Monday, October 29, 2012
Nevada Day "HALLOWEEN" Party
We are going to have a little Halloween (AKA Nevada Day) party in the afternoon on Wednesday. Sorry for the short notice, but third grade wasn't sure of the protocol for celebrations for 3rd. Sometimes we are lumped with 3-5, but sometimes we get to celebrate with the 1-2nd graders! Yeah! So we are going to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" after lunch around 1:15. I hope to have a craft for them to complete and a few snacks for them as well. Let me know if you would like to contribute to either craft or snack. I have researched a few ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet. Thanks so much!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
NEED Uniforms?
We have uniforms available from students who have withdrawn. There is girl youth medium 8-10yrs, and boy youth medium 8-10yrs. Long sleeve, short sleeve, and jackets. Just let me know if you are interested and I will get their contact information for you. The long sleeves and jacket have never been worn.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
PowerSchool
Finally! We have access to Power School! Please let me know if you are having difficulty logging in to view your student's grades. I am still in the process of entering their grades. We have determined what assignments we are entering, and the weights. This is how we are weighting their scores:
Homework: ONE point
Assignments: TWO points
Quizzes- ONE or TWO points depending on the quiz
Test/Assessments: THREE points
I have also been focusing on READING, WRITING, and MATH first. Science is not being evaluated at this time, so the first unit is complete. We are integrating more science into our reading, but that may not be reflected as their science grade.
Thank you for being patient with the gradebook. We have had to use other means to keep track of grades so far. We have had to transfer all of those grades, plus keep up with the new grades, lesson planning, additional assessments, differentiating for math, and getting our wonderful student portfolios ready for our conferences.
Portfolio Conferences went really well!! It was so nice to get chat with you and make sure we are all on the same page:) If we didn't get a chance to meet, and I haven't already set up a time to meet, please email me so we can do that. If it is not convenient for you to come in, we can chat on the phone, or email. It would be nice for you to see your student's work thus far.
Hallway decorations: we need assistance with cutting out leaves to go on our grade level tree. I can send home paper, or you can come in:) We will need help hanging our students' work on Wednesday. Thanks so much!
We also need marbles for our classroom to fill our SPECIALs jar. The students can receive up to five marbles for their behavior and participation as a class in art, music, PE, and spanish classes.
Please email me if you have any questions:)
Homework: ONE point
Assignments: TWO points
Quizzes- ONE or TWO points depending on the quiz
Test/Assessments: THREE points
I have also been focusing on READING, WRITING, and MATH first. Science is not being evaluated at this time, so the first unit is complete. We are integrating more science into our reading, but that may not be reflected as their science grade.
Thank you for being patient with the gradebook. We have had to use other means to keep track of grades so far. We have had to transfer all of those grades, plus keep up with the new grades, lesson planning, additional assessments, differentiating for math, and getting our wonderful student portfolios ready for our conferences.
Portfolio Conferences went really well!! It was so nice to get chat with you and make sure we are all on the same page:) If we didn't get a chance to meet, and I haven't already set up a time to meet, please email me so we can do that. If it is not convenient for you to come in, we can chat on the phone, or email. It would be nice for you to see your student's work thus far.
Hallway decorations: we need assistance with cutting out leaves to go on our grade level tree. I can send home paper, or you can come in:) We will need help hanging our students' work on Wednesday. Thanks so much!
We also need marbles for our classroom to fill our SPECIALs jar. The students can receive up to five marbles for their behavior and participation as a class in art, music, PE, and spanish classes.
Please email me if you have any questions:)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
spOOkY dEcOrAtIng
Anyone want to decorate? Third grade is writing a spooky story using description this week, and we thought it would be fun to decorate around the third grade classrooms in the hallway. We thought it would be cool to decorate the hallway entering to room one as well. All of the third grade teachers are emailing or posting this announcement today hoping to get some volunteers to come to our prep on Monday at 1025am to discuss the plan. If you can't make that meeting time, but would like to help, just post a comment to this post or send me an email and I can get you together with the other parents willing to help out. Thanks again for your continued enthusiastic support!:)
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Grade Book Access
Hello!
I have been frantically entering grades in PowerSchool so you can have access asap. I still have their assignments from their practice companion books (reading assignments), a few math assessments that take forever to grade since they are interpreting data/graphing assessments, homework, and a few writing assignments to enter. I have been sending some work home, and more is coming this week. Their writing and their assessments will be included in their portfolios, so you will be able to see those pieces when you come in for the portfolio conference. After this week, you will have access to their portfolios whenever you like! The students and I will be keeping up with creating, evaluating, and filing their pieces in their binder this week, and hopefully be able to keep current after that.
SPELLING GROUPS
Just a quick recap on what their spelling/word study will be for each night:
Monday: Open Sort- students will sort any way they wish to explore their words
Tuesday: Closed Sort-this sort will be taught to the students, and I will post the sort in the homework section.
Wednesday: Speed Sort-students will practice their closed sort and see how fast they can sort their words
Thursday: Practice Sort and Teach- students will practice their sort and teach their sort to someone.
Thanks so much for the treasure box supplies:) We are good for a while!
What we need: plastic ziplock bags for their word sorts to take home.
We also need more pencils. You would not believe how many pencils these kiddos go through.
MARBLES! I have a jar to fill with marbles for every point they receive from their specialist teachers.
I have been frantically entering grades in PowerSchool so you can have access asap. I still have their assignments from their practice companion books (reading assignments), a few math assessments that take forever to grade since they are interpreting data/graphing assessments, homework, and a few writing assignments to enter. I have been sending some work home, and more is coming this week. Their writing and their assessments will be included in their portfolios, so you will be able to see those pieces when you come in for the portfolio conference. After this week, you will have access to their portfolios whenever you like! The students and I will be keeping up with creating, evaluating, and filing their pieces in their binder this week, and hopefully be able to keep current after that.
SPELLING GROUPS
Just a quick recap on what their spelling/word study will be for each night:
Monday: Open Sort- students will sort any way they wish to explore their words
Tuesday: Closed Sort-this sort will be taught to the students, and I will post the sort in the homework section.
Wednesday: Speed Sort-students will practice their closed sort and see how fast they can sort their words
Thursday: Practice Sort and Teach- students will practice their sort and teach their sort to someone.
Thanks so much for the treasure box supplies:) We are good for a while!
What we need: plastic ziplock bags for their word sorts to take home.
We also need more pencils. You would not believe how many pencils these kiddos go through.
MARBLES! I have a jar to fill with marbles for every point they receive from their specialist teachers.
Monday, October 1, 2012
THANKS! and NEW SPELLING GROUPS
Thanks so much for bringing in the awesome goodies/toys for the treasure box:) The students have been so excited about our new reward program.
Also, your student should be bringing home "spelling words" this week. We have been assessing them using spelling inventory assessments. There are various levels/stages of spelling: letter-name, within word, syllables and affixes, and derivational relations. There are also early, middle, and late stages to each level. We have each student assessed, then placed in the spelling group that is at their level. At first the list may seem easy, this is purposefully done so that the student can build confidence and be able to catch on to the activities. The lists will become progressively more difficult as the weeks go on. The homework for these groups are as follows:
Monday: OPEN SORT
This is the time for the student to sort any way they choose: by beginning sound, living or nonliving, number of syllables, etc.
Tuesday: CLOSED SORT
During groups on Tuesday the students will learn the sort they will be studying for the week. They will practice this sort on Tuesday night.
Wednesday: SPEED SORT
How fast can they sort their word list?
Thursday: PRACTICE/TEACH SORT
This is a night to practice the sort by teaching the sort to someone else.
When the students learn the patterns for words, this aides in the correct spelling of words with similar patterns later on, and tends to carry over in their writing. When a student is giving a list to memorize, they may be able to write it correctly for the test, but may not carry over into their writing. Also, this is more fun than writing a word ten times and using it in a sentence. SNORE. So have fun with the lists:) We will be making two copies: one for home, and one for school so don't worry about them bringing their words back to school. Thanks again for all of your help and support!
Also, your student should be bringing home "spelling words" this week. We have been assessing them using spelling inventory assessments. There are various levels/stages of spelling: letter-name, within word, syllables and affixes, and derivational relations. There are also early, middle, and late stages to each level. We have each student assessed, then placed in the spelling group that is at their level. At first the list may seem easy, this is purposefully done so that the student can build confidence and be able to catch on to the activities. The lists will become progressively more difficult as the weeks go on. The homework for these groups are as follows:
Monday: OPEN SORT
This is the time for the student to sort any way they choose: by beginning sound, living or nonliving, number of syllables, etc.
Tuesday: CLOSED SORT
During groups on Tuesday the students will learn the sort they will be studying for the week. They will practice this sort on Tuesday night.
Wednesday: SPEED SORT
How fast can they sort their word list?
Thursday: PRACTICE/TEACH SORT
This is a night to practice the sort by teaching the sort to someone else.
When the students learn the patterns for words, this aides in the correct spelling of words with similar patterns later on, and tends to carry over in their writing. When a student is giving a list to memorize, they may be able to write it correctly for the test, but may not carry over into their writing. Also, this is more fun than writing a word ten times and using it in a sentence. SNORE. So have fun with the lists:) We will be making two copies: one for home, and one for school so don't worry about them bringing their words back to school. Thanks again for all of your help and support!
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