We're making progress!!

Dear families,
Where did the January go? Your children are working hard and I'm seeing progress across all subject areas, but especially in writing. One of the strategies we use in class in order to find and correct errors is reading a finished piece of writing to a friend. It's amazing how this simple exercise helps students improve their work.
As I mentioned in my last Blog, report cards are coming. Teachers are turning in their evaluations on Monday, February 2nd, so you will be receiving them shortly after that. In some cases, I will be having your child assessed to move into a different level. The decision to move a child to a different level is based on test scores and classwork. If this occurs, I will send home notification with the weekly paperwork you receive.
In my Language Arts class, I am going to start your children reading from a Literature Anthology. The vocabulary is more advanced and I believe the students will enjoy the variety of activities offered. I had some students read a selection today, and they were very interested.
Projects are going well! On Monday, your children should have come home with labels marked, "Spend", "Share", and "Save". They were asked to label three containers and decide how they wanted to use their allowance (if they get an allowance). The idea is for them to understand the ways people use money. We discussed short and long term saving goals and giving to charities. They also learned about bartering and why money evolved. Since the end product of this project will be to open a school store, they also spent time learning how to make change. We will also be looking at costs and profits. On February 9th, a speaker (Stephen Pullom's) dad will be explaining the history of money. Stephen's dad is working on his Ph.D in History!
For our Solar System project, students have had the opportunity to create a scale model and convert distances from kilometers to centimeters. They learned an easy way to divide by 10,000,000! Our scale model went on paper first and next week will be created with the edibles I mentioned in my last Blog.
That's it for now! As always, if you have any questions or concers, please email me.
Kim

Weekly Update!!

Dear Families,

Just a reminder - tomorrow is the performance for Classics4Kids. If you haven't yet sent $6.00 to cover your child's ticket, please send it in as soon as possible. Your children have had the opportunity to listen to some of the piano version of the piece they will hear and the entire orchestral version. We have also reviewed what the composer was writing about in each of the movements. Mimes will be acting out these interpretations as we listen to the music at the performance! What a great enriching cultural experience!

Report card time is nearing! Myself and all the teachers at IA will be working hard to have them ready in early February. If you have any questions once you receive them or before - as usual, please contact me via my email.

Sincerely,
Kim

What Happening!

Dear Families,
First, I would like to share with you what a tremendous job your children did today as historical experts at our "Wax Museum" event! Most students were in a costume to represent their chosen historical figure. The entire school had a chance to come into our room, view the dioramas your children created,and ask questions about why their historical figure was important. As you know, your children have also been working hard on their historical personal narratives. Wow! What a great job they have done. They have also been very patient with me as I've asked them to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite! Their narratives will be on display in my room. Please feel free to stop by for a visit.
We will be starting two new projects in the coming weeks. The first will be focusing on the solar system - however, ours will be edible. This project will cover math, science, and writing standard. As a final product, I'm hoping to either create notecards with the students original art or an "Out of this World " cookbook. If we write the cookbook, recipes will use the fruits and vegetables we are making the solar system with. The second project will be focused on money. This project will focus on math (percentages,decimals, division, etc...) along with some history. I'm hoping for a field trip to a bank. Additionally, we will be opening a school store with the students in charge of ordering snacks, pencils, etc...and keeping track of the profits. I need to talk to the students, but think a good idea is to use the profits towards additional computers. Whew!
Ok - just a couple of reminders. There is no school on Monday, January 19th due to Martin Luther King day. Also, we have another performance coming up called Classics4Kids. Please send $6 with your child as that is the cost per seat. I recently went to a Classics4Kids training and am sharing that information with your children to enrich their experience.
I think that's it for now! As always, please contact me with any concerns.
Sincerely,
Kim

A New Year!

Dear Families,
Happy New Year! Your children have returned to a very rested teacher! I wasn't setting my alarm over the holidays! I hope all of you enjoyed the extra time with your extraordinary children.
On Tuesday, they came to class and wrote resolutions for the New Year. They had three categories to write resolutions about. However most of the resolutions that were the most important to them centered around improving their family relationships. I thought that was pretty amazing.
We are bursting at the seams with project ideas. On Monday, January 12th, your children will be presented with four options for projects. All of our projects keep California standards in mind! These projects are multidiscipinary or in other word will cover more than one subject (i.e. math, science, LA, art...).
As always, if you have any questions at all, please contact me via email!
Thanks,
Kim