Week of May 1st

This week we will pause from our Wonders series to focus on taking our NWEA/MAP and SRI tests. Please make sure that your child comes to school well rested, with a healthy snack, and having eaten a nutritious breakfast. If anyone is interested in sending an "extra" healthy snack, it would be greatly appreciated. Many students often bring cookies, brownies, etc. and I would like to keep the sugar intake low on testing days. As always, I appreciate your support at home ensuring we see the growth all the students have made this year. 

In math, we will continue on in Chapter 12. The students have been doing so well with identifying different angles (acute, right, obtuse, and straight), naming different lines (perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting), and are mastering different quadrilaterals (trapezoids, squares, rectangles, parallelograms, and rhombuses).

Last week we celebrated our amazing volunteers at the Volunteer Breakfast. I truly would not have made it through the year with out the help of Carol, Laura H., Heather, Holly, Laura B., Kristie, Jenny, and Chuck. With 27 kids, who all have unique talents and a variety of strengths, I am so thankful for the one-on-one time you are able to help give the students. I am so grateful for you guys!!! Thanks for everything!

Code Word = Testing!

Week of April 24th

Bennett makes some interesting faces!

He makes messes, too! ;)

On Thursday we celebrated the birth of an amazing boy: Thomas. The fruit he brought was a perfect afternoon snack. Thomas is such a joy! He is smart, creative, and a fabulous builder (and also extremely cute). ;)  Happy, happy birthday Thomas!

Sam, Greece, Evan, and tie-dye: seriously four of my favorite things all in one picture! 

Swing and sunshine are good for the soul!

Here are some pictures from our performance of "It's a Hit!" at St. John's on Wednesday:

We did a fun jelly bean graphing activity on Wednesday. Thanks for the jelly beans, Jenelle and Heather! 

This week in reading we will be on Unit 5, Week 4, focusing on the question: What do good citizens do? We will read three biographies: Elizabeth Leads the Way, Dolores Huerta: Growing Up Strong, and Susan B. Anthony Takes Action. This week we will focus on the skills of asking and answering questions, point of view, prefixes and suffixes, and possessive nouns. Our vocabulary words this week are:

In math this week, we will continue on in Chapter 12, which focuses on geometry/two dimensional shapes. Last week we learned about rays, line segments, points, open and closed polygons, and describing angles (acute, right, and obtuse). This week we will learn about describing quadrilaterals and triangles. This geometry exposure should be help when we take our NWEA/MAP tests next week. 

Our science and social studies time the next couple weeks will be devoted to our Wax Museum project. We will be working on creating a timeline of our heroes to add to our posters and wrapping up our speech, which students will need to have memorized by May 12th. 

As always, thanks for all your help and support at home. I honestly couldn't do my job without such awesome parents! 

Code Word = Geometry 

Week of April 18th

These sweet girls bring me flowers and rocks and make my heart so happy! 

Sam brought me the sweetest card. I loved the words he wrote inside -- he sure knows how to make my day brighter!

He also brought in yummy "nests" for an Easter treat for our class. Sooooo good! (Thank you, Laura!)

Two of my favorite things: Thomas and daffodils :)

I wish I had cute little legs like these two (alliteration, Marissa!) ;)

On Wednesday we celebrated Amy's birthday with delicious chocolate covered strawberries! Love you, Amy. You are intelligent, funny, helpful, and simply amazing! We are so lucky to have you in our class!

Love this:

I love how their tulip watercolor paintings turned out. In typical fashion, only 18 (out of 27) turned their art work in ;)

Sometimes it is tough being three! lol

Sunshine and smiles make me happy! I love Spring!

Bennett has become an avid bug collector. We spend countless hours examining the bugs he finds and catches. 

My tulips are finally starting to bloom... they are my very favorite flower! Wish they would bloom all year! 

This week in reading, we will continue on with Unit 5, Week 3, which will focus on the essential question: How do teams work together? We will read two expository (factual) texts: "Wildfires" and "Rescue Dogs Save the Day." We will also read the tall tale called "Windy Gale and the Great Hurricane." We will focus on the skills of asking and answering questions, point of view, using context clues, and pronoun-verb agreement. Our spelling words this week a vc/cv pattern.

In math, we will wrap up Chapter 11 and take our area and perimeter assessment. Then we will dive into Chapter 12, which will focus on two-dimensional shapes. Our Chapter 12 vocabulary words will be: angle, endpoint, intersecting lines, line, line segment, octagon, parallel lines, and pentagon. 

We will spend the next month really focusing on preparing for our Wax Museum, which will be on May 12th from 8:30-9:30. Students should have ample time to create their poster, button, and speech at school. However, they will need your help at home preparing their "costume." Thanks for all your help and support ensuring this project is a success!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. I look forward to hearing all about everyone's break on Tuesday the 18th!

Code Word = Wax Museum on May 12th

Week of April 10

The kids did SUCH a good job at their Spring musical "It's a Hit!" Was so fun to watch. I was beaming with pride watching them up on those risers! :)

On Thursday we celebrated Tyton's birthday with yummy (and adorable!) camping cupcakes. I love Tyton's humor, intelligence, and ideas - he is one amazing guy! Happy birthday!

Eden brought in her hermit crabs. I learned a lot :)

Laurel brought in her adorable monkey Swingsley. Too cute!

This week in reading we will be on Unit 5, Week 3, which will focus on the essential question: How do teams work together? We will read two expository (factual) texts: "Wildfires" and "Rescue Dogs Save the Day." We will also read the tall tale called "Windy Gale and the Great Hurricane." We will focus on the skills of asking and answering questions, point of view, using context clues, and pronoun-verb agreement. Our spelling words this week a vc/cv pattern.

In math, we will wrap up Chapter 11 and take our area and perimeter assessment. Then we will dive into Chapter 12, which will focus on two-dimensional shapes. Our Chapter 12 vocabulary words will be: angle, endpoint, intersecting lines, line, line segment, octagon, parallel lines, and pentagon. 

Mark your calendar: our wax museum will be May 12th from 8:30-9:30. Lots more information to come :)

Lastly, we are in need of a couple items: Clorox wipes (we are all out), and packs of sugar free gum (for testing coming up). Thank you to those of you who sent Jolly Ranchers and Jelly Beans! It is much appreciated! If you would be willing to donate any of these things, that would be much appreciated.

Please mark your calendars: We will be NWEA testing on May 2, 3, and 4. And we will be Smarter Balance testing on May 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. Please let me know if your child will be gone any of these dates, as attendance is crucial for testing. 

I hope everyone has a lovely, relaxing "spring break."

Code Word =  Spring Break