.

January 22

What a crazy week we had with this rainy weather. The poor kids were trapped inside all day long for most of the week but thankfully things cleared up a bit this afternoon and they we able to go outside for lunch and free play. Thank you to all the parents that were able to make it to last Friday’s performance of the Martin Luther King reader’s theater. They all did a wonderful job!

I have been asked to remind everyone about school arrival times. Students should not be arriving on campus before 8:15am since there is no yard duty supervision until this time. If your child does want to come to school early to play then you must accompany them to ensure the safety of all our students. On the flip side of this, it is important that all students be inside the classroom no later than 8:30am. Even a few minutes late can add up to a large amount of lost instructional time over a period of time. Lately we have had several students arrive late to school from our classroom which can be disruptive and puts them behind for the day. Thank you for your help on getting your child to school at the appropriate time.

A few reminders:
Please sign your child’s reading log each week and make sure that it is completed and turned in on Friday
Please help your child study for the weekly multiplication facts quiz, it is given each Thursday
Please sign the Friday Folder and return it on Monday morning
Please take the time to read and respond to your child’s Home-School Journal each week and return on Monday

January 13

Happy New Year!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Winter Break and enjoyed some time off. I know that many of you were fortunate to be able to take some amazing trips. I enjoyed hearing all about them when students returned last week. I want to thank all the families for their very generous holiday gifts. During the holiday season I am always reminded of how lucky I am to be working with such wonderful families at Dilworth.
In our short time back at school we have been very busy. In math we are continuing with our unit on Geometry and Measurement. We are just about to wrap up Chapter 9 which is all about plane shapes like triangles and quadrilaterals. We are even working on a project in the computer lab that goes with this chapter.
In writing students are busy tapping into their creativity and writing their first narrative stories.
In science we have sprouted our seedlings and are ready to plant them and grow them further so that we can see the entire life-cycle of a bean plant. Students are very excited as they are watching this amazing process. Later this week, our crayfish will arrive and we will study and observe them for a few weeks as well.
In social studies Mrs. Kirsh is working on a unit about Martin Luther King Jr. and the class is getting ready to perform a reader's theater. I hope that you all will be able to join us for the performance this Friday, January 15th at 12:45 pm in the GLC.
This week I am also assigning a book report for the 2nd trimester. Students are required to read a mystery book and complete a banner and do an oral presentation. The detailed instructions will be going home with them this Friday.