Dear Families,
I hope everyone is doing well and happy! I want to apologize for missing some of my blogging this month. Many school items have kept me busy and away from my computer. Although it has been a few weeks, first and foremost I want to thank all the wonderful parents and students who made our "Family Night" a big success. We raised almost $600.00 - Yeah! I've already refreshed some of our art supplies and will be purchasing science supplies.
As you know, Biztown is this Thursday, April 17th. Just as a reminder, all parent volunteers are required to be at JABiztown at 8am for training. Students will arrive at Biztown by 9:30am via San Diego Trolly. Passes for the trolley have already been purchased and the cost covered from our class funds. VERY IMPORTANT - I am at the school by 8am each morning. All Biztown students need to be at school by 8:15am with a packed lunch. If, for some reason, making these arrangments is difficult and you need to drop your student off before 8am in order to keep your volunteer committment for the JABiztown training, keep in mind that we have child care starting at 7:10am every morning. Please let me know if you will be using child care for this day, so I can let the child care workers at the school know.
Our daily schedule in school is much the same as the last time I blogged; however, in math we will be moving into division and fractions soon after. In science, we will be starting a unit on Life Science with our primary focus on plants as a primary source of matter and energy within food chains, producers and consumers, decomposers, and ecosystems. We will start on Friday and continue until students have a good grasp of these concepts.
I attended the Earth Day celebration at Balboa Park yesterday for Innovations Academy. During the time I was there, I was fortunate enough to meet a woman representing an organization giving away grant monies to schools. I completed her paperwork and found out last night that we will be receiving funds to start a better recycling program at school. I'll update you all as I receive more information.
I think that is it for now!
Kim
Arriving at Smith Ranch
Arriving at Smith Ranch!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Just back from Spring Break!!!!!
Dear Parents,
Did Spring Break go by fast for anyone else? I can't believe it's already Sunday night! Hope you all had a chance to relax and get recharged, 'cause school starts again bright and early tomorrow morning.
I spent some of the break getting materials ready for leveled reading groups. All students were tested and reading was chosen for them based on the results of that testing. I have a wide range of readers in this 4th grade class. In other words, I will be working on decoding, sight words, and basic comprehension skills with some groups while others will be engaging in more of a literature study. In any case, my objective is to help students to continue improving as readers. We start that program tomorrow.
Biztown studies are going great! We still need more volunteers and students need to bring in their money for this trip ($18) and also the one coming up on April 13th. A science field trip is on our class calendar for that day. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Help!!!!!!!!!!! Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
This Thursday, April 8th is our monthly scheduled Family Meeting. I have been fortunate enough to have all the pizza and salad donated - tickets will be on sale every morning. For $4.00 you will receive two pieces of yummy Mona Lisa's (located in Little Italy) pizza, salad and a drink. Parents, I am counting on your participation to help bring items listed on Leslie's (Quinlan's mom) list such as paper plates, cups, utensils, baked goods, etc...please let her know as soon as possible how you can assist! The money raised from the dinner will help pay for classroom items such as the novels I just purchased for our literature study. Please help!!!!!!!!
In the classroom we are still working on how to write a good summary, in math we are focusing on partial sums multiplication, in science I would still like to include an additional lesson on erosion (this one requires quite a few materials - again our fundraiser will help with this!), and of course Biztown. We are only three lessons away from finishing 4th grade vocabulary and the students had a choice to move to other 4th grade word activities or move onto 5th grade vocabulary. Ask which one they picked? We are also reviewing California STAR test release questions and practicing test taking strategies. Whew! Your kids work hard at school.
This Tuesday, there will be a substitute in class as I am attending a training on differentiated instruction. She's already been provided with extensive plans for the day, so I'm sure all will go well.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via email or in person.
Kim
Did Spring Break go by fast for anyone else? I can't believe it's already Sunday night! Hope you all had a chance to relax and get recharged, 'cause school starts again bright and early tomorrow morning.
I spent some of the break getting materials ready for leveled reading groups. All students were tested and reading was chosen for them based on the results of that testing. I have a wide range of readers in this 4th grade class. In other words, I will be working on decoding, sight words, and basic comprehension skills with some groups while others will be engaging in more of a literature study. In any case, my objective is to help students to continue improving as readers. We start that program tomorrow.
Biztown studies are going great! We still need more volunteers and students need to bring in their money for this trip ($18) and also the one coming up on April 13th. A science field trip is on our class calendar for that day. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Help!!!!!!!!!!! Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
This Thursday, April 8th is our monthly scheduled Family Meeting. I have been fortunate enough to have all the pizza and salad donated - tickets will be on sale every morning. For $4.00 you will receive two pieces of yummy Mona Lisa's (located in Little Italy) pizza, salad and a drink. Parents, I am counting on your participation to help bring items listed on Leslie's (Quinlan's mom) list such as paper plates, cups, utensils, baked goods, etc...please let her know as soon as possible how you can assist! The money raised from the dinner will help pay for classroom items such as the novels I just purchased for our literature study. Please help!!!!!!!!
In the classroom we are still working on how to write a good summary, in math we are focusing on partial sums multiplication, in science I would still like to include an additional lesson on erosion (this one requires quite a few materials - again our fundraiser will help with this!), and of course Biztown. We are only three lessons away from finishing 4th grade vocabulary and the students had a choice to move to other 4th grade word activities or move onto 5th grade vocabulary. Ask which one they picked? We are also reviewing California STAR test release questions and practicing test taking strategies. Whew! Your kids work hard at school.
This Tuesday, there will be a substitute in class as I am attending a training on differentiated instruction. She's already been provided with extensive plans for the day, so I'm sure all will go well.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via email or in person.
Kim
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Upcoming Events!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Families,
Get ready because April is going to be an event filled month. Just as a repeat from my last BLOG, the following events need your participation.
On Thursday, March 25th, there is a fund raiser at Chevy's from 4-7pm. All IA families will receive 20% off all receipts. I hope to see you all there!
A science field trip is on our class calendar for Tuesday, April 13th. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00 for students, so please start bringing your money in. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
We also have a chance this year to participate in an upcoming field trip to Junior Achievements Biz Town on Thursday, April 22nd. This is a highly acclaimed program that only reaches a small percentage of student. We are extremely fortunate to be included. There will be a full curriculum taught to the students that has already begun, focusing on market-based economies. The unit culminates with our visit to Biz Town, a two-story mini-city with town hall and businesses. Each student will assume a job, produce or sell products, receive a paycheck, work on a team, repay business loans, and shop/manage personal bank accounts. The cost per student is $18 to cover the entire program. I need lots of adults for supervision. The 5th and 6th grade classes will also be attending, so between the three classes, we need 25-40 adults. Please start looking at your calendar and let me know as soon as possible if you can volunteer for this full day event!!! Volunteers will go to Biztown at 8am to train before the students arrive a bit after 9am. Supervising adults are free. I went for my training last Friday and Biztown is amazing. I was fortunate to see kids in action and they all looked engaged and excited!
In addition, your child can now win a trip to Magic Mountain for summer break. The only thing required is reading. Students will be bringing home a weekly reading log with a required reading time of 85 minutes a week. These logs are to be returned to me every Monday and require a parents initials daily. They do not have to read over Spring Break. Please see the IA master calendar for Spring Break dates.
For the next Family Meeting on April 8th, my class is in charge of the food, desserts, and drinks. You will be pleased to hear I've already lined up a restaurant that will be donating all the pizzas and salad. I need you (a parent(s)) to help organize other parents to help set-up, bring lots of desserts which we will sell, drinks, cups, plates, napkins, utensils, and finally to help break everything down. As usual the pizza (two pieces, I think), salad, and drinks will cost just $3.00. The pizza is from Mona Lisa's Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In class we are busy with vocabulary and grammar work, finishing up By the Great Horn Spoon and our study of California Indians, we are moving into the next unit in math which includes higher level multiplication and division, and before STAR testing I want to take time for lessons on fractions. We have begun our lessons for Biztown and have already covered what a community and economy are. They have been introduced to the circular flow of our economy and played games exchanging money, goods and services, and resources. Whew!!!
For reading, we will next to be breaking into leveled reading groups. I hope to have this up and running sometime next week. In writing we have just begun to learn how to write a summary. Finally, I am beginning to introduce them to test taking strategies for taking a test such as the STAR test, which is coming up in about a month. We don't teach to the test, but as we are reviewing, I am finding places students need extra support. I will be sending home optional work/practice packets over the next few weeks, so they feel a bit more confident as they take the test.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions and concerns, and please let me know how you might help where volunteers are needed above.
Kim
Get ready because April is going to be an event filled month. Just as a repeat from my last BLOG, the following events need your participation.
On Thursday, March 25th, there is a fund raiser at Chevy's from 4-7pm. All IA families will receive 20% off all receipts. I hope to see you all there!
A science field trip is on our class calendar for Tuesday, April 13th. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00 for students, so please start bringing your money in. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
We also have a chance this year to participate in an upcoming field trip to Junior Achievements Biz Town on Thursday, April 22nd. This is a highly acclaimed program that only reaches a small percentage of student. We are extremely fortunate to be included. There will be a full curriculum taught to the students that has already begun, focusing on market-based economies. The unit culminates with our visit to Biz Town, a two-story mini-city with town hall and businesses. Each student will assume a job, produce or sell products, receive a paycheck, work on a team, repay business loans, and shop/manage personal bank accounts. The cost per student is $18 to cover the entire program. I need lots of adults for supervision. The 5th and 6th grade classes will also be attending, so between the three classes, we need 25-40 adults. Please start looking at your calendar and let me know as soon as possible if you can volunteer for this full day event!!! Volunteers will go to Biztown at 8am to train before the students arrive a bit after 9am. Supervising adults are free. I went for my training last Friday and Biztown is amazing. I was fortunate to see kids in action and they all looked engaged and excited!
In addition, your child can now win a trip to Magic Mountain for summer break. The only thing required is reading. Students will be bringing home a weekly reading log with a required reading time of 85 minutes a week. These logs are to be returned to me every Monday and require a parents initials daily. They do not have to read over Spring Break. Please see the IA master calendar for Spring Break dates.
For the next Family Meeting on April 8th, my class is in charge of the food, desserts, and drinks. You will be pleased to hear I've already lined up a restaurant that will be donating all the pizzas and salad. I need you (a parent(s)) to help organize other parents to help set-up, bring lots of desserts which we will sell, drinks, cups, plates, napkins, utensils, and finally to help break everything down. As usual the pizza (two pieces, I think), salad, and drinks will cost just $3.00. The pizza is from Mona Lisa's Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In class we are busy with vocabulary and grammar work, finishing up By the Great Horn Spoon and our study of California Indians, we are moving into the next unit in math which includes higher level multiplication and division, and before STAR testing I want to take time for lessons on fractions. We have begun our lessons for Biztown and have already covered what a community and economy are. They have been introduced to the circular flow of our economy and played games exchanging money, goods and services, and resources. Whew!!!
For reading, we will next to be breaking into leveled reading groups. I hope to have this up and running sometime next week. In writing we have just begun to learn how to write a summary. Finally, I am beginning to introduce them to test taking strategies for taking a test such as the STAR test, which is coming up in about a month. We don't teach to the test, but as we are reviewing, I am finding places students need extra support. I will be sending home optional work/practice packets over the next few weeks, so they feel a bit more confident as they take the test.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions and concerns, and please let me know how you might help where volunteers are needed above.
Kim
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Exciting News!
Hello IA families,
I am sorry I am a few days late getting my BLOG out to you! Get your calendars out to mark some very important dates!
First on the agenda is our IA Family Night on Thursday, March 11th sponsored by the Karrlie's first grade class. The menu includes pasta, salad, and breadsticks for $3.00 each. Dinner is at 5pm. Please plan to eat in your student's classroom. This Thursday, I will be showing a video of an upcoming activity your children are going to participate in. Keep reading for details! During the actual parent meeting, students/kids will be assigned to classrooms where they will be safely supervised.
On Thursday, March 25th, there is a fund raiser at Chevy's from 4-7pm. All IA families will receive 20% off all receipts. I hope to see you all there.
A science field trip is on our class calendar for Tuesday, April 13th. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00 for students, so please start bringing your money in. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
We also have a chance this year to participate in an upcoming field trip to Junior Achievements Biz Town on Thursday, April 22nd. This is a highly acclaimed program that only reaches a small percentage of student. We are extremely fortunate to be included. There will be a full curriculum taught to the students beginning next week, focusing on market-based economies. The unit culminates with our visit to Biz Town, a two-story mini-city with town hall and businesses. Each student will assume a job, produce or sell products, receive a paycheck, work on a team, repay business loans, and shop/manage personal bank accounts. As mentioned above, I will be showing a video about Biz Town at this week's Family Night. The cost per student is $18 to cover the entire program. I need lots of adults for supervision. The 5th and 6th grade classes will also be attending, so between the three classes, we need 25-40 adults. Please start looking at your calendar and let me know as soon as possible if you can volunteer for this full day event!!! Supervising adults are free.
In addition, your child can now win a trip to Magic Mountain for summer break. The only thing required is reading. Students will be bringing home a weekly reading log today with a required reading time of 75 minutes a week. These logs are to be returned to me every Monday and require a parents initials everyday. They do not have to read over Spring Break. Please see the IA master calendar for Spring Break dates.
In science, I need the following supplies brought into class next Tuesday, March 16th. Each child needs to gather three different looking rock specimens about 2 cm in diameter, bring in an empty coffee tin with a lid, and a large steel nail. We are finishing looking at types of rock and moving on to weathering . By the way, we are studying the metric system in math, so let them measure the rocks to determine if they qualify as the correct size.
That's it for now! Please email or come by with questions or concerns.
Kim
I am sorry I am a few days late getting my BLOG out to you! Get your calendars out to mark some very important dates!
First on the agenda is our IA Family Night on Thursday, March 11th sponsored by the Karrlie's first grade class. The menu includes pasta, salad, and breadsticks for $3.00 each. Dinner is at 5pm. Please plan to eat in your student's classroom. This Thursday, I will be showing a video of an upcoming activity your children are going to participate in. Keep reading for details! During the actual parent meeting, students/kids will be assigned to classrooms where they will be safely supervised.
On Thursday, March 25th, there is a fund raiser at Chevy's from 4-7pm. All IA families will receive 20% off all receipts. I hope to see you all there.
A science field trip is on our class calendar for Tuesday, April 13th. We are going to the Ruben H. Fleet to study electromagnatism and to tour the museum in general. After, we will head over to the Automotive Museum where we will see electricity in action as we will see an electric car. The cost is $10.00 for students, so please start bringing your money in. This will be a full-day activity and all students need to bring a packed lunch, snacks, and beverages. Drivers are needed and there is no cost for volunteering adults.
We also have a chance this year to participate in an upcoming field trip to Junior Achievements Biz Town on Thursday, April 22nd. This is a highly acclaimed program that only reaches a small percentage of student. We are extremely fortunate to be included. There will be a full curriculum taught to the students beginning next week, focusing on market-based economies. The unit culminates with our visit to Biz Town, a two-story mini-city with town hall and businesses. Each student will assume a job, produce or sell products, receive a paycheck, work on a team, repay business loans, and shop/manage personal bank accounts. As mentioned above, I will be showing a video about Biz Town at this week's Family Night. The cost per student is $18 to cover the entire program. I need lots of adults for supervision. The 5th and 6th grade classes will also be attending, so between the three classes, we need 25-40 adults. Please start looking at your calendar and let me know as soon as possible if you can volunteer for this full day event!!! Supervising adults are free.
In addition, your child can now win a trip to Magic Mountain for summer break. The only thing required is reading. Students will be bringing home a weekly reading log today with a required reading time of 75 minutes a week. These logs are to be returned to me every Monday and require a parents initials everyday. They do not have to read over Spring Break. Please see the IA master calendar for Spring Break dates.
In science, I need the following supplies brought into class next Tuesday, March 16th. Each child needs to gather three different looking rock specimens about 2 cm in diameter, bring in an empty coffee tin with a lid, and a large steel nail. We are finishing looking at types of rock and moving on to weathering . By the way, we are studying the metric system in math, so let them measure the rocks to determine if they qualify as the correct size.
That's it for now! Please email or come by with questions or concerns.
Kim
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A Quick Update
Deat Families,
Firstly, just a quick reminder that we are petitioning for prop 39 school sites. The school site that was given to us is in an undesirable location and is virtually unusable for our current needs. We are encouraging all staff, parents, and students to sign a form letter stating our wish to be offered a more suitable site. We are also going to encourage parents and students to be present at the official board meeting on Tuesday, March 23. It will be held sometime in the evening. I am not sure of the exact time as of yet.
Next, I want to congratulate the fourth graders on the wonderful job thay did for our "Wax Museum" last Thursday. They were all so excited about being experts on their California figures. The entire school visited our classroom and asked questions of each student. They were all tired afterwards. Go fourth graders!! Biographies will be sent home soon!
Also, if you don't know already, some of the fictional narratives written by students and their
illustrations will be published in Frye Lights, Donna Frye's newsletter. When it is finished, I will have copies in the classroom for all to enjoy. I would also like to publish all narratives and illustrations in a class book. Is anyone willing to take the writing and drawings to a printer and get an estimate of cost?
In science we are studying crystals and rocks. Students have engaged in hands-on activities to make crystals, igneous and sedimentary rock, and this week they will make metamorphic rock. Shortly there after we will be taking a look at weathering. We will also be taking a field trip in mid-March to the Ruben H. Fleet museum to look at electricity and later the application of electricity at the Automotive Museum where we will view an electric car! The cost will be $10.00. I will let you know the date as soon as I have it.
Learning about California in Social Studies continues as we read our adventurous book, "By the Great Horn Spoon". Students have compared prices during the gold rush period to costs now. When do you think things cost more? Ask your child. I think you will be surprised. They are involved in answering review questions, drawing, and will be looking at the diseases of that time starting this week. We are also starting to read about California Indians. My goal is for groups of students to prepare posters identifying the differences between indian tribes as well as write a legend. I am looking for donations of books that are specifically legends to give students' examples.
In writing, we are just beginning to study the elements of writing a summary, a fourth grade standard. If their summaries are like the rest of their writing, I plan to look for excellent results.
The math unit we are studying is all about decimals and so far so good. I thought it would be more challenging, but most students have grasped the lessons. We have been using concrete representations (base-10 blocks and money), visual representations, and trying three strategies to add or subtract decimals.
Please stop by to see your child's beautiful oil paintings of the California poppy. I would like to make a quilt for the srtist who came in to teach. We need fabric, batting, embroidery and regular thread. Who can help???
Also, the fourth grade is responsible for the meal on the family night in April. This is an area I would like to get some input and help on. What are your ideas for the meal? Anyone know where we can get it donated from? Are you willing to set up a game night to go along with that night. We will be charging $3.00 for the meal and $0.50-$1.00 to play the games and we need prizes! Help!!!!!
That's it for now!
Kim
Firstly, just a quick reminder that we are petitioning for prop 39 school sites. The school site that was given to us is in an undesirable location and is virtually unusable for our current needs. We are encouraging all staff, parents, and students to sign a form letter stating our wish to be offered a more suitable site. We are also going to encourage parents and students to be present at the official board meeting on Tuesday, March 23. It will be held sometime in the evening. I am not sure of the exact time as of yet.
Next, I want to congratulate the fourth graders on the wonderful job thay did for our "Wax Museum" last Thursday. They were all so excited about being experts on their California figures. The entire school visited our classroom and asked questions of each student. They were all tired afterwards. Go fourth graders!! Biographies will be sent home soon!
Also, if you don't know already, some of the fictional narratives written by students and their
illustrations will be published in Frye Lights, Donna Frye's newsletter. When it is finished, I will have copies in the classroom for all to enjoy. I would also like to publish all narratives and illustrations in a class book. Is anyone willing to take the writing and drawings to a printer and get an estimate of cost?
In science we are studying crystals and rocks. Students have engaged in hands-on activities to make crystals, igneous and sedimentary rock, and this week they will make metamorphic rock. Shortly there after we will be taking a look at weathering. We will also be taking a field trip in mid-March to the Ruben H. Fleet museum to look at electricity and later the application of electricity at the Automotive Museum where we will view an electric car! The cost will be $10.00. I will let you know the date as soon as I have it.
Learning about California in Social Studies continues as we read our adventurous book, "By the Great Horn Spoon". Students have compared prices during the gold rush period to costs now. When do you think things cost more? Ask your child. I think you will be surprised. They are involved in answering review questions, drawing, and will be looking at the diseases of that time starting this week. We are also starting to read about California Indians. My goal is for groups of students to prepare posters identifying the differences between indian tribes as well as write a legend. I am looking for donations of books that are specifically legends to give students' examples.
In writing, we are just beginning to study the elements of writing a summary, a fourth grade standard. If their summaries are like the rest of their writing, I plan to look for excellent results.
The math unit we are studying is all about decimals and so far so good. I thought it would be more challenging, but most students have grasped the lessons. We have been using concrete representations (base-10 blocks and money), visual representations, and trying three strategies to add or subtract decimals.
Please stop by to see your child's beautiful oil paintings of the California poppy. I would like to make a quilt for the srtist who came in to teach. We need fabric, batting, embroidery and regular thread. Who can help???
Also, the fourth grade is responsible for the meal on the family night in April. This is an area I would like to get some input and help on. What are your ideas for the meal? Anyone know where we can get it donated from? Are you willing to set up a game night to go along with that night. We will be charging $3.00 for the meal and $0.50-$1.00 to play the games and we need prizes! Help!!!!!
That's it for now!
Kim
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Let the Good Times Roll!
Dear Families,
I hope you all had sufficient time to bond with your children over our latest holiday weekend! I did some maintenance, like brakes all around, plumbing repairs in the bathroom, etc...I live in a very old house! GRrrrrrrrrr!
In math most all of the students in class are really "getting it" (decimals). Wow, it seems like such a difficult subject to me, but they are flying. We will be continuing with decimals/fractions/percentages for awhile. But at this rate, it may go faster than I thought!
All of you must come into the classroom to view your child's incredibly beautiful oil paintings. Each painting is rich with the vision your child saw in the flower. Last year we made a quilt from the paintings that were transferred to fabric. "Sewing Bee" anyone? I have the quilt from last year, but this year I would love to put one together for the artist who donated her time for free to teach the children how to mix colors, express themselves, and create. This means we will need someone to take pictures of each painting, transfer them onto fabric, and help with purchases of materials like batting and diverse fabrics that will compliment the paintings. Any takers?
Also, fictional narratives are being posted on our bulletin board outside the classroom. On Friday, February 18th, Donna Frye's writer, Chet will be speaking to your children about writing, the process, and the final piece. He and Donna also offered to print some of the students' pieces in Frye Lights, her news letter. Yipee!
The Wax Musuem will be scheduled for Thursday, February 25th from 1pm-3pm. This means it is time to create costumes for your child's character. On that day they can just bring their costumes to change into at lunch time or they can be in character all day.
Lastly, we finally started science and are looking at minerals and the creation of crytals that we will be observing tomorrow and discussing what we see and why we think what we did made a change. Next, we will be looking at and defining rocks. Don't be surprised when your child tells you they ate some rocks that spewed out of a volcanoe.
As usual, email or call anytime.
Love,
Kim
I hope you all had sufficient time to bond with your children over our latest holiday weekend! I did some maintenance, like brakes all around, plumbing repairs in the bathroom, etc...I live in a very old house! GRrrrrrrrrr!
In math most all of the students in class are really "getting it" (decimals). Wow, it seems like such a difficult subject to me, but they are flying. We will be continuing with decimals/fractions/percentages for awhile. But at this rate, it may go faster than I thought!
All of you must come into the classroom to view your child's incredibly beautiful oil paintings. Each painting is rich with the vision your child saw in the flower. Last year we made a quilt from the paintings that were transferred to fabric. "Sewing Bee" anyone? I have the quilt from last year, but this year I would love to put one together for the artist who donated her time for free to teach the children how to mix colors, express themselves, and create. This means we will need someone to take pictures of each painting, transfer them onto fabric, and help with purchases of materials like batting and diverse fabrics that will compliment the paintings. Any takers?
Also, fictional narratives are being posted on our bulletin board outside the classroom. On Friday, February 18th, Donna Frye's writer, Chet will be speaking to your children about writing, the process, and the final piece. He and Donna also offered to print some of the students' pieces in Frye Lights, her news letter. Yipee!
The Wax Musuem will be scheduled for Thursday, February 25th from 1pm-3pm. This means it is time to create costumes for your child's character. On that day they can just bring their costumes to change into at lunch time or they can be in character all day.
Lastly, we finally started science and are looking at minerals and the creation of crytals that we will be observing tomorrow and discussing what we see and why we think what we did made a change. Next, we will be looking at and defining rocks. Don't be surprised when your child tells you they ate some rocks that spewed out of a volcanoe.
As usual, email or call anytime.
Love,
Kim
Sunday, February 7, 2010
WEEKLY UPDATE!!!
Dear Families,
Family Night is this Thursday, Feb 11th at starting at 5pm. At 5pm, a chili or hot dog dinner is being sponsored by the Kinder class. Please sign at the front desk and pick up a schedule of the nights events. You may also pay for your meals at the front desk. The price is $3 per dinner. Tickets are on sale all week during drop off and pick up, or you can purchase them from Donna. Yummy baked goods (two) will also be available for sale in the exploratorium for $1. Families are encouraged to come and have dinner with their child's teachers in the classrooms. This is a great time to interact, see how well your children are progressing and to get all of your class questions answered. You don't have to buy a chili dinner to participate. You are welcome to bring a dinner from home. It's important that you and your child take part in this interaction time. For information we'll have an open forum discussion on facilities, fundraising, and other school happenings to begin at 6:15pm sharp upstairs in the Commons Room. You'll need to be there to be kept up to date on the latest on our school. Children will be able to do crafts in the kinder room during the parent meeting. $1 for larger crafts like kaliedescope, pinwheels, bead necklace/bracelet, or 3 monster magnets. There will also be free crafts. Each child can make a free book mark.
What's new in our classroom? I know you are all waiting for the "Wax Museum" to be scheduled. Students are almost done with their biographies and then a little more work on dioramas needs to be done. I'll give you a date as soon as we are almost finished - hopefully by the end of this week. Most of the fictional narratives are being edited or in final draft mode. As they are finished, they will be displayed outside our classroom on the bulletin board. Please take the time to stop and read them as I think you will be surprised at the level of creative ability and writing skills. Go 4th graders!!!
We will be reading chapters 6 &7 this week in By the Great Horn Spoon! Students have been learning about the experiences of gold-seekers that traveled around the Horn in South America. They have been locating places from the story on the map, answering comprehension questions, drawing pictures, and finding locations based on longitude and latitude. This week they will write about the life of miners. After we finish this particular book, we will no longer be reading as a whole group. I will be reading with small groups so I can serve the needs of students at their reading levels.
In math, we are starting to learn about decimals. Last week, students looked at money and the decimals in money, we placed decimals on number lines, looked at a hundreds chart and how decimals relate, and looked at the relationship between thousands, hundreds, tens, ones, tenths, hundredths, and thousanths. This week I will be using Base 10 to further support learning about decimals and we will just begin to compare decimals to fractions.
On Tuesday of this week, I have scheduled with an artist to come in at 1pm to begin teaching the students to oil paint. Thank you to all the parents who brought canvasses and other supplies into the classroom so that your children have the wonderful opportunity to learn from a professional artist. We will be painting the California poppy.
On Thursday, we will be starting science and beginning to look at crystals and rocks. Yippee!
In history, along with reading, By the Great Horn Spoon, we recently read about the Mexican-American War, which is so important in California's statehood. We also had our wonderful field trip up to Julian to visit Smith's ranch where Mr. Smith was a well-informed resource for the time period in history we are studying. Through him we also had the opportunity to see a primary source document. That spurred a conversation in the classroom about primary and secondary resources in research. Thanks to all of the parents that drove to Julian. Stopping on the way back to touch snow and have snow-ball fights was another highlight of our trip.
I want to mention a special thanks to Leisa Mitchell who donated book bags to all 4th graders and also to Cheryl Geck for modifying the bags so they can actually hang on the back of the chairs. I like the desks to look uncluttered.
I will be sending home some unfinished work with students this week. In some cases students have had as much as two weeks to turn in some work and still have not. When it comes home, if you could have your child finish the work as soon as possible and return it to me, I would appreciate it.
That's it for now!
Kim
Family Night is this Thursday, Feb 11th at starting at 5pm. At 5pm, a chili or hot dog dinner is being sponsored by the Kinder class. Please sign at the front desk and pick up a schedule of the nights events. You may also pay for your meals at the front desk. The price is $3 per dinner. Tickets are on sale all week during drop off and pick up, or you can purchase them from Donna. Yummy baked goods (two) will also be available for sale in the exploratorium for $1. Families are encouraged to come and have dinner with their child's teachers in the classrooms. This is a great time to interact, see how well your children are progressing and to get all of your class questions answered. You don't have to buy a chili dinner to participate. You are welcome to bring a dinner from home. It's important that you and your child take part in this interaction time. For information we'll have an open forum discussion on facilities, fundraising, and other school happenings to begin at 6:15pm sharp upstairs in the Commons Room. You'll need to be there to be kept up to date on the latest on our school. Children will be able to do crafts in the kinder room during the parent meeting. $1 for larger crafts like kaliedescope, pinwheels, bead necklace/bracelet, or 3 monster magnets. There will also be free crafts. Each child can make a free book mark.
What's new in our classroom? I know you are all waiting for the "Wax Museum" to be scheduled. Students are almost done with their biographies and then a little more work on dioramas needs to be done. I'll give you a date as soon as we are almost finished - hopefully by the end of this week. Most of the fictional narratives are being edited or in final draft mode. As they are finished, they will be displayed outside our classroom on the bulletin board. Please take the time to stop and read them as I think you will be surprised at the level of creative ability and writing skills. Go 4th graders!!!
We will be reading chapters 6 &7 this week in By the Great Horn Spoon! Students have been learning about the experiences of gold-seekers that traveled around the Horn in South America. They have been locating places from the story on the map, answering comprehension questions, drawing pictures, and finding locations based on longitude and latitude. This week they will write about the life of miners. After we finish this particular book, we will no longer be reading as a whole group. I will be reading with small groups so I can serve the needs of students at their reading levels.
In math, we are starting to learn about decimals. Last week, students looked at money and the decimals in money, we placed decimals on number lines, looked at a hundreds chart and how decimals relate, and looked at the relationship between thousands, hundreds, tens, ones, tenths, hundredths, and thousanths. This week I will be using Base 10 to further support learning about decimals and we will just begin to compare decimals to fractions.
On Tuesday of this week, I have scheduled with an artist to come in at 1pm to begin teaching the students to oil paint. Thank you to all the parents who brought canvasses and other supplies into the classroom so that your children have the wonderful opportunity to learn from a professional artist. We will be painting the California poppy.
On Thursday, we will be starting science and beginning to look at crystals and rocks. Yippee!
In history, along with reading, By the Great Horn Spoon, we recently read about the Mexican-American War, which is so important in California's statehood. We also had our wonderful field trip up to Julian to visit Smith's ranch where Mr. Smith was a well-informed resource for the time period in history we are studying. Through him we also had the opportunity to see a primary source document. That spurred a conversation in the classroom about primary and secondary resources in research. Thanks to all of the parents that drove to Julian. Stopping on the way back to touch snow and have snow-ball fights was another highlight of our trip.
I want to mention a special thanks to Leisa Mitchell who donated book bags to all 4th graders and also to Cheryl Geck for modifying the bags so they can actually hang on the back of the chairs. I like the desks to look uncluttered.
I will be sending home some unfinished work with students this week. In some cases students have had as much as two weeks to turn in some work and still have not. When it comes home, if you could have your child finish the work as soon as possible and return it to me, I would appreciate it.
That's it for now!
Kim
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