Harvest Party!!!

Minute to Win It Games!!















   

     Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

Dress a Turkey:

Update

Friday, October 24th was the end of the first 9-weeks! I have met with many of you for a conference and still have a few coming up this week.  If you would like to schedule a conference (in-person or phone) please let me know!

Look for grade cards next Friday...ish (October 31st)

Mrs. Markley and I are trying out a new schedule starting with the new 9 weeks on Monday (October 27th).  We want our core instruction for both Math and Language Arts in the morning when the students are more focused and alert.  

Here is a tentative schedule:

9:05-9:45=Core Math instruction

9:45-10:15=Core L.A. minilesson/instruction

Related Arts=10:20-11:00

Lunch/Recess=11:05-12:05

12:05-12:45=More Math (going over Math 4 Today and practicing skills/center activities)

12:45-1:00=Read Aloud

1:00-1:30=Reading Workshop

1:30-2:15=Writer's Workshop

2:15-2:35=Share writing

2:35-2:50=Word Study (spelling)

2:50-3:30=Science/Social Studies 

We are still juggling 3 days of Science and 2 days of Social Studies; however, the first week of November the students will be participating in the D.A.R.E. program for an entire quarter.  This means we will have 2 days of Science, 2 days of Social Studies and 1 day of D.A.R.E.  Our day/time for D.A.R.E. will be Tuesdays from 12:05-12:50 so we will flip flop Science/S.S. time w/Math time every Tuesday.

In Math we are diving into division (Monday=4-1: Dividing Multiples of 10 & 100; Tuesday=4.2: Estimating Quotients; Wednesday & Thursday=4.3 Interpreting Remainders & Reasonableness; Friday=4.4 Dividing by 1-D Divisors)

In Language Arts we are comparing/contrasting characters, settings, and events across stories

In Social Studies we are finishing up chapter 1 (landforms, bodies of water, how people use the land, renewable/nonrenewable resources, regions, climate, vegetation, longitude and latitude).  We are planning for the chapter test on Thursday. 

This coming week I am out Thursday morning for a Literacy Professional Development.  Friday the students who have earned it will participate in the PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention System) Quarterly Reward Party.  In order to earn these parties the students must have 1 or fewer strikes the entire quarter.  Also Friday is our school-wide Relay for Life Assembly (a walking assembly and Balloon Launch).  I am passing out a paper on Monday to donate for the cause if you would like your child to be able to release a balloon.

We are not having a "Lonsinger's Literature Lounge" this month because of the Glen Helen/end of 9-weeks Reward Party/Relay for Life Madness going on!

Pictures from Glen Helen

Some students got VERY muddy playing games during their 4:30 activities:

        

Everyone had a GREAT time!!

  

   

      

    

   

Here are the Final Products from the Owl Pellets

Most of the skeletons we found were voles (a small rodent); however, we also found parts of a bird in 2 different pellets, so we combined them to create one complete bird and parts of what we think is a mole.


  

  

We think this may be part of a mole...
  

          

And the bird:

More Pellet Pics

        

Up close and Personal!!!


   

Progress Book

Dear families, 

With the changes in our grading system this year across the building, I would like to simplify things a bit.
The students are completing and the teachers are recording more formative scores. These are things like homework, class work, and any kind of practice that guide our daily instruction. These scores are being recorded and tracked so you can see your child's progress; however, they do not actually go towards the grade card (only quizzes, tests, and projects go towards the grade card).


The issue I am running into when recording these scores is that not all the students may complete the same number of problems in an allotted time. For example: if I give the students 15 minutes to work on a page of practice problems, some may finish 6 problems while others may finish 11 problems. I can't record these in Progress Book as the same assignment because they are not out of the same number of points. 


So, what I am going to try is recording these scores in Progress Book using a 4-point scale.
4=90%-100%
3=80%-89%
2=70%-79%
1=60%-69%
0=0%-59%
This way I can record all the formative practice we do in class (regardless of how many problems each student finishes) so you can quickly and easily see on Progress Book how your child is doing. Both the students and I are also recording more specific data that we will show you during conferences.


Please email or call me with any questions.
Thanks for everything you do!

Hat Day Friday

Also, I guess Friday to raise money for Relay for Life, students can wear a hat if they pay 25 cents.  

This week October 6-10

This week:
Monday=picture day!!  

We will have a Falcon of the Month Assembly either Thursday, Friday, or possibly next Monday (not set in stone yet).  This is a chance for each homeroom teacher to recognize an outstanding student who we feel always exhibits best behavior.  Each nominated student will receive a Falcon of the Month t-shirt.
Mrs. Markley and I will both be out of the classroom on Thursday afternoon for Professional Development.

In Math this week: 
We are working on multiplying whole numbers:
-I can identify multiplication properties.
-I can multiply by powers of 10.
-I can multiply 2-digit numbers by multiples of 10.
-I can multiply 2-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers.
-I can multiply greater numbers (3-digit by 2-digit)
-I can represent a problem using a picture.
-I can write an equation to represent a problem.  

In Language Arts this week:
We are comparing and contrasting characters' traits and actions, settings, and events across stories.  
We are also all working on our own stories-Each of us is an AUTHOR!! The time in our schedule when we share our stories is my (and I think most of the students) favorite part of the day!  

In Science this week:
Owl Pellets!!!!

In Social Studies this week:
We are learning about how people affect the land and environment.  We are linking this with some science and discussing renewable/nonrenewable resources, the use of farmland, mining, pollution, conservation, etc. 

Owl Pellets

So far we have measured and described the pellets.  Some groups started gently taking the pellets apart and separating bones from fluff/fur.  We'll spend Monday and Tuesday on the pellets and see how far we get.