Hoo- Hoo it's Friday!

 

I hope you are all having a great  Friday!! If you are looking for something fun and entertaining to do with your family tonight, please check out Brummitt's Spring Musical. It is all about Science, and a very cute show.  
 
 
Upcoming dates and events:
3/16- End of 3rd Qtr
3/20- VIP Science Night 5:30-7:30
3/20- Jump Rope for Heart kickoff
3/23-4/13- Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser ($ due 4/13)
3/26-3/30- No School Spring Break
4/2- School resumes 

Kindergarten CogAt Results

 

A letter went home today with the results of their CogAt test. No one was identified as qualifying for our High Ability program yet. The end of the year NWEA data is needed before final decisions can be made. Please remember, CogAt is a test with pictures, there is no reading. It is a test which shows how the students think. It often identifies out- of - the- box thinkers.  If your child did not do well on this test, no worries. It is only one of the two ways to qualify for High Ability. NWEA data from the end of the year, is an achievement test.

This is the other way into High Ability. You do NOT need to do well on BOTH tests. While waiting for NWEA scores, a good suggestion would be to look at your child's past NWEA  scores for Fall and Winter.  The score you need to look at  will look like this

97-98-99. The middle bold number needs to be 95 or higher in order to be considered for HA. Please email me if you have any questions.

First grade- Persuasive Writing
We continued our persuasive writing this week, The students did a great job editing their rough draft for things like capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and punctuation at  the end. We checked our spelling for simple words that we already knew how to spell. Next came writing a final draft. Then, using our shoulder partners,  we traded and checked  that the paragraph had three strong reasons to support their claim as well as checking for conventions.. They are becoming great writers! Well done first graders!

First grade Math- Think Deeply
For our Think Deeply we worked on a loop puzzle with two attributes. The students had to label each loop by their attributes. This was just like in the game we played last week. Then, they had to explain how they knew that the loops were labeled correctly.  It is always fun to watch this group while they think of how to explain their math knowledge to others. 

 They went through the steps in the same order that they did when playing the game. We even drew a loop puzzle on the board to walk us through the steps. They did a great job! We then started on our Think and Beyond activities for the lesson. They had to think a bit harder for this one as we were looking at the angles of a pentagon, and finding shapes with the same and different attributes. This was a great review of acute, obtuse, and right angles.   Next week we will be playing the attribute loop game with three loops. I showed them what it will look like and they all said "Challenge accepted!!"

Second grade- Indian in the Cupboard
The kids are absolutely in love with this book! I am so glad that it is the one we picked.  They are all excited to see what happens next.  We went over character traits that we have seen in the characters so far, and added extra facts that we have learned so far about Little Bear and his Iroquois  tribe and customs. We discussed how different tribes have differing languages, symbols, and living arrangements. The students are assigned to read chapter 5 and only chapter 5 this week and write down any words that are new to them on the word detective . We will then look up the words next week using a vocabulary map,  as well as chart some character traits of a new character that is introduced in chapter 4.

Second grade Math- Tracing faces
We are using 3D tangram blocks to "stamp" faces onto paper this week. There are 7 shapes that  we are tracing. Students "stamp" each face of the shape on the paper with a corresponding colored pencil.  As they worked in partners I went around the room asking how many face does a ________ have? What is the same or different about these faces? What is the same or different about these two shapes? This activity helped reinforce their knowledge of 3D shapes and their faces, noting that not all faces are the same  on each shape.

 
 
 

Third grade- Black Beauty

We read chapters 2 and 3 and discussed how Black Beauty is written from the horse's  point of view. We looked at the interactions between the horses and their masters; and noted whether they were positive or negative, fleeting or long lasting, and purposeful or accidental. The students are already noticing that even in being trained to be ridden, the horses were hurt. This differed however, from the abuse they suffered from being hit with rocks and stones.  It is easy to see how this book was written with a bigger purpose in mind than entertainment.  We are working on many vocabulary words to help us understand more about horses as we continue.
 
Third grade math-  did not meet this week due to school assembly and my absence one afternoon. 
 
Fourth grade-  Bio presentations

 This wonderful group of girls really give an accurate description of what GIRL POWER is. They have all worked really hard this week to put finishing touches on their bio presentations. They will be presenting on Monday.  They have all worked really hard on all aspects of this project- so proud of all their hard work!

Fourth grade math- Adding Fractions
This week we continued working on our Daddy Long legs lesson. They had to figure out the area used for articles in the newspaper. They did a great job knowing that the first step in the process was to find the common denominator. Then it was a simple addition of fractions. We will be working on our Think Deeply next week. This group does an amazing job working  independently and in group work.


Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. P