Thanks to all of you who are letting your children get on the Wiz IQ software for extra tutoring these past couple of weeks. This past Thursday, we had a total of 9 students on for the session. Out of all the students, 10 have tried the software so far and have had an excellent time. Later in the year, I will have the kids schedule their own class presentations on line for an extra credit grade. Students will use this type of software in the future in college and in the workplace, so it is nice to get them acclimated early on how to use it effectively and appropriately. For those of you who volunteered for Ellis Island simulation, look for a note to go home confirming your participation. Thank you so much for the nice turn out and if any others want to help out, please turn in the form or let me know via e-mail. The simulation will start around 9:00 a.m., so if some of you can be there by 8:00 or so to help set up, that would be wonderful! The simulation will happen Thursday, December 20th. The following day we will be having our World Foods Celebration on Friday, December 21st. Again, thanks to all who are offering to bring in a dish, and there is still time to offer to bring one in if you haven't already. Just e-mail me or send the form in. This event will take place around 11:00 in the morning and run until about 1 or 2:00. We would love to have volunteers to help set up around 10:00, and anyone who can lend extension cords and power strips for those who need to plug things in, please place your name on them using masking tape and a marker so they can be returned. I want to remind parents to please check to make sure your child is dressed for the weather as it is getting colder outside. Cold and Flu season is also upon us, so please remind your child to wash his/ her hands often! Progress reports will come out on Monday. Again, students have one week to request work and get it into me for full credit. The second week, it will be worth half credit, and after that, the assignment will have a score of zero. Please let me know if your child has not been giving you the progress report each week. Finally, I want to review the class bathroom policy. I have no problem allowing students to use the bathroom in an event of emergency, during recess, and during independent work times. Students are not permitted to request a bathroom break during reading, in most specials, and during instructional times. In some cases, like when I need to get the class under control, I'll ask the student to wait, but these instances only last for 2-3 minutes at most, and in most cases under a minute. If a child is caught vandalising the bathroom, acting out in the bathroom or hallway, or is repeatedly taking excessive amounts of time (15 minutes or more), I reserve the right to place stricter conditions on his/ her bathroom privileges. I know that some kids have medical/ physical conditions that fall out the range of the bathroom policy, and if you can let me know of these, I will gladly make exceptions like in the case of flu, diarrhea, bladder conditions, and other personal matters. The more I am aware of these things, the more understanding I can be, and the more accurate of a decision I can make. Thanks for your understanding and support, and we'll work out these things as the year continues.
Reading News
This week, we wrapped up our unit on visualization. New Book It forms will come out on Friday, December 7th. My apologies for not getting these out sooner. If you haven't gotten November's turned into me, please do so for the free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. New Reading Logs also will come out on Friday, December 7th and are due on Friday, December 14th.
Writing News
If you have not e-mailed me the final draft of personal narrative, please do so. I will be checking these this week and e-mailing them back to the students. This week, we went over pronouns and the different types of them. Next week, we will be going over poetry and do a grammar unit on clauses.
Math News
This will be a tough unit we are starting. Students began it with learning about composite and prime numbers, factor trees, and prime factorization. We will be learning about the least common multiple, greatest common factor, and will go into adding and subtracting fractions in the near future.
Science News
We are learning about Plate Tectonics, different plate boundaries, and will soon be discussing fossils and geological dating. We will be doing experiments on how geologists determine the rock layers under their feet, and how they determine the order in which rock layers were formed.
S. Studies News
We learned about Canada's government, its immigration history, and some of Canada's natural resources. Next week, we will be studying Canada's economy, its policies and laws supporting diversity, and how Quebec at one time wanted to separate from the rest of Canada due to cultural differences. We will have a test on this chapter either Thursday or Friday.
Have an excellent weekend and week ahead! Stay warm and stay healthy, and if anyone knows how my Irish could possibly beat Alabama in the championship, please contact Coach Kelly ASAP!
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