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"!! ;-)