What a week!!

It's hard to believe it was only a three and a half day week...whew...we got a TON accomplished!

As I'm sure you've heard by now, we had two Market Days this week. This was the culmination of our economics unit. About three to four weeks ago, we began the ENTREPRENEURS unit...we had six companies in our classroom. Each company perused the materials they were allowed to use and then made up some proposals for different goods they could produce. Each company chose one product and then was given a loan. Using the money from their loan, they had to decide how many goods to produce, and what type of advertising they would use. Once that data was collected, they had to figure out at what price to sell their good so that they could cover their costs AND make a profit. Once those plans were approved, production began. The children had to specialize and cooperate...when you have a classroom FULL of leaders, this can be a challenge! They each had jobs that were important, so they got to see interdependence in action! Once all production was complete, Mrs. Maenner's class and our class got together to see any commercials that had planned...and then each student was given a $5 debit card as their salary for working in their companies. The companies split up and 1/2 were consumers on the first Market Day...the others were sellers. The consumers got to shop in both classrooms and spend their money on the goods produced. Some companies sold out...others did not. That afternoon after shopping the companies got together to see what their sales had been and to make a plan if they felt sales needed to be increased. They had to decide how many more goods they would produce, what it would cost, and whether any advertising needed to change. I was SOOOO impressed with the conversations. Tuesday the companies spent in production. And that leads us to yesterday when the kids had their second Market Day. The consumers became sellers and the sellers, consumers. Overall...EVERY company in our classroom profited enough to pay back their loan and come out on top! One company made over $20!! We had a great discussion about the differences in profits and the reasons that such differences occur. TODAY...the kids had to write a paragraph about their ENTREPRENEUR experience...I'm excited to read them!!

While doing all that, we also managed to continue with poetry...we read one of my favorite poems of all time this week. Its a poem by Langston Hughes titled, "Mother to Son"...in this poem, Mr. Hughes compares life to a set of stairs through a mother's perspective...she is giving her son advice on life...I only wish you could have been in the classroom for our discussion...sometimes I think I'm in a college classroom...your kids are AMAZING! We will wrap up poetry the week we return from Winter Break.

And we also kept the geometry unit going...we worked with transformations...slides, flips, and turns....otherwise known as translations, reflections, and rotations! We will move into function tables, growing and repeating patterns, and line plots, range, median, and mode upon returning from Break.

On Tuesday we got together with our UES Junior Pals...we exchanged cards and the kindergartners taught us the dreidel game...it was a lot of fun!

Today I showed a movie as a treat...I tried to give small holiday gifts all week (less homework, 15 minutes of free time in the computer lab, etc)...and then today each student received a set of three pencils with their names on them...I'm hoping that helps us get through at least January! ;-)

I can't begin to thank you all enough for your generosity towards me this holiday season. I am humbled. It is my absolute pleasure to teach your children!

Cherrie Sampley's last day of school was today. Her family is moving to Georgia and we will miss her very much...that's another thing we did this week...we made cards wishing her well!

No matter what you celebrate...have a happy or merry one! I look forward to seeing your kids in the new year!

In case you missed it...the post before this one is a movie long awaited! I am going to work on one more...the Entrepreneur Unit...so keep your eyes out!

The Long Awaited Video...

Back in November we helped Mr. Esko and his class plant over 75 trees in the UES Bioswale and on the back of the property...we had beautiful weather, lots of teamwork, and a lot of fun! Click on the words "Planting the UES Bioswale" below to enjoy the video!!


Planting the UES Bioswale

OMG...a blog on Friday?

Hi, everyone...we have been soooo busy this week...we are HEAVY into production...and writing...and geometry...and poetry...I think you get the idea! It has been a very busy week for me, personally, too. As many of you know, I spoke at the BOE meeting this week, attended the PTA meeting this week, sent letters to the superintendent and BOE members this week...all to make sure our program stays intact! I hold this program, your children, and your families close to my heart...I really think we made a difference this week...our voices were heard! All this and trying to pull the holiday shopping and fun holiday plans together for my family...I have to admit...I'm EXHAUSTED!! But that doesn't stop us here at school!!

PRODUCTION
You should see how well the kids' companies have come together! I have been taking pictures and documenting their progress and will put it all together into a movie when we are finished! Each company has their advertising completed, some have finished production, others are feverishly working to complete their products by our Monday deadline! The prices are set, the income is anticipated, and the consumers and producers will be in full swing Monday afternoon during Market Day. Each child will have a $5 debit card to use...their salary from this past week...and they will have lots of economic decisions, and plenty of opportunity cost, once they realize they have limited income to spend!!! ;-) Don't you LOVE how it's all coming together!!

LANGUAGE ARTS
Your kids brought a writing piece home this week. I explained to them, but I will also explain to you...the rubric and the grade don't necessarily correlate. The grade is given based on the expectations set for the particular assignment...all the parts of a paragraph, sentences/examples that support the topic, conventions, etc. The rubric is more specific to what areas in writing your child needs to focus on when writing, or in what areas your child is strong. I appreciate your willingness to review it with your child and send it right back. Those pieces are kept in their portfolio for this year. I am still waiting on TWO writing pieces to be returned...if you haven't seen your child's writing, please look for it, sign it, and return it ASAP. Thanks! We write almost every single day in one subject or another...only certain pieces are taken through the entire writing process to the publishing stage. Any questions? Please feel free to email me at any time.

Your kids have been reading poetry, writing poetry, analyzing poetry, and starting on Monday, they will be presenting poetry to our class. As I'm sure you know, your child is presenting a memorized poem on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of next week (they got to choose their day...thank you for that great idea, Vincent!) They will be scored on volume, clarity, expression, and eye contact. This grade will be applied to their communication grade on the report card. PLEASE have your child practice at home before they present here in school!

MATH
We are ALL about GEOMETRY right now...today the kids worked with transformations: translations (slides), rotations (turns), and reflections (flips) in the computer lab. I also gave the kids 20 minutes of free time in the lab as a holiday gift..they enjoyed that immensely!! GOOD NEWS: I am finally ready to share the QUARTER ONE POST TEST scores in Math with you...today the kids got to see their tests, each question was discussed, and points were explained. This takes a whole class period, but it is extremely rewarding in what they learn about taking tests. If you email me I can send you the pre and post test scores so you can see their growth.

Speaking of learning a lot from taking a test...the kids took "Mock MSA tests" on Monday. I scored part of it and shared the score with them, but then they scored the second part. We took 10 minutes after checking to share what they had learned about themselves as test takers. I wish you could have been flies on the walls....

"I have to remember to support my answer with examples from the text."

"I have to read the directions more carefully."

"I have to look at ALL the choices in the multiple choice questions before I decide."

NO KIDDING...quote, unquote from your kids...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we do what we do! The kids will take one more "Mock MSA" and it will focus on math. Then we get the real thing in March...fun, fun!!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend full of family, friends, and holiday fun! If your kids are half as wound up at home as they are here...good luck. ;-)

p.s. While typing this post today, I realized last week's post never posted...so keep scrolling down...two posts for the price of one...not bad, huh!??!

Late again...maybe Monday should be the new Friday?

OMG...I am writing THIS week's post right now and saw that LAST WEEK's post (this one) never posted...OMG...then you'll see that my first line is REALLY appropriate...'cause this post is SUPER LATE. I am almost done today's post and was so excited to be "on time"...here is last week...this week's is on it's way....

I guess I need a nickname...how about "Late Kate"? I'm really sorry...that's all I can say!

Let me tell you about last week...

First of all...we've started our Entrepreneurs unit...I'm sure you've heard about it by now...the kids have formed six companies within the classroom...and last week they brainstormed products, worked through finances to see what materials they could afford, which type of advertising they'd use, and their cooperative skills were put to the test!! It's hard when EVERYONE is a leader! So after they decided which materials they needed and what types of advertising they would do, they had to use mad math skills to figure out the cost of each individual product. Then, based on that amount, they had to set the selling price for their product...all in hopes of making INCOME!! This week they will specialize, complete production, create advertisements, and become interdependent...wish me luck!! ;-) Next week we will commence with two different Market Days...more on that at the end of this week!

In poetry we have continued our focus on figurative language and the tone and mood of poems. Today I introduced the "diamante" poem and the kids picked a person, place or thing to write about. Later this week we will be researching a famous person of choice to write a diamante poem about. We will use SIRS and I will instruct them on all the important components of that research portal while we gather info.

Last week in Math we worked with geometry...3D shapes, angles, lines...we got out protractors and measured angles to determine whether they were obtuse, acute, or right angles...we looked at triangles and categorized them based on their angles...we saw isoscolese triangles, scalene triangles, and right triangles...we determined the difference between prisms and pyramids, and made 3D models to help hone in those differences! We will continue with geometry this week.

And then finally, we spent five lessons last week focusing on Personal Body Safety. Your children have been extremely mature and have asked excellent questions. We have discussed safe touches, unsafe touches, and unwanted touches. They have been introduced to new vocabulary: victim, sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and have been taught the difference between an OK secret and a not OK secret. The students created a Trusted Adult Directory so they know they have more than one person to turn to with a question or concern. At the end of each lesson the students are given a file card to jot down a question that they are wondering about...even if the kids do not have a question, I require them to write something down...this way, all questions are confidential since everyone has dropped one in the box. Again, I have been extremely impressed with their maturity handling this subject.

NEWSFLASH!!
In case you haven't noticed...IT IS REALLY COLD OUTSIDE!! Please make sure you are sending your child to school with hats and mittens...unless the temperatures drop below 20 degrees fahrenheit, we go outside...even for a short time...to run off some energy...SOOOO...please help your child remember all the necessary pieces of clothing to stay warm...thanks!

YOUNG AUTHOR'S CONTEST
I sent home information about the Young Author's Contest on Friday...unfortunately, we received this info kind of late, but your child does still have TWO days to turn in a piece of writing. Twenty kids put their hands up saying they were interested, and we sure do have some excellent writers, so I hope they'll be able to participate. I believe the entries are due Wednesday!

Whenever I find a contest that some of the students might be interested in, I try to send the information. Contests are such a great way to show off their talents...I believe I sent a paper home last week about an Economics poster contest, too. Check the Take Home folder for info on that!

I hope you and your families are enjoying this very joyous time of year! Stay warm and as always...email me with questions or concerns. Maybe I'll see some of you at the PTA meeting tomorrow night or the BOE meeting on Wednesday. I'm planning to speak at the BOE meeting...hope to see you there!!

Did you know it? We've got poets!!

BREAKING NEWS....

Someone is eating the PENCILS in our classroom!

They disappear at the drop of a hat!

If you would please replenish your child's pencil supply in the next week,

that would be very helpful...thanks!

Poetry is our focus this month in language arts...and all of the poetic elements that go with it...figurative language, mood, setting, tone, etc! We spent all week reading and analyzing poetry...and the kids wrote poems...they wrote beautiful haiku!! We read two fun books written in completely in similies, and one written completely in haiku poems...titled Dogku and written by our favorite...Andrew Clements! This entire unit is centered on reading and writing poetry...wait until you see the final products...you will be amazed...WE'VE GOT POETS!!

We will continue with poetry next week...each child will choose a poem of their own to memorize...they need to show the poem to me by Wednesday of next week. Then they will have 10 days to work on the memorizing. Their communication grade will be all about eye contace, volume, expression, and fluency. The poem has to be at least six lines...I will provide plenty of choices within the schoolday, but if your child would rather choose one from their own collection at home, that is perfectly fine with me! More on that next week!

Social Studies...this week we read about supply and demand, then we got in groups and discussed different situations and how supply and demand would affect prices and profit! The best part of our week was our visit from Mr. Judd, Mehta's dad. He is an economist and he brought his immense knowledge to us today...he shared where an economist might work, what an economist does, and why that work is important. Then he connected it all to the production of chocolate...we had a wonderful discussion about how and why chocolate bars are priced differently. We learned that some chocolates are made locally and others are made across the country. We found out that some companies participate in free trade and others do not. It was a morning of enlightenment and I believe we have a writing assignment that will come from all of it...more to come on that next week!

Math...give me a G, give me an E, give me an O, give me an M, give me an E, give me a T, give me an R, give me a Y...what does that spell!?!? A whole lot of fun, that's what! This week we worked with shapes...all the "gons", we talked about angles, we found right angles, obtuse angles, and acute angles...and today we began using protractors to measure angles!! Vocabulary is just flying around the room...words like: segment, ray, lines, angles, obtuse, enneagon (that was a new one to me!), quadrilateral, equilateral, equiangular, isosceles, scalene, etc...can you just imagine how all of your sponges are soaking it up!??!?! The Q1 post test was given today...I will try REALLY hard to grade them this weekend...but they take FOREVER (can you hear the whine! :-)) As soon as I have the post tests graded, I will share them with the kids and then I can let you know how your child did...feel free to send me an email mid week and ask for your child's score!

CURSIVE...aiyaiyai...we are working our way through the letters...most of the kids are fine when the letters are set apart from others...but once they start connecting them is where we run into problems...please keep an eye on your child while they are forming the letters and connections...it really does end up making a difference once they are required to write everything in cursive.

Have a great weekend!

SORRY!!!

This post will summarize last week and this week...sorry for the delay!

Language Arts
Last week we worked with a non-fiction book called Money, Money, Money...we have been focusing on main idea and supporting details. Regardless of your child's reading level, this is a very difficult skill. They are pretty good at identifying the main idea...but finding the best sentences that support it is a lot harder. In conjunction with this skill, the kids wrote main idea paragraphs about a subject at UES that they really enjoy. I chose for the kids to write about our school because it was American Education Week...it was fun reading the details they chose to support their ideas. This week we will take non-fiction articles about Thanksgiving and the turkey to refine these skills!

Social Studies
We are continuing our Economics unit...and this past week we focused on production and consumption. Many new vocabulary words were introduced...through the "Econ and Me" video series...the kids love the stories told and then we use those stories to discuss the concepts. We will finish up with that series this week. The kids are always sad when the "Econ" videos are over!!

Another writing piece the kids did this week was a "cinquain" poem about a producer. The kids are publishing those pieces as I type the blog. They will be graded for following the correct steps in writing a cinquain poem.

FYI...speaking of following steps or directions...many people get a slash mark in "following directions", and I often get a note that states something like, "Please let my child know when they are not following directions." Just to let you all know...I tell them every time it happens. Today in the computer lab I verbally told them to put their name on their published piece, AND the poem that I modeled was on the screen with a "by Mrs. Wills" at the bottom. At least EIGHT kids brought me poems without names...there are hundreds of examples like that daily and I always say, "So and so, that is a great example of not following directions," just so they know. I appreciate any note you send me, but since I see that one a lot, I thought I would address it here! ;-)

Upon our return from Thanksgiving, we will begin our Entrepreneurs unit where the kids will be creating companies, producing a product, using budgets, planning advertising, and eventually selling and making profits. It is a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing their creative business minds at work! If you have any recyclables that you think we might be able to use...cereal boxes, toilet and paper towel tubes, egg cartons...some of the items that will be in high demand...NO cans or glass, please...thanks!

Math
LONG division is our focus right now...we are broken into groups and we are working to master the algorithm of long division...while different groups are meeting, others are working on problem solving, some are looking at two-digit divisors, all are writing to explain their thinking in math. Today the kids will be taking timed fact tests...they should continue studying the multiplication facts, but once those are mastered, they should be working on division. I am hoping to give the Quarter One post test upon our return from Thanksgiving!

American Education Week

We did a lot of fun activities during American Education Week! We wore sneakers on Monday to kick it off! We wrote main idea paragraphs on Tuesday about our school and what makes it fantastic. We had an amazing Math Night on Thursday and then on Friday, we were privileged to have two parents come read to our class! Special thanks to Mrs. Rumancik and Mr. Beers-Arthur for joining us and sharing their love of literature! Also on Friday the kids got together with our buddy class and they read to the kindergartners! In turn, the kindergartners shared a letter they wrote with our class!

What I'm Thankful For...

WOW...that's a hard statement to follow...let's see if I can make my answer blog worthy...

I'm thankful for...

steve

sophie

maegan

helen

gabriel

jack

matthew

lucy

jerry

jude h.s.

mehta

jessie

emma l.

hasita

nikita

nicholas

sai

vincent

hayley

jude s.

nuhad

cherrie

allie

emma s.

trixy

maliha

hannah

aj

I'm also very thankful for...
...my family...they are my pride and joy...
...my friends...if only I had more time...
...my job...I am very blessed to wake up wanting to go to work!

...and so much more...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my favorite little people's families...enjoy your time together.

What an Amazing Week!

First of all...if you haven't seen the last post, make sure to scroll down...the kids' Chocolate Commercials are below and they are fantastic!

Speaking of fantastic...your kids are awesome. We have had such a great week....read on to find out more...

We started off on Monday participating in a major planting endeavor! We helped Mr. Esko's class plant 75 trees on our property...we planted half of them in the new Bioswale area near the firehall parking lot...and the other half we planted back behind the wetlands, near the wildflower meadow...there were two biologists, three teachers, a couple parents, and about 80 kids...it was a ton of fun, and the kids worked beautifully together in cooperative groups. I took a bunch of pictures that I will compile over the weekend into a slideshow...

The rest of this week has been just as good. We have been working with the Junior Great Books series...this series uses excellent literature to teach students to delve deep into the meaning of the stories...it uses the Shared Inquiry approach and the students are charged with answering questions using examples from the passage to support their thinking, and then we have in depth discussions where the kids can agree and disagree with each other in a very mature conversation...I have been BOWLED over by their ability to discuss literature. I have looked forward to every day and hearing their brilliant minds take apart the passages to make sense of them. We have also spent some time looking at stories told in third person vs. first person, and talked about the effects of the storytelling when either perspective is used. We took our own silent reading books and read passages from them to determine from which perspective their stories were being told.

In Writer's Workshop, I'm pleased to say, that I have conferenced with almost the ENTIRE class on their first published piece! Getting to the point of publishing is quite a process and most of the kids have done an outstanding job using the "pit stops" to help improve their writing. Each "pit stop" is designed to have them look at their piece from a "different set of eyes" to find new ways to enhance their writing. The published pieces are hanging in the classroom for the students to read whenever they choose.

We have started a new unit in Social Studies. Our unit focuses on Economics and is one of my very favorite units. More to come on that next week!

In Math we have been perfecting our multiplication, working with word problems, and delving into division...and then Wednesday, we did something I haven't done with my class before. I had given a quiz and was disappointed in the outcome...so I taught them how to make "test corrections"...every student who scored below a B was asked to complete test corrections to improve their grade. Those quizzes will come home today. Most of the kids made errors in following directions. In upper grades, your quiz score is usually your quiz score...but I feel like this is a transition year and it is important for the kids to 1. be able to show what they know, and 2. learn from their errors...the test corrections will be attached to the quizzes, so that you can review them together. The final grade is an average of the quiz score and the test corrections. We will spend next week solely on division and then be ready for the Quarter 1 post test (yes, I know, a little late...but in my world...better late than never!!)

NEXT WEEK IS AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK...

WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME IN AND

READ YOUR FAVORITE STORY TO OUR CLASS!?!?

Our school is doing lots of really neat things next week to celebrate American Education Week...and one of the things I'd like to do is invite any and all parents (or grandparents!!) into the classroom next week to read a favorite story or chapter from the story. Kids love to be read to and this is a great opportunity to visit our classroom and share your love for literature! Please email me and let me know if you're interested...give me the day you'd like to visit, times that would work for you, and a book you'd like to share. I'll send a confirmation email to you to let you know we'll be expecting you!!

SPEAKING OF GRANDPARENTS...it was so fun meeting so many grandparents this week! And for the grandparents that came Friday...please forgive me for being in PJs!! But teachers NEVER pass up the opportunity to wear our PJs for the day!! ;-) If you weren't able to come in for the breakfast, but want to visit sometime, just throw me an email and we can make that happen.

Have a great weekend...I think Mr. Winter is on his way...

Worth waiting for...the Chocolate Commercials!!

TRIXY

MATTHEW

NIKITA

GABE

EMMA S.

NICHOLAS

HASITA

JACK

LUCY

VINCENT

HANNAH

JUDE H-S

SOPHIE

STEVE

MALIHA

MEHTA

JESSIE

SAI

MAEGAN

JERRY

ALLIE

EMMA L.

AJ

HELEN

"A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011

Well...one big project down!!

Here is the slide show of pictures I've been promising!

Please click on the link below "A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011 and enjoy!!

ALSO...make sure to scroll down and see the other post from yesterday...especially the part about planting trees on Monday...kids should wear shoes and clothes for the outdoors!!!

"A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011

Short, but sweet...

PUN INTENDED..

...wait 'til you see how our chocolate math unit has turned out!

It is SWEET!

Let me break it all down into small "morsels" for you...

The steps that got us to today's candy commercials...

-we created candy companies

-we explored arrays

-we designed arrays for candy bar shape possibilities

-we calculated the area and perimeter of each array in square inches

-we chose a particular shape for our candy bar

-we created a wrapper using 1/4 inch graph paper

-we calculated square inches using 1/4 inch squares (this was NOT easy)

-we brainstormed great "chocolate" words

-we wrote product descriptions

-we turned the product descriptions into commercials

-we visited the computer lab to make final copies of our commercials

-we practiced volume, expression, and fluency with peer suggestions

-and finally...film production!!

I will spend a good part of tomorrow loading the commercials...just be warned...you may have a hard time viewing if your computer is old...I know this from FIRST HAND experience!!

CHOCOLATE is not the only thing we did this week...not even close. Here is a quick (since I'm using the 'short, but sweet' theme) list of our week's "doings"...

-Completed editing and revising daphnia paragraphs.

-Completed final drafts of daphnia paragraphs.

-Read short stories from the Junior Great Book Series and worked on finding evidence to support our thinking...choosing relevant information using sticky notes while reading.

-Practiced the cursive letters i, t, u, w, l, and e.

-Had two fantastic Writer's Workshop periods.

-Visited the computer lab twice...once to practice keyboarding and once to use our keyboarding skills to complete final drafts.

-Saw an informative United Streaming video on Food Chains and Food Webs.

-Took a short science assessment.

-Found estimates using rounding and front-end estimation in multiplication.

-Worked on the algorithm for multiplication of one digit times three or four digit #s.

-Wrote multiplication word problems and solved them.

NEEDS FOR THE CLASSROOM!!!
We have been asked to help plant trees next week with Mr. Esko's class. They are planting trees in the new Bioswail area and down in the wetlands. We need parent volunteers for this undertaking! We will be planting on Monday from 9:45-10:30am and 1-2:30pm...we need help during both times. Please email me at karen.wills@fcps.org if you are able to join us. The raindate for this fun endeavor is Thursday.

We are in need of hand sanitizer and clorox wipes for the classroom. If you can donate some to the classroom it would be very appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

p.s...I haven't forgotten all the fun Fall Festival pictures... I will be very busy tomorrow...

FANTASTIC FALL FRIDAY!

WHAT A WEEK!
And what an end to that week!! Read on to find out how we spent our time this week!

Math
We are finishing up our work with area and perimeter by writing product descriptions for our candy bar creations! We have also been discussing and working with this question..."Why is area measured in SQUARE units and perimeter measured in just plain ole UNITS?!" Kids are often puzzled by this even after multiple hands-on experiences, textbook definitions, and discussions. Just today (it's Monday) we went over a homework from last week and it was mind boggling to me how many kids reverse the two!! Makes me think its more developmental than anything. During this unit we have worked with rectangular arrays and irregular shapes, too. This concept will be reinforced throughout the school year so that the kids are sure to master it if they haven't all ready! Last week we dove into multiplication...since arrays lend itself so nicely to that concept. I have really been pushing the "study the facts at home" and I'm hoping some of the kids are coming home realizing its a daily practice need...until they have them memorized. It is plain to see that your kids understand the concept of multiplication...3x3 is 3 groups of 3 or 3+3+3...and they have many different strategies for solving multiplication equations...now its time to get down to the most efficient way of solving three digit times one digit multiplication...and that is where we're headed this week!

Language Arts
We have a lot going during our Language Arts block. We are peer conferencing and editing/revising our daphnia paragraphs. We are listening to different short stories and identifying characters, setting, problem, solution, and author's message. We are continuing our twice weekly Writer's Workshop time taking many different genres of writing through the writing process. The kids' WW pieces are hanging from hooks in the classroom so that they can read each other's stories, poems, advertisements, etc. during Silent Reading. This week we will be working in groups using short stories written at the kids' instructional levels and working with author's message, 1st person, 3rd person, and many other short story indicators!

Science
We had to send our critters back...but not before we discussed food chains!! And then we read from an upper level textbook about food webs. We intertwined many different food chains to create food webs. We discussed and drew producers, consumers, and decomposers...we read about carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and insectivores. We will continue with our Aquariums unit for another week or two delving into other life science concepts!!

THE WEINBERG and a FANTASTIC FRIDAY
This past week we went to the Weinberg Theater to enjoy the theatrical production of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It was well done and the kids enjoyed it for the most part! The very next day the kids had QUITE A FRIDAY! We started with seven different parents volunteering to bring pumpkins and materials so that we could have a fantastic "Pumpkin Math" activity. Thanks to the number of volunteers, we got to work in groups of four or less!! The kids had SO much fun working with pumpkins and measuring circumference and diameter, predicting and verifying weight, height, and # of seeds. Right smack in the middle of our morning, we joined the entire school population and walked to benefit the homeless of Frederick County. It was a very powerful experience seeing the entire student body, all paired up with their "junior pals" walking together for a cause. Mrs. Moats kindergarten friends are our pals and we enjoyed chatting with them as we walked. As if that wasn't enough for one day...we ended the day with a FABULOUS fall festival party. Thanks again to the many volunteers...all of you...because even if you weren't here with us, I know so many of you donated money so that the room parents could plan and purchase everything needed for the event! Thanks to Mrs. Beers-Arthur and Mrs. Sweeney for their planning and execution of a great party! I'm pretty sure we may have broken records for parents on hand for the party...so thank you for that as well!

ELECTRONICS DAY!!
And in case you haven't heard (or been reminded a MILLION times)...tomorrow, Tuesday the 1st, we will celebrate reaching our "Soaring With Pride" goal for the SECOND time with ELECTRONICS DAY!!

Have a great week...I'll try to get the pictures up tonight...in between trick-or-treating and everything else going on!! I can't believe TOMORROW IS NOVEMBER!!

a wacky, wacky week...

First of all...my apologies for not blogging last weekend! Luckily for me, I have been able to sit and talk with MOST of you this week about your child...in saying that, I am continually impressed by your kids...their ability to persevere when encountering hurdles in math, or any other subject...their respectful behavior...their ability to communicate through writing and through discussions...they are just a FANTASTIC group of kids!

Over the past two weeks (this one being really wacky!) we have accomplished a lot...take a look...

LANGUAGE ARTS
We finished Frindle, wrote about how the author feels about particular characters, read an "A to Z" book titled All About Chocolate, sequenced events from that book about taking the cacao bean from the tree to chocolate, and answered higher level questions about that book.

In Writer's Workshop we have been focusing on organization...bold beginnings, excellent endings, facts with strong details...I can see the kids applying this outside of Writer's Workshop which is very exciting! This past week we wrote about daphnia. The kids have done so much work with daphnia that it was a great subject for them to write an expository piece (non-fiction). This assignment was not modeled at all, just a "cold write" and I was so pleased at the results! The kids will get these paragraphs back next week, we will pull out all the good, find things that are missing, and write final copies. This piece will go into their portfolio, so you will receive a copy, but not the original.

We have also been writing about chocolate! The kids are developing a product description of their candy bars...we are discussing word choice as they ponder words that will make others want to purchase their product. I am excited about the upcoming week where they will turn all of their hard work into a commercial ;-)!!

MATH
In our chocolate unit we have been working on many different math concepts...perimeter, area, arrays, multiplication, analyzing and constructing line graphs, and many difficult calculations! For one of the assignments, I gave the kids calculators...quite a few of them said that they're not allowed to use calculators at home...just a friendly reminder...if we're asking a third grader to analyze and calculate data that includes multiplying decimals, and they haven't had that instruction yet...calculators are a wonderful TOOL for that type of work. :-)

The kids created a candy bar using square inch paper and then calculated the perimeter and area of the bar. Then they created a wrapper using 1/4 inch square paper and calculated the perimeter and area of the wrapper. NEXT they had to figure out how many 1/4 inch squares were in a square inch because they were told their wrapper would cost their company 2 cents per square inch...you should have seen the brain work going on in this room...it was WONDERFUL!!

We are headed into a multiplication and division unit...I know many of the kids are having fun on the website "Carrotsticks" right now...a lot of them are working on addition and subtraction...and although important, I would like the focus to be multiplication facts now. Students should be studying math facts 10 minutes a night starting NOW. Thanks for your help with this!

NEXT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Next Thursday is our field trip to the Weinberg Theater to see the story, "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble"...thank you to the many parents that volunteered to join us. I am limited to three volunteers that day...but sent home a note yesterday that invites any and all parents to join us Friday am for a Pumpkin Math activity! I will need the slip signed so that I can prepare based on how many parents will attend, so please send that back if you are able. I am asking that parents help supply some of the necessary items for this fun morning. On the slip there is a place you can offer to bring a pumpkin and/or some other supplies. Even if you can't come that morning, but would like to donate a pumpkin or scale (the two things we're usually short), please let me know. Friday afternoon is our Fall Festival party...although the kids are allowed to wear costumes that day, this party focuses on the celebration of a wonderful season...my favorite actually...it is not a Halloween party. Ms. Beers-Arthur and Mrs. Sweeney have been busy planning a fun afternoon...thanks to all who have sent donations or are volunteering to help that day. I look forward to seeing all of you.

As always...if you have any questions...don't hesitate to email me. Have a great weekend!

Monday...where does the weekend go?

So...here's the thing...I know it's not an excuse, but just to give you a snapshot into my life...I had EIGHT games to attend or get kids to this weekend, a dance rehearsal, a baby shower, 2 religious ed classes (one of which I'm teaching), and then there's just regular old housework, my kids, my husband, and my dog...
I don't say any of this because I want you to feel sorry for me...just know that when I leave on Friday, I seriously think I'm going to blog...and then when I get to school on Monday, it's the very next time I've thought of the blog again!!
ANYWAY...we had a wonderful week...let me tell you about it!

Social Studies

This past week we were learning about Frederick County landmarks. Instead of ME teaching the class about the five important landmarks, we developed expert groups. These groups used different print resources (brochures, articles) and electronic resources to research the importance of their landmark. Each student did their own research and then the group got together to share what they found and decide what was most important to teach. THEN the groups had to decide HOW they would teach the rest of the class about their landmarks. They were given total control of the product, as long as it included the important information: the location, the year it was made/found/built, and most of all, the importance to Frederick County. We had posters, written reports, rap songs...and all of the groups made a visual for their presentation, too! Below are our five expert groups...we all learned a lot and had a lot of fun...take a look!

The Schifferstadt House

The Beatty-Craemer House

The Museum of Civil War Medicine


The Catoctin Furnace

The Community Bridge

Science

Well, as I asked the kids...would you like the good news or the bad news? They chose bad first, too! The bad news is...all of our daphnia and guppies died within a couple days of arriving at our school. This definitely made studying the population of minute organisms difficult!! The good news is that we were able to continue with another experiment we were working on while awaiting NEW organisms. One of the experiments we did was one involving evaporation. I had six aquariums filled with water and asked the kids if they thought putting one in the sunlight and one in the dark would create two different results. We discussed the possibilities at length and then decided to see for ourselves. We measured the depth of the water in centimeters to the tenths (a lesson in itself!) and then put three of our aquariums in the dark science closet and three of them outside. We waited three days and then measured (in tenths) again...and what do you know...we were able to verify our hypothesis...the water left in sunlight evaporated more than the water in the dark. We then followed up with a fun weather video clip done by the county that reinforces the concepts of the water cycle and helps the kids see that the amount of water on earth is actually always the same...over half our earth is water and the sun is the energy source that changes the state of the water...but not the amount. It was a great lesson with some awesome data to analyze...take a look!!

Math

We are going to leave operations of numbers for a little while and focus on area and perimeter...and we're going to do it in a unit we like to call, "Chocolate Creations"...and that's all I'm going to say, because I know some of the kids read the blog and I don't want to give away anything that we're doing. HOWEVER...make sure your child is working on basic math facts at home...they should know their addition and subtraction facts by heart...so if they don't...you have my permission to make them practice NIGHTLY!! And then once those are mastered, or possibly simultaneously, they should be working on multiplication and division facts...these should be memorized...no two ways about it! We can discuss this more at conferences if you'd like. Speaking of conferences...

Conferences

Next week is a CRAZY schedule due to conferences...please refer to the FCPS calendar and the UES News for details. I will be sending home a paper that I would appreciate you sending back ASAP...this paper allows you to jot down questions/topics that you'd like discussed during our very short 15 minute conference. This way I can plan our conference so that the time is used most efficiently. Thank you for your help with this!

Fall Festival Party

Hopefully by now you've seen an email from our home room parents by now...but I heard some of the email addresses didn't work and a few hard copies will need to be sent...I have copied the note into the text below so you can see it...

Dear Excellent Parents of the Wonderful Wills' Class Kids,

Maile Beers-Arthur here (Sophie's mom). I am sending this letter to you on behalf of Mrs. Wills. Our Fall Festival will be Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The party will be from 1:15-2:20 p.m. If your student would like to wear a costume, they certainly may, but please make sure they can walk easily in it. Also, please – no masks, no elaborate hair spray or make-up and no weapons.

For safety reasons, it is a school policy that no younger siblings attend the party.

Kim Sweeney (Emma’s mom) and Maile Beers-Arthur are our Room Parents. Please direct communication to Maile.

I am collecting optional donations of $3.00 that I will pass along to Maile for the purchase of party materials, snacks, and supplies.

Please send in your donations by Monday, October 24th. You can put them in an envelope marked “Fall Festival Donations” on the front.

We also need about 5 parents total to help with the Festival. We’ll have crafts, decorate something to eat, and some games. Please let Maile know if your child has any food allergies.

If you would like to help, or have any questions, please contact Maile Beers-Arthur at 301-874-2558 or maile@apmediation.com.

Thanks for making this Fall Festival a success!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Wills

A quick, great week!

Just went to check something on the blog and realized I never pushed the "publish" button...SO SORRY!!

Here is Friday's posting!!

Weeks like this are always a little hairy, but we managed to get a ton done! Read on to find out!

In Lanugage Arts this week we focused on summary writing. I first asked the kids (without any teaching of summaries) to write a summary of Chapter 8 from Frindle. We briefly defined summary - what happened in the chapter. The next day I taught a lesson on summary writing. We read an article and then read a summary of the article. We picked out all of the important parts of a summary. Then we created a rubric together of all of those important parts. I then asked the kids to take out the summaries that they had written the day before. The kids were asked to use the rubric to evaluate their summaries. If they felt changes needed to be made, they were to make a new copy and staple it to the old one. I was SO proud of the kids' decisions! They did a super job. I collected those and then graded them using the rubric we made together. We will continue to write summaries all year and will gradually increase the complexity of their writing. Right now my focus is on the important parts of a summary!

I'm excited to say that this week we had TWO students participate in the AUTHOR'S CHAIR during Writer's Workshop. This means that two of the kids in our classroom have taken a piece of writing through all of the steps of the writing process and published a piece! We have lots of other students ready to begin the publishing step, too, so the AUTHOR'S CHAIR will get lots of use in the weeks to come!

The kids took a cursive writing pretest this week. As with all subjects, we have quite a wide range when it comes to what cursive instruction/mastery the kids have. I will be working to teach those who need instruction, and work on perfecting with those kids who already know how to form the letters.

In Social Studies this week we are continuing to finish brochures, but we also did some research on Frederick County landmarks. The kids used print resources as well as on line resources to gather information about five different landmarks in Frederick County. Each group was assigned one landmark and will teach the rest of us about the landmark sometime next week.

We begin a Science unit next week titled, Aquariums. This is a unit the kids will love! They will get to experience all of the steps in the scientific process while participating in this unit. More to come as we get into it!

We were busy in Math this week. The kids wrote subtraction story problems and then we did a gallery walk around the room solving each other's problems...it was a lot of fun and great practice! The kids also took a "Moving with Math" test on the computer that scored them on the third grade level. This test will help me ensure there are not gaps as we continue to go through the fourth grade math curriculum.

One of the questions asked at Back to School Night was about the Science Fair. I just received notice that the Countywide Science Fair will be May 19th at Oakdale High School. This usually means our science fair will be the week prior. More details to come...just an FYI.

We participated in a Tornado Drill this week. The kids had outstanding behavior and followed directions really well. Ask them about it, they can tell you where our class goes for a tornado drill.

And last, but not least...your kids earned their Soaring With Pride goal of 28 stickers...we celebrated with a PJ party...you'll have to try to imagine, because I forgot to take pictures! All of the desks were pushed to the perimeter of the room...sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows were strewn EVERYWHERE...kids in pjs, laying around, hugging stuffed animals and...wait for it...WORKING!! It was a busy work day and they got a lot accomplished! I continue to enjoy this wonderful group of kids and was very happy to celebrate their accomplishments!!

REMINDER: Pictures are Thursday, October 6th!!

Have a great weekend!!

It's TRUE!

Tomorrow we are celebrating successfully reaching our "Soaring with Pride" goal of 28 stickers!! We set this goal together the first week of school and are very excited to be celebrating! Tomorrow your child may wear his/her pjs, bring a pillow and/or blanket, and a stuffed friend. We will lay around the room while doing our work tomorrow! I know what you're thinking right now..."Mrs. Wills is nuts!" I think you might be right! I'll post pictures this weekend. Wish me luck!

Happy Thursday!

so much to share...so little time...

First of all...a HUGE thank you to AJ's mom and meemaw...they worked on something for our class while meemaw was visiting...and now we have classroom cushions!! These cushions are one of the things the kids can use their tickets for...and boy, have they been earning tickets! I have a cute picture of two of our friends on the cushions from yesterday that I will post later!

Secondly...Scholastic book orders are due Monday. Every month I will send home a Scholastic book order. Jessie's mom has offered to organize and mail the orders for us...thank you, Mrs. Kilgore! Ordering books is totally optional...whenever you choose to order books, our classroom gets points that I can apply to free books for the classroom...so as we get closer to holidays, think about placing an order! If you have any questions, throw me an email.

Now...onto the academics!

Did you know that your children are creating travel brochures? Applying the knowledge gained from Unit 1 in Social Studies (climate, physical geography, natural resources, mapping, directions), the kids have been diligently working on a final product...a travel brochure! The goal of this brochure is to entice people to visit and inform possible tourists about one of the 50 states in our country! I can't wait for you to see them!

The research needed to make the brochure integrated Language Arts indicators, too! The students needed to skim complex text to find the main ideas of passages...we used non-fiction literature and an online database to search for information.

The kids have continued working on during reading strategies while reading their novel...we have focused mainly on making inferences. The kids are improving as we move through each chapter...

In writing, the kids are working on creative pieces and taking their piece through the writing process. We have students at all different stages of writing right now...and we should have some published pieces in the near future. Writer's Workshop is twice a week, but it's certainly not the only time the kids are writing. Directed writing assignments take place in all aspects of the curriculum. Writer's Workshop is the place where the writing process and the six traits of writing are directly instructed.

Phew...teaching math is both exhilarating and exhausting!! We have kids at many different levels, so I am constantly using flexible groups in the classroom. We moved from numeration and understanding place value with big numbers to adding, subtracting, and estimating with larger numbers. Every lesson has a math warm up...a challenging problem to get the kids focused and engaged in math...we then have some sort of concept mini lesson, followed by group work and independent follow-up. We also focus on writing in math. It is important to reinforce that your children need to be using many details in their math writing to help describe how they solve problems, show multiple strategies, and use whatever tools necessary. REMINDER...if your child brings home an assignment that is too hard...that is MY mistake...please encourage your child (maybe show them this blog) to turn in the paper with a note from you...this helps me know where gaps are that I'm unaware of. I realize in a perfect world, I would recognize all the gaps...but that is not always the case. I provide a perfect world 4/5 days a week...HA! Just kidding.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend. Reminder...next week is a little nutty...we have off on Thursday and then a 2 hour early dismissal on Friday.

TGIF!!

That's always a popular phrase after a five day week! We accomplished so much...where to begin?

Math
After taking the numeration quiz, we moved into adding and subtracting large numbers, estimating, and problem solving with those big numbers. I've been working with two groups...splitting the kids in half in order to get to know them better as mathematicians...this time has proved very valuable. It has also been worthwhile as I analyze their Quarter One pretests and figure out who needs to learn what! We will follow up next week with more subtraction, we will take fact tests, and we will move into multiplication and division...that should take most of the rest of the month for sure!

Language Arts
We are in full swing with Writer's Workshop...and we have amazing authors!! I have introduced the drafting, peer conference, and revising stations...this coming week the kids will be introduced to the editing, and teacher conference stations. Each station helps your child reassess their writing and each station has a different focus on one or two of the six traits of writing. The kids are so busy following directions at each station, they hardly notice how many times they're reading their drafts and making changes...it's AWESOME!!

This week our focus in reading was on making an inference. And I was so pleased with their inference skills! During reading time we have split into three groups, again, so I can get a feel for their ability to discuss the story and make inferences. I am really enjoying getting to know your kids as learners.

Word Study
I am making this its own category this week...because I realize you may need some clarification...

On Monday your kids took a pretest with a focus...homophones...then, based on the results of the pretest, your child made his/her own list based on his/her own needs...this list was approximately 10 words and it was put on a sheet of paper called the "Word Study Contract".

Homework on Mondays is always "do something creative with your words IN YOUR SPIRAL" (the 'in your spiral' part will make sense soon)...this can be writing the words in bubble letters, writing the words in pyramids, writing the words in rainbow letters, etc...

On Tuesday and Wednesday your child's homework is 10 MEANINGFUL sentences...5 a day, or if they choose, all 10 on one of the two days...these sentences have to be turned in...in order to be considered 'meaningful' they must use excellent word choice, be interesting, and use the word study word properly...you will see this develop as the year progresses...

On Thursdays the kids are charged with studying...I would like them to do this anyway they'd like, but I did show them the website, "Spelling City" where they can type in their words and then play games and take a pretest...

On Friday the kids will take a test...they do this with a partner, since there are 28 different lists in the classroom...and now...back to the spiral...some kids will leave the word study lists at home...if this happens, the spiral is the "back up list"...

The process sounds crazy, but it is actually a very organized way for each child to have a list that is just right for them...please email me if you are confused on any night and I am happy to help!

Social Studies
We are continuing with Unit 1...we have been discussing physical geography, climate, and natural resources of different regions. We started with Maryland, and now each student has chosen a different state to research. We have used non-fiction texts and Culture Grams, an online research portal, to collect information about their state. This coming week they will work on creating a travel brochure...a document that will entice others to visit their state!

Miscellaneous
Whether we like it or not...the grades have arrived...
Today the kids brought home two grades...one on a reading paper and one on a math quiz...as I explained to the kids...anytime a student scores a C or below, they should have the paper signed and then return that paper to me. Then the student and I will talk about what he/she can do to improve the grade. If your child does very poorly on a quiz...then they may not have been ready for a quiz...I take responsiblity for that. I want them to do some extra practice and have another opportunity to improve. Again, any questions...please email me.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend...enjoy your families...and the wonderful weather!!

Happy Monday?!?!

Obviously, I'm having a hard time building up the routines, too! When I woke my children up this morning, all three asked for more time to sleep...I think they're still struggling getting into the school routine...as am I, since this is the SECOND time in a row I did not blog on Friday or Saturday....

Well, let me tell you about our week last week...

First of all, it was wonderful seeing so many of you at Back to School Night! If you were unable to attend, a manila folder should have come home last week with some important information in it...as well as a volunteer form. If you are interested in being a classroom volunteer, I need that form back ASAP, please! I also need the blog PHOTO permission form so that I can start photographing the FRONT of your child! ;-)

I also want to thank you for getting your children to school so promptly! They are supposed to unpack, copy their agenda, complete the Daily Language Assignment, and be ready to roll at 8:35...hard to do if you're rolling in at 8:30, so thank you!!

We are working on Before and During Reading Strategies in Language Arts right now. As a class, we are reading a book titled Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet. It is written by Andrew Clements, and is a really engaging book! I have been talking to the kids about how they are strong readers, and that they use strategies while they're reading and they're not even aware they're using the strategies! We spent some time comparing fiction and non-fiction and we used those books to talk about good reading strategies BEFORE you read a text. This coming week we will continue with During Reading strategies while reading their own novel in school, and at home.

In Writing we have begun using the Writer's Workshop model. Even kids who do not choose to write for pleasure end up enjoying Writer's Workshop...and these kids are off to a great start! I can't wait for you to see the ideas they are coming up with. Speaking of ideas...that has been our focus and we've created lots of different ways to record ideas for writing in our Writer's Notebooks.

In Social Studies we've immersed ourselves in maps...cardinal and intermediate points, grid systems, etc...and now we're going to use those skills as we identify national landmarks and symbols all over our country. The kids are enjoying this unit and will be researching a particular state and making a brochure in class that will be a culminating project of all that is learned!

In Math we've continued our numeration unit and we have had fun playing a game called "The Digits Game"...this game is fantastic and is one you could play at home. Let your child be the "teacher" and you be the student. Use your logic and deductive reasoning to identify the correct number...they ask to play it everyday! They just love it! We are heading into the unit addition and subtraction of bigger numbers. We will be applying the skills and working to persevere when solving problems!!

This past week I had a student that spent a huge amount of time on homework because it was hard. I got an email from the Mom alerting me to this...and I am SOOO thankful. Please, if your child is ever spending 45 minutes on a particular assignment, STOP THEM, write me a note, and I will work with your child to make sure the assignments are more appropriate for their learning. I really appreciate that line of communication.

Have a great week...I will REALLY try to post Friday or Saturday at the latest!

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT...

Is tomorrow from SEVEN to EIGHT...I previously wrote it was a different time and I want to make sure I correct this...

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night from 7-8 pm!!

Pictures from Week One...

So...you will notice that all of these pictures are either from far away, or of the back of your children...that is because I have not sent home the "permission to photograph" form yet...be looking for it at Back to School Night!

Back to School Night is this Wednesday evening from 7-8 pm...I hope you all can come and visit the classroom, hear about the curriculum, and see where your child spends over 6 hours a day! You will also have an opportunity to fill out a form to volunteer in the classroom or from home. I am in need of one or two room parents, so if you're interested in this task, please see me that evening!

Until then...enjoy the pictures...we had a week of amazing weather, so we tried to get outside for writing each day...the last photos are of your kids taking a math assessment...they use "privacy shields" to avoid "sightseeing"!! ;-)

Please forgive my tardiness...

I have to say...I think I have a lot of nerve using those words with you all!! Those are the EXACT words I DON'T want to hear from your kids, yet they were the first words out of my mouth!! ;-)

I do apologize for just getting to you now, but I wanted to do this post justice, and I have literally been on a baseball field the entire weekend!! Both of my boys were in the Essex Labor Day tournament this weekend, and I have to be back on the field at NINE am tomorrow morning for one of Connor's games.

Anyway...I know you did not check out the blog to read about mine or my children's weekends...so let me tell you about YOUR kids!!

WOW...what a week! You all have sent wonderful, delightful children to me...and I cannot begin to thank you!! I know many of you are thinking, "Is she talking about MY kid?" I am. My 28 students are fantastic...they're good listeners, excellent discussion participants, and overall awesome kids!!

SOARING WITH PRIDE
This is the theme for our positive behavior support system at Urbana . The students have reviewed the expectations and have been informed how they will be rewarded (classroom stickers and star student stickers) and how they will be reminded/what consequences they will face if those expectations are not met. "Think Sheets" are one of the ways we're asking kids to think about their actions. A think sheet is given after a warning...a silent warning. In my classroom that silent warning is a "Thinkman" card...this is a picture of the same "man" that is on the Think Sheet...it is supposed to warn the student that "I've asked you to stop that behavior and now I'm leaning toward giving you a Think Sheet." (I will go over this more at BTSN.) This positive behavior support will bring consistency throughout our school...our entire staff is involved and we like what we've seen the first week back!

Math
In Math this week we've been focusing on numeration and place value. We've been working on "really big numbers" and using many different ways to manipulate these numbers. The students have worked with a place value chart, had to read numbers aloud, shown their ability to write the numbers in expanded form, composed and decomposed the numbers, and found "really big numbers" of their own!! The kids also took a Quarterly pretest this week. The results of this test help me to structure the lessons and groupings for each concept in math. I will be scoring them this weekend and will spend the remainder of Quarter One covering fourth grade indicators and extending/enriching when appropriate.

Writing
I am so excited about writing this year. The kids spent all week making different types of entries into their "Writer's Notebooks." The concept behind this notebook is to give the kids a place to store their IDEAS...which happens to be the first writing trait we are focusing on. We are having so much fun putting different topics, lists, and memories into it! Some kids are writing full blown novels already!! Now that we have these notebooks set up, they are one of a few choices that kids have when they finish their classwork. Many kids are dying to take them home and work on them...I am allowing that...BUT please refrain from helping them "improve" their pieces. These pieces will be taken through all steps of the writing process and need to be their own work! Trust me, I know how hard it is to not help...but try not to, please!

Language Arts
I read a book this week called By My Brother's Side. It was a story written by Tiki and Ronde Barber and is about when they were young. It's a wonderful story that Mrs. Wright, our media specialist, recommended...we used it to discuss the Pillars of Character that our school recognizes: citizenship, caring, responsibility, respect, fairness, and trustworthiness. The kids worked cooperatively to define these six pillars. Next week we will dive into unit one which deals with reading strategies. We will be responding to literature and having class discussions... it's a great unit!

Social Studies
This past week we focused on maps and globes. This coming week we will be focusing more on grid systems and how they're used, maps of our state, and how important it is to be neat and correct when mapping!!

I have quite a few pictures to share with you from this past week...I will get them uploaded tomorrow when I return from Essex. I really need to hit the hay now.

I can't reiterate enough...thanks for sending me kids who are ready to dive in and get busy...we're going to have a great year!

Welcome to Open House!

You must be on the back page of your scavenger hunt if you're sitting here reading the blog!Good job!

If you brought your supplies...feel free to organize your desk...or just leave them here and we'll organize on Monday.

I am really excited for the upcoming year and so glad that YOU are in my class!

Have a great weekend and enjoy your families...oh, and take a green piece of paper with the blog address...when you get home, tell your parents to add it to their bookmarks or favorites, OK?

WELCOME to my new third graders and their families!!

WELCOME!

This is the place where I will post information every week about the goings on in our classroom. I am guessing that since you have found this blog, you have received my letter!! If not, you should be getting it any day now. I am so excited for the upcoming year...we are going to have a great time together while stretching our brains!!

I hope to get a chance to meet you all on Friday, August 26th from 3-4pm at the UES Open House...feel free to bring your school supplies and put them in your desks that afternoon...it will make the backpack a lot lighter Monday morning!! When you get to the classroom...look for your desk...on it will be a Scavenger Hunt to help you become familiar with the classroom and our surroundings. We have quite a few new students to the third grade magnet program this year...make sure to introduce yourselves to each other so that you can start off Monday the 29th already having made a new friend.

If you'd like to communicate with me BEFORE the 26th....maybe you'd like me to know what name you like to be called, or you'd like to tell me something interesting about your summer, or maybe you just have a question...please feel free to email me... karen.wills@fcps.org!

Enjoy the rest of your summer break...see you VERY soon!!

Mrs. Wills

oops...before I go...look what Nicky's been up to....

Nicky and his family are visiting his Grandparents in Scottsdale Arizona.

Nicky began his vacation playing in the pool.

Nicky was able to run the bases at Chase Field after the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 5-3.

Nicky practiced soccer at 8:00 am in the morning at the amazing Scottsdale Sports complex with 10 soccer fields and lush green Bermuda grass.

Final Nicky visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. He saw a lot of animals (Wolves, Bobcats, Snakes, Black Bears) and beautiful desert scenery.