Bob's Adventures with Kiyah

Hi! I'm Kiyah I had Bob last weekend...

We went to Louisville to see my uncle and we also went to a water park!  It was so much fun and Bob had a blast!

Saturday, we went and took a long drive to Winchester (where Mrs. Thomas grew up!) and stayed until three o'clock.  Then, we went to the drive-in! We ate yummy popcorn and watched a movie - it was scary! Then, we went home and went to bed.

Sunday, we went to the mall and Bob went with my sisters to play as I went to look for a shirt to come and
get later.  I tell you, Bob is the best friend you could ever have!!

xoxo,
Kiyah

8.30.11

Happy Terrific Tuesday all!  I hope this day finds you well and wonderful! Today, we've REEEAAAALLLLY had to work on our talking...it's been BEYOND excessive and WILL NOT be tolerated.  It seems as soon as a teacher closes her mouth, we think we should open ours and it's gotten us into many reteaches and redirections. 

WRITING:
We continued working on verbs which are action words.  To begin, we watched the "SchoolHouse Rock" video from yesterday.  Next, we highlighted the words of the song that were verbs.
HOMEWORK: "Action Verbs" worksheet

READING:
As I mentioned yesterday, we are studying the concept of 'Theme' (the overall concept or topic the story is about).  Our story we have been reading this week is entitled, Maria Isabel and we have discovered that the theme is acceptance and friendship.
HOMEWORK: none - BUT...continue to STUDY, STUDY, STUDY those VOCABULARY words AND their definitions!!!

SCIENCE:
Students got to observe and discuss edible plants with Ms. Frederick...so cool!
HOMEWORK: none

MATH:
We began working on comparing and ordering numbers.  I then paper clipped one single digit number to each student and then called up 4 - 8 at a time to create a long number out of themselves according to a rule I gave them (the highest ODD number, the smallest EVEN number, etc.), and then students in the audience had to say the number created and justify if the number followed the rules or not.  I then allowed some groups to create their own number rules and students had to guess the rule.
HOMEWORK: complete WORKBOOK pages 5, 6, 7, and 8.  **Some students may have finished some or most of this in class, but please check over work at home as well to ensure completion and accuracy!

Have a wonderful night and dream dreams of non-talkative school days!  :)
I love you greatly!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

8.29.11

it's the LAST Monday of August...ahhhhhh!!!!  Where did the time go?!?  It is so very, very hard to believe that September is upon us...Thursday, actually!  We have already had quite a busy day getting into the swing of things! 

This week will be the students' first VOCABULARY test which will take place on FRIDAY, September 2nd.  Each night, the students will not only need to know the spelling of these vocabulary words (written in their reading response journals), but will also need to know what they mean and the context in which the words can be used.  It is NEVER too early to begin studying!  This week, they only have 5 words so they can get in the habit of our vocabulary process, but they also have 5 WOW! Words which are bonus words.  They do not need to know the definitions of these, only their spelling and they MUST be attempted on the assessment.  These words CANNOT and WILL NEVER be counted against the student's grade, but can only help in raising the student's grade.  We've had a lot of fun adding words to this list!

This week's VOCABULARY words are:

misunderstanding

troublesome

nervously

revolved

attentively

WOW! Words (BONUS!)

rededication

satisfied

adventurous

comprehension

benevolent

Our activities for the day...
WRITING:
Today, we continued our study of parts of speech, but our topic of focus for this morning was verbs which are action words...or words that you can DO.  We watched the "SchoolHouse Rock: Verbs" video and then created sentences with our success partners, circling action words.
HOMEWORK: none (we finished it in class!)

READING:
We are FINALLY ready to begin rotating with reading groups!  Mondays are our days for whole group instruction where we read our week's story and discuss the concepts at hand.  This week, we are studying THEME which is the overall message apparent throughout a story.  The message of our story, Maria Isabel, is teamwork, friendship, and acceptance of others.  To emphasize acceptance of others and working together to accomplish one main goal, we watched a segment of the movie, Remember the Titans where the football players are warming up and give an awesome chant.  It is so powerful seeing them unified as one whole team, even though they're all different.  It is obvious they are finally accepting of each other and everyone on their team and their individual contributions to the whole.  You can watch this segment by clicking HERE. 
HOMEWORK: study VOCABULARY words (see above for further details)

SCIENCE:
Students learned about the structures of plants and their functions.  The four main structures of a plant are: the roots, the stem, the leaves, and the actual flower itself.
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
Students got to make their own place-value video today!  Well, actually, it was creating motions to go with THIS SONG.
HOMEWORK: none

I hope you have a magnificent Monday evening!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas



8.26.11

Happy Friday, my people!!  I hope you've had an awesome week!  I sure have with all of our fabulous friends! 

WRITING:
We searched for examples of nouns and pronouns in various magazines and pasted them onto a t-chart.
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
We began learning how to write a 'Model 4' ORQ with a story about "three statues" and meaningful life lessons.
HOMEWORK: none

SCIENCE:
Students had game day and review with Ms. Frederick.
HOMEWORK: none

PM activities:
This afternoon, we made cards for our dear friend, Adonis who was injured at football practice last night.  Please keep him and his loved ones in your thoughts this weekend as he is in a lot of pain.

Have a tremendous weekend!  I can't wait to see you Monday!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Bob's Adventures with Tyler

I had a fun time with Bob for the past four days. Bob went to the farm with me, he has been on our swingset, and he has also been to school everyday with me too. He has learned Math, Science, and Reading and has also been to the library and the writing lab too!  Every morning when he woke up, he played on my swing set! I think the next person that will have him will have fun with him. I was happy to be the first one to take Bob home. Bob is fun to play with and I hope you will enjoy him too!

good old sunny days

Today will be sunny and tommorow also 0% chances of rain high with  85. Tommorow high with 84 no rain either this morning is 64 tonight in the 62 no chance of rain .So go outside as much as you can have a great weekand see you monday.

8.24.11

The week is now halfway over, friends!  We had a busy day today and we're getting into the swing of things!

WRITING:
We worked on "pronouns" which take place of a noun.  These make sentences sound better.  For example: instead of saying, "Jack rode Jack's tractor," the sentence would be, "Jack rode HIS tractor".  To practice this, we used our lyrics from the "SchoolHouse Rock" nouns song and circled the pronouns. 
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
Today was our day to practice being in a small guided group with Mrs. Thomas as part of our reading rotations.  To practice this, we completed a graphic organizer on character traits and feelings.
HOMEWORK: none

SCIENCE:

MATH:
we worked on place-value!  Students practiced creating numbers with place-value pieces, and then saying numbers up to billions.  They are doing a sensational job!
HOMEWORK: none

PM EXTRAS:
Because of our AWESOME reports from this afternoon, we got to have some reading time outside this afternoon.  Here are some pictures of our activity!

Bob enjoyed the extra reading time too!

Have a wonderful Wednesday evening!  Thank YOU for being YOU!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Tori's Weather Update - 8.24.11

Today will be in the 90s, 30% chance of rain so stay inside. Tonight will be 71 degrees with a 40% chance weekand of rain... And be safe on the roads!

8.23.11

Happy TUESDAY Friends!!!  I hope your week has started out tremendously!  We've been working super hard in room 105!

WRITING:
We continued our study of NOUNS.  We rewatched the "SchoolHouse Rock" video about nouns and then highlighted the actualy lyrics of the song that were nouns too.  Watch it at home here. (<--click there!).
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
We continued our learning of literary elements (elements of fiction) AND working on expectations for reading groups and rotations.  We watched a video from Good Morning America about the Iditarod (click on Iditarod to watch it again!), and TWO videos from http://www.brainpopjr.com/ about setting and plot.  Next, we completed our graphic organizers that we began yesterday.
HOMEWORK: none

SCIENCE:
Students got to go on a scavenger hunt outside with Ms. Frederick to look for examples of living, non-living, and once-living objects/ organisms.  They had a GREAT time and Tori found the most...22!!
HOMEWORK: complete classification packet sent home in 'Take-Home' folders.

MATH:
We watched a place value video to preview a project we'll be working on tomorrow AND to get a cool and fun song in our minds to help us with place value!  Next, we discussed the revelance of place-value and how meaningful numbers truly are!  Then, we figured out that there are 12 zeros in ONE TRILLION!  Ahhh!!!  That's A LOT of cheeeeeese! Lastly, we worked on page 4 of our textbook to reinforce the skills of focus.
HOMEWORK: none - textbook pages are ALWAYS done in class unless otherwise noted.

I hope you have a terrific Tuesday!  See you tomorrow!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Victoria's Weather Forecast:

Hey guys, it's Tori!  When you were on your way to school, it was only 56 degrees, but today will be mostly sunny with the high of 86 degrees, with a low of 64...and a little foggy too!
We'll have a nice day outside! And lets be good for Mrs. Thomas, in gym class, and everywhere you go in the school be good!

8.22.11

Hello friends and Happy Monday!  I hope you've had a GREAT start to your week!  We got to start CONTENT today...meaning, we learned from each of the core subjects: Reading, Writing, Math, and Science.  Today, we also welcomed a new friend: the very beautiful Miss Emilee!  She comes to us from Stonewall Elementary and we are so very excited she is here!

WRITING:
We are learning about parts of speech.  Today, we reviewed NOUNS.  We watched a "SchoolHouse Rock" video about nouns and reviewed that they describe a person, place, or thing. 
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
It will take several weeks to learn all of the processes and roles of our reading groups, schedule, and reading rotations.  Today, we learned about what "Guided Reading" will look like and began studying the concept of Literary Elements present in a fictional story starting with characters and setting by reading the story, Akiak from our reading textbook.  Akiak is a story about a determined and courageous dog who never gave up and led her team to victory in the Iditarod race held annually in Alaska.  Students completed a graphic organizer by filling in descriptions of the characters and setting.
HOMEWORK: none.

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick came and started talking with the students about classifying organisms and the meaning of the word, "classify".
HOMEWORK: none 

MATH:
We are learning about PLACE VALUE!  All numbers can be and should be classified and identified according to place-value.  Due to excessive talking, we DO HAVE HOMEWORK (see below)
HOMEWORK: WORKBOOK pages 1 AND 2.

I hope you have an excellent evening with your loved ones.  I sure love you!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

PS, Have you turned in your money for your planner or a note saying you need the fee waived?!? 

8.18.11

Happy Thursday Friends!  I hope you've had a thrilling day and are excited about the long weekend away from school.

Today, we had a very fun day because we got to get into groups and practice reading type projects.  We had several very creative groups and all were awesome to watch!  Stay tuned for pictures and videos to come!

This afternoon, everyone presented their "Me Bags" and it was so magnificent getting a look into what matters most to the students in our class...I really feel like I know so much more about EVERYONE!  Yay!!!

I hope you have a GREAT 3-day weekend...don't miss me too much...haha!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

PS, Remember- MONDAY, we start learning REAL 4th grade content as we dive into our subjects!  I can't wait to get the ball rolling on our studies!!

8.17.11

Helllllo all!!!  Welcome to our very first official blog update of this schoolyear!  I hope you can utitlize this site for all your school questions and information needs!  From now on, I will be updating the blog daily to keep you informed of our classroom happenings!  As we begin our 'normal' schedule with all the content areas, you will see more detailed and specific posts catered to the individual subject's information.  For today and tomorrow, I will just give you a brief overview of our day.

Today we...
took the "End-of-the-year 3rd grade Math in Focus" assessment so I can get a clear picture of what your student and I need to work on in order to achieve success this year.  This really gave me a glimpse into the skills that your student mastered last year and what we will need to focus upon in our journey through 4th grade.  This took most of our morning and I was super impressed with the students' diligence to complete the task at hand!

practiced our expectations in the event of a substitute.  The students and I were able to make a chart of reminders for helping a substitute and reviewed expectations for behavior and work completion.  This afternoon, we were able to have a pretend substitute (Mrs. Campbell from 5th grade) come and work with us so we could demonstrate what we know about these expectations.  Unfortunately, we did have a couple of things to work on and a few reteaches, so we will be repracticing these things tomorrow. 

I'm CcRrAaZzYy about alllllll you already!  I'm so glad you're in my class!
I love you!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

REMINDERS:

**ALL paperwork needs to be returned ASAP!

**Please, please, PLEASE send in money ($3) for your PLANNERS!  If you are unable to purchase one, please let me know asap so I can send one home.  It is IMPERATIVE that each child has a planner.

**I sent home a large packet today containing information about myself, our homework policy, snack policy, behavior expectations, and procedures and the coinciding expectations.  Please review this with your student and then return the last page to me on or before Friday- August 26th, 2011