May 28-May 31

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to send in extra shoe boxes and clay!  Team Blowey was able to start making their dioramas today.  They are having so much fun already!

Remember, the cookout is this Friday at 11.  You must send in an order form to reserve a meal for your child and yourself.  Directly following the cookout, parents are invited to take a tour of Team Blowey's Wildlife Park!  The team will be showing you their animals in their habitats and answering any of your questions.  I will send home a paper reminder as well.  We hope to see you there!

Please send in your permission slip and money for the Wildlife Park as soon as possible!  Please let me know if you need another copy of the permission slip.

Team Blowey did not fill out homework packets today.  We will fill them out tomorrow.  With so many festivities going on, there will be no spelling words to practice this week and therefore, no spelling test next Monday.  Students are still asked to read for at least 20 minutes each night and practice their math facts.  IXL is encouraged as well.

This week in...

Language Arts:  This week will be focused on completing our animal reports and dioramas.  Students are working hard at finishing their final drafts with neat handwriting and making sure they have correct ending punctuation and lowercase and uppercase letters where they belong.  For our dioramas, students will be working hard to mold their animals out of clay.  They will also be painting their shoe boxes to look like their animal's habitat.  When they are finished painting, they will have the chance to add some 3D elements, both from nature and handmade.

Math:  We will be focusing on our measurement unit.  Our essential standard is that students are able to measure using inches and centimeters by selecting and using appropriate tools including a ruler, measuring tape, yard stick, and meter stick.  This week, students will have the opportunity to measure several things around the classroom using a variety of measuring tools.  While they are doing this, they will also be exposed to the idea of different units of measure.  For example, they will begin to see the pattern that the same object will be more centimeters than inches because centimeters are smaller units of measure.  

Social Studies:  Our focus on leadership continues with the seven habits of happy kids.  Each day we will have a new leadership quality to focus on.  Tomorrow, we will focus on thinking win-win.  The following day, we will focus on first seek to understand and then to be understood.  On Friday, we will focus on synergizing, working like a team!  Each morning we'll talk about what kind of behaviors would show each leadership behavior.  Throughout the day, I will be on the lookout for students who are showing those behaviors so that we can send a leadership certificate home.

May 20- May 24

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!  Our last homework packet for the year will be filled out on May 28th and returned on June 4th.  So, including the homework packet that is due tomorrow, there are only 3 more packets for Team Blowey!  The end of the year is quickly approaching!

To all of Team Blowey's classroom volunteers:  Next week (May 28-31) will be the last week that we will have volunteers in the classroom.  Thank you all so much for continuing to spend your time with us!  So much of what we would do would not be possible without you!

CALLING ALL SHOE BOXES!  Each member of Team Blowey will need to send in a shoe box by Friday, May 24!  We will be working on our animal dioramas starting on Tuesday, May 28.  Extra shoe boxes are welcome to be sent in!  If you are unable to send in a shoe box, please let me know as soon as possible so I can find one for your child!  If you have any questions, please let me know!

We are also looking for modeling clay donations for our animal projects!  If you are willing and able to send in some clay, it would be greatly appreciated!

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with /er/, /eer/, /ere/, and /ear/.  Here are our words for the week:  near, dear, ear, deer, steer, queer, verb, perch, here, and where.  

Vocabulary:  Our new words are impossible, treasures, watch, talent, and pleasant.  We will figure out what these words mean and then build connections to them.  Then, we will search for them in two short stories called Frozen Art and Elephant Artists.  

Comprehension:  This week, we will be working on making judgements.  That means we are thinking about the information that an author presents to us and then form an opinion on the topic.  We'll be doing this while we read Music of the Stone Age.  Our focus question of the week will be:  How do you know that people made music thousands of years ago?  

Writing:  This week we will be finishing up our animal reports!  We're looking for Team Blowey to be able to present all of the information needed (i.e. interesting facts, what it looks like, what it eats, and where it lives) in an organized way.  Students will also need to pay attention to conventions.  That means, they will need to have upper and lower case letters where they belong, figure spaces between words, and correct ending punctuation.  As always, neat handwriting and good spelling are on our wanted list!

Grammar:  We will be working with adjectives that compare two nouns.  When we use adjectives to compare, we can add -er to the end of the word.  For example, we could say that my picture is bigger than her picture or we could say that this paintbrush is longer than that one.

Math:  Students will be finishing up some assessments both on our word problem unit and our extensions.   Students will also be working on a standards check-in to give me more information as to where I need to review with them or extend their knowledge before the end of the year.  My hope is that we'll get the chance to unpack our last unit... measurement!  It is going to be so much fun!

Social Studies:  As students are getting closer and closer to becoming third graders, a greater focus is going to be put on being a leader.  This week, students will have the chance to brainstorm some of the qualities they believe a leader should have.  We'll be looking for these qualities in some pictures books in hopes that it will spark some good conversation.

I'll also be tying in Seven Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  Sean Covey wrote the book and identified some of the habits of some of the most successful people.  With Team Blowey, I'm hoping to identify these habits with them and encourage them to show these qualities.  In doing so, students will be acting like leaders!

Here are the habits we'll be working on:

1.  Be proactive!  You are in charge of you!  Leaders are responsible, take initiative, and do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking.

2.  Begin with the end in mind!  In other words, have a plan!  Leaders plan ahead and set goals.  they look for ways to be a good citizen.  They do things that have meaning and make a difference.

3.  Put first things first!  Also known as, work first, then play.  Leaders spend their time on things that are the most important.  They set priorities, make a schedule, and follow their plan.  They are disciplined and organized.

4.  Think win-win!  I win, you win, we win!  Leaders balance courage for getting what they want with consideration for what others want.  They fill others' buckets!  They are problem solvers.

5.  Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  Another way of saying this is to listen before you talk.  Leaders are confident in voicing their ideas.  They look people in the eyes when they are talking.  They listen to people's ideas and feelings without interrupting.  Leaders also try to see things from other viewpoints.

6.  Synergize!  We work together!  Leaders value the strengths of others and learn from them.  They get along with others, even if they are different from them.  They work well in groups.  They are humble.

7.  Sharpen the saw!  Basically this means that leaders know what a healthy balance is.  Leaders take care of themselves by eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep.  They find meaningful ways to help others.  They spend time with their family and their friends.  And last but not least, they learn in lots of ways and places,  not just at school.

Be on the lookout for some leadership notes being sent home!  

Also, I'm loving this song that I heard on Sesame Street with Will I Am!  The lyrics are so powerful!  I'll be sharing it with Team Blowey so don't be surprised if you start hearing it at home too!

 

May 13-17

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!

Please remember to send in your child's permission slip and admission fee for the Wildlife Park as soon as possible!  If you have lost the original copy of the permission slip, please let me know and I will send home another.

Please remember to send a healthysnack in for your child every day!  We have 10 minutes to energize our brains with some healthy snacks to keep our bodies going until the end of the day!  If you would like some suggestions for healthy snacks, let me know!  I'd be happy to send some your way!

We'll be doing book buddies this week!

IXL:  please see previous posts

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with /ar/, /are/, and /air/.  Our words are:  star, shark, care, stare, rare, dare, hair, pair, chair,  and fair.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  creating, memories, familiar, imagination, glamorous, and occasions.  We'll figure out what these words mean and build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in a story called Making Stories Happen.

Comprehension:  This week, we'll be working on drawing conclusions.  That means you make a decision about a selection based on text and picture clues and on what you already know.  For example, if we read a story that gave us facts like Sammy played with his cousins and pretended to be a teacher and that Sammy made up names for the cousins we might be able to draw the conclusion that Sammy was a creative person with a good imagination.

Writing:  We are continuing to work on writing our rough drafts for our animal reports.  It has been quite a challenge to be able to organize all of our research into a research report.  We're also working hard to make sure that we can provide evidence for the things that we say!  For example, we can't just say that polar bears are omnivores.  We need to prove that by saying that polar bears eat things like walruses and seals but they also eat berries, mushrooms, and seaweed.  By providing specific examples, we can provide our writing with more evidence and really show them that we have studied and become experts on our animals!

Grammar:  We will be working with "a" and "an".  It takes a lot of practice to recognize that we need to use "a" before words that start with consonant sounds and "an" before words that start with vowel sounds.  For example, we would say "a story" or "an apple".

Math:  This week, we will be wrapping up our word problem unit!  We'll also be visiting some of our extension standards.  For example, we'll have some time to practice some strategies for adding number strings.  We'll also be learning a strategy for how to add and subtract three digit numbers.  

Science:  We'll be doing a couple more weather tracking days where we use our homemade weather tools to help us track the changes in weather.  We'll also be having conversations around the kind of animals we've been studying (mammals, birds, reptiles, etc) and what are some of the features that make them fall into that category.  We'll also be talking about different habitats around the world and some of the characteristics of each of those habitats.

May 6- May 10

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Homework packets are due tomorrow!

Students will be bringing home their permission slip to go to the Wildlife Park tomorrow.  Please sign them and send them back ASAP!

I will not be at school tomorrow (May 7) or Friday (May 10) as I am attending the second part of a complex reasoning workshop.  If you have any notes about transportation please email them to Connie at cholland@sad15.org or send in a hand written note.  Thank you!

IXL practice:  please refer to previous posts.

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working with -dge, -ge, -lge, -nge, and -rge.  Here our the words we'll be practicing:  cage, page, judge, lodge, large, barge, bulge, change, range, and hinge.

Vocabulary:  Our new words are:  menu, fetch, forgetting, simmered, assembled, and devoured.  We'll figure out what these words mean and then build connections to them.  Then, we'll search for them in the story called Bobo's Celebration by Keith Fish.

Comprehension:  This week we will be working on distinguishing reality from fantasy.  That means what is real and what is made up.  We'll do this while we read Mice and Beans by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Grammar:  This week we'll be working with adjectives.  Adjectives are words that describe nouns.  

Writing:  We'll be finishing up lots of projects this week!  We'll be finishing up our poetry unit and our Cloudy with a Chance stories.  We'll also be working on taking our animal research and putting them into a rough draft using the format I described last week.

Math:  This week our focus will remain on solving problems with unknown change.  Students are encouraged to try and solve problems with multiple strategies.  Then, we'll do a little review of all of the strategies we've learned as well as the different kinds of word problems we've seen.

Science:  We will continue our cloud observations and weather observations using the tools that we have created.  

Social Studies:  We are placing a HUGE emphasis on respect this week.  Students are working towards earning respect stars throughout the day.  We always talk about respecting ourselves, respecting others, and respecting the school.

Let me know if you have any questions!