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!