Friday, January 30, 2009

It's Going To Be A SUPER Weekend!

Some people will tune in Sunday for the game...the actual sport. Some people (like me) will be tuned in for the commercials...I can't wait! :)

LA: Today was our normal assessment day! We plowed through our usual and even had time for poetry before IMC. We learned all about Lantern poems today! We're getting to know about many poems that have similar features, make sure you keep them fresh by talking about the different kinds each night.

HW: Now that Science Expo is over, put your efforts into your Play A Good Book Project. The due date is going to be here before you know it!

Math: We had a fantastic time today reviewing fraction skills by playing Fraction Bingo! We also had some fun reviewing multiplication and division facts by playing the same game.

HW: None--Our next test should be somewhere around next Thursday!

Health: What a great review of lesson 1 today. We spent the time working with partners and then reviewing whole class. The chart we filled out will come in handy for next week's quiz!

HW: None

Don't stay up to late on Sunday...we want you bright eye and bushy tailed Monday morning!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tonight's The Night!!!

You're officially in crunch time!! At this point, you are more than likely T minus 5 hours to finish up your Science Expo projects! :) I can't wait to see them! Please remember to put them in room 23 when you bring them in tomorrow morning!

LA: We had a fantastic day today, working on morning work, vocabulary vine words, and more poetry. We learned and wrote about Tankas today, which are very similar to Haiku's. We also had a delightful discussion about metaphors and similes. Be sure to share our knowledge at home!

HW: Fluency and flow is due tomorrow, along with the simile/metaphor worksheet. Don't forget that tomorrow all the normal assessments will be given.

Math: What's the Chance? We spent the day learning about probability today. We had a great time carrying out different experiments to see just how it works.

HW: Page 220-221 and study link 7.11 are due tomorrow.

Health: Welcome Mrs. Suddarth's Class. We had a great time talking about the digestive system and how nutrients and vitamins help our bodies stay healthy.

HW: Chapter 4, lesson 1 check up, 1-5 are due tomorrow. Remember, your answers MUST be in complete sentences in order to get full credit.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I Missed You Today!

I heard you had a wonderful day today! I missed you a lot! I had fun learning all about new math tricks at Math Training and can't wait to share them!

See you tomorrow!

Monday, January 26, 2009

The Countdown Is On For Science Expo Projects...

Only 4 more days! All Science Expo projects are due on Friday! I'm looking forward to seeing everything you have learned while completing the scientific process!

LA: We're back to our old schedule. We started a new story today, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters From Obedience School. This is a great fantasy story about a dog who is sent away to obedience school and plots his escape! We're working on prefixes, drawing conclusions and words ending in -ed and -ing. This week's fluency and flow should go rather quickly: answer the questions in complete sentences, get parent initials on words to know and spelling words section and create a caption for each funny picture on the back! Easy as 1, 2, 3! :) We also started typing up poetry in computer lab today, preparing for our published books that are right around the corner! In addition to all of those fun things, we also completed our January school wide writing prompt about heroes in our lives.

HW: Cursive spelling words are due first thing tomorrow morning as well as the hero writing. Fluency and flow is due Friday. Normal assessments will be given on Friday.

Math: Are we improper or just plain mixed up? We learned about changing improper fractions to mixed numbers today and vice versa! We also reviewed lots of fraction skills and continued our practice as writing them as decimals.

HW: Finish page 211, math boxes 7.6, 7.7, 7.8 and study link 7.8

Health: Today was the last day to work on food guide pyramids. They look great out in our ELA! We also worked on making signs for our healthy food fair tomorrow!

HW: Bring all needed items for the Healthy Food Fair with you in the morning!

Don't' Forget:
Tonight is the USA Skating Party from 3:30-5:30! Be careful!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Another Great Day With My Home Room Friends!

We had another fantastic day together.

Many of us completed our food guide pyramids, or came very close. We will finish those on Monday! Don't forget, the healthy food fair is on Tuesday!

We also spent some time working on cool clown art this morning. We've discovered it's never to early to start to think about Galaxy Gallery. :)

We also found time for more ISTEP+ writing and science practice.

We finished our day completing our Original Works Of Art projects. They are beautiful!

Our Fantastic Time With The Lego Man!!!

Let The Racing Begin!
Add Image






Thursday, January 22, 2009

What A Lovely Lego Day!

We had a fantastic fun filled day today! We switched things around a bit, staying in home room groups all day!

We had a great time this morning, working on Science ISTEP+ and writing practice in order to prepare for the next round that begins soon!

Some of our home room friends that aren't normally with us had a bonus gym and music day as well!

During Health, we had a great time starting assemble our 3D food guide pyramids! Don't forget to bring boxes or pictures of food if you forgot today!

We also had an awesome time with Mr. Mikey, our All About Learning presenter. He was here with us today with a great presentation using legos. We got to build race cars and then actually race them. Sadly, very similar to real life, the teacher's car only stalled and we were dead last. :( We had a terrific time learning all about aerodynamics, down wind and up wind when it comes to racing cars! Watch for pictures to be posted soon!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What A Wonderful Wednesday!

We had another great day around here. It's hard to believe that in just a few short days, January is going to be over. Where is our time going?

LA: We switched things up today and went to Library. Mrs. Konopinski squeezed us in due to be in home room groups on Thursday and Friday! We also met with reading buddies today and continued work on our new play! Please remember we are looking for parent helpers to assist with scenery and costumes. In addition to those great activities, we spent quite a bit of time learning about Haiku Poetry and personification!

HW: Have a great rest of the week, see you Monday!

Math: It was a bit of a fraction review day! We continued work with equivalent fractions. We also worked on transitioning from fractions to decimals to percents!

HW: Math box 7.5, finish pages 356-357 (decimal and percent sections) and the extra sheet are all due Monday.

Health: Today was the chapter 4 test.

HW: Bring in boxes, pictures of food and tape for our 3-D food guide pyramids.

Happy belated birthday to Reem and Stephen, who each celebrated on Monday!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It's A Historical Day!

History was made today!

LA: We have a bit of an odd week this week, therefore, we don't have a new story, which also means no fluency and flow! (Hold the applause!)
We took the opportunity today to make up assessments we missed last week and then worked on more figurative language and poetry before it was time for specials!

HW: Finish writing your quatrain poems (3 total) and the hyperbole sheet.

Math: We took a slight detour from math today and watched the 44th president be sworn in! This was an amazing opportunity for us to share and discuss. We even ate lunch in the room so we wouldn't miss anything!

HW: Finish journal pages 356-357.

Health: We played Jeopardy today to review for the chapter 4 test.

HW: Chapter 4 test will be given tomorrow.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:
Study Buddy information
Harris Softball/Baseball information
Original Works of Art sign up sheet

As mentioned, our schedule is going to be slightly different this week. We will be having another normal day tomorrow, and then be spending Thursday and Friday in homeroom groups. We have the privilege of hosting The All About Learning Company, who will be teaching us cool science stuff with Legos! We're very excited.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

2 Snow Days?!?!?!?!?!

I hope you enjoy your extra long weekend! Stay warm! I miss you!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Stay Warm!

As we quickly found out in our short walk to the bus for the planetarium...it's freezing out there! Stay warm tonight!

LA: We had a fantastic morning, starting with Vocabulary Vine. We also spent some more time on irregular verbs during grammar as well as centers, where we focused on multiple meaning words, summarizing biographies and reading leveled readers. Today in reading buddies, our next crew were given their scripts! We need help with scenery and costumes if your child is a part of this production! Please let me know if you are able to help! We also continued on with our poetry unit today, working on cinquain poems!

HW: Fluency and flow is due Friday. Cinquain poems and center work is due tomorrow as well!

Math: We found out just how easy it is to create equivalent fractions today! We spent the day working on that skill with partners and will continue tomorrow as well.

HW: None

Content: We had a great time at the planetarium learning about Orion the Hunter and our upcoming "Let There Be Night" project in March! More information will be sent home about this in the near future.

HW: Chapter 4 health test is on Friday!

Don't forget to watch the news in the morning just in case the predicted winter storm does make an appearance and we are under a delay or cancellation!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Blustery, Blowing...Oh What Fun!

Here were the parting words of two of hopeful fourth graders from our class as they made their way to the buses...
"Mrs. Woods, wear your pajamas inside out and put a spoon under your pillow. That way, we'll have a snow day!"
"Mrs. Woods, when you get home, flush an ice cube down the toilet and it will start snowing really heavy and we won't have school tomorrow."

Oh...to be a kid again!

LA: The snow might have been blowing outside, but we were hard at work and warm in here! We spent some time sorting our spelling words by syllables and then dove right back into figurative language, learning more about similes.

HW: Fluency and flow is due Friday, when our normal assessments will be given.

Math: We learned about adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators today. We also learned about putting fractions in lowest terms! We still need a lot of practice with this! I can't stress the importance of knowing facts enough...I think some of them are starting to realize that I was pretty serious when I was telling them how important that knowledge was going to become during the first semester! We are certainly starting to see gaps with those students who don't have their basic facts mastered yet! Keep practicing!

HW: Fraction practice sheet (both sides!) is due tomorrow.

Health: Today was a review for the chapter 4 test!

HW: Test is on Friday--Don't forget, we go to the planetarium tomorrow!

The PTO sponsored dance has been cancelled tonight due to weather! They are hoping to reschedule and we will let you know when we hear more!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Did You Know?

Did you know that I consider myself the luckiest teacher in the world because I spend each day with your child? I truly love my job!

LA: Today was another great day! We had an excellent morning learning about snowflakes and the art of photographing them in our story, Snowflake Bentley! This is a powerful biography of a man and his dream! This week, with our story, we are learning about compound words, summarizing text and multiple meaning words! We also enjoyed working on those same skills in computer lab and catching up on a few weeks worth of AR tests! In addition to all of that fun, we also started our poetry unit this morning, working on acrostic poems and learning about similes.

HW: Students need to finish writing their spelling words in cursive, finish writing their two poems (don't forget, 1 simile per poem!) and fluency and flow was also assigned. It's a pretty easy week...only 2 parent initials and the hidden word search on the back! Book orders are due Wednesday!

Math: More fraction fun! Today, we started learning about adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. We are working on those that we can accomplish by using pattern blocks.

HW: Finish page 200, math box and study link 7.4 are due tomorrow.

Health: We finished up chapter 4 today! It's important to know safety precautions to take when preparing food!

HW: Lesson check up 1-4 must be written in complete sentences. Test is Friday

Don't Forget:
  • Science Expo projects are due January 30th
  • We will be visiting the planetarium (My homeroom) on Wednesday
  • The PTO sponsored dance is tomorrow night from 5:30-7:30

Friday, January 9, 2009

It's Report Card Day!

Make sure you check out your child's report card! I'm sure there will be a lot of celebrating going on this weekend!

LA: Today was our assessment day! We were able to get through all of them, write our Big Mac paragraphs and have some DEAR time! It was a successful morning!

HW: Make sure you've shared ideas about your thoughts on the game you will be creating this nine weeks!

Math: We rotated through 3 centers today. One of those was extra practice working with fractions!

HW: None

Health: Check out those food labels! We learned about the important information found on food labels today! Ask your child about it this weekend!

HW: The test has been moved to next Friday!

Don't forget we are still collecting pop tabs! Bring em' in!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Another Thursday Rolls Around...

...and it was a great one!

LA: Big Mac, please! Be sure to ask your child about our Big Mac writing and all those good juicy ingredients (details) we did today! We also learned the importance of the top bun (topic sentences) and bottom buns (conclusions) are to our burgers as well!

HW: Fluency and flow is tomorrow. Big Mac writing is also due if it wasn't finished in class. Normal assessments will be given tomorrow as well. Be sure to check out the third nine weeks reading project paper!

Math: Happy Birthday to Us...Happy Birthday to us...well, not really, but we still made the cakes! We had a great time making fraction birthday cakes today and then learning to compare fractions using them! They are going to be a great tool to keep around until we become fraction pros! We also spent quite a bit of time on pattern block fractions with partners. It was very exciting to hear the fraction conversations and problem solving going on around the room!

HW: Pages 196-199 are due tomorrow along with study link 7.3

Health: What exactly is the Food Guide Pyramid and just how do we use it? We can now officially answer those questions!

HW: Chapter 4, lesson 3 check up: 1-4 is due tomorrow. A look ahead: Chapter 4 test is one week from today!

What else is going on?
  • Report cards will be sent home with students tomorrow--be sure to watch for them!
  • My homeroom class is visiting the planetarium next Wednesday.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's Good To Be Back!

Whew! It's great to be back to school after such a long break! I was so sad the flu bug decided to visit this past weekend extending my stay away from my kiddos even longer! It was nice to see their smiles this morning and start hearing about their vacations!

LA: We had a great morning together, continuing on with our story from this week, Mystic Horse. We worked through a couple of spelling pages and then completed centers. We also had a nice time visiting with our reading buddies and preparing for our next production! We were a bit shocked at the empty stares we got when we were reciting nursery rhymes, to help us understand the humor in the new play! Something we need to work on!

HW: All completed center work is due tomorrow, first thing. The spelling test will be on Friday, along with the fluency and flow being due.

Math: We spent a day reviewing what we have learned thus far on fractions. We worked on fractions of a set and coloring a certain fraction amount of an object. After a bit of review, most students seemed to really get the grasp of this!

HW: Fraction review sheet is due tomorrow

Health: We took a break today to watch a video that we didn't have time for before Winter Break! It was great to learn about health topics from Mrs. Frizzle.

HW: None

Thanks for all the well wishes when I was out ill! I hope I'm back for good and have beat this bug! Happy belated birthday to Trenton, who celebrated his special day on Tuesday!

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:
  • Northpoint newsletter
  • Market Day Order Form

Don' forget: All Science Expo forms were due to Ms. Grannan today, if you didn't get yours turned in, it needs to be brought tomorrow! There's no time like the present to begin working on those projects...I can't wait to see what our scientists have come up with!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Welcome Back!

I wish I could say it was wonderful to see everyone today...but since the very nasty flu bug has decided to take up residence at the Woods' Household, I wasn't at school today!

I hope everyone had a fantastic winter break, I can't wait to hear about everyone's vacations when I return on Wednesday!