Week of February 29th

We had another great week of learning! Our field trip was a blast, the students are doing fabulous with fractions, and we welcomed a new addition to our class. Welcome to Arrowhead, Josiah!

This week in reading, we will begin Unit 6: Extreme Environments. We will learn and discuss the following theme vocabulary words: habitat, migration, and adaptation. We will focus on the skills of multiple-meaning words, troublesome words, comparing and contrasting, and correctly punctuating dialogue.

In math, we will continue learning about fractions (Chapter 8). We will discuss fractions of a whole, fractions on a number line, fractions of a group, and finding part of a group using unit fractions. Remember, students still need to be working on recalling their multiplication and division facts quickly/fluently. Just because we are moving onto a new concept doesn't mean we can afford to get "rusty" on our other facts! :)

We will spend most of our social studies time this week working on constructing our Hero poster. Please make sure your child prints at least 3-5 pictures out at home. We will do the rest of the work at school. The Wax Museum will be on Friday, March 18th. So, we have three weeks to write/memorize our speeches, construct our Hero poster, and plan our costumes. Thanks for all your help at home.

In science, hopefully we will begin building some simple machines with our VexIQ kits.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We are going to visit the Zoo tomorrow, since it is supposed to be in the 60s. This weather is just too beautiful - I can't get enough of it!

Code Word = Leap Year

If you would like to get a  memory book/yearbook for your kiddo you must order it before Wednesday, March 2nd. The kiddos do not receive their books until May but in order to know how many to make they need the orders in soon. They generally do not make extras so you don't want to miss out if you want one! 

Also, this week is Dr. Seuss's birthday so we will all celebrate with a Dr. Seuss week! We will be doing some fun activities in our class and as a school we have some fun dress up days! 

Monday, Feb.29th: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

             Wear any kind of hat!

Tuesday, March 1st: Fox and Sox

             Wear crazy socks!

Wednesday, March 2nd: If I Ran the Zoo

             Wear any kind of animal print!

Thursday, March 3rd: The Sleep Book

             Wear comfy sweats

Friday, March 4th: Hooray for Diffendoofer Day

             Wear Arrowhead Spirit gear or Blue/White 

Important Dates:

Feb. 29th-March 4th- Dr. Seuss Week

March 3rd- PTA meeting 8:30am

March 17th- Science Fair

March 24th- End of 3rd Quarter

March 24th- Early out- NOON DISMISSAL- please send a snack this day no lunch will be provided.

March 25th- NO SCHOOL

March 28th- NO SCHOOL

April 1st- Report Cards sent home

Field Trip Fun!

We had a blast up at the Rocky Mountain College Flight Operations! The kids (and myself) learned a ton! (I have a lot more pictures, but for some reason they won't upload, so I will try again later).

In need of...

In the upcoming weeks, we will need some jelly beans and Smarties for a few fun fraction activities (alliteration!). If anyone could send a bag, I would be forever grateful! :) Thanks in advance!

Upcoming Events

If you would like to get a  memory book/yearbook for your kiddo you must order it before Wednesday, March 2nd. The kiddos do not receive their books until May but in order to know how many to make they need the orders in soon. They generally do not make extras so you don't want to miss out if you want one! 

Next week is Dr. Seuss's birthday so we will all celebrate with a Dr. Seuss week! We will be doing some fun activities in our class and as a school we have some fun dress up days! 

Monday, Feb.29th: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

             Wear any kind of hat!

Tuesday, March 1st: Fox and Sox

             Wear crazy socks!

Wednesday, March 2nd: If I Ran the Zoo

             Wear any kind of animal print!

Thursday, March 3rd: The Sleep Book

             Wear comfy sweats

Friday, March 4th: Hooray for Diffendoofer Day

             Wear Arrowhead Spirit gear or Blue/White 

Important Dates:

Feb. 29th-March 4th- Dr. Seuss Week

March 3rd- PTA meeting 8:30am

March 17th- Science Fair

March 24th- End of 3rd Quarter

March 24th- Early out- NOON DISMISSAL- please send a snack this day no lunch will be provided.

March 25th- NO SCHOOL

March 28th- NO SCHOOL

April 1st- Report Cards sent home


Code Word = Dr. Seuss

Week of February 22nd

This week in reading, we will review our previous theme vocabulary words: provide, approach, disturb, challenge, terrible, tough, amazing, and famous. We will also compare and contrast the two stories we already read for Unit 5. Last week, we read a Chinese folktale called The Hunter. Students did a nice job figuring out the moral of the story. This week, we will read some more folktales and determine the lessons being taught. We will work on the figurative language skills of hyperboles, onomatopoeia, and idioms.

In regards to their Hero project,  each students should have their note page complete, a timeline with at least six key events filled in, and at least two inspiring quotes. They have a Hero folder where they will be compiling all of their information into. This week, students will be working on writing a three paragraph paper on their hero. Students really need to focus on WHY their person is a hero (what did they accomplish? what heroic characteristics did they display?).

In math, we are officially done with Chapter 7. The students did a FABULOUS job on their assessment. I was seriously impressed. There were mostly A's, which is incredible considering there were several tricky two-step problems. This week we will start Chapter 8, which focuses on understanding fractions. However, it is crucial that students still work on recalling their multiplication and division facts fluently.

Remember, on Tuesday we will be going to the airport for our PLTW forces of flight unit. Then, we will continue on learning about simple machines.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Code Word: Fraction Fun

Valentine's Day Party

A HUGE thanks to Susie, our fabulous room mom, for planning fun games and activities for the party! Also, a big thank you to Katie and Kary for volunteering to help set up, clean, and play games at the part, too! And thanks to Tami, Randi, Marlayne, Jana, and Laura for sending goodies for us to enjoy! You all made it so the kiddos could have an hour of pure fun -- thanks so much!

Week of February 16th

Remember, no school tomorrow (the 12th) or on Monday (the 15th)... Enjoy the four day break. I am going to enjoy this "winter break" by enjoying the SPRING weather with my boys!

In reading next week, we will continue on with Unit 5: Heroes Across Time.  Our theme vocabulary words are: provide, disturb, and approach. We will work on the skills of monitoring comprehension, retelling and recalling information from a story, prefixes, and cause and effect (we are still struggling with that one!). In spelling, all of our words will be contractions. We will continue to research our heroes. Students will continue to gather information on their hero, focusing on WHY/HOW they changed the world. For the wax museum, students will make a poster with facts, pictures, and a timeline.

In math, we will review Chapter 7 and then take our assessment. Students are doing a great job of using their strategies to solve problems. It is the two step problems that are still troubling most students. An example might be: "Johnny made 5 waffles for breakfast. He has 25 strawberries and 15 blueberries to put on top of the waffles. He will put an equal number of berries on each waffle. How many berries will Johnny put on each waffle?" So, first the students need to add the berries together (25+15=40). THEN, they would divide them by 5. (40/5=8 berries per waffle). Anyways, we will continue to work on these multistep problems, as we will surely encounter them on our SmarterBalance tests. In the next chapter (8), students will begin learning about understanding and using fractions.

In science, we will continue to learn about simple machines (lever, pulley, wheel and axle, screw, inclined plane, and wedge. Remember, we will be going up to the airport on the 23rd as a part of the Forces of Flight part of PLTW this year. Please send in those permission slips ASAP! I am still missing over half of them :(

I hope everyone has a terrific long weekend!

Code Word = Simple Machines

Boardgames and BBQ

Thanks so much for the yummy food, Cindy!