Monday Update 12/1/14

Happy Monday!

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and the long weekend!  We have a busy week ahead, so let me fill you in on what we're doing :)

This week in...

Bible:  We started a devotion/bible study that will help us prepare our hearts for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus' birth.  This week we'll focus on the eternal nature of God's Word and what a treasure it is in our lives.  Our memory verse is:  Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.  Psalm 119:89.

Literacy:  In 4th grade, three of our Guided Reading groups will be reading an adapted 'Readers' Theater' version of  A Christmas Carol in preparation for our trip to see Scrooge next week at the Imaginon Theater.  We'll be talking about how characters change from the beginning to the end of a story, and noticing how the character of Scrooge changes from the beginning of the play to the end.  At the end of the week we'll "perform" our play for the rest of the class.

The fourth Guided Reading group is working together to read the book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  We're doing this in a literature circle format where each student in the group takes on a different role each week.

At literature circle meetings, the Discussion Director comes up with four questions from their reading for the group to discuss.  He or she also leads the meeting and makes sure that each person gets to participate.  The Character Sketcher chooses a character to analyze (traits, goal, problem, etc) and illustrate.  The Passage Picker chooses two passages to share with the group and why he or she feels they're important.  The Word Wizard chooses 6 vocabulary words to focus on.  These may be words that are unfamiliar or words that are important to the text.  Finally, the Figurative Language Finder looks for examples of figurative language such as:  simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, and allusion.  These roles change each week so that each group member gets to participate in 3 or 4 of the roles depending upon how long it takes to read the book.

In 5th grade, two of our Guided Reading groups will be read the poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  They'll also be analyzing character; in this case looking at which traits of St. Nicholas can be found in the poem.  Our two other Guided Reading groups have been split into four literature circle 'partnerships'.  The books they're reading include:  My Side of the Mountain, The Wednesday Wars, The Dark Hills Divide, and Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl.  These students will also be taking on the different roles of a literature circle and meeting to discuss their books.

Social Studies:  In 4th grade, we're talking about the major battles of the Revolutionary War, and in 5th grade we're launching a unit on early European Exploration.

Other Important News...
A permission slip was sent home today for our trip to see Scrooge at the Imaginon Theater on Tuesday, December 9th.  Following the play we'll be having lunch at Brixx Pizza in uptown.

4th grade has earned 100 Sail points!!!  We'd like to celebrate with an electronics and ice cream sundae party this Friday, Dec 5th.  Please send in $2 to cover the cost of the ice cream and toppings.  Thank you!!!

Have a blessed week!

Monday Update 11/24/14

This two day week is going to be over in the blink of an eye!  Before it passes us by, I just want to take a moment to thank you for sharing your children with me every day.  They are funny, sweet, observant, thoughtful, loving, and (sometimes) challenging, and I love each and every one of them!  I can honestly say that I look forward to coming to work every day because I have the best job in the world :)  Each child that I teach will be counted as a blessing this Thanksgiving.  I hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends...Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Monday Update 11/3/14

Happy Monday!

As we begin the 2nd quarter of the school year, we're also beginning a new spelling program, Words Their Way.  I'm really excited about this curriculum, and feel that it'll give our kids much more support in their spelling, reading, and vocabulary development!  The video that I've linked to below explains how Word Their Way works, and gives some really helpful information about the sorts that kids will do with their words.  The first part goes really fast, but then it slows down and demonstrates each type of sort.  We're going to watch it in class today, and you may want to watch it again at home so that you understand the new processes that your children are learning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_rs1ow9gWI

All of the kids will need a new composition notebook to use for Words Their Way.  If you could send one in as soon as possible, that would be wonderful!   The kids will bring home their new, differentiated spelling lists this week, and will have new activities for spelling homework as well.

This Week In...

Bible:  We'll be learning about how the death of Stephen was followed by great persecution of Christians.  Our memory verse this week is:  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Literacy:  We'll be focusing on learning the new sorts that we will be doing with spelling words.  We'll also be reviewing synonyms and antonyms and how knowing these can help us figure out what words mean.

In 4th grade we'll be working on Asking and Answering Questions:  specifically where do we find the answers to the questions about a text.  We'll practice answers that are "right there" in the text, and ones where we have to "pull together" information from more that one place in the text, as well as those that require us to infer using our background knowledge.

In 5th grade we'll be reviewing and digging deeper into Characters.  We'll talk about how we know what a character is thinking and feeling by paying attention what he or she feels, acts like, says, or thinks.  We'll also learn about antagonists and protagonists.

Social Studies:  In 4th grade we'll talk about the battles at Lexington and Concord, including the "shot heard 'round the world" that was the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

In 5th grade we'll learn about the Inca Civilization and make masks out of air dry clay.  We'll add symbols to the mask that represent each of the ancient civilizations that we've learned about.

Have a great week!

Monday Update 10/27/14

Whew...what a week!  Fall Festival, Parent-Teacher conferences, and the end of the first quarter are all behind us.  We have another busy week ahead with the Fall Book Fair and Picture Days!  Ready...Set...Go!

If you have any box tops at home, PLEASE send them in!  We're only FOUR behind Mrs. Hudson, and she ALWAYS beats us (we have a friendly, little rivalry going on with this)!!!

On Wednesday this week (October 29th), we'll have our individual and class pictures taken.  Please dress your child in a light blue uniform top and khaki bottoms.  I'll send out a Remind text on Tuesday evening  :)

Also on Wednesday, 1st quarter report cards will be available to view on RenWeb.  A paper copy is not sent home.  If you haven't set up an account yet, you can do so by clicking on the RenWeb icon on the MID website.

This week in...

Bible:  This week's lesson is on Being Courageous.  We'll talk about the courage of the disciples as they continued to teach about Jesus, even in the face of persecution.  Then we'll think about ways that we can courageously share our faith with others.

Literacy:  The BIG news is that we're starting a new spelling program in the 2nd quarter!  It's called Words Their Way, and will be much more differentiated, giving your child a spelling list that is just right for his or her spelling skills.  This week we'll take a comprehensive spelling inventory that will pinpoint exactly what each child's current spelling skill level is.  Based on this inventory, I'll assign the children to spelling groups.  We'll spend the rest of the week learning how to do the spelling sorts that are a mainstay of this program.  Sorting the words will allow the children to discover similarities in spelling patterns, word parts, and meanings.  I'm excited about the differentiation that this program offers, as well as the fact that it will give our kids so much more support with their reading!  This week, we won't have any spelling words, as we'll be working on the spelling inventory and learning the word sorts.  Next week I'll begin sending home our new lists!

Social Studies:  In 4th grade we'll continue to talk about events leading up to the Revolutionary War, including the Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress.

In 5th grade we're moving from the Maya to the Aztec.  We'll talk about their culture in terms of geography, political system, religion, and social structure, as well as their rise and fall.

Have a great week!

Monday Update 10/13/14

Holy Birthdays Batman!!!  October is packed with birthdays!  We have 5 in our fourth grade class and 2 more in fifth, so we'll be eating LOTS of cupcakes this month (we're just fattening up for winter?)  I might need to start scheduling extra Mariners on the Move meetings to work all of these extra treats off!!!

The end of the 1st quarter, and mandatory Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up quickly.  Mrs. Hudson and I do our conferences together so that you only need to attend one.  Please keep in mind that we have 34 sets of parents to meet with, so we have to limit our conferences to 20 minutes.  You can click on the following link to sign up for a conference time:   Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Up

This week in...

Bible:  Our memory verse this week is - Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.  Acts 5:42

Last week we talked about how Peter and John were jailed, and then brought before the Jewish officials for healing a man in Jesus' name.  They were told to stop doing anything in the name of Jesus, but chose to listen to God rather than man.

This week we'll learn that the apostles were again put in jail for teaching about Jesus.  This time, an angel of the Lord opens the jail doors during the night freeing the men, and telling them to go into the temple courts to continue teaching.  The Jewish officials are at a loss and don't know what to do when they find the apostles, who are supposed to be locked up in jail, in the temple courts.  One of the Pharisees tells them not to do anything, that if this "Jesus thing" is of men it will fail, but that if it's of God, it's a fight they can't win.

Literacy:  In Language, both 4th and 5th graders will be learning about abbreviations this week.  Most of them know the months of the year and days of the week, but there are many others that they need to be aware of.  We'll add these to our Language Arts notebooks so we have them to refer to when needed.

In Reading Skills, 4th grade will continue their unit on Text Structures.  We'll look at cause/effect, problem/solution, and description this week.  Fifth grade will be working on making connections.

Why is it important to make connections with what we're reading?  Think of our brains as a filing cabinet.  It's easier to add new information to an existing file than it is to have to make a brand new file and find a spot for it in the filing cabinet.  In much the same way, when we read something new, if we can connect it to something we already know, it's easier to make meaning and understand what we read.  We'll be talking about making Text to Self, Text to Text, and Text to World connections.

When we make Text to Self connections we think about what we can connect to personally.  It may be a character that reminds us of ourselves or someone we know, a situation that is similar to something we've experienced, or a setting that's familiar to us.  When we make Text to Text connections, we think about how we can connect what we're reading with something we've read before.  Text to World connections are connections that we make with things we've seen or heard about, but that we haven't experienced personally.  For example, when reading the book Wonder to the 5th grade, I made a text to world connection when I found out that the main character, Auggie, has Treacher Collins Syndrome.  I remembered having seen a documentary about a little girl named Julianna Wetmore who has the same diagnosis.  This allowed me to understand more deeply what Auggie may look like, and what his medical issues are.

Social Studies:  In 4th grade we're continuing to talk about the causes of the Revolutionary War, and will be moving on to the early events of the war by the end of the week.  We'll read a book called "Let it Begin Here" about the battles at Lexington and Concord.

In 5th grade we're learning about the culture of the Maya this week, including where they lived, their political structure, religion, social classes, agriculture, and inventions.  We'll learn about the Mayan alphabet and will write our names using these symbols!  Speaking of symbols, we'll also begin our mask project in which we create masks that we'll paint and cover with symbols that represent each culture that we study.

Have a great week!

Monday Update 10/6/14

Happy Fall!  It finally feels like autumn out there, and I'm loving this escape from the humidity!  This is, by far, my favorite time of year, when the air turns crisp and cool and the leaves begin to change.  Fall in North Carolina is a beautiful thing to witness!

One of our parents asked me a great question this week, and I thought some of you might be wondering the same thing, so I wanted to share her question and my answer with all of you :)

"How is my child doing in Language Arts? I haven't seen much coming home except spelling tests."

The reason that you don't see a lot of things come home is because we do most of our work in our Interactive Notebooks, which stay at school.  I'm planning to share these with you at Parent-Teacher conferences.  In our Interactive Notebooks we write Reading Response Letters, practice Reading skills and strategies, work on grammar and parts of speech, and practice Writing skills.  

Some of the things that you should see coming home on a regular basis are from our daily Morning Work (this applies to 4th grade only).  On Mondays we do an Idiom of the Week, Tuesdays is a prefix activity, Wednesdays is a suffix activity, and Thursdays we work on Mountain Language which addresses many grammar and language skills (we just started that last week).  On Fridays we do our memory verse quiz.  

Fifth grade will begin working on Mountain Language in another week or two.  Over the next few weeks in my Monday Update, I'll highlight some of the Reading, Writing, and Grammar activities that we do to give you a better idea of what your child is working on in class.

I also wanted to give you an update on AR goals.  We've had a couple of 'glitches' with our AR system, and have been trying get them resolved.  I was able to access the goal calculator today, and will be sending emails tomorrow and Wednesday which will give you your child's AR goal.  It's been adjusted to account for the fact that we started AR a little later than we'd planned.  Your child can take AR tests even though the goals haven't been set.  This won't interfere with their quiz results or points earned.

This week in...

Bible
We won't have a memory verse this week, as we'll being reviewing the verses learned during the first 5 weeks.  We're continuing to talk about Peter and John healing the beggar at the temple gate.  Today we talked about the Sanhedrin (the Jewish officials) and how angry they were that Peter and John had performed this miracle in the name of Jesus Christ.  Because so many people had witnessed it, they couldn't deny what had happened, but they didn't want these 'Jesus followers' taking any of their power over the people.  The Sanhedrin told Peter and John that they weren't to teach, preach, or do anything else in Jesus' name, but Peter replied that he would listen to the words of God, not the words of men.  This got an "Ooohh...burn!!!" from the 4th graders who all agreed that we should place more importance on the word of God than the word of man.  When we ended our Bible time today, several kids commented that they wish we had more time to spend talking about Bible...gotta love that!

Literacy
In Language, both 4th and 5th grade are reviewing nouns:  common and proper, singular and plural, and possessive.

In Reading Skills the 4th graders are beginning a unit on text structures.  Over the next two weeks we'll spend time learning about and practicing:

• putting events in chronological order
• comparing and contrasting
• determining cause and effect
• finding problem and solution relationships

The 5th graders are working on Asking Questions.  We're talking about Thin and Thick questions (thin questions can be answered by finding the information right in the text, while thick questions require making some inferences).  We'll practice identifying thick and thin quetions and generating our own.  We'll also learn about asking questions before, during, and after reading and how that helps us understand our reading more deeply.  

In Writing we'll be working on generating ideas for our writing over the next two weeks.  We'll talk about where authors get their ideas and we'll make lists of our own for things like:  everyday experiences, memories, favorite places, and special people.

Social Studies

In 4th grade we've started talking about the causes of the American Revolution.  Some of your kids may have told you about the "email" that I read to them that outlined some changes that were going to happen at school.  I told them that our administrators had decided that we were going to change our school day to 7am to 5pm.  We wouldn't have anymore time for recess and would only get 10 minutes for lunch.  We'd have no time to go on field trips and would need to do 4 hours of homework every night.  

As you can imagine, they were outraged!  I asked them to write letters to Mr. Tom and Ms. Tammy letting them know why they didn't agree with these ideas.  They scribbled furiously as they grumbled to each other about how unfair this was, that they weren't going to have time for their after school activities, they would be tired all the time because they'd have to get up so early, and on, and on, and on.  

After they'd written their letters, I let them know that none of these changes were actually going to happen, and asked for their forgiveness for misleading them (most of them forgave me...a few are still holding out!).  I also told them that they now understood the feelings of the American colonists who were being told they would be taxed to help pay for a war that King George III had decided to fight with the French.

This week we'll talk about the many tax acts that were put into place that resulted in the colonists' eventual revolt against the crown.  And believe me, your kids were riled up enough to revolt against MID when they thought all of these unfair changes were going to really happen!!!

In 5th grade we're starting our unit on Ancient Civilizations - Maya, Aztec, and Inca.  We'll begin by getting familiar with the major landmarks of Central and South America.  Then we'll hypothesize how we can learn about civilizations that no longer exist.  After that we'll begin studying the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan cultures, including the rise and fall of each civilization.

The 5th graders took their Geography test on Friday and most did really well on it.  They'll do some self-corrections and then bring them home to be signed and returned to school.  You should see them come home by Wednesday.

I hope to see you on Tuesday night at the PTO Meeting/Reading Night!

Monday Update 9/29/14

I can't believe the month of September ends tomorrow.  This month has flown by!  We've accomplished a lot in our first month together, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring :)

I wanted to include a copy of the information that I emailed to 4th grade parents about the MID Uniform Policy so that you can locate the information if you need it:

Outerwear

As it’s getting colder, many of the students have started wearing jackets to school and out to recess.  ALL jackets, sweatshirts, and lightweight outerwear must be the approved colors (heather grey, cherry red, navy, white, khaki) and must be logoed. 

PE Uniform

If students come to school in their PE Uniform on Fridays and wear it all day, it must be the official PE Uniform from Land’s End with the logo on the shirt and shorts.

If students bring a PE uniform to change into for class (and change out of it after class) then they may wear a plain white t-shirt and navy shorts with no logo.

Reminders

Scholastic book orders are due on Tuesday, 9/30.  You can order online (see the class information link) or send in the order form with a check made out to Kris Poole or Scholastic.

Keep working on those magazine and memory book orders!  We have a class goal of 100 orders.  If each family can get 5 or 6 orders, you'll help us reach our goal!

4th grade parents, please return your child's September Geography assessment with your signature.  I need this for your child's file.  Thank you!

This week in...

Bible:  Last week we learned about how the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, giving them the power to perform miracles, just as Jesus had promised them.  That day Peter spoke to the crowd of people who were in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost, and 3,000 became believers.  This event marks the birth of the Christian church.  This week we'll talk about how Peter and John healed a lame man at the Temple gates.  This miraculous healing caused many people to come to faith, and the Church began to grow.

Our memory verse for this week is:  Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."  Acts 3:6 

Literacy:  We'll talk about the fact that every time someone writes something, they have a purpose in mind.  Then we'll review Author's Purpose and use brief fiction and nonfiction passages to determine whether an author is trying to entertain, persuade, inform, or explain.  

The kids are off to a great start writing Reading Response Letters, and will write one in their Reading Notebooks each week in class.  This allows me to 'see' their thinking about the book they're currently reading independently.  I write back each week and offer them suggestions and guidance about their reading, as well as their writing.  I look forward to sharing these with you at Parent-Teacher conferences!

You'll see that we learn and review many of the same reading and writing skills and strategies in both 4th and 5th grade.  However, we do so at varied levels that are appropriate for each student given their current reading and writing skills.  Students at a more advanced level will learn how to use these skills and strategies with more complex texts, and in more depth.  By differentiating in this way, I can give each student the instruction that they need in order to become better readers and writers :)

Social Studies:  4th grade will wrap up their study of the French and Indian War and begin discovering the causes of the American Revolution.

5th grade will finish their Geography unit and complete a study guide this week.  They'll take their Geography test on Friday.  I'll send home their study guides on Thursday so they can review for the test.

Have a great week!

Monday Update 9/22/14

Are you ready for our first big fundraiser of the year?  Your kids brought home packets yesterday for our Magazine and Memory Books fundraiser, and they're excited about earning this year's collectibles...teddy bears!  I'm really happy about the Memory Books that have been added this year.  I'm planning to buy one for my niece who's getting married this fall (I'll give her the certificate and she can create a wedding or honeymoon book).  Such a great gift idea!  I may buy one to use for this year's class too :)  Be sure to turn in the small booklet filled in with addresses by Thursday, September 25th...that's when the kids will get their lanyard and first bear.

4th grade parents:  Your child should have brought home their September geography assessment.  Could you please sign and return it to school?  Thank you to those who've already done this!

This week in...

Bible:  Our verse this week is 'They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.'  Act 2:42

Literacy:  We're starting our Guided Reading groups in both 4th and 5th grade.  We'll begin the week talking about sequencing (the order of events in a story) and will end it talking about summaries.  We'll figure out along the way that understanding the order of events in a story can help us write a brief summary of the story.

Social Studies:  4th grade is starting their brief study of the French and Indian War.  Today they watched a short video about it, and are now talking with each other in small groups about the causes of the war.

5th grade is wrapping up their Geography unit with a study of lake formation.  We should be ready ot take our Geography assessment by the end of this week or early next week.

Have a great week!

Monday (a little late) Update 9/15/14

Sorry I'm late!  I had a busy weekend, that turned into a busy Monday, and I never got my update written.  So I'm sitting down on Tuesday evening to tell you about our week.

Last week
The 4th graders took their Geography test on Friday morning and I was seriously panicked when I COULDN'T FIND THEM on Friday afternoon as I was leaving school!  I had planned to grade them over the weekend.  Fortunately they turned up on Monday morning in the same pile that I had looked through 3 times on Friday afternoon (how does that happen?!?).  So I'm getting them graded tonight and will send them home tomorrow to be signed and returned.

In Literacy we talked about strategies for picking 'just right' books.  We used the PICK acronym:

We also talked about using the 5 finger strategy to see if a book is a good choice for them.  This is how you do it:

1. Open up a book to any page
2. Read the page
3. Hold up one finger for every word that you don't know.  

If you hold up 0-1 fingers the book is probably pretty easy for you, 2-3 it's just about the right level of challenge that will help you grow as a reader, 4-5 it may be too hard and frustrate you as a reader.

We talked about the fact that it's ok to choose an easy book sometimes, and it's ok to choose a hard book sometimes, but most of the time we want to choose books at that just right level of challenge.  I never tell kids that they HAVE to read books that are a certain reading level, but will try to steer them toward choices that will be interesting, enjoyable, and (just the right amount of) challenging.

This week in...

Bible
In 4th grade, we're talking about how the Holy Spirit arrived following Jesus' ascension.  The Holy Spirit gave power to the disciples so they could carry out the command Jesus had given them to share the good news throughout the world.  The concept of the Holy Spirit is hard for an adult to wrap his or her head around, much less an 8 or 9 year old.  So, today we did an object lesson using two ziplock bags.  We labeled one 'believer' and one 'unbeliever'.  We then blew air into the 'believer' bag to fill it up, as we're filled with the Holy Spirit when we ask Jesus into our hearts.  We talked about the fact that even though we can't 'see' it, we know the Holy Spirit is with us in the way that we feel that prompting to do the right thing, or suddenly remember a bible verse just when we needed it.

Literacy
Our Accelerated Reader program starts this week, and both 4th and 5th graders will begin taking AR quizzes on books that they read.  When they pass the quizzes they earn points based on the difficulty level of the book.  We'll set goals together each quarter to determine how many points each student will try to earn.  This week we'll be talking about setting SMART goals (another acronym for you!).  A SMART goal:

S - Stretches you, or challenges you to do something you haven't done before.
M - is Measurable so you can see if you've met your goal.
A - is Achievable.  Not too easy and not too hard.
R - is Realistic (we won't set a goal for 1,000 AR points, but will talk about what's realistic).
T - is Timely.  The goal needs to be met in a certain amount of time.

We'll be setting SMART goals in Reading, Spelling, Writing, and AR this week and next.

We'll continue to work on our Reading Response letters, learning what needs to be included in order to be successful.  And, we'll learn to write down our thoughts on sticky notes during the week so we remember what we want to write about when our letters are due.  Our first letters will include our impressions, connections, and questions about the book each of us is reading during Read to Self time.  We'll write them in a friendly letter format so we can practice the things that need to be included in a letter (date, greeting, body, closing, signature).  As we continue to write Reading Response letters, we'll begin to vary the content so we're writing about different aspects of our thinking.  I'll be writing back to the kids each time they write a letter, so it'll be like a written conversation about their reading.  I'm looking forward to sharing them with you at Parent-Teacher conferences!

Social Studies
4th grade is learning the basics about the geography of Canada before we launch our unit on the French and Indian war next week.  This background knowledge will help our understanding, as some of the activity took place in what is now Canadian territory.

5th grade is continuing their Geography unit.  We recently talked about how latitude impacts climate, and are now learning about how longitude and time zones are connected.  Tomorrow we'll blow our minds trying to figure out the International Date Line!  We should be wrapping up late this week or early next week and will then prepare for the September Geography test.

Have a great week!

Monday Update 9/8/14

I hope you had a good weekend!  I didn't manage to get in all of my phone calls in last week to check with you about how your child is adjusting to the new school year, so if you didn't hear from me last week, you should hear from me this week :)

Last Week
As we began to get more comfortable with each other we saw a few behavior issues creep into our classrooms on Tuesday and Wednesday (nothing unexpected!).  By Thursday the kids had figured out that talking when they shouldn't be talking, and not following directions weren't going to bode well for their Class Dojo points, and they were quickly back on track.  This is pretty typical of week 2, and you may have seen some Class Dojo points deducted from your child's account.  Please don't be overly concerned if you see this happen on occasion, but do talk with your child about what happened and encourage them to meet classroom expectations.  If a behavior is truly a problem, Mrs. Hudson and I will be sure to contact you.

On a happier note, we started our specials classes last week!  The kids were excited to go to Art, Music, Spanish, and PE!  We missed Technology because of Labor Day, but we'll start that class this week  We'll also have Chapel for the first time this week :)

We had our first Spelling test on Friday and most of the kids did really well!  If a child struggled with several words, I asked them to study those words over the weekend so I could retest them on Monday.  In case you were wondering how I grade the tests:  the 20 regular list words are worth 5 points each, and the 5 bonus words are worth 1 point each.  For each regular word that is correct, 5 points are added to the score, and for each bonus word that is correct, 1 point is added. Students never lose points for incorrect bonus words, only regular words. (A few students work with a shorter list that has 10 words, and those words are worth 10 points each.)

This week in...

Bible
Please send a bible to school with your child this week.  They will need to have one to participate fully in our bible lessons going forward.  We're walking through the book of Acts and learning about what the disciples did after Jesus had ascended into heaven.  Last week we talked about what it meant to be an eyewitness (as the disciples were to Jesus' ministry), and this week we'll study Jesus' ascension.

Social Studies
The 4th graders have zoomed through their Geography review unit and will be ready to take the assessment on Wednesday of this week.  I'll be sending home their Social Studies notebooks on Tuesday night so they can study (please return them on Wednesday!).  If you'd like to help them review, here are a few links that should be helpful:

Continents and Oceans Game (our curriculum names four oceans, and this game names five, but we've talked about this, so it shouldn't confuse the kids)
Hemispheres Powerpoint (this is the same one that we used in class)
Latitude and Longitude video (just for fun...we watched this in class)

Literacy
We'll continue to do beginning of the year assessments this week, and will learn how to write a Reading Response letter.  Last week we talked about the fact that reading is thinking.  We made a list of all the different kids of thinking we do as we read like:  making connections to something we've experienced or read about, questions we have, pictures or movies that we see in our heads, predictions we make about what will happen next, etc.  The kids wrote some of their thinking on a sticky note as they read, and when they asked why I wanted them to do that, I told them that it helps me to 'see' their thinking because I can't see into their brains!  Reader Response letters will do the same thing.  It will give me an idea of what they're thinking about as they read, and this will help me guide their learning.  Your child will write a letter to me once each week during our reading time, and I'll write back to them.  The letters will be kept in their reading journals.

Homework
I changed the homework contract a bit by adding the spelling list to the contract itself, rather than attaching a separate piece of paper, and I copied the Tic, Tac, Toe sheet on the back...less chance of losing anything AND we're saving paper!!!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!  Keep scrolling down to see some pictures from our week :)

Class Dojo Information

Mrs. Hudson and I wanted to give you more information about how Class Dojo (the online system that we use for behavior management) works, and what it means when we award or deduct points.

We sat down together before school started and talked about how we wanted to use Class Dojo.  We decided that it made the most sense to award and deduct points based on the Citizenship characteristics that are part of the MID report card.  Class Dojo will give us data that we can use to give appropriate grades in each of these areas. There are nineteen characteristics listed for MID Citizenship:

• Participates in class
• Accepts responsibility
• Stays on task
• Works independently
• Works well with others
• Shows neatness in work
• Completes classwork assignments on time
• Completes homework assignments on time
• Respects authority
• Respects property
• Is trustworthy
• Is courteous
• Is obedient and cooperative
• Uses self-control in speech
• Uses self-control in actions
• Listens and follows directions
• Applies Christian principals in work
• Applies Christian principals in play
• Interested in learning about the bible

Each student has the potential to earn 19 points each day for basic good behavior and doing what they're supposed to be doing.  They may also earn points above and beyond these.  For example, Mrs. Hudson and I both randomly select a 'secret student' each day.  We keep an eye on that secret student throughout the day, and if that child exhibits model behavior, he or she is awarded 5 extra points.  We also award points for being extra helpful or extra kind.  In addition, there are classroom awards (math problem of the day, surprise locker check (clean locker!), etc) that result in extra points being awarded.  Students have many opportunities to earn Class Dojo points for great behavior!

Class Dojo points are deducted for misbehavior.  Mrs. Hudson and I talked about the most frequent behavior issues that occur in our classrooms, and determined that these behaviors affect more than one characteristic of MID Citizenship.  For example, Talking out of Turn (talking when the teacher is talking, when another student is talking, or when we're supposed to be silent (during a test, in the hallway, etc) impacts 8 of the citizenship areas:

• Accepts responsibility
• Respects authority
• Is courteous
• Is obedient and cooperative
• Uses self-control in speech
• Listens and follows directions
• Works well with others
• Applies Christian principles in work

When a child loses points for Talking out of Turn, 8 points are deducted, one for each of these characteristics.  When students aren't meeting behavior expectations, they are always give a verbal warning first.  Depending on the circumstances, they may be given more than one warning.  If the student continues to show that same behavior, then points are deducted.  We've discussed all of the above information with the kids, so they are well aware of the consequences of misbehavior.  Other common behaviors that will result in the loss of multiple points are:  Not Following Directions, Out of Seat (when they're not supposed to be), and Unkind Words.

If a student has lost points for Talking out of Turn, he or she will have earned 11 points for the other MID Citizenship areas, but lost 8 points for the ones impacted by that behavior.  If this happens once during the week, that student still earns a substantial amount of points for the week.  However, if its occurring daily, the student (and parent) will notice that they've earned significantly fewer points.  If a behavior is occurring more frequently than it should be, Mrs. Hudson and I will be sure to call or email to talk about how we can work together to get your child's behavior back on track. 

Every Monday, the kids are awarded their Class Dojo points for the previous week.  They keep track of them in a 'points bank' that works much like a checking account register.  The kids deposit points earned and withdraw points traded (great real world practice!).  The kids are allowed to trade points for privilege cards (in Mrs. Poole's class) or trips to the treasure box (in Mrs. Hudson's class).  Privilege cards include things like: a sweet treat from the candy jar, chewing gum in class pass, sitting in the teacher's rolling chair, electronics time, dance party, etc).  The more 'desirable' the privilege, the more points it costs.  The treasure box holds all kinds of goodies that kids love (candy, small toys, etc.). 

We have high expectations for our students' behavior and believe that they will rise to meet those expectations.  We want to partner with you to help our students develop self-control, good work habits, and the ability to be thoughtful and courteous members of any group in which they participate.

During these first weeks of school, as students learn and adjust to classroom rules and expectations, you may see points being deducted.  Please talk with your child about what caused them to lose points, but don't be overly concerned.  If you do have any questions or concerns about Class Dojo, or your child's behavior please email, text, or call either of us, and we'll be sure to address them.

Monday Update 9/1/14

Our first week just flew by!  The days were loooong, but the week was so short.  I couldn't believe Friday arrived so quickly.

I've been having fun getting to know each of your children!  I hope that your kids enjoyed their first week and are settling in and making friends. They all seemed happy and content this past week, but I'll be calling home this week to check in and see how things seem from your perspective.  Sometimes when kids want to please their teacher they'll act happy at school even though something is really bothering them.  If that's the case for your child, I want to know so we can figure out how to make it right.  Children who feel safe, happy, and content are better able to learn and grow, and that's what we all want!  So when you see that 262 area code pop up on your phone, it's just me :)

Last Week
We spent a lot of time during the first week of school on relationship building and team building activities.  One of my priorities at the beginning of the year is helping your child feel comfortable in our classroom, with me, and with his or her classmates.  On Thursday, we did a poster gallery where the kids went around the room with sticky notes answering questions about their expectations for this school year, that I'd put up on sheets of poster paper.  Out of that discussion, we developed our class rules:

• Be Kind (This came up again and again in our discussion from ALL of the kids.  They really want to be treated with kindness.  Don't we all?)
• Be Responsible (for your work, your words, your actions)
• Be Respectful (to your teachers, to each other, to our school)
• Be Safe (think before you act)
• Be Your Best (if you're going to take the time to do something, do your best!)

I shared some scripture with the kids that back up every one of these rules...they're really rules for life, not just our classroom.  It would be great if you could take some time to talk with your child about these expectations and why they're important :)

In Literacy, we started working on building our reading stamina (how long can we read without getting bored, distracted, or tired) and made it to 25 minutes already!  My goal was to be at 30 minutes after two weeks, but the kids are going to beat that by a mile...they love to read!  We also talked about our classroom procedures for checking out and returning classroom library books, how we choose books, the kinds of thinking we do when we read, and how to 'book buzz' or talk about books in a small group.  In their binders you'll see pages from their Reading Portfolios.  We're tracking our reading stamina at school, and keeping a daily status of the books we're reading.  We'll be adding more pages to our portfolios over the next week or two.  You don't need to keep track of their reading at home on the status sheet.

This Week in...

Bible
We'll begin our formal DiscipleLand bible curriculum this week.  I'll be sending home a parent letter that will give you a great overview of what we'll be learning this quarter, and our memory verses for the next 12 weeks. The memory verse will be on the homework contract each week as well. I'll be giving the kids a fill-in-the-blank quiz for their memory verse every Friday morning.  We'll practice it at school during the week, but they'll do even better if you help them learn the verse at home and talk about what it means to you.  A great way to have the kids practice is to write it on a sticky note and put it on the bathroom mirror.  Then they can say it to themselves every time they brush their teeth or wash their hands.

Literacy
This week we'll be starting our Beginning of Year reading assessments, so I know where your child is starting out with his or her reading skills.  We'll also begin our Literacy and Social Studies rotations. During this time, we rotate through different Literacy and Social Studies learning activities.  This gives me time to meet with students in small groups or individually for guided reading groups, writing strategy groups, conferences, and assessments that allow me to tailor my teaching to each child's learning needs.

Social Studies
We'll start the year with a geography review of oceans and continents.  Then we'll identify the equator and prime meridian, and learn how they divide the earth into the northern, southern, eastern and western hemispheres.  We'll also learn about lines of latitude and longitude and make our own globes out of paper lanterns :)

Homework
Our first homework contract will come home this week on Tuesday, and the assignments will be due on Friday.  For families new to MID, we send home a homework contract at the beginning of the week with all of the homework for the week attached to it (you'll get one from me for Language Arts/Social Studies and one from Mrs. Hudson for Math/Science).  This allows you to schedule homework time around after school activities, sports, and family time.  Your child's weekly homework from me will always consist of:

• 20 minutes of independent reading each night
• 2 or 3 reading comprehension questions (each week) that are answered in a quarterly journal (this won't start until mid-September) 
• spelling word practice
• a language/grammar practice sheet each week (this won't start until late Sept/early Oct)

Specials

We start going to our specials classes this week!  Art on Tuesday, Chapel and Music on Wednesday, Spanish on Thursday, and PE on Friday.  Be sure to have your child wear or bring gym shoes on Friday.  Also, we give extra Class Dojo points to the kids who change into their PE uniforms, so be sure to send that as well (plain white t-shirt and navy blue athletic shorts - logo not needed).

Other News

Finally, the Student Handbook will be coming home this week, and there is a form that needs to be signed and sent back to school the next day.  If your child brings it back right away he or she will earn extra Class Dojo points for turning assignments in on time!

Have a blessed week!

Unselfish Love

We had an amazing thing happen at MID today, and I just have to tell you about it!

Yesterday, one of our students lost one of her hearing aids during soccer practice.  The coach, her mom, other parents, and other students helped her search the soccer field, but were unable to find it last night. This thing is tiny...it's not quite 1 inch long and 1/3 of an inch wide, and the case is clear plastic.  Pretty much like looking for a needle in a haystack.  The student's grandfather even brought over a magnetic roller and dragged it across the field.  Nothing.  This was devastating as these hearing aids cost around $2500.

So, this morning Mrs. Keane asked if the students and teachers in grades 3-9 would be willing to go out and look again. Of course we were!  We joined together as a school and prayed that God would help us find what had been lost. If anyone knew how important this was, He did, so we put it in His hands. After searching the soccer field for about 30 minutes, we were still unsuccessful.

Keep reading...we're almost to the good part!

After lunch, as the 4th and 5th graders headed out to recess, several asked if they could go down to the soccer field and continue to look for the hearing aid. We had 8, 9, and 10 year olds GIVE UP THEIR RECESS TIME to help another student!  We have THE. BEST. KIDS. EVER. at MID!!!

These kids voluntarily crawled around on their hands and knees combing through the grass to find that hearing aid. At one point a few of them stopped and prayed together that God would help them (my eyes are tearing up just typing this).  Moments later they came running up the hill with their arms raised in victory...they'd found it!

It was so moving to witness the unselfish love of our students. And even more moving to see how they turned to God for help in their search. It brought me to tears to see the joy in all of their faces as they returned the hearing aid to the student who lost it.

Our kids learned a lesson today that goes SO far beyond anything that comes out of a text book. THIS is why I love teaching at MID. And THIS is why I love my students so much.

As I go to sleep tonight, I'll be saying a prayer of thanks for your amazing children, and the beauty of the unselfish love they demonstrated today.  I hope you will too!

 

Here We Go!

It was a wonderful first day! The kids were great...they worked hard and played hard...I love that!

We spent lots of time talking about how we do things in 4th grade, from voice levels, to lining up, to classroom jobs. There's always a lot of 'housekeeping' to do on the first day.

We played a 'get to know your teacher' game with a 'red light, green light' twist. Later we did a team building activity called "Save Fred"...ask your child about it...we had so much fun!  We even did some writing about...you guessed it...something we did this summer :)  And we HAD to take first day pictures! 

During one of my favorite parts of the day, we started our class read aloud.  We're reading "A Snicker of Magic" by Natalie Lloyd. It's about a girl named Felicity Pickle who has moved around a lot with her family and wants to stay in one place for a while.  Felicity has an unusual hobby...she collects words. We might just try a little word collecting of our own!

During the rest of this week we'll continue learning and practicing classroom procedures and routines,  getting to know each other better,  and digging further into our read aloud. We'll also begin working on our reading stamina (how long we can continue to read without getting tired, bored, or distracted).  We'll start out with 5 minutes and work our way up to 30 minutes over the next couple of weeks.

We're off to a great start!

Are You Ready?

It's the night before the first day of school!

I've spent the last couple of weeks working to prepare our classroom, and now I'm preparing my heart.

I've been praying for you and your child as you get ready for their first day of fourth grade.  I've also been praying for our school, our administrators, and our teachers as we await your arrival.

Tomorrow will be exciting, busy, and tiring!  I have lots of fun activities planned that will help us get to know each other and our classroom better, but the most important thing to me is making sure that your child is safe, comfortable, and happy.

If you have any last minute things that you want me to know about your child that will make their transition to the new school year (and for some of you a new school!) easier, please send me an email at kpoole@midschool.org.  I'll be checking my email as soon as I get to school in the morning.

Welcome Back!!!

I was so excited to see all of you at Open House last night...it was great to meet our new students and parents, and wonderful to see our returning ones :)  We're going to have an amazing year in 4th grade!

Thank you for participating in our Classroom Scavenger Hunt!  I'm hoping that it made it easier to know what you needed to take care of (forms, signups, etc) and pointed out a few things in the classroom.  I'd love to get your feedback on what worked well, and what could be better.  Please comment below or send me an email (kpoole@midschool.org) to let me know your thoughts.

I'll be using this blog as our class newsletter, and will send out a link to new posts via email, so watch for those to come out every Monday.

The easiest way to contact me is by email:  kpoole@midschool.org.  You can also call the school at 704-391-5516, or text me at 262-853-2136.  I'll make every effort to respond to your email, text, or phone call within 24 hours :)

Thank you for entrusting Mountain Island Day School, Mrs. Hudson, and me with your child's education.  I'm looking forward working with you and your child to make this their best school year yet!