NEW INFORMATION!

Hi Families,

Since we have been back from the holiday break, your children have been engaged in the following:

1. Speeches about animals that includes an art piece. The topics within this assignment satisfy some of the Life Science standards. Students were asked to research animals based on an identified criteria. They were asked to take notes on 3X5 cards. Your child is expected to memorize the information on their cards, so that when they give the speech they are not reading off the note cards. Additionally, each student has been asked to produce a piece of art of the animal they selected. My suggestion was that they complete torn paper art as it is beautiful, but some want to draw. That's fine with me!

2. We have begun to look at the meaning of division and your children will be building concrete models to represent word problems this week.

3. We started to study for Biztown! Your children have a great opportunity to learn about so many topics that pertain to a community and needs within it. Today, we talked about "rights" and "responsibilities" of citizens. Your children did a great job in understanding this concept. When the time comes, I will need parent volunteers for interviewing children for jobs and also for being at Biztown the day of our fieltrip. Please be thinking about how you would like to participate.

I'm not sure you know, but every other Wednesday your child participates in Book Buddies The 4th graders read to the 1st graders in DeeDee's class.

Kim

Happy New Year!

Dear Families,



I want to thank you all for the lovely cards, candies, bubble bath, candles, and coffee, etc. that I received before the Holiday break. I am so blessed to be at a school with such supportive and caring families. Thank you! I hope you all had an opportunity to enjoy your beautiful children during the break. I had an opportunity to hear about their vacations in our morning meeting today. Every child shared!



During our teacher professional day on Monday, we talked about what it is you need as a parent and since I am a parent it was easy to contribute. I know you probably need the following:

What contribution is my child making in class?

What are they studying and exploring?

How do they interact with others?

Are they enjoying school?

What is happening at school?

Please let me know through email, by stopping by, or by appontment any concerns you may be having. I am available to answer your questions. Don't be shy because we are raising these kids up together!



Please take a look at our many backpacks, lunch boxes, and jackets, etc. that have been placed just outside Donna's office. All of these items will be donated on Friday if not claimed.



In class, we are now shifting gears to Life Science. Your children have been asked to choose an animal and use notecards to identify specific information. They will be giving speeches (without notecards starting on Friday). They are also creating beautiful torn art pieces to accompany their speech. Ask your child about their work - they are very excited about animals. I have questions like, "Can I do more than one animal?" "Can we report on another animal in the future?" The answer, of course is "YES"!


Next week we will begin the JA Biztown program. Your children will learn about the flow of money, government, they will be creating their own business, and will be interviewing for jobs. Once they have been chosen for a position, they will spend a day carrying out the responsibilities of that job. This is a very fun process and I will need volunteers when we attend the fieldtrip. I will advise you of the date.



I hope this gives you a peek into our classroom.

Happy Holidays!

Dear Families,
First, thank you to all the parents who attended Monday's fundraiser. I would have loved to be there, but was attending a High School informational session for my son! Wow, they grow up so fast.
I love the Christmas season and would like to share my gratitude with all of the parents who have worked side-by-side with me thus far this year to help their children achieve great writing. I know that in fourth grade the academic load is higher, and some of my students/your children are still grappling with that, but your help has helped to bridge that gap.
Native American/Explorer reports will be presented on Thursday within the school and not as I had originally conceived (The Museum Project - please see previous BLOGS). Narratives are due by Friday and most students have been working hard to finish. We are basically done with spelling until we come back from break. In math we started Algebra today - it was fun to see the puzzled looks on students faces as I know within a short time they will understand and light bulbs will start to turn on - a teacher's joy! What is interesting about algebra is that it is really no different than what we have been doing in another format. Let's keep those brain highways open!
Enjoy your holiday and with much appreciation - see you in the New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kim

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

Thank you to all those dedicated parents that brought potluck dishes to our last Family Night. I want you to know how much I appreciate your help on these nights! Don't forget next Monday, the 13th to visit Fresh and Easy on University Avenue in North Park for your grocery shopping. Some of the IA staff will be there to greet and bag groceries. A percentage of all groceries purchased will be donated back to IA as a fundraiser.

Our Museum project is moving forward. Three paragraph reports are due tomorrow! Something that has surprised me is that many of the students DO NOT WANT TO DRESS IN COSTUME for the actual museum day, so I am making a change. Those students that want to dress up can on the 14th. Instead of making it a school-wide event, we will be making presentations to our class only on that afternoon.

Winter break is from December 18th-January 4th (return on Tuesday)!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

December is almost here............

Dear parents,

Can you believe we are only a few short days away from Christmas break! We still have so much to do. Here are some dates to be aware of for your child's current project:
Reports for Native Americans or Explorers are due next Tuesday, December 7th; the Dioramas are due the following Tuesday, November 14th, and finally we will be completing the project with children dressed as their chosen tribe member or explorer on Thursday, the 16th. Other classes at IA will be invited into our room for your child to share their expertise on that day in the afternoon from 2:00-3:15pm. You are all invited to attend!

This Thursday, December 2nd is another family night. From 5-6pm, Christine will be speaking about next year's school sight (Location FOR TALK to be announced!). Later, families will meet in classrooms for a potluck dinner. Your children came home with an update today explaining the list of items each family is requested to bring that evening:
STUDENTS WITH LAST NAMES A-M MAIN DISH (SERVE 6-8)
N-P SIDE DISH + 2 LITER BEVERAGE + CUPS
R-Z DESSERT+ LITER BERVERAGE + CUTLERY
We are hoping for full participation by all families! Hope to see you there.

There will be no school this Friday due to a professional day!
Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Kim

This Week's Update1

Dear Families,

I hope you are all able to attend the Souplantation fundraiser this evening from 5-8pm. IA will receive 20% of the proceeds. I am unable to attend because I will be attending my daughter's open house. Also from now until December 31st we are doing a promotion with Fresh and Easy grocery stores. For every receipt with at least $20.00 of groceries purchased and presented to Fresh and Easy, IA receives $1. Any Fresh and Easy store can work for this!

This week in our classroom your children started work on yet another 20 spelling and high-frequency words. If you are interested in getting a list of these words to practice with your child at home, please stop by the classroom. We also continue to add to their vocabulary through the Wordly Wise program. We will be starting Lesson 5 this week and that means that we are one-quarter of the way through the program! Please encourage your child to go to wordlywise.com on their home computers in order to get some practice in at home. Students also continue to work on their fictional narratives. We start on the ending paragraph this week with revisions and then it's only the conclusion and they will be ready to type. One computer per every two students have finally arrived!

Students have been busy on their artistic book reports. The due date has been pushed back until Monday, the 15th. All students have had the opportunity to research their explorer or Native American tribe at school. At least a few students have started their rough drafts on their three paragraph reports. I'm hoping to have them finished by the end of next week, but would also like for students to gather their materials for their dioramas and have all materials in class by next Wednesday, the 17th. I will announce the date for our actual Museum on my next BLOG.

As always, if there any questions or concerns, please email me at kim@innovationsacademy.org.

Another Week of Learning!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Families,



Well, I am happy to announce that my computer is healthy and running just fine now! Whew, it's amazing how much we depend on these little machines! Speaking of which, your children came home tonight with two websites (one for explorers and one for Native Americans) in order to make a choice for our Museum Project. Once they have made a choice, they have specific directions on some information to research and will be writing a three paragraph report plus (finally) creating their dioramas. Please be prepared to help them with home research and the materials for the dioramas. They will not only be presenting an oral report to their class, but will also be asked to dress-up on the day of the "Museum" when they will be the expert while other IA classes visit ours.

We are also continuing with our five paragraph narratives during writing. Most students are making great progress and some are not. Each day when we work on these, I review what we have talked about and also give specific directions about the next steps. I would like to see all students succeed on this writing assignment and am meeting with each student. Now is a great time to have a conversation with your child about how important it is to use independent work time effectively.

Students are also making progress on their book reports and are creating some beautifully crafted posters. Stop by anytime to see your child's work. These are due next Thursday, November 11th. There are still a few students who haven't finished their books. This coming weekend would be a good time to catch up, if need be.

In math, we are covering many topics, such as landmarks in data, representation of data, ballpark estimates, and partial-sum addition. I want to thank those parents who have worked with their students on basic facts at home. I have seen some great progress during "White-Board" math.

Our next science topic will be in the area of Life Science. Students will choose an animal and investigate it's habitat, food chain, and food web. The outcome will be a speech they give to their class on their chosen animal investigation.

Our Halloween celebration was a great success. Many students said it was one of the best days they had ever had in school or their lives. I wish I had taken video of the apple-bobbing as it was absolutely hilarious and much fun. Thanks again to parents for decorating, bringing treats, and for just overall support.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Kim