Where to begin?!?

First and foremost...thank you SO much to Ms. Kim and Mrs. Akula...they made cookies for us this week...not any old cookies...we had Igneous Rocks, Metamorphic Rocks, and Sedimentary Rocks...the cookies were helpful in our lessons, and also very yummy!

The kids have been working their tails off getting ready for our Wax Museum...wanna see?!

I told you they've been working hard...we've finished final drafts...each student has had a revision meeting, and final touches have been added. Now, as I'm SURE you know, it's practice time!! Yesterday and today we presented to the class and we all took turns telling each other how we can improve as we practice over the weekend...that's right...PRACTICE OVER THE WEEKEND...PLEASE!! We have our first run (no costumes or props needed) Monday morning and then on Tuesday its DRESS REHEARSAL DAY...we will be doing two different runs sharing our wax museum with the second grade magnet students and the rest of our third grade friends. Wednesday we'll take a break and then the "real" Wax Museum is THURSDAY at 9am in the cafeteria for...YOU! When you arrive, please go to the office, sign in, and go to the cafeteria. There will be a slide show scrolling that the kids have prepared for you...it will give you an idea of all of the important people you will meet that morning. Our tour is a walking tour...the wax figures will come in around 9:10 am, take their places, an introduction will be given, and then you will move from group to group learning about all of our famous people. The entire tour takes 45 min to one hour...please plan to stay the whole time. The kids are very excited and I think you will be SO impressed with how much they've grown as students and speakers!!

This project has taken quite a bit of our time, but there is life beyond the wax museum...read on...

Language Arts - we have been reading from the Sciencesaurus text about rocks and minerals. We've used sub-headings to help form purpose questions...an excellent study skill...we gathered quite a bit of knowledge and then got to break apart each type of cookie...I mean, rock...and get a better picture (and taste) of what the book was telling us.

Science - all the while we've been continuing to monitor our compost and our worm friends. Quite a few of our worm friends are no longer with us...after observing them, and designing our own experiments for the worms, some just couldn't stand the activity!! While decomposers are making nutritious soil in our compost piles, we've been busy observing rocks and minerals. As a class we know what to look for to help determine whether the object is a rock or mineral...we've discussed the properties of minerals, and Monday we'll be doing tests to determine the hardness of certain minerals.

Math - man, did we fit in a lot of math this week...we finished with line plots and finding averages, we worked with double line graphs and discussed that line graphs are used for showing information OVER TIME, and now...we've moved into decimals...yesterday we had a great lesson...I asked the question, "A decimal number has been rounded to 6, what might the decimal number be?" This question spurred so many answers...we took all of them, wrote them on cards, and then everyone participated in an ordering activity...we then used the hundreds, tens, and ones blocks to create different decimals numbers...all of this while making sure to use the proper terms when reading decimals...NO using the word "POINT"!! The decimal tells us to say "and"...so that when you see 24.792, you say, "twenty-four AND seven hundred ninety-two thousandths." Today we worked with adding and subtracting decimals....and we took a quiz on line plots and line graphs...whew! I told you we got a lot accomplished!

We took the week off of word study...we're headed right back into it with prefixes, suffixes, and root words in the coming weeks. Speaking of the coming weeks...at the end of this post I have listed important dates...please make a note of them.

Last, and on a much more serious note, Logan Cresswell's uncle, Sgt. David Smith, a Marine serving with 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Company Battalion B, based in Frederick, was injured last weekend serving our country in Afghanistan. He died this past Tuesday. Mrs. Fike, our school counselor, came in to talk to our class about Logan's uncle...explaining that he is a hero and a wonderful role model...and discussing how Logan is going to be sad for awhile...he and his uncle were very close. Mrs. Fike and I talked with the kids about not talking to Logan about it unless he wants to talk, and that it is important to just act normal...so that school is a place Logan can come and keep to his routine. I am so proud of your children...they have been compassionate and understanding...they have been absolutely amazing.

I continue to love what I do...and that is because of your kids...they make my job delightful. Have a good weekend and please make note of the below dates...

FEBRUARY

Tuesday, February 2 - Dress Rehearsal - Wax Museum

Thursday, February 4 - Wax Museum for parents - 9am in the cafeteria

Friday, February 5 - Multicultural Fair/last day for coins for Haiti

Friday, February 12 - Valentine's Day Party 1:30-2:30pm

Monday, February 15 - No School - President's Day

Tuesday, February 23 - 2 hour early dismissal

Happy Short Week!

Hi, everyone...we had a very busy two days...but before I get to that...do we have any bakers out there? Next week we are diving into the "rocks" portion of our science unit and I found recipes for different edible rocks!! I would love to know if anyone out there would like to bake some this So check out the website below... http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/curriculum/MISmart/rocks/edible.html and to email me, send to karen.wills@fcps.org. Thanks ahead of time!!

This week:

MATH: we are working on line graphs and diving into decimals!

SCIENCE: we built compost piles, observed our decomposer friends...the worms, added them to our compost piles, and are continuing to monitor the decomposition that is going on in our compost piles. We conducted experiments with our worms yesterday...we tested whether or not the worms prefer light to dark areas and we tested whether they like wet or dry areas. Then the kids designed their own experiments that we will conduct next week. You have amazing scientists for kids!!

LANGUAGE ARTS: we are heavy into publishing our biographies in the first person. The kids are doing a good job. I meet with each student to revise...organization is very important with this piece of writing and many kids need to make changes in order to tell the story correctly. Please be thinking about your child's outfit for our wax museum...they need to wear or bring something that will help the person listening identify with the character they are portraying. I am still waiting on four of the orange papers that need to be signed acknowledging that you are aware they need help planning and are aware you have been invited!

OTHER NEWS: Our Valentine's Day party is scheduled for Friday, February 12th from 1:30-2:20. Mrs. Gallo sent an email/letter to all students' families...this letter lets you know how you can help, and also gives you a complete list of the kids in our class. School rule: bring one Valentine for each student in your class. Thank you for making sure your child is prepared on that day.

Have a great weekend!

We are Soaring with Pride...

Where to begin?! So much to share...let's start with how excellent our behavior has been...we continue to rake in the Soaring with Pride stickers. At the beginning of the month the kids predicted how many stickers we would receive this month...I asked them to adjust their predictions today based on how many we have right now...we have 26...and we have 7 more school days...over half the class thinks we will have more than 47 stickers by Jan 31...and I gotta tell you....they could be right!

Here's how our week went down...

In Language Arts, the students have been researching, taking notes, and organizing those notes in order to write the biography of their very important person. Each student is working at his/her own pace and the entire class is doing an excellent job. All students must be finished reading their books and articles AND taking notes by next Thursday when they return from the long weekend. There are a few kids who will be bringing their books home this weekend. We will be in the computer labs on Thursday and Friday publishing the biographies....many students have already started this endeavor! The Wax Museum timeline I sent home is a tight one and they're going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks. But they're very motivated and all are doing such a nice job.


Their writing skills have improved so much! Wait until you see the narrative essays they are bringing home this week. I was very impressed. I want every student to continue to PROOFREAD their work for punctuation and capitalization errors...these can be caught with one read through before my eyes get to their paper!!


In Math this week we have been working with line plots, finding the mode of the data, and finding the mean (or the average). We collected data about our class and found the mean height of all of our classmates to be 53 inches! The mode was a tie between 51 and 53 inches! We also wrapped up the geometry unit with a test today. There were 23 questions and a bonus...measuring and drawing angles...I was pleased to see how many students attempted this optional bonus.


And finally...the big news of the week...our new Science unit: Rocks, Soil, and Fossils. Sometime today we are expecting the arrival of our very own decomposers...the earthworms! The kids are very excited! We read and discussed composting this week and built our own...it was tons of fun...thank you to Ms. Wichman, Allie's mom, for helping us with this task...take a look for yourself...scroll down to the next blog entry!


In closing I'd like to leave you with a few important dates to mark on your calendar and a few needs for the classroom.



Tuesday, February 2 - Wax Museum dress rehearsal for second grade and third grade students

Thursday, February 4 - Wax Museum presentation for parents 9am

Friday, February 5 - Multicultural Fair at UES

Saturday, February 27 - Dancing Bear Toy store...wax museum figures can perform there...more details to come, just mark your calendars!


March 8-12 - MSA testing for 3rd graders (please do not schedule any appointments on these days if you can help it!)



Classroom Needs: kleenex and "Post-It" brand sticky notes (squares 3"x 3")

Thanks for your help with the needs...looking forward to a fun filled February...enjoy your long weekend...I plan to...headed to Chattanooga, TN to see my oldest son and his wife...they bought a new house, and we're excited to spend some family time together!

Composting!

Wow...

So...I wouldn't have chosed today for our FOURTH snow day...yikes...wonder what January and February hold for us? Oh well...we had a jam packed week anyway...let me start with...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I missed all of your little people, and I was worried that after being gone for SIXTEEN days we'd have to start back at square one...but not your kids...we jumped right back into it and they have been AWESOME!

LANGUAGE ARTS

Just this week...in four days...they wrote multi-paragraph narrative essays...and they are incredible! I have about 6 more kids that need a conference with me for revision and then we'll be done. The kids had a choice to type their first draft or write it...most kids chose word processing, so their revisions were a little easier, but the kids who chose to write did a fantastic job...and THEN typed!! Our long, hard work on paragraphs has paid off!! This week we also have been continuing our biography unit...I was excited for today because the kids were going to be picking their "important person" that they will eventually represent in our Wax Museum. We will be starting this process on Monday. This past week, in order to prepare them for this next writing assignment, we read two different biographies...Louis Braille and Thomas Edison...they identified the main ideas, necessary supporting details, and then organized all of their notes on a graphic organizer. As a small group, we wrote the biography in the first person (just as they will do) about their important people. I believe they are ready...but ready or not, we start Monday!

MATH

This week in Math we had one of our best math lessons EVER! We used the first day back to review lines, measuring angles, geometry vocabulary, etc. While we were reviewing we drew triangles with particular angle measurements...and discovered that triangles' three angles always add up to 180 degrees! The next day I asked the kids to do an investigation about how to find the area of a triangle. They all cut out their triangles and began investigating....I wish you could have been here...they had rulers, grid paper, protractors, they were talking, thinking...it was energizing...and guess what?!?! They flippin' figured it out! Some kids realized that if you put that triangle on a rectangle, it was 1/2 and they knew how to find the area of a rectangle. SO they found the area of the rectangle and then divided by 2! Some kids traced it on grid paper and counted squares, and one child figured that if you folded the two corners into the triangle, it created a rectangle, he found the area of that rectangle and multiplied by two! It was such an "ah-ha" moment for all of them. I asked them why they thought I chose to teach the area of a triangle like this, and one of the kids said, "So we could figure it out ourselves..." YUP...and they sure did. We will finish up this quarter working on line plots, line graphs, and decimals.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We finished up the Social Studies unit on Coming to America this week...we did a Readers Theater called "First Stop, Ellis Island" and then performed it for Mrs. Humerick and Mr. Clutz's classes...it was really a great play...it focused on the hardships of immigrants in the early 1900's and taught the kids about how quotas were put into place around 1922...and what that meant for people as they got off the boats. I was very proud of the oral communication skills the kids used to perform this play...they are improving daily in their self confidence and in their ability to speak with that confidence (and a couple of them already had plenty :-).) I am so looking forward to you seeing them in a performance role later this winter.

HAVE A GOOD LONG WEEKEND

Well...I am at school as we speak (because there is NOTHING wrong with the roads)...catching up and writing this post. But I wish the room was full of the chatter of some of the greatest kids I've ever taught...but since they're not here, I'll turn up my music and get some work done. Enjoy your early weekend...and as always, email me with questions or concerns.

This just in...WINTER BREAK STARTS EARLY!

I'm sure this is very exciting news to your kids...but I have to tell you...I'm kind of bummed. Not only did I have a few academic things to wrap up before break...but I had a holiday gift that I wanted to give the kids, and some fun lessons on holidays around the world. Oh well...not in my control, right?

Well, here is what I would have told all of your kids on Wednesday, had I seen them:

"Have a very merry whatever it is you celebrate. Enjoy your families and friends. Eat lots of yummy foods. Give your brains a break...and come back ready to work hard in 2010! Be safe, healthy and have a Happy New Year!"

And then I would have asked for a handshake or a hug...not everyone likes a hug...but its always my preference. :-)

May you find peace and happiness in whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year...I plan to.

Happy New Year to you all!!

Snowy Saturday...

Hello to my favorite students' families...are you staying warm?

We had a great week...here's how it all went down...

Math
We are heavy into geometry...we discovered the difference between prisms and pyramids, cones and cylinders, we worked with bases, faces, vertices, edges...we used pattern blocks to show transformations (slides), rotations (turns), and reflections (flips)...and then traced those pattern block shapes to determine perimeter measuring to the closest centimeter...this was all after our measurement of angles using protractors...the kids love geometry...and so do I! We are going to experiment with finding the area of irregular shapes in the few days we have left before winter break (hopefully!?!).

Language Arts
Our language arts curriculum focuses on reading Socical Studies texts...identifying text features of non-fiction and determining importance when reading non-fiction. I like to bring in biographies during this part of Language Arts. They're reading enough SS text during Social Studies...so we're determining importance when reading biographies. This past week each child was allowed to choose between Thomas Alva Edison and Louis Braille. They are reading and note-taking...determining what is important in each chapter. They will be synthesizing this information in the beginning of January, when our focus will turn to writing multi-paragraph reports. This is all preparation for a fun project I call, The Wills Wax Museum. Each child will be choosing a person who has made a positive impact on our country...someone who has worked for the common good. They will research this person using articles from the computer, books from the media center, and of course, their almighty schema! They will produce a multi-paragraph biography of their important person, and then YOU will be invited to visit our museum as your child BECOMES that important person. Many of the students who were in the 2nd grade magnet class came to our museum last year, so they are already excited about the prospect of this project. There is a lot of writing that goes into this biography study...hence the reason I have been pushing writing paragraphs down your child's throat...in order to move to multi-paragraph, they MUST be able to write a solid paragraph...and I'm happy to say...they're ready! I won't know the date for our museum for awhile...it depends on our schedule...but I can tell you that I will give you at least three weeks notice.

Social Studies
This unit has us exploring the diversity of our community...in order to do this...we had to go back to how our country became so diverse...so, as you know, we discussed how each of our families came to America. We have continued to discuss diversity by moving into the study of cultures and what each individual culture has contributed to our country. This week, each table group took a different topic and became the "masters of that topic"...they read a non-fiction piece, determined what was important, constructed a teaching poster, and presented to the class. We learned that a culture is a group of people that have similar traditions, languages, clothing, and holidays that they celebrate. The kids did a great job and continue to improve in oral communication.

As I type "they" say this storm is stalling. Oh dear. Last time Connor measured outside we were already at 14 inches...stalling?! That could be bad news....I can't imagine not seeing your kids next week...but if it keeps snowing...who knows what will happen!

Stay warm, have fun, and I will hopefully see 20 of my very favorite people BEFORE winter break!