Monday, September 27

I apologize for no post this past weekend.  Where did the weekend go?  We have finished our reading theme for the first 5 stories.  We are now having a review week.  This week will look differently than previous weeks.  The students will be testing quite a bit.  Today they will take a sentence dictation pretest.  This will be 5 sentences with some spelling words in them.  To pass the test every sentence must be spelled correctly and capitalization and punctuation correct.  If they pass the pretest they have freetime during spelling on Friday.  On Wed. they will take a multiple choice spelling test and Thursday is a 20 word test.  That list will come home today.  In this way we cover every spelling word we have had this theme.  Today we are taking a reading skills test.  This includes vocabulary and the story elements we have been working on.  The students will also take two tests over comprehension.  It is a very busy week as we will still have guided reading during the week. 
      Hopefully everyone had a chance to look over your child's math test.  This week we will start subtraction strategies.  Ask your child if they can explain bubble math to you.  It is something new we are doing.
      We are still studying animals and will be working on our dioramas.  Thanks to all who have sent boxes and/or items for their child's diorama. 
       If your child wants to purchase any of the items the cheerleaders are selling, send it to school with the money in a baggie or envelope.  We give them to the cheerleaders and then they will get the items to us on Friday.
      Sounds like we are going to have a great week weatherwise so enjoy it. 

Field trip reflections

We got to see comeone milk a cow.
We watched a dog show.
There was a talking tree walking around. 
There were ducks, kittens, white tiger, cows, peacocks, and calves.
We saw a 520 pound pumpkin.

Week of Sept. 13-18

Boy, did we have a great day for our field trip!  The weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids were very well-behaved.  We always seem to have a few wanderers (don't quite pay attention to where they are going) but with 2 adults in each group, it was manageable.  I think everyone had a good time and learned something new.  I know I did.  They were tired by the end.  Some of the students' observations will be added on Monday. 
If your child has not brought a show box to school yet please send one soon.  If you need one, let us know. 
Thursday is our test over addition strategies.  We will send home a review sheet for you to see before the test.  After addition strategies we will begin working on subtraction strategies.  They are basically very similar to the addition strategies with a few new ones.  The students just keep getting better on math probes!  They needed 160 to get 5 minutes of extra recess and they got 217!  Way to go!
Our smile plan seems to be helping many of the students stay focused or refocus.  I will send those home on Monday.  We did not use them on Friday due to the field trip. 
Most of the class is actually ahead in their A.R. goals.  Nice job.  We don't always get much time to read in class so when they read at home it is always good practice.  On the days we have guided reading they are more likely to get some time to read A.R.   Thanks to Mr. Bixby (from the high school) for coming and getting all of the computers in our room hooked up to internet.  Now we have 3-4 (depending on the day) that can now be used for A.R. tests instead of 1.  When the computer lab is busy it is hard to get all the tests taken. 
Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

Tuesday, Sept. 14

It is good to be back from my trip.  Mrs. Faircloth is now teaching all subjects except math.  She will pick that up next week.  I hope everyone received the letter about our field trip on Friday.  Please remember to send a sack lunch but no drink.  They need tennis shoes and a jacket or sweatshirt.  This is an excellent educational field trip, and I am excited that we get the opportunity to attend again.  We have started a class-wide behavior plan.  We just seem to have a lot of chatting going on, as well as some behaviors that are very distracting.  The students have 6 smiles every day.  They can lose a smile for various things which we discussed.  At the end of the week (in the beginning) they need to have 25 out of 30 smiles left to earn a reward.  This week is a practice week.  We are hoping to discontinue the plan for the majority of the class by the time of conferences.  I will send home their slips on the following Monday so you can see how your child did the previous week.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 

Sat., Sept. 4

I apologize for being late with my Friday blog.  This was a very busy week!  We started guided reading groups this week so it was hectic.  The students will be doing guided reading on Tues., Wed., and Thursday during a normal week.  My student teacher will start doing them the week of the 13th.  I have tested all of the students and grouped them with students of similar abilities.  Please be assured that if I notice a student struggling or moving ahead of others in their group, I may test them again or possibly try them at another level.  That is  one of the great advantages of guided reading - the flexibility to work with students to meet their individual needs. 
This coming week I am only here on Tuesday.  My student teacher will be teaching reading and science beginning Tuesday.  My substitute while I am gone will be Kate Offner.  As you may remember, I am going to visit my son in Mississippi before he deploys to Afghanistan next month.
We wrapped up our unit on rules and laws.  Now we move into science and the students will be studying animals.  Mrs. Faircloth would like them to bring a shoebox to school in the next week or two for a project.  If you don't have one let us know and we will find one for your child.
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this holiday weekend.  Next Friday there will not be an entry as I will be gone.  We will be right back at it the following week though.  Thanks to all who read my blog.  It is here for you to get information and feel free to comment. 
Mrs. Staker

Friday, Sept. 3, 2010

In math we used ten frames to make 10.  Our reading story was "Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon."  We learned what to do if two people have a problem.

Wednesday, Sept. 1

We started guided reading today.  In math we practiced adding with spinneers.  Addition strategies we used were doubles, near doubles, and counton.  We got over 105 digits on math probes so we had extra reecess!  We had 135 digits correct.