Sunday, April 17, 2011

This Week at Garden Springs

April 18 - Monday:
3rd MAP Testing Window Continues (3/7-5/25)

2:45-3:30p: 3rd Grade Lego Club

2:45-3:45p: Performing Arts Club Rehearsal

KCCT Testing (4/18/10-4/29/10)

Some Bunny Special Egg Sales (4/11-4/21)

Kindergarten Registration Window #2 (9am-2pm daily,4/11/11—4/29/11)

April 19 - Tuesday:

April 20 - Wednesday:
7:30-8:00a: K-Kids

PTA Newsletter Distribution

2:45- 4:00pm GOTR 

April 21 - Thursday:
2:45-4:00p: STLP

2:35-3:45p: 4th & 5th  Grade Spanish Club

2:45- 4:00pm GOTR 

5:00-8:00pm: Bulldog Chow Night @ Chick-Fil-A (Turfland Mall)

April 22 - Friday:
Earth Day

“Bunny” Greets Students

2:45-3:45p: Chess Club

Friday, April 15, 2011

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
cookies
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
cookies
candy bars
cotton candy
sno-cones

Thank you for your contribution and willingness to help!  We have the absolute BEST parents ever!!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

4.14.11

Happy Thursday all...what a beautiful day we've been blessed with!  Spring is definitely amongst us :)

READING:
We worked on our assessment for the skill of "cause & effect" and "comparing and contrasting".  The ORQ was about a bully named, Mean Jean and the students had to identify how she changed over time.  Upon completion of the ORQ, students then began working on a cause & effect monster which was really great and helped them to identify some skills in their books that led to other things happening.  I've also enjoyed reading the students' "cause & effect" books.  Pictures of both are listed below:

Cause and Effect books

Cause and Effect books

a Cause & Effect Monster!
HOMEWORK: Complete packets to turn in tomorrow and study words for your spelling test.

MATH:
We reviewed our homework from last night which was workbook pages 111-112.  There were SIX students (yes, SIX...) who did not have their homework today which was very disappointing.  After going over this addition and subtraction of fractions, we moved onto our new unit of measurement.  We learned about customary measurements such as inches, feet, yards, etc., and how to reasonably estimate objects.  A small paperclip is about an inch, whereas our desks are about 2 feet.  From there, we decided to measure the length of the entire hallway up to the office.  How we did it was quite simple: we measured one tile on the floor and realized it was exactly one foot.  With this knowledge, we then walked up the hallway, counting each tile, knowing that it represented one foot in the length of the floor.  We counted 250 tiles so we know that that hallway is about 250 feet long!  I then asked the students if they could figure out how many times we'd have to walk up and down the hallway to equal a mile.  We determined that we'd have to walk up and down the hallway 21 times plus 30 additional feet in order to reach a mile of walking!
HOMEWORK: complete WORKBOOK pages 119-125

PM activities (Science with Mrs. Ingold's class):
We continued our fossil activities from Tuesday.
HOMEWORK: none.

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

P.S., Look at the spring fever in these cuties!

Kennedy and Lily Mc!

craaaazy little cuties :)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

4.12.11

Happy Tuesday everyone...does it feel right saying that with our lousy, rainy day today?!?  I'm just happy we're here to see a new day and I get to be around my favorite people in the entire world!  You kiddos are the sunshine through these clouds!  We've had such a GREAT day today!

READING:
We are spiraling back to some concepts that we touched on a long time ago.  Today, we worked on the skill of "cause & effect" which is looking into why something happens in a story.  For instance, we discussed today what the effects are of this constant rain that we've had for the past 24 hours.  Students listed effects of: flooding, power outages, car accidents, grumpy moods, funny stories, umbrellas inside out, things blown over, wearing rainboots, packing an umbrella, wearing a raincoat, etc.  All of these effects stemmed from the simple cause of incessant rain.
Next, each student received a post-it note and were to get creative in thinking of their own causes and effects.
To model this skill and identify it in passages we read, I read the book, If you Give a pig a Party (a sequel to, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie). The books in these series exemplify the concept of cause and effect because as readers, we can identify all the things that happened because a pig was given a party.
Finally, students got in their reading groups and created their own stories similar to the layout of the Mouse and the cookie or the pig and the party.  These are turning out so incredibly fantastic and we spent the rest of class in a "perm-a-grin" from laughing and enjoying the creativity of our sensational reading class!
HOMEWORK: read next TWO chapters in group's chapter book. 

MATH:
We reviewed two tests that we have recently taken: one over "data analysis and probability" and the other over "fractions".  By going over them, we were able to look at each problem and identify how to solve it and the mistakes or misconceptions we had while completing the test.  I am a firm believer that a good mathematician is able to locate mistakes made in problems and correct them in order to learn.
HOMEWORK: none.



PM activities (SCIENCE with Mrs. Ingold's class):
Mrs. Ingold's class came to me for Science and our class went to Mrs. Ingold for Social Studies. In Science, we continued our study of fossils and what we can learn from them as they are clues to the past.  I had students brainstorm facts about horses and listed them on the board.  The list included things like, fast runners, large in size, eats grass/ hay/ oats (herbivores), have grinding teeth, have long hair, whinnies, etc.
Next, I passed out copies of a horse and stegosaurus skeletons and asked students to now identify which of these facts we would know about the horse if all we had were fossilized bones and teeth.
Students then discussed what we know about fossilied animals, and we interpreted this with facts and guesses.
Next, we put muscles and skin on the dinosaur and discussed how imagination comes into the interpretation of fossils.
Students then joined me in creating a chart about "what we know about dinosaurs" and "what we have to guess", and then what has to happen in order for an animal to fossilize.
HOMEWORK: visit and explore some fossil websites if you have access at home!
Virtual museum of fossils:

Trace fossil mystery:

Dinosaur Dig - FINDING FOSSILS!!!

Observe how FOSSILS can form!

American Museum of Natural History - Paleontology!  (such a COOOOOL site!):

PICK your Science topic:

Have a terrific Tuesday night and remember, YOU are MY sunshine!!!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

P.S. SPRING CARNIVAL is coming up on April 29th and we have nothing for our basket so far!  If you can, please send in items for this basket which is themed, "For the Artist" so we would love to receive things such as: paints, paintbrushes, markers, canvases, oil pastels, crayons, scrapbooking supplies, yarn, sketch paper, sketching pencils, colored pencils, molding clay, etc...!.  Also, Mrs. Weiler will accept monetary donations and you can send them in to me and I will make sure she receives it!

P.P.S. KCCT testing begins April 25th.  It is imperative that students are here on time and well rested for every day that we are testing (it goes through May 13th) and any appointments that are scheduled during that time be rescheduled until a later date or in the afternoons.  I appreciate all of your hardwork and patience and I know that our students are going to ROCK the socks off of the CATS tests!!!  GO BULLDOGS!!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

4.11.11

Welcome backeveryone!  I hope you had a magnificent spring break and got to spend some quality time with the ones you love.  I sure missed my fantastic friends :)

READING:
Our UK student, Miss Golan, was here today to teach us a lesson on writing and the use of literary elements (characters, plot, setting, problem/ solution, etc.).  She has such great ideas and we really enjoy having her.  For this lesson, she had us get in our reading groups and roll a di for each of the literary elements per page to select from a menu.  Sounds confusing, but it was really fun and the students came up with some hilarious stories!!
Here are the pictures of the groups presenting their made up tales:









HOMEWORK: as always, the spelling packets were passed out and are due back by Friday, April 15th when we take our test.

Our WOW! words this week are:
adequate
buoyancy
differentiation
chrysanthemum
pollination


MATH:
We reviewed fractions and completed an activity that did not go so well the week before spring break where we had to really focus on constructing fractions and thinking about what fractions were equivalent to others.  The students did much better today and I actually got chills on several occasions because I was so proud of them!  We are making excellent progress!
HOMEWORK: none

PM activities:
We began our new unit which is the Water Cycle so to introduce it, we watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy video. 
HOMEWORK: none.

I hope you have a restful Monday evening as we get back into the groove of school!  Only 7 weeks left!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

PS, Here are some pictures that I forgot to post before I left on Friday...it's some of the fantastic artwork by our tremendous artists we have in our class!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

This Week at Garden Springs:

April 11 - Monday:
2nd Registration Window Begins 3rd MAP Testing Window Continues (3/7-5/25)

2:45-3:45p:Performing Arts Club Rehearsal

3:00p: SBDM

6:30p: PTA

Some Bunny Special Egg Sales (4/11-4/21)

Kindergarten Registration Window #2 (9am-2pm daily, 4/11/11—4/29/11)



April 12 - Tuesday:
Orchestra — 5th String Day

Evening Kindergarten Registration 400-7:00pm



April 13 - Wednesday:
Spirit Day (wear your GSE t-shirt or sweatshirt)

7:30-8:00a: K-Kids



April 14 - Thursday:
9:00a: Severe Weather Drill

2:45-3:45p: Ecology Club

2:35-3:45p: 2nd & 3rd Grade Spanish Club

Orchestra — Spring Concert



April 15 - Friday:
Don’t forget to work with your Homeroom Parent to gather and turn in items for your classroom Spring Carnival basket.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Boy have I missed you....

Hi everyone!!!  I do want to be clear on one thing...

I have missed you all soooooooo very, very much!!!  Do not be mistaken, breaks are nice and I enjoy having some time to myself, but I have really not gone a moment without one of you on my mind...I just miss you so much!!  You brighten my life and it's not the same when you're not around!

With that said, I cannot wait to see you on Monday and I especially cannot wait to hear about how you spent your Spring Break and time away from your classmates and your dear ol' teacher :)

I. LOVE. YOU!!!
Mrs. T.

PS, Have your story ready...how did you spend YOUR break?!?

Here's how I spent mine...
South Carolina
shopping in SC...



shopping  everywhere!

enjoying life in the south...
soaking up the sunshine
KEENELAND!!!
reading while in the sunshine