Dear Families,
I just want to let everyone know how excited I am to be your teacher in the upcoming year. I cannot wait to build a fun, safe, and enriching community. I am really anxious to meet you all and find out more about you! Our first few weeks will be a time of team building, learning procedures, and starting our first project. A couple of things students will need to bring to school by the second day of school include a book they want to read or one they have read and are willing to read again and a picture of them enjoying a summer activity. I would like school supplies to arrive with students within the first week of school! Some of the supplies will be used on a community level with our classroom, so please don't get too attached to a particular set of markers, for example. If you have questions, my email address is kim@innovationsacademy.org.
I am attaching a school list to this BLOG along with a wish list of classroom supplies we need. In addition, I have a request for help with bookbags. Last year, a parent donated canvas bookbags for each of my students and another parent modified the straps, so the bookbags could be tied to the classroom student chairs. These bags helped students stay organized and the classroom look neater. Is anyone willing to help? Please let me know because I would like to get these in place as soon as possible. Each student decorated their bookbag to represent themselves. They were a beautiful addition to our classroom decor as well as being practical.
The following is a list of supplies each student must bring to class:
Pencil box
Pencils #2 - 24
Eraser - (Pink Wedge) - 3
Pen (red) - 2
Highlighters - 5 assorted colors (pink, yellow, green, orange, blue)
Children's Markers - Crayola/12 Ct. box
Colored Pencils - Crayola/24 Ct. box
Glue Stick(s) - 4
12" Ruler - 1 with centimeter and millimeter markings
7" Scissors - 1
Package of Index cards (3x5) - 1 pack of 100
POST-IT® NOTES - 2"x 2" pack of 3
Pocket Folders - 6 any color or style
Single-subject Spiral Notebooks - 6 (wide-ruled if possible)
Loose leaf ruled 3 hole filler paper - 1 pack of 150 wide-ruled
Tabbed Dividers - 8-tab multi-color
USB Flash Drives
3-Ring Binder - 3-inch
Sheet Protectors for Portfolio
Compass
The following is a wish list and items I would like donated to the classroom, if possible:
Paperclips, Chart Paper, Tissue Paper (all colors), Pencil Top Erasures, Speciality Papers (ask me), Tape, Disposable forks, spoons, plates, cups, and bowls, Dry-erase markers, Kleenex, Binder clips, Paper Towels, Clipboards, Construction Paper, Paint and Paint Brushes, Pastels, Glue Guns and Glue Sticks, Canvases for oil painting, and Ziploc bags (all sizes).
Thank you! I know this is going to be a great year! Enjoy your last days of summer and I will see you all on the first day of school.
Kim
Arriving at Smith Ranch
Arriving at Smith Ranch!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
We're Nearing the End!!!!!!!!!
Dear Families,
I want to share with you a few updates as we near the end of the year. First, all "Passion Projects" are due on Thursday, June 3rd. Your children may be bringing home information to write their reports tonight and tomorrow night. I still have a few students who have not started their tri-fold posters. I have explained many times what my expectations for this project are, but if any questions still remain, let me know by dropping by or via email.
Next Monday, June 7th I need your help! I need parent volunteers/drivers for the YMCA Field Day! Students will be participating in supervised games (i.e., relay races, etc...) We will be heading to the YMCA at 11:30am and participating until approximately 2:30pm. Parents that volunte will need to drive and be available to supervise during that time. There is no cost for this fieldtrip!
On Friday, June 11th fourth graders have an opportunity to go to Flip Force in San Diego and enjoy working out on trampolines. Please see the following link for information on Flip Force: http://www.flipforcesandiego.com/. The cost is $10.00. Again I need volunteers and drivers for this fun and exciting fieldtrip. We are planning to leave at 9:30am and will either enjoy lunch there or come back to the school for lunch. In either case, please make sure to pack a lunch for your child.
Finally, on the last day of school, Friday, June 18th we plan to have a student talent show and pizza party in our fourth grade classroom. Please encourage your child to work on their talent. I will take care of pizza and drinks, but would ask that parents bring desserts, vegetables with dip, etc...
Report cards will be ready on the 18th and will be sent home with children or handed to parents directly at pick-up.
I may still be planning one other outing that final week, but will let you know the details as I have them ready.
Please contact me with any questions or your ability to participate as a parent volunteer.
Thanks,
Kim
I want to share with you a few updates as we near the end of the year. First, all "Passion Projects" are due on Thursday, June 3rd. Your children may be bringing home information to write their reports tonight and tomorrow night. I still have a few students who have not started their tri-fold posters. I have explained many times what my expectations for this project are, but if any questions still remain, let me know by dropping by or via email.
Next Monday, June 7th I need your help! I need parent volunteers/drivers for the YMCA Field Day! Students will be participating in supervised games (i.e., relay races, etc...) We will be heading to the YMCA at 11:30am and participating until approximately 2:30pm. Parents that volunte will need to drive and be available to supervise during that time. There is no cost for this fieldtrip!
On Friday, June 11th fourth graders have an opportunity to go to Flip Force in San Diego and enjoy working out on trampolines. Please see the following link for information on Flip Force: http://www.flipforcesandiego.com/. The cost is $10.00. Again I need volunteers and drivers for this fun and exciting fieldtrip. We are planning to leave at 9:30am and will either enjoy lunch there or come back to the school for lunch. In either case, please make sure to pack a lunch for your child.
Finally, on the last day of school, Friday, June 18th we plan to have a student talent show and pizza party in our fourth grade classroom. Please encourage your child to work on their talent. I will take care of pizza and drinks, but would ask that parents bring desserts, vegetables with dip, etc...
Report cards will be ready on the 18th and will be sent home with children or handed to parents directly at pick-up.
I may still be planning one other outing that final week, but will let you know the details as I have them ready.
Please contact me with any questions or your ability to participate as a parent volunteer.
Thanks,
Kim
Monday, May 17, 2010
May 17th - May 23rd News!
Dear Families,
It was great to see some of you at our monthly Family Night! We are officially done with STAR testing!! You will receive your child’s test results in the mail sometime in September. Overall school scores broken down by grade will be available in July on the internet. Thank you for making sure your children were on time and well rested, they did great!
Your child may mention some additional testing I have started in the classroom and they will be referring to the WRAT tests. These tests are for Innovations Academy and will tell us how your child has grown in reading comprehension, spelling, and math. Students took the math and spelling tests last Friday and I will begin scoring them this week. The other portion of the test is done individually, so of course takes additional time. If you have any questions, let me know.
Talking about the end of the year, on Monday, June 7th, in the afternoon we will be at the YMCA engaging in "WACKY RACES". On Friday, the 11th as noted in my last BLOG, we will be going to "Flip Force". Both of these will be great fun for your children! The very last week of school, I am planning a final field trip. I'm not sure what we will be doing yet, but am open to suggestions from parents. I would like it to be fun and educational. I would also like to have a final class party on the last day of school. Students have asked for a pizza party. Are there any parent willing to donate plates and napkins? I have drinks and will buy the pizza's out of our class funds.
In math:
We will be finishing up learning a partial-quotient strategy in division and moving onto some fraction work, understanding angles, and probability.
For writing:
We are still working on summaries. Students are working hard learning how to restate information using synonyms and pronouns.
In Science:
We are looking at classification of living things.
Project:
Students have been given dates to finish each part of their project. Some are still working on their 3-D representation and others on their reports.
At this point in the year, we are almost finished with Wordly Wise. When we have finished, we will either move to other sets of words or engage in other types of word work.
That's it for now.
Kim
It was great to see some of you at our monthly Family Night! We are officially done with STAR testing!! You will receive your child’s test results in the mail sometime in September. Overall school scores broken down by grade will be available in July on the internet. Thank you for making sure your children were on time and well rested, they did great!
Your child may mention some additional testing I have started in the classroom and they will be referring to the WRAT tests. These tests are for Innovations Academy and will tell us how your child has grown in reading comprehension, spelling, and math. Students took the math and spelling tests last Friday and I will begin scoring them this week. The other portion of the test is done individually, so of course takes additional time. If you have any questions, let me know.
Talking about the end of the year, on Monday, June 7th, in the afternoon we will be at the YMCA engaging in "WACKY RACES". On Friday, the 11th as noted in my last BLOG, we will be going to "Flip Force". Both of these will be great fun for your children! The very last week of school, I am planning a final field trip. I'm not sure what we will be doing yet, but am open to suggestions from parents. I would like it to be fun and educational. I would also like to have a final class party on the last day of school. Students have asked for a pizza party. Are there any parent willing to donate plates and napkins? I have drinks and will buy the pizza's out of our class funds.
In math:
We will be finishing up learning a partial-quotient strategy in division and moving onto some fraction work, understanding angles, and probability.
For writing:
We are still working on summaries. Students are working hard learning how to restate information using synonyms and pronouns.
In Science:
We are looking at classification of living things.
Project:
Students have been given dates to finish each part of their project. Some are still working on their 3-D representation and others on their reports.
At this point in the year, we are almost finished with Wordly Wise. When we have finished, we will either move to other sets of words or engage in other types of word work.
That's it for now.
Kim
Monday, May 10, 2010
Dear Families,
I hope you are doing well! I want to let all of you know how much I appreciate all that you do as families of IA. Near the end of the year, everyone gets tired (students and teachers alike); however last week I got just the boost I needed. The cards, flowers, and treats you all brought to school for "Teacher's Appreciation Week" touched my heart and I want to "thank you" all very much.
This week we continue CST testing for math. The fourth graders were given a practice test on Friday and I think overall did well and as expected. We did pinpoint one area that needs some attention which I will be covering today. In addition to these tests, I will be starting to assess students using the WRAT test this week. This is an IA assessment and helps us evaluate student growth! If you happen to stop by the classroom, things may not look exactly as usual. Last week, I also reassessed one of my reading groups and found that they had improved their word recognition skills by a minimum of one grade level and in some cases more! Yey!
Please mark your calendar for this Thursday, May 13th for our monthly Family Night Meeting. I'm not sure who is hosting it, but know it is a good time to gain important IA news and information. If you do come, be sure to stop by my classroom and see the current project your child is working on.
Since I mentioned our current project, I want to let you know that your child was given an information sheet to bring home for you to read. Students are required to display their work and I recommended a tri-fold poster be purchased for each student. They are available at Michael's for $5.99. At this point, very few students have brought them to school. They are not required to use a tri-fold poster, if they have another idea about how they want to display their work. Ask your child what they are researching? By the way, we can always use more art supplies. Right now, I am looking for wire we can use under clay to build a 3-D figures and thin dowels.
I think that is it for now! Keep an eye on my BLOG over the next few weeks as I will be announcing an end of the year field trip!
Kim
I hope you are doing well! I want to let all of you know how much I appreciate all that you do as families of IA. Near the end of the year, everyone gets tired (students and teachers alike); however last week I got just the boost I needed. The cards, flowers, and treats you all brought to school for "Teacher's Appreciation Week" touched my heart and I want to "thank you" all very much.
This week we continue CST testing for math. The fourth graders were given a practice test on Friday and I think overall did well and as expected. We did pinpoint one area that needs some attention which I will be covering today. In addition to these tests, I will be starting to assess students using the WRAT test this week. This is an IA assessment and helps us evaluate student growth! If you happen to stop by the classroom, things may not look exactly as usual. Last week, I also reassessed one of my reading groups and found that they had improved their word recognition skills by a minimum of one grade level and in some cases more! Yey!
Please mark your calendar for this Thursday, May 13th for our monthly Family Night Meeting. I'm not sure who is hosting it, but know it is a good time to gain important IA news and information. If you do come, be sure to stop by my classroom and see the current project your child is working on.
Since I mentioned our current project, I want to let you know that your child was given an information sheet to bring home for you to read. Students are required to display their work and I recommended a tri-fold poster be purchased for each student. They are available at Michael's for $5.99. At this point, very few students have brought them to school. They are not required to use a tri-fold poster, if they have another idea about how they want to display their work. Ask your child what they are researching? By the way, we can always use more art supplies. Right now, I am looking for wire we can use under clay to build a 3-D figures and thin dowels.
I think that is it for now! Keep an eye on my BLOG over the next few weeks as I will be announcing an end of the year field trip!
Kim
Thursday, April 29, 2010
We Have So Much to Do Together Yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello wonderful parents and brilliant students,
First, I want to thank all the dedicated parents and friends that made Biztown a reality for our kids! With just one exception, all of the kids loved the experience and found it a real life valuable experience. Junior Achievement has additional opportunities for learning and the 4th graders just started working with a financial analyst (Crystal), who will be joining our class every Tuesday for the next five weeks working with them on designing their own companies. The kids and I have met her for our first lesson and she is just great with the kids. They were so excited when they were able to put their business ideas on a map of the United States in the region they may be interested in working. I'll keep you updated on this learning opportunity. Please, ask your children about it?
I will also be receiving the $300.00 grant for a recycling program or start of a program (I haven't checked prices on materials yet)! I have two students in particular who are passionate about recycling. Our goal would be to cut our school's (or part of the school's) waste by 50%. I have no idea at this point if this possible. Is there a parent volunteer that would be willing to do some research and help the students with implementing this program. One of my ideas is to take a picture of one week's worth of trash before and then after we put the program in place. Please contact me ASAP if you are willing to help or possibly do some additional fundraising if needed.
Since Biztown is officially over and we are down to about seven weeks of school, your students have the opportunity with their next (and final) project to study, write, and create a presentation
called the "Passion Project". In other words, they will develop work based on guidelines that will help them learn and teach about their greatest current passion or interest. At this point, we have Avatar, history of the Mustang, the universe, wolves, J. Adams, and army captains' projects started. I sent home an overview of this project with your children. If your child has not shared it with you yet, please contact me as I would like all families to be "on board" to help their children create this "dream" project.
STAR testing begins next week on May 4th. Your children will test from 10am-11:30am that day as well as on May 5th, May 11th, andMay 12th. Please be sure your child has plenty of rest the night before and that they eat breakfast. Many of the students are starved by 10am. I will make time before testing for them to have a snack if they are hungry; however I prefer they don't reach that exhausted/hungry stage. Thank you for helping.
On Friday, May 28th, teachers have a professional day, so there is no school for your children!
In addition, we are out of school on May 31st, Memorial Day! Enjoy your four-day weekend!
I believe that is it for now!
Kim
First, I want to thank all the dedicated parents and friends that made Biztown a reality for our kids! With just one exception, all of the kids loved the experience and found it a real life valuable experience. Junior Achievement has additional opportunities for learning and the 4th graders just started working with a financial analyst (Crystal), who will be joining our class every Tuesday for the next five weeks working with them on designing their own companies. The kids and I have met her for our first lesson and she is just great with the kids. They were so excited when they were able to put their business ideas on a map of the United States in the region they may be interested in working. I'll keep you updated on this learning opportunity. Please, ask your children about it?
I will also be receiving the $300.00 grant for a recycling program or start of a program (I haven't checked prices on materials yet)! I have two students in particular who are passionate about recycling. Our goal would be to cut our school's (or part of the school's) waste by 50%. I have no idea at this point if this possible. Is there a parent volunteer that would be willing to do some research and help the students with implementing this program. One of my ideas is to take a picture of one week's worth of trash before and then after we put the program in place. Please contact me ASAP if you are willing to help or possibly do some additional fundraising if needed.
Since Biztown is officially over and we are down to about seven weeks of school, your students have the opportunity with their next (and final) project to study, write, and create a presentation
called the "Passion Project". In other words, they will develop work based on guidelines that will help them learn and teach about their greatest current passion or interest. At this point, we have Avatar, history of the Mustang, the universe, wolves, J. Adams, and army captains' projects started. I sent home an overview of this project with your children. If your child has not shared it with you yet, please contact me as I would like all families to be "on board" to help their children create this "dream" project.
STAR testing begins next week on May 4th. Your children will test from 10am-11:30am that day as well as on May 5th, May 11th, andMay 12th. Please be sure your child has plenty of rest the night before and that they eat breakfast. Many of the students are starved by 10am. I will make time before testing for them to have a snack if they are hungry; however I prefer they don't reach that exhausted/hungry stage. Thank you for helping.
On Friday, May 28th, teachers have a professional day, so there is no school for your children!
In addition, we are out of school on May 31st, Memorial Day! Enjoy your four-day weekend!
I believe that is it for now!
Kim
Monday, April 19, 2010
CURRENT UPDATES!!!!!!!!!!!!
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
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
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
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