Mrs. Thomas's 'OWL'standing 5th Grade: 4.15.11

Whew, it's here...THE WEEKEND!!! Can you believe that CATS testing is only 5 school days away?!? WOWza...where has the year gone?!? It's exciting to see things approach, but I certainly do not like the thought of my babes moving up to 4th grade and away from me :( I'm soooo proud, though!

We came in to see a brand new Alyssa today as she donated her hair to "Beautiful Lengths". We are so proud of you, Alyssa and you look FANTASTIC!

Before...

after...
Doesn't she look GREAT?!?

Unfortunately, today was our Dunbar student's last day :( Margaret Henderson, Kenneth's sister, has been here assisting and interning with our class since February and has been absolutely FANTASTIC. To say she is wonderful, is the understatement of the century!!! We are so very sad to see her go, but we look forward to seeing countless incredible successes to happen with her in the future!

PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE don't leave us...

READING:
Students turned in their spelling packets and took their tests per usual. Upon completion, we peer scored our "cause & effect" ORQs from yesterday and then it was time to go! Fridays go by soooo fast since we're only in reading class for an hour.
HOMEWORK: none.

Eva showing her reward for filling up her stars for her goal on her "Earn & Reward" card...writing in ink pen for an entire day!

Alyssa has already earned her second reward: today she was my desk buddy!

a.m. activities:

our birthday boy!

Since it is our first year taking the KCCT assessment, we took a review assessment and practiced with a testing environment. Students got a feel for how the procedure of testing time goes by me constantly walking around, and them not allowed to get up or move from their seats for any reason.

MATH:

We reviewed our homework from last night and students did a great job. We just need to remember, though, that we must read ALL directions as some problems said to measure to the nearest half-inch, while others said to simply estimate a length or distance. Since we measured the hallway yesterday, today we learned about perimeter and found the perimeter of the cafeteria in the same process of finding the length of the hallway. We learned that perimeter means RIM or around the outside.

HOMEWORK: none.

DUNK!

PM activities:
atfer lunch bunch, we were able to have a wellness walk outside and then came inside to enjoy cupcakes for Peyton's birthday.
Next, we had book buddies with Mrs. Hubers's Kindergarteners which is always such a wonderful time!

Ahmad and his buddy

Tabitha and her buddy

Sweet Elise and her buddy

Oliver reading to TJ and their buddy

Griffey and his buddy

Micah and her buddy, Isa (Eva's sister!)

Daniel and his buddy

Cayden, Peyton, and their buddy

Alyssa reading to her buddy

TJ's turn to read!

Aiden and his buddy

Eva and her buddy

Have a fun-filled weekend and stay dry! Happy Birthday to you on Sunday, Mr. Peyton! We LOVE you!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Micah, Caroline, and Skyla just celebrated their birthdays too (as well and Cameron on the same day as Caroline)!
We have A LOT of April birthdays!!!

PS, BE SURE to check out the letter I sent home today in planners about breakfast, snacks, and treats during our testing window! It is extremely important that students are at school EVERY day and ON TIME during this testing window (April 25th - 29th, the next week: May 2nd - 6th, and the following week through May 10th to complete the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills). Proper rest and nutrition is also strongly encouraged as a healthy rested body means a healthy and prepared mind! The letter I sent home breaks down the testing schedule for your awareness, but on the back is where I need help from parents!

The back is a place to sign up to send in breakfast/ snacks/ treats during the window. Ideally, we'll have one of each for every single day we test. It CAN be done because my students last year were able to have all three EVERY day of testing... AND... since you parents are SO fantastic, I believe it'll be that way again this year...especially with how supportive everyone is!
Like I mentioned, adequate focus begins with a proper and nutritious breakfast. With this in mind, I would like to get together a schedule or a list of donation capabilities (or you can simply send things in) for our students as they begin to demonstrate their vast intelligences. This will continue to encourage them and left them know that we believe in them and are behind them all the way!

Here are some ideas of what to send in...

(we have 26 students)

BREAKFAST:

muffins, power/cereal bars, individual cereal portions, donut sticks, fruit trays, bananas, apples, Pop-Tarts, granola and/ or fruit bars, bagels, juice pouches, individual yogurts, etc.

SNACKS:

(with testing being so jam-packed into the two weeks, our students will certainly be exercising their minds and working their fingers diligently! All that work is sure to leave them famished, so I was hoping we could collect snacks to give them at the halfway point of each day. These can give them an added boost and pump them up!).

individually wrapped bags of chips, pretzels, or popcorn

crackers

100 calorie packs

goldfish

apples/ bananas/ fruit portions

yogurts

veggies and dip

fruit/ granola/ power bards

trail mix

CHEX MIX

TREATS:

(after allllll their hardwork and focus, I believe the students need to have a treat for their efforts. Thus, every afternoon, I would like to have a treat to celebrate the day/s work as a way of encouraging the students, and reiterating once again that we are behind them and fully believe in their outstanding capabilities and potential for success!).

freezer pops (need not be frozen)

popsicles

popcorn

cupcakes

individual ice cream cups

ice cream sandwiches

Drumstick ice cream cones

fruit pizza

soft drinks

candy bars

cotton candy

sno-cones