Busy, Busy, Busy

There is a lot going on at Kyle School this week!  Tomorrow, we will be having a presentation on fire safety given by the Portage firefighters.  Also, the fire safety posters are due on October 6.  Miss Ellis and I will then choose the 3 neatest and most informative posters to be given to the Fire Department.  Also, this week we have Grandparents' Day.  Grandparents are invited to join us on Thursday, October 8, for a musical presentation followed by a class slide show and visiting time.  October 8 is also the day that the Challenge Ed permission slips are due.

In class, we will be finishing up our guided reading unit on Realistic Fiction.  Right now, we are working on projects in class.  If we are unable to finish, I will assign one project to be completed at home.  We will be having a quiz over the books on Friday.  The class is working with Miss Ellis on division in math.  They are working on both division facts and long division.  So far, students are grasping the concept.  For extra help, students can use flashcards or one of the math practice sites on this page.  In science, we are finishing learning about land formation.  There will be a quiz this week.  Students are also working on their personal narrative stories in writing.

Miss Ellis will be teaching all subjects starting next week.  The students have adjusted to the transition well, and Miss Ellis has developed meaningful and engaging lessons.  She will be teaching through December 2.  I'm very pleased with her rapport with the students and her level of commitment to the students' learning.

One last thing... the following link will take you to a trailer for The Lightning Thief movie.  The movie is based on the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.  http://www.percyjacksonthemovie.com/

Are you ready?

One of the most important events we have this week is our multiplication indicator quiz.  Why is this so important?  Multiplication is the foundation for most of the math that we will work on the rest of the year.  We'll talk about multiplying as we learn to divide.  We'll use multiplying and dividing when working with fractions.  Finding the area of shapes requires us to multiply.  You can be ready by practicing your facts using flashcards or the math sites on this blog.

This week, Miss Ellis will take over the teaching of writing.  She will continue to work on writing personal narratives with the students.  She has already been teaching math and word study.  Last week, she also began reading the book The Lemonade Wars.  She is doing a wonderful job of presenting the content and relating to the students.

Remember that Thursday is Picture Day. You will have your picture taken even if you do not plan on buying any of the packages, so be ready. 

Happy Fall!

This week marks the official start of fall--my favorite season.  It's a time when everything starts to change and prepare for the coming winter.  This holds true in our classroom, too.  When we finished our addition and subtraction indicator test this week in math, we marked an end to material that most students learned and mastered in 3rd grade.  Now, we will be starting multiplication.  While most students have a basic understanding, we will really begin to focus on this skill, expand what we already know, and prepare to use the knowledge as we move into division.  We're also going to look at the properties of multiplication and how it relates to other number operations.

We are about halfway through our first novel study.  We've really focused on predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing.  Now we are going to begin analyzing characters.  We've read enough in each book and have enough information about the characters that this should be a fun learning experience.  Also, our first project assignments are going to take place in class.  Students are finishing their daily assignments at different paces, so I gave them their choice menu (tic-tac-toe board) for this novel studies projects.

In writing, we are beginning to publish our first piece on our special object.  Our next piece is going to be a personal narrative--a story about something important that has happened in our lives. 

Also, we have a date for Challenge Ed...Monday, October 12.  Please check Take Home folders in early October for more information.

Week of September 8-11

I hope that everyone has a very nice Labor Day weekend.  Once we return from the long weekend, we'll pick up right where we left off.  We are still working on rounding and comparing/ordering numbers in math.  Those students who have mastered the skills will continue to work on enrichment activities.  In reading, we started our first guided reading groups.  Students are either reading The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, Loser by Jerry Spinelli, Rules by Cynthia Lord, or The Jacket by Andrew Clements.  We are working on the reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing.  We will spend time on context clues, plot, and character traits.  In writing, we are building a strong foundation of the Six Traits so that we can delve into each a little deeper as the year continues.  This week, we'll be working a lot on word choice.  We have started our first science unit on rocks and landforms.  Our focus this week will be learning about what materials make up rocks.  Enjoy your holiday weekend!

First Full Week

We are half way through our first full week of school. I am so pleased with how quickly the students are learning the new procedures and how hard they are working on new material. This week, we have been focusing on place value in math. We will learn place value through the hundred thousands place. We are also reading a story on Lou Gehrig. It's one of my favorites! Through this story, we are learning about the reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. These are strategies that we will use all year. In writing, we've began a list of possible topics that we can come back to all year long for ideas. We'll start our first writing piece tomorrow, which will be to describe the special object we brought to school.

Please mark your calendars for Back to School Night on September 3. I look forward to meeting everyone then!