I hope you had a wonderful 4 day weekend! I enjoyed some great time with family and friends and my kids were able to spend some time with their grandparents, so my family had a wonderful break! Last week we had some great conversations building our classroom community. Be sure and ask them about our trash bag of baggage that we have hanging by the door. This sparked great conversation and helped to show them that all of us are the same even if our life experiences are different. It helped to give them a better sense of compassion for each other. We have also been spending time talking about their amygdala and prefrontal cortex. They are blowing me away with how well they are understanding the brain and how it works. Ask them about their decision making and what happens when they are functioning out of their amygdala. :) This week: NWEA: We will take our NWEA testing on math and reading on Wednesday and Friday. We will do this during our math slot in the morning so we will not be starting a new math unit this week. We will use Tuesday and Thursday to practice for the NWEA so students feel adequately prepared. For those of you new to Willard East, we will do the NWEA testing three times throughout the year. This testing is not for a grade but helps teachers see where students are so we can better instruct them on the level they are on. Science: We are going to start looking at weathering and erosion this week. We will look at some hands on examples as well and watch some time lapse videos to see the erosion process take place. ELA: This week we are going to look at sensory words and why authors use them. We are also going to look at analyzing text to find the "gist" of the story and begin summarizing different passages. I am still continuing to DRA test students and will likely continue this throughout the week as I work to get them all finished. Student reading levels will come home after I complete their assessments. Math Unit 1 test will be returned on Tuesday. I have graded all of the tests and I was so proud of them for the success. This particular test covered 3 different standards so the grading on this test may be a little confusing. I have attached a grading sheet to the outside of each test to help and make it easier. I also am attaching a sample grading sheet to help offer an explanation of the process. Looking at the sample above the left column is listing the standard being assessed. That is just helpful for the teacher but won't mean much for you or the student. The numbers under each level are the questions on the test and they are listed by the standard they are assessing. If the test number is circled then your student got that question correct. If the number has a line through it then it was marked incorrect. Based on the questions they got correct or incorrect determines where they land on the proficiency scale. Remember 3.0 on the proficiency scale if the target score. A score of 2.0 means they are still working to master the skill being tested and a level 4.0 means they are performing above the skill tested. The circled score on the right is where they landed for each standard and will recorded for their grade. As you look at your students score if you have questions please don't hesitate to ask.
It's going to be a great week!
0 Comments
Announcements
*School T-shirt money and order forms are due August 29 *No School Friday August 30 or Monday September 2 This Week: Math- We are continuing Unit 1 on place value, comparing whole numbers, and rounding. We will assess these skills on Thursday before the long weekend. Reading: We have spent some time talking about our reading and how we can be successful in our books. We have also talked about the why behind it. Why do we read in school? This week we will begin our initial DRA of the school year and see where your child is. I will be sending this home to you once I get them all completed. It will take 1-2 weeks to get a chance to assess every student. Science: Last week, we spend our science time doing STEM challenges and getting to build that community relationship with their classmates. This week we will look at what a scientist is and dive into the scientific method. DOJO: We have started DOJO and students are doing pretty with it. We have set a class goal for a total number of points they want to earn for the week. If they can hit their class goal each week they will have a reward each Friday for the last 15-20 minutes of the day. The class decided on a goal of 350 positive points for each week. We will see how that goes but I think they will be able to hit it. They are a great group of kids. Behavior Notebooks: Each day at the end of the day I give students about 5 minutes to write about their behavior in the day. This is not supposed to be a negative notebook at all. I want students to brag on themselves and own those positive choices that they make throughout the day. This is also a great way for you to see the highlights of their day. If a student were to get a negative DOJO they are going to be asked to write about it in their behavior notebook and take ownership of their poor choice. This teaches our students to not push the blame onto someone else. My hope is this will help them to see other solutions or options instead of the one they have made to get the negative point. If they bring home a negative DOJO they are asked to get your signature so that I know they are communicating that with you. I will also sign off on all negative points starting this week. Student behavior notebooks will need to be signed for all students once a week so they can participate in the Friday celebration. If students do not get their notebook signed they will not be able to participate in the celebration and will work on something else during that time. This is not a punishment but teaching them responsibility. It's going to be a great week! Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year! I am so excited to get this year started and get to know your student.
I will post updates on this blog of what is happening in our classroom. I will use this as a way to keep you updated with class events and what we are learning. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I hope you have had a wonderful weekend! It sure has been nice to see the sunshine this weekend. I hope it is a sign of warmer spring days to come. I hope students brought home their math test on Friday anxious to show you how amazing they did. I was so proud of their hard work and success on this assessment. Fractions are always difficult. If they haven't shown you, be sure and ask them to get it out.
Important Dates: Feb 25-Mar 1- Book Fair at Willard East Feb 26- Family Reading Night at Willard East 6:30-7:30 March 11-12 - Snow Make up Days. March 12 will be a 1/2 day attendance for students March 13-15 - Spring Break This week: Students can bring money in for the book fair and shop before school. They can also bring money on Monday and shop during our class library time. Math: This week we are taking a break from fractions and looking at line plots. We will be creating some of our own graphs this week and then looking at questions we can use the graph to help us answer. Writing: This week students will be presenting their Famous Missourian research projects to the class. They have worked really hard on these and done a fantastic job! They will be in the hallway on display for Family Reading Night. I hope you will be able to come see them. Reading: We are going to spend the next two weeks diving into figurative language. We will look at the different types and students will get a chance to write them as well. Science: We wrapped up plate tectonics last week and will be moving into rocks and rock layers this week. Reminder: Family Reading Night is this week on Tuesday from 6:30-7:30. The Parent Lighthouse Team will be selling chili if you are interested in dinner that night as well. Important Dates
Reminder- NO school on Monday January 21 January 25- Tiger Pride at 2:30PM in the Willard East gym January 29- 100th Day of School Math: Last week students wrapped up Unit 8 in math finding equivalent fractions and comparing fractions. This week we will transition to adding and subtracting fractions. Students will be bringing home Unit 8 math assessments this week so be looking for those in their back packs. If your student in struggling with fractions there are several learning games to help them with these skills on my class website. They can be found on the math page under the fraction section. Science: We just finished looking at weathering and erosion and are now going to transition to volcanoes. Students really seem to enjoy this unit. Reading and Writing: When we came back from Christmas break students started learning about informational writing and how to conduct meaningful research. On Friday, they completed amazing informational reports on a animal of their choice. I have just started grading through them and I am super impressed. They really put forth their best work and I can't wait for you to see them. I am going to put them out in the hall and let them show off their amazing research for others to see. This week, we are going to start researching a wonder that they have. We will talk about how to come up with their wonder and then how to identify their subtopics before I let them get started on their research. Students really seem to get excited when they get to determine the path of their learning and choose the topic that they want to learn more about. I can't wait to see what topics they choose to dive deeper in to. Just a few quick updates for the week!
We are starting Merry Mondays this week for every Monday in December the themes for each Monday are listed below: 12/3 Grinch Wear-- Wear green or grinchy attire 12/10 Candy cane - Wear stripes 12/17 Pajama Day 12/21 (Friday, party day) Ugly Christmas sweater/attire Students will also be taking the second round of the NWEA testing this week. Our class will test on Tuesday and Thursday morning starting at 10:15. Please try to make sure your child gets a good night of sleep prior to their testing day so they can perform at their best. We will be discussing the goals students set for themselves on the NWEA tomorrow. The Tiger Pride assembly is Friday, December 14, 2018 at 2:30PM. I hope you are able to join us. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I know I had a great time with my family and friends.
Upcoming Dates: Nov 30 - I will be gone and will have a sub Dec 4 & 6 - NWEA Testing Dec 14 - 2:30 Tiger Pride Assembly in the gym Dec 21 - Winter Parties and 1/2 Day Attendance Math: This week we are diving in to our next unit after a week of review prior to Thanksgiving break. We will be getting into word problems and looking for key words that give us clues about what we need to do mathematically. Social Studies: Students made a Lewis and Clark journal today and will be spending the week reading though their journey and creating journal entries as if they were along for the trip. Several of them are already excited about bringing them home to show you. Writing: We are continuing our persuasive writing. Students will wrap this up this week and then I will pass their piece on to their designated audience member. Students chose a topic to write about where they could try to convince someone in our school or community to make a change. I am hoping Principal Miller will be available to come in and hear a few of their ideas and presentations. Reading: This week we are able to start reassessing the DRA test. If your student takes a DRA again I will message you with their results. Not all students will be taking the DRA. If your student is currently reading above the 4th grade level then they will not be reassessing until the end of the year. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Today, we had the cool experience of watching the live NASA feed as we landed on the surface of Mars. The kids seemed to enjoy that and understand what a neat experience it was to be a part of. Be watching for information to come home about the Christmas party and an upcoming STEM day with our 1st grade buddies. Upcoming Dates:
Friday Oct 19 - Half Day and Fall Party Day. School will dismiss at 12:30 Oct 22-26 - Red Ribbon Week - Dress up day information listed below Friday Oct 26 - Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30 Oct 29- Nov 1 - Parent Teacher Conferences Nov 2-6 - No School - Fall Break Red Ribbon Week Activities Monday: "Follow your dreams, don't do drugs" PJ Day Tuesday: "Drugs hurt" Fake injury day Wednesday: "Give drugs the boot" Western Wear Day Thursday: "Wear Red from head to toe" Red Day Friday: "Willard Tigers keep their paws off drugs" Willard wear day Our class party will take place on Friday from 11:30-12:25. Students will go get their lunch trays and bring them to the classroom to eat. Once they finish eating there will be a few games and activities for them to participate in. Thank you to everyone for all the donations that you have sent in. If you haven't sent in your supplies please get those to me ASAP. Math We are starting division this week. We start out slow but I expect some anxious days as we move further into it in the coming days. It is new and it will take some getting used to for them. There are lots of steps so we will take it slow. SS Students began working on their Native American presentations today. They may have come home with a list of things they are wanting to use to make an artifact from their tribe. I have basic supplies at school that they can use to make artifacts out of construction paper and hot glue but many students have big ideas and are wanting to make something bigger and better at home. I told them that was fine as long as it was okay with their parents. It is also important to mention that they can't make a weapon as their artifact and bring that to school. If they want to make a bow and arrow for example they can use sticks but for the arrow they will need to use construction paper or something. If you have questions about this please let me know. Writing We are working on a lesson that students are going to go and teach the 3rd grade classes in our building this week. This week is Digital Citizenship week and so they are researching ways to be a good digital citizen and how to make good choices while being online. Reading We are wrapping up our fiction unit on character traits. Students will be doing a small project to show what they learned about character analysis over the main character of their reading group book. I still have several parents that haven't signed up for a parent teacher conference time. I would love the opportunity to sit down with each of you and show you some work from your student as well as what their goals are for this year. Please let me know a time that would work for you. Important Dates:
Tuesday Oct 9 - Picture Day Friday Oct 19 - Fall Parties and 1/2 Day Attendance Week of October 29 - Parent Teacher Conferences Nov 2-6 - Fall Break - No School This week: Math - We are finishing up Unit 4 this week with our 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication. I am so proud of the students and how they have worked so hard in learning new strategies. We will assess this unit on Thursday this week. Students should continue working on their basic multiplication facts so they are able to do these next couple units more easily. Social Studies - We are switching back to social studies this week after spending 2 weeks talking about the scientific method. We will being talking about Native American tribes that lived in Missouri this week. Students will then get to research one of those tribes and teach the class about them. Writing: We are publishing the final copies of their personal narratives this week. On Wednesday we will be having a showcase where all 4th grade students will rotate between classes to read and leave compliments on each others writing. Reading: We have been focusing on responding to our reading through writing. We will continue to focus on character traits in our book and what text evidence is provided to tell us those traits. Fall Party - Cari Harrison has agreed to help plan our class party this year. She would like to offer a few fall themed snacks, a couple minute-to-win-it games, and possibly a craft. If you have any ideas or would be willing to help her start putting this all together this week and next please let me know. I am sure she would love the help. REMEMBER we are a peanut FREE classroom. :) This week is Willard's Homecoming Week. The following is the theme for each day if your child would like to participate in the dress up days.
Monday- 'Merica Day Tuesday- Tie Dye Day Wednesday- Onesie - PJ Day Thursday- Tacky Tourist Day Friday- Willard Pride Day Important Dates: Friday Sept 21 - Half Day - School will dismiss at 12:30 Friday Sept 21 - Fundraiser packets and coupon books are due. Please return books if you are not planning to purchase those Thursday Sept 27 - 6:30-7:30 Leader In Me Job Fair Night Friday Sept 28 - Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30 This week: Math--We are starting unit 3 this week which is our first multiplication unit. We will be spending a lot of time working on our facts to help us be successful in this unit. I would encourage you to work with students on those facts at home during commercial breaks or in the car. I will also be sending home Unit 2 math assessments this week. Several students got 100% on this assessment Friday! SS--We are wrapping up our Missouri Regions projects this week and students will be presenting those on Tuesday. Wednesday students will take a short assessment over those regions and have to label some important features in our state. Then Thursday we will celebrate their hard work with Missouri shaped sugar cookies that they will decorate by regions. It will be a tasty treat! Writing-- Last week we started talking about narrative stories and this week we will start mapping out our narratives. We are focusing on capitalization, punctuation, and great use of details. Reading-- Students have been working really hard on their DRA's for the beginning of the year. I will have those completed this week and I will send their current reading level home to you as soon as I can get them filled out. I have been very impressed with their progress over the summer. I leave you with some pictures from our STEM Challenge on Friday with Mrs. Kramer's 1st grade class. We are going to partner up several times throughout the year to do challenges and allow the students to work together. I was so proud of them on Friday and how they mentored the 1st graders and helped them through the project. |
Important Links*WE Website Archives
August 2023
Categories |