11.30.11

Hello all and happy last day of November!  Tomorrow is DECEMBER and well, only 31 days left in 2011....ahhhh!!!

WRITING:
We are working on CONTEXT CLUES which is finding the meaning of a word in a passage by reading the clues found in the sentence in which it is used.  We watched a fun video/ song that you can view HERE to get us excited about our skill of focus. The students are doing terrific with this concept!  We completed two practice pages in class and they have another for homework if it was not finished in Word Work.
HOMEWORK: Complete practice page with Exercises 2, 3, and 4.

READING:
To practice with main idea, we read a passage about "Log Cabins" and discussed topic sentences of passages and paragraphs and how they can clue us into identifying the main idea of a nonfiction passage.  Students also got to get into groups and continue with practicing this skill of focus. 
HOMEWORK: complete "Main Idea" worksheet and rest of word practice for Exercises 2, 3, and 4.

SCIENCE:
Students again got to work with different types of soil and discover their properties.
HOMEWORK: none

MATH:
We really got cookin' with division today in MATH!  We learned how to divide by 1, 10, and 100!
HOMEWORK: none so far, but we're mooooovin' right along!

Have a wonderful Wednesday and remember that I love you greatly!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Christmas is 25 days away!
Our Winter Break begins after 12 more school days!

Kwanzaa is 26 days from today

Hanukkah begins in 20 days



New Years Eve is 31 days from today!

11.29.11

I am so sorry to be getting this up so very late!  The staff has meetings after school on Tuesdays and then I was swamped...ahhh!!!  I always want it to be my top priority to have continuous communication with you about our life in the classroom and assignments!

WRITING:
Students had orchestra today so we will pick up where we left off with writing and studying context clues tomorrow!
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
We finished reading our story about the Titanic and I love to see the students' interest in this topic...I have to admit, it is one of my most favorite as it is so intriguing!  We used this story as a means of nonfiction to teach the skill of finding the Main Idea.  Students were able to get into reading groups and go through Literature Circles, AND work on WORD WORK, and complete an assignment entitled, "A Handy Idea" where they read an article from Scholastic News and identified its main idea and details to support it.  We will continue with this concept tomorrow!
HOMEWORK: guess who forgot to pass out Wordly Wise Exercise 2 today?  Yup, that's me :) 
I'll allow them group time tomorrow to complete it to make up for my "ditzyness"...or is it "pregnancy brain"??  ALSO, students MUST have their group's chapter book FINISHED BY THIS FRIDAY!

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick had the students doing such a fun experiment by exploring with different types of soil!  I came back in our room to grab something and I was so jealous because it looked awesome!
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
We got to do a SUPER fun lesson with Mrs. Butler's class...so take that!  tee-hee, I'm just kidding on my competitiveness (or am I?!?)...but we DID go to Mrs. Butler's room to do an exploratory introductory lesson on division using the book, The Doorbell Rang and chocolate chip cookies. 
HOMEWORK: none tonight, but like I've said a million and half times before, working on multiplication facts is NEVER a bad idea!!!

Have a super LAST Tuesday of November 2011!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

11.28.11

Welcome Back, friends!  I sure hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and time off from work and/ or school!

WRITING:
This week, we are focusing upon using context clues to discover the meanings of words in passages and texts that we may not know.  Context means the way in which the word is used, and clues are hints that a sentence may give us to the meaning of a words. 
HOMEWORK: completed in class - Ms. Frederick's reading class has the Context Clues Worksheet, but only her reading class.

READING:
We are focusing upon one of my very most favorite concepts: MAIN IDEA.  The main idea is what the text is mostly about.  We find main idea in works of nonfiction and our story for the week is one about the Titanic.  In Ms. Frederick's class, students completed the same lesson, but have different homework, which is: "Using Context Clues" worksheet and a "MAIN IDEA" Independent Practice worksheet.
HOMEWORK: Vocabulary words were passed out and the TESTS are Friday, per usual.  TONIGHT: Complete ONE activity from "Tic-tac-toe" and Exercise 1 worksheet.

Our WOW! Words this week are:

conscientious

pessimistic

optimistic

acknowledgment

definitely

PS, Did you know that you can view this week's Wordly Wise (Lesson 4) vocabulary words on this website AND play games while practicing with words?!?  It's most DEFINITELY (see that WOW! Word in use?!?) worth a 'look-see'!!!

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick worked with the students on creating an organizer for building minerals and soil types.
HOMEWORK: reading passage

MATH:
We reviewed multiplication by playing our game show.  Ashley was our big winner, chicken dinner!  Way to go!  She and Warren tied until we had a sudden death round where I gave them a 5-digit by 2-digit problem to complete and Ashley got it right for an extra 80 points!  Woooo Hooo!!!  Tomorrow, we start...DIVISION!!!!  YAAAAAAY!!!
HOMEWORK: none tonight, but be ready for LOTS of division practice to come here soon!

Have a magnificent Monday and I'll see you tomorrow!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

ANNOUNCEMENT:

 Snacks will NO LONGER be allowed for students in MY homeroom.  There was an incident that has led us to these consequences.

Christmas is 27 days from today!
(Winter Break is only 14 school days away!)

Hanukkah begins 22 days from today

Kwanzaa begins 28 days from today!

New Years Eve is 33 days from today...YOWZA!

11.22.11

YAAAAAAY...
Thanksgiving BREAK is HERE!!!  I know I say this A LOT, but I cannot believe how quickly this year is passing by...eeeeeek!!  I want you to know that I feel so blessed and am so thankful that each of you are in my lives!  You make my days brighter and work not seem like work at all. 

I have heard this thankful poem before, but recently I found it online and I love how it illustrates to be thankful for even the seeming annoyances in our lives.  We are blessed beyond what we generally realize and are so lucky to be citizens of this nation.  Here is the "I AM THANKFUL" piece (I modified it some to fit me...does it make sense to you?!?):

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE STUDENT
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING HIS/HER WORK
BECAUSE THAT MEANS HE/SHE IS AT SCHOOL LEARNING
AND NOT OUT OF CLASS, MISSING OUT

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE TAXES
THAT I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I AM EMPLOYED.I AM THANKFUL FOR THE MESS
TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE CLOTHES
THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT AND I HAVE A HEALTHY BABY GROWING INSIDE ME

I AM THANKFUL FOR MY SHADOW
THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE.

I AM THANKFUL FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING,
BECAUSE IT MEANSI HAVE A HOME.

I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND THAT I HAVE BEEN
BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.
I AM THANKFUL FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE STUDENTS
IN OUR CLASSROOM
THAT COMPLAIN OR WHINE
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I CAN HEAR.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE PILE
OF LAUNDRY AND IRONINGBECAUSE IT MEANSI HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

I AM THANKFUL FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

AND...
I AM THANKFUL FOR THE ALARM
THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANSTHAT I AM ALIVE.

READING:
We worked on some more poetry!  The students were able to receive silly poems and then recite them with their groups and share with the class...it was A LOT of fun!

After sharing our silly poems, I shared the meaningful piece above and talked with the students about being grateful for every art of our lives...even the annoying things, because there can be a silver lining in so many things that we do not realize at first.  The students then created their own lists of things that typically annoy them and found reasons to be thankful.  It was so enlightening and a truly rewarding experience!

Next, students finished their "6-Room Poems" from yesterday and worked on a shape poem having to do with fall, Thanksgiving, or being thankful.
HOMEWORK: BE THANKFUL for EVERYTHING!

P.S. Did you know you can visit the Wordly Wise website to find word lists, interactive tools, and games for each of our spelling words and word lists?!?  It's way fun!  Click HERE to preview your words for next week!

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick had the students exploring with minerals and discovering our many uses with them.  They are also looking at what rocks are formed from what minerals. 
HOMEWORK: help Momma/ Granny/ Daddy/ Grandaddy/ Aunt/ Uncle/ Cousin/ Friend with the recipes and cooking!!!
 
Then, give them a HUGE hug and tell them you are SO SO SOOOOOO thankful for them!

ALSO....NEW INFO ABOUT SCIENCE FAIR! 

This year, Science Fair is MANDATORY for ALL 4th graders!  New information was sent home with students today from Mrs. Edwards in a manilla folder.  Please review these folders with your student over break and decide on a project.  It MUST be an experiment and NO models will be accepted (meaning, NO fossils, NO volcanoes, etc.).  To make it easier, Mrs. Edwards has broken the project down into chunks that have assignment dates.  The first part of this project and the first assignment is due BY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH (NO later!) which is turning in the Contract Sign Sheet and Project Proposals.   
I found a BUNCH of websites that list TONS and TONS of ideas for Science Fair projects, so if you are stuck...try clicking, HERE...

or HERE...

or HERE...

or HERE...

or HERE...

or HERE...

or HERE...

For more sites, just "GOOGLE" Science Fair Project Ideas, or for additional information, please email Mrs. Edwards at: becky.edwards@fayette.kyschools.us

MATH:
Students got to work on FUN Thanksgiving themed multiplication math!  I love things like that!
HOMEWORK: none - but PLEASE practice those math facts if you're on the road or just "hanging out" after your HUGE feast!  We have GOT to get more fluent in our multiplication facts!

ALSO, please tell someone MULTIPLE ways or reasons you are thankful for them!

additional PM activities:
Students watched a video on minerals and then we enjoyed our ten EXTRA minutes of recess for WINNING the Banner contest from "Buddies NOT Bullies" week, last week at school!
FINALLY, Students worked on created a turkey with feathers stating

I hope you have a tremendous Thanksgiving with your friends, family, and loved ones!  I can't wait to see you on Monday and I'll sure miss you!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!  I am thankful for YOU!!!

11.21.11

Happy Monday, everyone!  We have had a wonderful day, but there isn't much to report on homework responsibilities..

In READING/ WRITING, we are working on writing a 6-room poem (the rooms being the stanzas) and the students are doing a beautiful job using descriptive details to describe something found outside in nature.

In MATH, we took an assessment over multiplication thus far and the students did WONDERFULLY!!!  Most got a 100% or only missed one...but the good news is...is that the majority of our class scored a 100%!!!!  WOWZA!!!!  You make your dear ol' math teach proud, folks!

Ms. Frederick is working with the students on Rocks and Minerals in SCIENCE.

Since we have a short week and are giving THANKS...we thought we'd give thanks to our students by not assigning any homework!  YAY!  We love you!

Have a wonderful night!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is THREE days from today!
...AND...tomorrow is our LAST day of school before a 5 day break!

11.18.11

Happy Friday, friends!!!!  Whew, what a week...huh?!?  Well, guess what?!?  WE WON THE POSTER CONTEST FOR "Buddies, not Bullies" week!!!!!!!!!!!  Such exciting news!!!  I must say, it WAS quite creative and it did look WAY awesome!  Special thanks to Tori, Tyler, and Lawrence for staying after school yesterday to finish putting it together and adding the final touches!  We each got: our own bag of "Mike and Ike" candies, our own bag of chips, and an extra 10 minutes of recess for winning!  YAY! 

Here is OUR winning banner:

This now hangs up by the front office!  YAY for us!

onto our activities for today:

READING:
We took our Spelling tests and then an assessment over our skill of comparing and contrasting.
HOMEWORK: since you completed a role sheet for reading groups last night...there is NO HOMEWORK this weekend!!!  YAY!

BUDDY MEETING:
We had our fifth of 5 in a series of class meetings about Bully prevention, being a buddy not a bully or bystander, and standing up to others.

PM activities:
We completed an actiuvity about what we're thankful for and then students who earned "buddy passes" for this week got to go to an ice cream social in the cafeteria! 
HOMEWORK FOR TODAY: NONE!

Have a tremendous weekend!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is only 6 DAYS from TODAY!
ONLY 2 more school days until break!!

11.17.11

Happy last Thursday of school in November, everyone!  Yes, THIS is our LAST Thursday in November...the 17th!  Crazy, huh?!?  And then, only THREE weeks until Winter Break!  Wowza!

I enjoyed seeing everyone today in their boots as we showed pride to "stomp out bullies"! 

Hayden's boots were THE most fun and FABULOUS of the day!!!  I want some for myself!

some of the boots from today :)

WRITING:
Students had orchestra AND Book Fair this morning, so writing was incorporated into centers activities today.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
Students watched the story, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, which is an adaptation of Cinderella from African culture.  We have watched a synopsis of the version that is familiar to most Americans (Disney), and the German shortened version too.  They have also read a version in their reading texts, entitled, "Cendrillon." After watching the video, students compared and contrasted two versions from our studies to practice our skill of focus. 
HOMEWORK: Read assigned pages from book (the most any group has is 7 to 12 pages) and complete half of role sheet (since it is such a short reading assignment).
ALSO: Study, study, STUDY for spelling and vocabulary tests tomorrow!

SCIENCE:
Students got to go outside for an activity with Ms. Frederick!
HOMEWORK: none.

PM activities:
Students completed workbook pages 46 - 48 for math to practice multiplication.
THEN, we worked on our poster for "Buddies, not Bullies" week.  Wait for pictures to come tomorrow...it turned out GREAT!  I hope we win, but I'm just proud of us working together for a good cause!
HOMEWORK: none.

I hope you have a THRILLING Thursday!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is ONE week from Today!
3 more school days until break!!!

11.16.11

Happy Wednesday, folks!  I hope I find you dry and warm on this fall day!  This morning, we had our third class meeting in conjunction with bullying week.  Students are learning about what bullying is, how to deal with it, and how to be a buddy, not a bully or bystander.

It was so fantastic seeing all the grandparents here today!  Thank you so much for coming, we absolutely loved having you here...what a special day!

AND, what a GREAT win by our C-A-T-S CATS last night over Kansas!  I must admit, I was not too happy with our game in the first half, but we pulled it together in the second half and showed the world WHY people consider UK to be so great!  I think games like this can show spectators (especially our students), that persistence pays off...we shouldn't give up when the going gets tough.

WRITING:
We are working on Greek and Latin affixes.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
We were able to get into groups and go through our reading rotations.  Groups are working on their projects within these rotations and Groups D and B learned about taking weekly Fluency Assessments.
HOMEWORK: none, unless you are in GROUPS D or B where you have your Fluency Folder to do a fluency assessment at home.  These students are: Henry, Lawrence, Tavis, Jeremy, Jual, Emilee, Hayden, and Blake.

SCIENCE:
Students took their assessment over Earth's movements and how they impact our daily lives.
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
We finished our Game Show from yesterday and declared a winner...
We then worked on some more multi-digit multiplication and began learning about the partial-products method.
HOMEWORK: none, but please go through multiplication tables a few times...some are still struggling on very basic facts.

Have a wonderful Wednesday evening!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is only 8 days away...that's only ONE WEEK from tomorrow!
4 more school days until break!

11.15.11

Happy Tuesday Gents and Judies!  I hope you've been able to stay dry on this wet day!

WRITING:
We incoporated our writing lesson into centers today because the majority of the students were gone to orchestra.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
We spent the first part of reading going to the BOOK FAIR in the Library!  Students got the opportunity to browse items and create a wishlist of things that piqued their interests.  We will be going again as a class on Thursday, but students may bring in money to go any day.
In reading, we went through our reading rotation centers!  YAY!  I love it when students are able to go through their groups and interact with their peers!
HOMEWORK: Complete VOCABULARY worksheet with Exercises 2&3.  Students DO NOT need to complete a role sheet unless I told them otherwise.  We had a few friends from each group NOT do their role sheet, so they will be doing all the roles for the other people in their group. 

ON A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT READING:

We had a little "mini" pizza party with each student that brought back BOTH vocabulary assignments from last night.  That was students ONLY homework in reading and several only completed one or the other, but many did not complete both.  Thus, I felt it necessary to reward the students who completed all their assignments and met expectations, so I ordered them pizza from Domino's!  Yummmmmmo, it was DELICIOUS!

SCIENCE:
Students played a Jeopardy game to review for the Science test TOMORROW!
HOMEWORK: STUDY, STUDY, STUDY SCIENCE JOURNALS AND NOTES!!!

MATH:
We reviewed homework from last night because students still needed some extra practice with multi-digit multiplication using the standard algorithm.  Then, we played our multiplication game show for additional practice...these kiddos are so smart!  I love getting to challenge them and enrich their mathematical capabilities!  I am just so in love with them!
HOMEWORK: none tonight - prepare for your SCIENCE test!!!

Have a terrific Tuesday evening!
I can't wait to see these beautiful faces that make my heart smile tomorrow!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is only 9 days away!!  Gobble Gobble!
(and one week from today, our break begins after school...whoooo whooo!)

11.14.11

Happy Monday, everyone!!  This is our last full week of school for November...crazy, right?!?  It really is mind-bloggling to think that this year is almost halfway over!

WRITING:
We are studying Latin and Greek affixes and how they have helped to cultivate much of our language.  We are learning that English is a "living language", meaning words are constantly being added to our vocabulary and words can change or are influenced by other cultures and their coinciding languages. 
HOMEWORK: I forgot to pass it out...whoops!  So, NONE!

READING:
Again this week, we are working with Mythology to teach the skill of comparing and contrasting.  Today, we completed a top-hat organizer to compare and contrast a Greek myth to a Roman myth.  These are now hanging in our hallway display :)
HOMEWORK: NEW word lists were passed out, so Exercise 1 is due by tomorrow as well as one activity of choice from the "Think-tac-toe" activity sheet.  Vocab. spelling and definitions tests are on Friday, per usual.

our WOW! Words this week (11.14.11 - 11.18.11) are:

revolutionary

metamorphosis

audacity

atrocious

extraordinarily

SCIENCE:
We did not have Science with Ms. Frederick today because 4H came!

MATH:
We are currently working on multi-digit multiplication so we worked on the lattice method, standard algorithm, and the partial-products method today which is new to our tool bag.
HOMEWORK: Complete "Multiplying by 2-digits" worksheet (FRONT ONLY!).  There are 20 problems, you must use the Standard Algorithm for 10, and the Lattice Method for 10.  SHOW YOUR WORK on the separate sheet of notebook paper that was passed out with the worksheet!!!!

Have a Magnificent Monday evening with your loved ones!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is 10 days from today!
(and guess what?!?  ONLY 6 school days until Thanksgiving Break!)

11.10.11

Hello all and Happy Friday eve!!!  Third grade and Second grade went on field trips today which meant our entire day was all whacky.  Everyone did great with being flexible and I am thankful for our kiddos!

WRITING:
We are continuing to study how prefixes and suffixes (affixes) can change the meaning of a root word.
HOMEWORK: none, but quiz over them TOMORROW!

READING:
We worked on comparing and contrasting a Roman myth to a Greek myth AND on making connections between the gods and goddesses.  The students are LOVING this concept and I am loving that they are loving it so much!

Yet again, we had students STILL not finish their role sheets for their groupwork so we were unable to have reading groups!  Ahhh!  I certainly hate to get frustrated, but this is frustrating!  My reading babies are so smart and I know you are capable of excellence!  I love you all dearly and I also love your awesome work that you can do!  Those of you who still need to finish them, this is your very last chance...kapeesh?? 
HOMEWORK: Complete the CROSSWORD puzzle sheet to help you practice with the definitions of your vocab words because...

you have a VOCABULARY test tomorrow, AND a spelling test.  PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE make sure to not only study the spelling of the words, but knowing the context in which they are used so we can ace our vocab (definitions) quizzes too!  I predict I'll have to give out LOTS of homework passes for this test because you all are soooo awesome!!

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick is continuing to work with our class on seasons!
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
We practiced again with the Lattice Method for Multiplication and do you know what?!?  These kiddos are multiplying 3-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers ALL BY THEMSELVES!  Wowza!
HOMEWORK: visit some multiplication websites shown in my list below to practice, practice, practice!

I'll see you tomorrow, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready for our awesome Friday!  I love Fridays with you!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is ONLY TWO WEEKS from TODAY!!!
YAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAY!

11.9.11

Welcome back, everyone after a nice day off!  Can you believe we only have 2 weeks until Thanksgiving?!?  Yikes!  Or should I say, "gobble, gobble!"?!!?

WRITING:
In class, we played a game with our success partners where we added prefixes or suffixes to a word to see how they changed the meaning of a word.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
We read two different versions (one Greek, one Roman) of the same story about Ceres and Porsephina (Roman) or Demeter and Persephone.  It is believed by the Romans and Greeks that this story is the reason for our seasons here on earth.  Since our skills this week is focusing on comparing and contrasting, we did just that with the two stories.
HOMEWORK: Exercise 4 for our Vocab words.
**ALSO, we had MANY, MANY students NOT complete their role sheets for their Literature Circles.  With the idea of taking responsibility for our mistakes in mind, and knowing that after several warnings there would be consequences should we make this mistake, those students who forgot to complete their role sheets must complete one sheet for ALL 6 roles in a group independently.  It is not fair to those in the group who have completed their assignments to not be able to have group because others are not pulling their weight.  Thus, showing that we can be accountable, means we are going to show that we can complete all roles so that this does not happen again...right?!?  

SCIENCE:
Students are working on seasons with Ms. Frederick.
HOMEWORK: reading passage

MATH:
We learned the LATTICE METHOD for Multiplication!!!  YAAAAY!  The students LOVE this method!  We had a GREAT time, so tomorrow, we will be participating in a multiplication GAME SHOW!!!  YESSSS!!!  Thank you for being such AWESOME mathematicians!!!
HOMEWORK; none tonight, BUT be ready for some tomorrow night!

Have an excellent night and remember, tomorrow is a NEW day!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

11.7.11

Sorry I am yet again, a bit tardy for the posting party!  I just cannot get in the rhythm of getting the blog posts done before the end of the day..I have GOT to find the time during the day to do it though, because I feel this is such an important way to communicate with everyone and keep YOU informed of the happenings in and around our days at DSE.

WRITING:
We are reviewing how affixes (prefixes or suffixes) can change the meaning of a root (or base) word.  However, Wednesday, we will begin studying Greek and Latin word derivatives.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
To say the students are enjoying learning about mythology is an understatement...they are absolutely enamored with it and we are having a BLAST!  This week, we will continue using myths, but we are focusing upon the skill of comparing and contrasting.
HOMEWORK: Exercises 1, 2, and 3 for vocabulary words, complete ONE activity from "Think-Tac-Toe" activity bank, AND read designated pages from group's chapter book and complete coinciding role sheet BY WEDNESDAY (no later and absolutely NO exceptions).

SCIENCE:
Students are learning about Earth's rotation on its axis as it orbits around the sun and how that affects our shadows here on Earth and our seasons.
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
We have begun our NEW unit on multi-digit multiplication!!  The students will be learning FOUR methods for multiplying, and then may choose which best suits them.  Monday, we learned how to multiply using "Place-Value" charts or "Base-10" pieces, and also learned the "Standard Algorithm" which is the traditional method for multiplying.
HOMEWORK: none.

I hope you have a terrific Tuesday off, and GO VOTE!

xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

16 days until Thanksgiving!

11.3.11

We had A BLAST at 4H Camp!  Welcome Back everyone!!!  I just feel so invigorated by all of our wonderful experiences at camp and feel even closer to all the students who went.  We: learned about constellations, learned about life during early Kentucky, visted a pond and sifted through dirt and vegetation to find various pond organisms, viewed various birds native to Kentucky from a bird blind, learned about all the importances of bees, dissected owl pellets (owl regurgitation), created candles from beeswax, saw a presentation on reptiles, and then saw a presentation on mammals of Kentucky.  Students also got to enjoy their caramel apples they created during our Fall party and participate in "Sally down the alley" which is a dance tradition at 4H camp...it was A BLAST (to say the least)!

J and I had so much fun coming up with faces to adequately illustrate our feeling about our awesome time at camp!

Back at school today, I thought the kids might be wound up or hyper, but they have been absolutely perfect!  We have had such a fantastic day!  Students also got to hear that many of their predictions were correct: I am having a BABY BOY!!!  Jack Robert Thomas is due on April 23rd, 2012!  Mr. Thomas and I are so thrilled to be welcoming a son and now the kids are quite excited as well!  Only 172 days to go!

Here is Baby Jack sucking his precious little thumb!

Our little "jackrabbit" :)

WRITING:
Writing was a quick review today since the students had orchestra which cuts into that instruction time completely.  We are reviewing suffixes and prefixes.
HOMEWORK: none.

READING:
We are SOOO SOOO SOOOOOOOO excited about our concept of focus which is mythology!  The kids are having an absolute blast and are reeeaaaally enjoying learning about the beliefs of the ancient Grecians.  We had a small increment of time to get to our reading groups, but it was nice hearing the student engaging in conversations about their chapter books, using their literature circle role sheets.
HOMEWORK: please make sure your role sheet is COMPLETED for tomorrow's groups.  Groups are only as strong as their weakest links and not doing your role can reeeaaaally bring down a group.

SCIENCE:
Ms. Frederick did a FUN lesson with us about shadows and how the sun casts shadows on even the moon.  Ask your student about the "Lunar Lollipops"!
HOMEWORK: none.

MATH:
Students worked on completing their math tests and proving how they came up with their answers.  They also completed their reading tests from last Friday and worked on our Greek Gods and Goddesses projects.
HOMEWORK: none.

I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Thanksgiving is 3 WEEKS from TODAY!!!
(that's only 21 days!  YAAAAAY!!!)