Tuesday!

Another great day at Northpoint!

LA: We continued our work on our novel study-making our way through chapter 2 today.  We also started a new thing today called, You're The Teacher.  It was a lot of fun proofreading through the 6 sentences and taking turns sharing what mistakes we found.

HW: Finish work for chapter 2-comprehension questions, 3 vocabulary words, journal entry and character cop sheets.

Math: Long division mania!  We spent our entire time together working on long division today--more practice is headed our way!

HW: Try your best on the extra sheet.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We jumped into chapter 6 today, starting our boat and bus tour of the southeast region of the United States.

HW: Finish labeling the map on page 35 of your Interactive Student Notebooks if not completed in class.

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!  It's always nice to have a long weekend now and again to catch up on some much needed rest!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and relaxing break!

LA: We started our first novel study today, Frindle.  We are going to be spending a lot of time reviewing our RIT words during this novel study and applying them to our reading and writing...now's a great time to be reviewing those if you dont' know them all yet.  Today, we read chapter 1 together, went over our packets and comprehension questions.  I also talked at length to the students about what will be expected during this novel study.  Be sure to check out the green half sheet of paper about donations of Fimo clay that are needed.

HW: Finish comprehension questions, journal entry and vocabulary words if they were not completed in class.  Don't forget that we are going to have parent helpers in tomorrow to work on the bulletin boards-come if you can!  :)

Math: We jumped into unit 6 today, which will teach us a lot about division!  Today, we focused on multiplication and division number stories.

HW: Math box and study link 6.1 are due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Woods) We began chapter 6 today, which will be taking us on a boat tour of the southeast region of the United States.  We will be focusing on 12 states in the lower part of our country, similar to chapter 4 when we visited and learned about the northeast region.

HW: None

Turkey Tuesday!

It's almost turkey day!

LA: Students had a great time practicing and playing their recorders in music again today.  We also worked on a RIT vocabulary crossword puzzle which served as awesome review for us.  The majority of our morning was spent on a Turkey Writing Project.  Students had to write a speech, from a turkey's point of view, as to why they should not be the one eaten this Thanksgiving.  We really focused on word choice and got some hilarious writing out of it!  Unfortunately, it looks like we have a lot of siblings who should be hiding!  :)

HW: Finish turkey writing (must be typed!) if not done in class. RIT word crossword puzzles are due tomorrow.


Math: We spent today reviewing for the unit 5 test, which will be given tomorrow.

HW: Study for the unit 5 test, math boxes 5.12 are due tomorrow as well.

Social Studies: (Grannan) Chapter 5 test was given today.

HW: None

It's A Great Day--for a DUCK!

What a busy day today!


LA: We had a very busy morning--with both library and gym!  (Hooray for the Turkey Trot-a 1 mile run!)  We worked on some tough Thanksgiving vocabulary words, practicing our dictionary skills.  We also enjoyed learning about soil from Mr. Glassman.  We finished our morning working on our color poetry.

RIT WORDS THIS WEEK:

• Cinquain-a five line stanza
• Euphemism-The substitution of a mild or less negative word of phrase for a harsh or blunt one.  Example: They were saddened by his passing from the world.
• Homophone: Two or more words that are pronounced the same, but differ in meaning origin, and sometimes spelling. Example: knight, night
• Imagery-Words or phrases that create pictures, or images in the reader's mind.
• Italics-To be used to set something apart from the rest of the passage.  Use for: Journals, magazines, plays, long musicals, cinema movies, television programs, radio programs, artwork, famous speeches, and long poems.

Homework: Finish color poems and Thanksgiving vocabulary sentences


Math: We finished up unit 5 today, rounding large numbers.

HW: Math boxes and study links 5.10 & 5.11, test Wednesday

Social Studies: (Woods) Chapter 5 test today

Thursday

We had a lot of fun finding out the answers to the riddles from Mrs. D's and Mrs. Stephan's trip to our Nation's Capital!

LA: After computer lab this morning, we jumped right into centers all revolving around our story this week.  We worked on grammar, spelling, online research skills and homophones.  There was a lot of learning being done in a short amount of time. We also had a great visit with our first grade reading buddies and enjoyed reviewing 5 Greek and Latin roots in Vocabulary Vine.

HW: Weekly homework is due tomorrow-don't forget that spelling words need to be written in ABC order (cursive) and think and compare section must be written in complete sentences.  If leveled readers were not done in class, they should also be worked on tonight and turned in tomorrow.

Math: We spent time working on powers of ten today!  This was a lot of fun and a great review of reading and writing large numbers.

HW: Keep practicing those multiplication facts!  Math box and study links 5.9, in addition to the extra sheet are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Woods) We finished up reading chapter 5 today before playing review Bingo.

HW: Finish pages 30-31 in Interactive Student Notebook-test over ch. 5 on Monday

Terrific Tuesday!

Word has arrived from the Nation's Capital that Mrs. D and Mrs. Stephan are proudly holding the Blue Ribbon Award!  Hooray!

LA: Whew!  Another busy morning today!  We had a great time in music, followed by our RIT quiz and final draft writing of our Blue Ribbon essays.  We also continued our work on linking verbs and a review of complete subjects.  We finished up our morning with handwriting and reviewing ped/pod in Vocabulary Vine.

HW: Handwriting pages 74-77 are due tomorrow.  The final copy of the Blue Ribbon writing is also due!  Weekly homework is due on Friday.  Tomorrow will be the last day for book orders to be turned in.

Math: Multiplication Mania!  We're continuing learning different strategies to solve multi-digit multiplication problems.  Today we focused on Lattice and traditional!

HW: Page 124, math box and study link 5.7 are due tomorrow.  The extra sheet is also due tomorrow-problems can be solved using any of the strategies we've talked about in class.

Social Studies: (Woods) We read all of chapter 5 today!  Hooray!  It's fun learning about megalopolis areas, and the difference between rural and urban communities. Partners also worked together to take some notes on the differences between these as well.

HW: Finish pages 28-29 in the Interactive Student Notebooks.  Chapter 5 test will be given on Monday!  Study guides were passed out today!

National Blue Ribbon Blog

Be sure to check out Mrs. Stephan and Mrs. DeLaurelle's blog...coming all the way from Washington D.C.!  You can find it at www.northpointnationalblueribbonschool.blogspot.com

LA: We had our usual busy morning today!  After returning from IMC and Gym, we jumped right into our spelling pretest-which was a great review of our plural rules.  We also learned more about linking verbs during grammar, talked about sequence of events and the definitions of our story vocabulary words-(patchwork, mysterious, responsibility, midst, loosened, amazement and sores)  We finished off the morning by writing an essay titled, "Why I'm Proud To Be A Northpoint Star."

RIT words for the week:
Antithesis-saying the opposite of what you really mean, for effect.  Example: "That was a cool move, man!"
Aphorism-a statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.  Example: "Life is short."
Conflict-the struggle found in fiction
Characterization-the method used by a writer to develop a character.
First Person Point Of View-When the narrator participates in the story.

HW: RIT quiz tomorrow, along with book orders being due.  Weekly homework is due Friday.  The Northpoint Essay is due tomorrow as well.

Math: Partial Product Multiplication today!  We've begun learning all sorts of methods to do multi-digit multiplication problems.  Now is the time to make sure you are secure with your basic facts.

HW: Math box and study links 5.5 and 5.6.  Unit 5 test will be next Wednesday.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We jumped into chapter 5 today talking about population density.  This chapter will move quickly...we'll be testing next week already!

HW: Chapter 5 test next Tuesday

Thank You Vetrans!

Thank you to all the amazing men and women who have fought for our freedom!  You are our heroes!

LA: We had a busy morning with reading buddies, computer lab, Veteran's Day reading, and practicing our prefixes and parts of a letter.  We didn't still for very long at any given point!

HW: Weekly homework is due tomorrow.  Don't forget book orders and the next RIT quiz are going to be on Tuesday.  Handwriting pages 72-73 are also due in the morning.

Math: We worked with more estimation strategies today!  Be sure to ask how many pounds of food the average American eats every year...we learned this today!

HW: Math box and study link 5.4 are due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We took the chapter 4 test today.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day for the non-perishable food drive!  Our flower needs help! 

Wonderful Wednesday

It was a Wonderful Wednesday here at Northpoint!

Have you been to the lobby in the past two days?  Have you noticed the Giving Tree?  If not, please drop in and check it out.  We're hoping our Northpoint Stars can shine brightly through the community this holiday season by helping families in need!  Please feel free to grab a star(s) off the tree so your family can shop for another.  What a great opportunity to shine!

LA: We had a great time in Gym today.  When we returned to class, we worked on identifying action verbs and turning them into a future tense during grammar.  We also spent quite a bit of time talking about Veteran's Day and what that means to us.  To practice our writing skill this week, (Friendly Letters) we spent some time writing letters to Veterans thanking them for their service to our country.  We also worked on sorting spelling words and matching them to definitions.

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday.  Book orders are due back to me by Tuesday.  The next RIT quiz will be given on Tuesday morning.

Math: Multiplication Wrestling filled our day today.  This was a great time for all of us to review our multiplication facts.

HW: Math box and study link 5.2 are due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Woods) ART SMART!  Special thanks to Mrs. Roberts who came to teach us about our artist for the month.  We had a magnificent time creating our very own Mona Lisa pictures.  Thanks to Mrs. Marsh and Mrs. Stevens for assisting as well!

Don't forget--we are still collecting non-perishable food items!

What Was Your Random Act Of Kindness Today?

Don't forget to take the time to perform a random act of kindness for someone this week!

LA: Hooray for recorders!  Many of our LA friends came back proudly holding their recorders today!  What an accomplishment.  We also had hearing screening during Music this morning.  When we returned to class, we worked on irregular nouns during or grammar minute.  We also spent quite a bit of time working on writing well developed paragraphs.  Be sure to ask about hamburger writing!  We finished our morning talking about words with silent letters, handwriting, author's purpose and vocabulary vine.

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday.  There will be a RIT word quiz given on Tuesday of next week.  Don't forget book orders are also due next Tuesday!  Handwriting pages 68-71 are due tomorrow.

Math: We worked with estimation today for quite a while.  We all came to the conclusion that being in the car for approximately 75 hours together may be a bit to long!  It was fun to explore about how many miles and minutes it would take to drive across the United States.

HW: Math box and study link 5.2 are due tomorrow.  Don't forget to complete the extra sheet as well.

Social Studies: (Woods) We took our chapter 3 test today.

HW: None

It's Random Acts of Kindness Week!

It's Random Acts of Kindness Week!  Make sure to go out of your way to do something extra special for someone you love and admire!

Language Arts: After IMC and Gym, we took our spelling pretest focusing on  words with silent letters.  We also went over past tense verbs in grammar.  We reviewed our vocabulary for the week: unfair, ancestors, numerous, segregation, unsuspecting, avoided and injustice while working on our vocabulary skill, which is prefixes.  We're revisiting  author's purpose again this week as well.   We listened to our story for the week, "My Brother, Martin," and worked in handwriting books.
RIT Words
Setting - Where a story takes place
Supporting details - The details and examples that support a main idea in a paragraph.
Synecdoche - When one uses one part to represent the whole.  For example. I like your new threads means I like your new clothes. Hey is that a new set of wheels?  Lend me your ears.....
Sarcasm - a form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise.  Example:  Jason was walking away from the lunch counter and dropped his tray.  A stranger nearby said, "Well, that was really intelligent."
Stanza - A unified group of lines in poetry.  A verse.

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday-don't forget spelling words and the Think and Compare sections need to be written in cursive.  Students were given an example sheet today with complete sentences written out.  Handwriting pages 64-67 are due tomorrow.

Math: We jumped into unit 5 today.  We talked a lot about extending multiplication facts.  For example, if we know that 4 x 5 = 20, then 40 x 5 = 200 and 40 x 50 = 2,000.  We also played Beat the Calculator to practice this skill.

HW: Math box and study link 5.1 are due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We had a great time reviewing our chapter with the help of School House Rocks, America Rocks.  We also studied with buddies. 

HW: The chapter 4 test will be given on Thursday.

NOTE: My homeroom class will be having their social studies test tomorrow.

Tomorrow's Hawaiian Day!

Don't forget to bring in your canned and boxed food and wear you Hawaiian gear tomorrow!  We're going to pretend it's a tropical 90 degrees outside...

LA: We had a lot of learning fun in Computer Lab today working in our Odyssey folders.  Have you tried this cool program out at home, yet?  It's great!  We also worked on foreshadowing, symbolism and synonyms today.  We created a wonderful fall piece of art with our first grade reading buddies before finishing up our morning with Vocabulary Vine and handwriting.

HW: Weekly homework is due tomorrow.  Don't forget to get a parent's signature, write your spelling words in cursive and ABC order in addition to completing the new section, Think and Compare, in cursive.  I'm looking forward to a lot of great papers.

Math: We spent the entire day reviewing for our math test tomorrow.

HW: Make sure to go over the practice test today and bring any questions to class before the assessment tomorrow.  Math box 4.11 is also due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We finished up reading all parts of chapter 4 today.  We did a great project where we got to experience what it might be like to work in one of the first factories in the United States.  Be sure to share about it at dinner tonight.

HW: Chapter 4 test will be given on Thursday!  (This is new!)

Wacky Wednesday!

We're done with our wacky schedules for a bit now...back to normal tomorrow!  Don't forget, we're still collecting canned and boxed food for the families who are less fortunate in our community!

LA: After coming back quite red in the face from gym (it was intense game of Sharks and Minnows, I'm told!) we jumped right into grammar.  We reviewed plural vs. singular nouns and how to spell verbs the correct way to make the tenses appropriate for the subjects.  We also did some more review of action verbs by challenging ourselves with overhead sentences.  We finished off the morning some spelling work, Vocabulary Vine and a writing prompt.

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday.  Handwriting pages 52-55 are due tomorrow. The next Vocabulary Vine quiz will be given on Tuesday.  Study sheets were sent home today.

Math: We continued our work on metric conversions today.  Our task had us measuring insect widths and converting them from centimeters to millimeters.

HW: Math boxes and study link 4.10 are due tomorrow.  Unit 4 test will be given on Friday.

Social Studies: (Woods) We finished up reading all parts of chapter 4 today.  We did a great project where we got to experience what it might be like to work in one of the first factories in the United States.  Be sure to share about it at dinner tonight.

HW: Chapter 4 test will be given next Tuesday.

Tuesday, Tuesday

"Mrs. Woods, did you know we could have seen Saturn yesterday morning at 6:00 am?" --I must have heard this 20 times when our class returned from the Planetarium!  I love it!  It sure sounds like they had a great time learning about the night sky!

LA: We had a full morning today!  We spent quite a bit of time learning about action verbs and helping verbs.  We put our knowledge to the test as we practiced finding both of these in sentences during grammar.  We also reviewed common and proper nouns in our grammar minute.  In addition to all of that, we continued our work on author's purpose, which is one of our comprehension skills this week.  We finished up our morning with the Unit 2 reading test and vocabulary vine.

HW: Don't forget weekly homework is due on Friday. Pay close attention to all the directions-there has been some cursive added in addition to a whole new section!

Math: We spent our entire day learning and practicing metric conversions.  Here's the key to help at home:
cm -->mm  move the decimal one place to the right
mm-->cm  move the decimal one place to the left
cm-->m   move the decimal two places to the left
m-->mm  move the decimal three places to the right
m-->cm  move the decimal two places to the right

HW: Extra sheet, math box 4.9 and study link 4.9 (skip #1) are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: (Grannan) We wrapped up the main section of chapter 4 today by combining all of our information on a chart.  Our groups did a fantastic job tying everything together and presenting it to their classmates.  A study guide was sent home today.

HW: Final draft letters (either typed or written in pen) are due on Thursday.  The chapter 4 test will be given next Wednesday.

Welcome November!

I can't believe November is upon us already! Yikes!
A great big welcome back to Ms. Cindy, who joined us today for the first time.  She will be working with our students for the remaining part of the year. 

LA: We had our normal, busy Monday today.  We enjoyed time in IMC and Gym, before getting back into the swing of things here in the classroom.  Our story this week, Roadrunner's Race, is a folktale that is teaching us about author's purpose, synonyms, and a variety of other subjects. We also spent time working in grammar, making sure that our action verbs were in present tense and that we had proper subject-verb agreement.  Our handwriting is nearly perfect...in our handwriting books that is!  Take note of some special new directions on the weekly homework packet...both the spelling and (new) Think and Compare sections need to be written in cursive from now on.  Not only should the letters look good in the handwriting book, but in all writing, now!  :)

Our Story Vocabulary this week: interfere, agile, guardian, proclaimed, awkward, tottered

Our RIT words this week are:

• Mood-The emotional attitude the author takes towards his or her subject.
• Paraphrase-To rewrite something in your own words.
• Interjections-A part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.
• Symbolism-This is when something represents moe than what it is in a literal sense.
• Suspense: When the author builds up anticipation for what will come next in the story.

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday!  Please look over this new packet carefully.  The spelling words need to be written in alphabetical order and cursive.  There has also been a section added-Think and Compare.  These questions can be found at the end of each story.  Students will write their well thought out, cursive writing, complete sentence answers on the lines provided.  If answers are not in complete sentences, students will receive a "N" and required to redo the work.

Math: We had a lot of fun learning about the Metric System today.  We practiced measuring in centimeters, along with making metric conversions from millimeters to centimeters to decimeters to meters.

HW: Finish page 96, math box and study link 4.8.  Math unit 4 test will be given on Friday.

Social Studies: (Woods) We wrapped up the main section of chapter 4 today by combining all of our information on a chart.  Our groups did a fantastic job tying everything together and presenting it to their classmates.  A study guide was sent home today.

HW: Final draft letters (either typed or written in pen) are due on Wednesday.  The chapter 4 test will be given next Tuesday.  My homeroom class will be going to the planetarium tomorrow with Ms. Grannan.