HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

D ear Families,
What a great break I had this year and I hope you did too! I want to thank everyone for their generosity as I received many cards, gift cards, and gifts for the Christmas celebration. I was and am touched by all of your thoughtfullness and caring! I am grateful for all of your support.
We start back tomorrow morning with the addition of another new student. Welcome Sarah! That leaves me with just one seat open in my classroom! Wow, how we have grown! This week your children will be identifying the four regions in California and creating posters that identify the positive aspects of those regions and what would draw people to live in them. They will also be making murals of those regions. The posters, along with the murals will be posted outside our classroom. By the way, if you haven't, please take the time to read some of the wonderful poetry written by fourth graders about the mountains and deserts that is currently posted on the bulletin board closest to the exploratorium.
By next Tuesday, we will finally be finishing Patty Reed's Doll. As a final celebration, I am looking for a volunteer parent to donate and make a "Calico Bean" recipe (trail food) for 20 that the class can eat for lunch that day. That said, we will also need paper bowels, spoons, napkins, and drinks if possible. I have the recipe in my classroom, so if you like this type of thing please let me know soon, so we can plan. As soon as we finish, we will begin reading a book on the goldrush - By the Great Horn Spoon!
I am also still looking for canvases and paints for our oil painting adventure! I have the artist all lined up and just need the supplies to make this exciting art experience possible. Please see my previous BLOGS for the canvas dimensions and oil paint colors. We will be painting the CALIFORNIA POPPY, transferring those images onto fabric, and creating a quilt to be sold! If it ends up like last year's quilt, it will be beautiful!
In math, we are starting a unit on multiplication and division. Please work on skip-counting with your children so their facts become automatic sooner than later. We will be moving a little quicker in math now as we have so much to cover by the end of the year! I may be sending home some practice sheets for those students needing a little extra help!
In science (finally), we will beginning to look at animal adaptation. Some students will be asked to bring information into class on animals within the four California regions. We will be looking at why those animals survive well in those places.
We are also continuing on our fictional narratives and reports on important California people in writing with the later a part of our project. The project dioramas are almost finished, so I expect we should be ready for our "Wax Museum", no later than the last week in January. I will keep you posted.
Our next parent meeting, is next Thursday, January 14th. Please stay tuned for details regarding this meeting via our out-going phone blast or flyers coming home! Progress reports will also be coming out this month.
That's it for now. Stop by the classroom anytime!
sincerely,
Kim

OOPS! I MADE SOME ERRORS ON DATES!!

Dear Families,

I must have been really tired when I wrote my BLOG last night because I made a few errors. The field trip was today, the 14th and was wonderful. Ask your child! We come back to school, Monday January 4th, not the 3rd.
I also forgot one last thing. I was asked if there were any art supplies I might need and "yes" there are as I would like the students in my class to have the opportunity to oil paint when we get back from Christmas break. I need the following and cannot afford to purchase these items myself:

Canvases should be 11 x 14 and I need 20. The oil paint colors we will need are Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Ultrmarine Blue, and Titanium White. I also need some brushes, thin plastic (like painter's use) to cover the floors and tables, and the safer version of turpentine (I can't remember what it is called). It would also probably be a good idea to have plastic gloves.

For the art supplies, BLICK Art on India Street is a good place.

Thanks
Kim

"Tis the week before Christmas Break!

Dear Families,

Thanks to all the families that came out to Barnes and Nobles last Thursday! I thought the poetry recitations went very well and I was proud of those students that conquered their fear of "public speaking"!!
I also appreciate the support all of you parents are giving your children in finding resources for their informational reports. The last I checked, which was on Friday, there were only a few students that hadn't brought their information. I did neglect to send a note home with the students on Friday regarding bringing supplies to school for their dioramas. Again, the idea is for them to create a scene from their chosen person's life inside a shoe box. We talked about the supplies they could use on Friday. I would like to have these items, no later than Wednesday morning. Please contact me, if you have any questions.
On Monday, December 18th from 10am-2pm we will be on an exciting field trip to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. Thanks ahead of time to all of you wonderful parents who volunteered to drive. Don't forget to pack a lunch for your child as we will be there over the lunch hour.
Our last day of school is on December 18th. That afternoon, I am planning for students to relax and have fun decorating cookies and one other suprise item for home! I think we all deserve to let our hair down a bit as they mostly work hard while they are in class with me! School will be back in session on January 3, 2010!
I hope you all enjoy your holidays.

This week in school, your children will be:

Having lots of laughs during our morning meetings.
Learning new vocabulary and grammar skills (compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions).
Working on their fictional narrativies. They have their overall outlines completed and will now start adding details, making careful word choices, and checking for spelling and punctuation errors.
Completing an assessment in math.
Continuing work on their project, which will include finishing "Patty Reed's Doll", starting to write their informational reports, make dioramas, and hopefully if time allows create some desert art and poetry. They will also be watching a PBS special about the west during the 1800's.

Our first progress reports for the year will be completed in January. I'm excited to share with you all the ways your child has grown and developed.

Sincerely,
Kim

Ten School Days Until Christmas Break!!!!

Dear Families,

Our mandatory Family Night meeting will be held at Barnes & Nobles at 6 pm on Thursday, December 10th. Please attend so you can stay informed of important IA updates and information. As I've mentioned before, my class is memorizing poetry to recite at 6:30 in the bookstore that night. Please have your children there by approximately 6:15, so that we are organized and ready to go! Should you decide to purchase Barnes & Noble items that night or any time from December 10th-16th, a percentage of the proceeds goes towards the 8th grade Washington D.C. trip. Also, rather than going home after picking up your child, an IA dinner is being held at Applebee's before the meeting from 4-8 pm. IA gets 15% of the proceeds, so invite friends and family to join in.

In class, we are continuing to study California history. Students have been asked to choose a historical figure that was significant to California's history. Most students chose their person on Friday, but some did not. The requirement for Monday is that your child have their historical figure chosen and bring in three informational resources about that person. The resources can be a book and two internet articles or any combination of the two. Your child will be writing an informational report on their chosen person. Additionally, because we are reading about westward expansion and pioneers, we have recently discussed bartering. Students were asked to bring in five items on Monday to barter away (items should be things your child can part with) during our "Bartering Fair" A note went home on Friday, so I hope you all received it!

For math, we have been studying mean, median, and mode and how to organize data. Students and I co-created a tally chart and line-plot that described the number of people in our families. The lowest number was three and highest was eleven! We are also practicing various strategies for addition and subtraction as well as skip counting and drilling on multiplication facts. Students are also having to learn how to round in order to calculate ball park estimates, a skill we commonly use as adult. The rounding is presenting some difficulties.

Students are busy writing their next narrative, a fictional one about a dilemma with water. We have everything from a boy falling in a walrus tank (mine), to avalanches, sinking boats, and being pulled into ocean waves without being able to swim. Ask your child what they are writing about. The process of writing these narratives well is time consuming, but time well spent. Your child is learning to plan, organize, and revise what I consider to be fairly high level pieces of writing.

We are also working hard on learning 15 new high level vocabulary words weekly. For example this week, students learned the meanings of words such as contempt and abrupt. They also took a pre-test on these words in spelling. At least four of the students were able to spell all 15 words correctly on the pre-test which tells me that I need two lists in the future. Our final spelling test will be on Monday. Each week your child makes 3 X 5 cards with their words on them. I have asked them to practice them at home and at school, so you might ask them about them. A good time to practice together is in the car while driving to school.

We are also practicing grammar on most days. We have gone over all capitalization requirements for 4th grade and we are on to punctuation. For the most part, this is going well; however, using commas to separate an appositive from the noun that proceeds it is a bit confusing, so we will be engaging in additional lessons on this topic this week.

I would like you and your child to begin gathering supplies for them to create a diorama of a scene from their historical figure's life. As a matter a fact, if your child could be ready to bring their shoe box and supplies by Monday, December 14th, that would be great as we will start working on them that day. Upon our return from Christmas break and soon as their informational reports and dioramas are done, your child will also need to create a costume depicting their historical figure. When all is ready, we will conduct a Wax Museum in our classroom, where your child is the expert on their historical figure, they are dressed as them and the entire school as well as families will be invited into our room to learn! I will keep you updated concerning the date.

I will also be looking into having an artist come into the classroom to teach oil painting after the Christmas break. I will need supplies for this venture such as oil paints, brushes, turpentine, and canvases. I would like each student to paint the California Poppy. After the paintings are completed, we can transfer the images onto fabric and make a classroom quilt. So, I will also need fabric and quilting supplies. If you can supply any of these items, I would appreciate it. We did a similar project last year and the end result was beautiful!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I think that is it for now!

Sincerely,

Kim

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!

Good Morning Families,

I hope you all had a restful Thanksgiving. For myself, I have spent time enjoying my family and making sure to take this time to reflect on the many blessings that exist in my life. Of course, my own children are my biggest blessing, but when I think of each and every child in my class an additional smile comes to my face. I hope all of you will be ready to come back to school committed to learning and making our class run like the strong team I know we can be. We only have a brief period of time (14 days) of school before we are out again for Christmas vacation, so let's make them count!
Please remember that Monday the 30th of November is a Professional Day for the teachers at IA, thus there is no school! We will be looking at curriculum, daily schedules, discussing positive discipline, and delving into our current and upcoming projects.
Speaking of projects, when we return to school, we will be continuing to study California's history through finishing "Patty Reed's Doll" and starting on "By The Great Horn Spoon", a story about California's gold rush. Within the reading of each book, students will actively engage in writing, math, science, and history activities. Letters written by students pretending they are pioneers should be posted outside our classroom shortly after returning from Thanksgiving break.
Also, shortly after we return, your children are invited to perform the poems and monologues they have chosen at the parent meeting at Barnes and Nobles at 6:30pm on December 10th. Students will have time to practice memorizing their poems in class. I would also like to see them take them home and practice. If you have any questions, please contact me via email or in the classroom.
I am looking for a donation of fabric to make bookbags for the back of each students chair. I like the tables to be free of books and folders during the day, so there is plently of room to work. Is anyone willing to help me calculate the amount of fabric, purchase it, and help to make them? Please let me know.
As soon as I have information about progress report dates, I will let you all know. Until then, take care and I will be updating my BLOG weekly by each Monday for the remainder of the year.
Sincerely,
Kim

Weekly Update from Kim's Room

Dear families,

Our class is busily working every day and having fun! On occasion we can't complete work in class. Most of the time, we just finish it the next day, but on a rare occasion I may send something home. When that happens, it would be great if students could finish the work and return it the next day. I'm writing this because I recently did send work home from our "Wordly Wise" program as I want all students to have and an opportunity to increase their vocabulary and working with this program is just one of the ways we can achieve this. I would love to see more of it returned!
For our Fun Fair on Sunday, the 15th we need canopies! For instance, parents have volunteered to "man" the used book sale and I want them to have shade from the sun. I also have some students who want to have a make-over booth. If you have a canopy and it could be available, please contact me ASAP!
Don't forget that we will be visiting the San Diego Mission next Tuesday for a field trip. I need drivers and for students to bring $2.00 to school to pay for the docent tour. All of these field trips enrich your students learning and school enjoyment. Let Michelle or I know if you can drive. I know it will be both educational and fun!
On December 10th, the parent meeting will be at the Barnes and Nobles bookstore at Hazard Center near the school. Your children are memorizing Shel Silverstein poems to recite that night for your enjoyment! Please put it on your calendar as an event not to miss. Students will be reciting them in class as well, but I know they would love to recite them in front of their families. I hope you can make it!
I also hope to see you all this Thursday night, the 12th for the parent meeting! Our classroom will be displaying your child's "All About Me" scrapbook. It's also a great way to stay current on other school events.

Sincerely,
Kim

P.S. Some of you missed conferences. If you were too busy and would like to reschedule, please contact me.

It's Almost Thanksgiving!!

Dear Families,

I want to thank all of the families that brought treats and supplies for our Halloween party on Friday. The students had lots of fun, probably ate a bit too much sugar, and wrapped each other in toilet paper like mummies. They also had fun visiting the 1st grade haunted classroom!

I also want to thank those parent drivers that volunteered for our Mission Trails Regional Park field trip. Students enjoyed being out in nature and gaining knowledge about ecosystems by looking, touching, and smelling various plants. Our guide was informative with a great sense of humor and shared fascinating stories to maintain interest and attention! All-in-all, a great learning experience.

Upcoming events include the following for the month of November:

Wednesday, November 4th, 1:30-6:30pm are student-led conferences. Please email me or drop by to sign up for your conference time. Right now, I only have six parents signed up and I know you are all interested in knowing how your children are doing!

Thursday, November 12th, 5:00-8:00pm is our monthly parent meeting. This will also be a time for you to see your children's work from their "All About Me" project.

Sunday, November 15th, 10:00am-4:00pm is the Fall Festival, hosted by IA parents. I need volunteers to "man" the booksale booth. Hours to volunteer will be broken into two-hour shifts. In other words, from 10am-12pm, from 12-2pm, and from 2-4pm. Please email me if you can help at this important fundraising event.

Tuesday, November 17th our fourth grade needs volunteer drivers for a field trip to the San Diego Mission. Fourth grade standards cover learning about the California mission system. Kids love to learn by doing! Please let me know if you will be able to help.

Thanksgiving break - November 23rd-27th.

I hope you can make any or all of the events listed above. If you have questions, let me know!

Out daily learning consists of the following this week:

Morning Meeting - Highway 3/Full Responsibility
Wordly Wise - 15 new high level words and activities to learn the words in various parts of speech
Grammar - Punctuation, capitalization, and thank you letters
Writing - Final drafts for autobiographical narratives and introduction to the fictional narrative
Math - Number uses
Reading and Comprehension - Patty Reed's Doll
Social Science - Patty Reed's Doll This book helps students to understand the western migration that was taking place in the United States in the mid-1800's
Science - Ecosystems and introduction to food chains within the ecosytem.

I think that's it for now! Please contact me with any concerns or questions that come to mind.

Sincerely,
Kim