1.2.13

WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE!  I hope everyone had an AMAZING break!!!  I know I sure did and it was relaxing and wonderful being home with my tiny Toots and Mr. Thomas too!  Happy New Year to everyone and I'm looking forward to all the great learning we have in store for the second half of this year!

MATH:
Today, we began our unit on geometry by starting with symmetry.  Students are learning about finding lines of symmetry on a two-dimensional shape and recognizing if they are vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or a mixture of 2 or 3 of each.  We had great fun testing it out with paper, and then all the all the letters of the alphabet.  We did have a bit of a downer on all our fun...it seems that hardly anyone (and I do mean hardly ANYONE at all) has been studying their multiplication facts.  Boooooooo!  These facts HAVE TO BE MASTERED.  I told the students that if they are not yet on at least Level D on our timed tests, then we have some further things we must do and a plan of action must be created as THESE. MUST. BE. MEMORIZED.  Please go to this site tonight to practice drills AND take a timed test as well on the paper from today's timed test!  On the website shown, students must complete as many facts as they can within one minute.  It encourages them to go as fast as they can and to be on par with our daily paper timed tests, they must be getting at least 18 problems finished and correct. 
HOMEWORK: GET TIMED TEST SIGNED and retake another.  This is MANDATORY!

READING:
With Mr. Featherston, students are learning about goal setting and making resolutions and how they are for the better of us as individuals and as a whole.  They set academic and personal goals and developed a plan of action for attaining them.  Ask your student (or tell your parent(s) about these and your plan!)!. 
HOMEWORK: Talk about your 2013 goals.  ALSO: reading log or reading group comprehension sheet.

PM ACTIVITIES:
We visited the computer lab (yay!) and students visited the site above, setting goals for themselves for fact completion and working from there.  It was neat seeing them work so fast and utilizie their multiplication skills and knowledge for quick drills!  Please do it at home...it's super fun!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas