Week of April 4th

I will be gone tomorrow (Friday the 1st) and again Monday (April 4th), due to childcare issues. I get another four day weekend with my boy and the students will continue on learning with Mrs. Hanna (and Miss Mallo will be here both days, too). I expect students to be on their BEST behavior while I am gone. I know I will get a great report when I return on Tuesday. And, IF a student is every disrespectful for a guest teacher, I charge A LOT of money! :)

This week in reading we will continue to explore Unit 7: Making a Difference. This week's theme vocabulary words are: ordinary, organize, and volunteer. We will explore the question: In what ways do people make a difference? We will focus on the skills of making inferences, using context clues to figure out tricky words, paraphrasing, and adjectives that compare (comparatives and superlatives). Students will finish their rough draft of their Inquiry essay and type them on Wednesday. Most students did a really nice job comparing and contrasting two extreme animals. It's amazing to see how far they've come with their writing this year!

In math, we will continue learning about perimeter and area. We will have a quiz mid-week to make sure that we have mastered that skill, and then we will begin working on more advanced area and perimeter concepts.

After looking over your child's report card, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. The envelopes need to be returned to school on Monday. Thanks for raising such great kiddos and sharing them with me -- this is truly a very special group!

Code Word = April Already?

Week of March 29th

I hope everyone has/had a wonderful Easter/Spring break.  I know that after four days away from my favorite eight and nine year olds, I will be ready for school to resume!

In reading this week we will begin Unit 7: Making a Difference. Our theme vocabulary words will be: right, freedom, and believe. We will read a story called People Changing Their World in our Theme Readers. We will focus on the skills of monitoring comprehension, determining important information, synonyms, determining author's purpose, and contraction words. Last week, only FOUR (out of 22 students) mastered their spelling words. So, we will continue working on those commonly misspelled words this week, too. Students will have a chance to retake that test on Friday. 

We will continue our compare/contrast essay this week on our two animals that survive in extreme environments. Students spent last week researching two animals and comparing/contrasting their adaptations, environments, diets, etc. Please ask your child if they have gathered enough information to start writing their three paragraphs this week. 

Also, we have spent the last couple weeks starting Book Clubs. So, on top of their Differentiated Readers, students meet with a group once a week to discuss a chapter book. Ask your child what book they are reading. Most of them are enjoying the books and using their sticky notes to mark important ideas while reading. 

In math, we will begin Chapter 11, which focus on finding area and perimeter. We have discussed this in Number Talks and briefly in Mountain Math, so the students should have some good background knowledge going into this chapter.

Report cards will go home on Friday. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, I am just an call/email away. The students will have a guest teacher (Mrs. Hanna) on Friday, as I will be staying with Bennett since our daycare lady is taking a much deserved vacation. Anyways, even though Mrs. Hanna will pass out their report cards, please email with any questions or concerns. Remember to returned the signed report card envelope on Monday, April 4th!

Some upcoming April events to mark on your calendars:

7th - PTA Meeting at 8:30am.

11th - PIR Day; No School for students.

15th - Memories with Mom from 7:15-8:15am in the gym.

20th - 4th Grade Recorder Concert at 8:45am in the gym.

21st - Superintendent and Mrs. Bouck will read to our 1st Graders!

22nd - No School

27th - "Mrs. Derrig Day" .... celebrating our wonderful secretary!

28th - Volunteer Breakfast from 7:45-9:00am in the library

29th - Midterms for 4th/5th;  

Code Word= 4th Quarter!

Week of March 21st

I was so proud of Ava and Tavie for conducting a science fair experiment and making a board. Way to go, girls! :)

Owen's shirt was awesome... I want to get one in Bennett's size!

~Because I'm HAPPY~

We did a fraction activity with Smarties (thanks, Katie!) and Ashlyn got them to stick to her fingers. Smartie hands, not pants :) 

And her is a plethora of Wax Museum pictures. The students ALL did FABULOUS! My heart was so proud!!!! And they looked A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! Thanks for all your help at home with this project!

Barack Obama and Gandhi

Neil Armstrong

Thomas Edison 

Helen Keller

Pocahontas

Martin Luther King Jr. 

Sally Ride

Remember that next week is an early out on Thursday, and NO SCHOOL on Friday or Monday. Enjoy the Easter break with your families! 

Also, we are running very low on Kleenex and Wet Wipes (sticky hands+no sink = problematic). If you could send one of those items in, it would be much appreciated! Also, many students do not have a working pair of headphones. Please check with your child to make sure they have a pair that is working! 

Code Word = Spring Fever

Puppies, Birthday Twins, Moon Phases, and Testing Reminder

 Karsyn brought her super cute Yorkie puppies, Alice and Cooper! :) I decided I need one!

Ms. Mallo and Ashlyn both celebrated their birthdays on Tuesday. Such special girls who share a special day :)

Ms. Mallo taught a lesson for a class that taught about the different phases of the moon. The students got to use Oreo cookies to replicate the phases - doesn't get much better than that!

And, with all the upcoming testing, it is an important reminder that a standardized test can NEVER measure what really matters! 

Week of March 14th

In reading this week, we will continue on with Unit 6: Extreme Environments. We will discuss the theme vocabulary words: travel and carry. We will read a neat story called Hottest Coldest Highest Deepest, which will teach us about some of the most extreme places on the Earth. We will focus on the skills of identifying the main idea of a passage, visualizing while reading, and classifying words.

In math, we will continue on with Chapter 10. As I stated last week, we will take a break from fractions to make sure we touch on the concepts of time, measurement, liquid volume, and mass before testing starts this Spring. This week, we will work on measuring length with a ruler, measuring liquid volume (with liters and milliliters), and measuring mass (with grams and kilograms).

In science, we will continue learning about Simple Machines. And we will use our Social Studies time to put the finishing touches on our Hero posters, speeches, etc. Please make sure you join us on Friday at 8:30. Please send costumes to school on Thursday, as we will have a dress rehearsal on Thursday afternoon for our buddy class.

I hope everyone enjoys this BEAUTIFUL weather this weekend. It looks like rainy, spring weather will join us next week.

Code Word: Wax Museum