Week of 9/26

Hopefully everyone was able to get out and enjoy the sunshine with some great family time! 

As we begin our third full week of school, I am hopeful that we will earn our bubblegum party! We will continue to work on being kind and respectful, following directions, and raising hands to share ideas. We want to learn as much as we can from each other to build our classroom community. 

We have an exciting week of learning ahead!
Language Arts: 
Skills/strategies: character traits, roots/affixes, homophones

We'll also continue our unit on the New York Times Bestseller, Wonder, which will cover many reading strategies and skills, as well as lead to great classroom discussions. The kids are loving it, and often ask if we can read more - I LOVE that!! 

Please be sure that your child is reading nightly. Studies show that daily reading shows significant growth in vocabulary development and overall achievement. We want our kids to LOVE books, so we must work together to foster that love of reading. 
 
Math:
Students will finish their place value quiz from Friday. There was a technology issue, so we weren't able to finish Friday afternoon! We will also begin rounding and comparing whole numbers. Stay tuned to the agenda for a quiz date for rounding and comparing. Remember to use the portaportal site to review math concepts at home: http://www.portaportal.com/ 
I sent the login information via email last week. If you need it again, just email me: devon.day@nn.k12.va.us

We will begin our "Math Jam" sessions this week, where students will be working on math activities in partners/groups daily while I work with small groups of students.

Virginia Studies:
We will continue our exploration of the regions of Virginia. I will be sending the VA Studies notebook home each night to review the regions learned so far. Stay tuned to the agenda for a quiz date!

Week of 9/19

We had an incredible week last week - just one letter away from earning our class bubble gum party! The class has really come together and each day our classroom community improves; I am so proud of each of them! On Friday, we learned about the Constitution since it was Constitution Day on Saturday, and our class created our own class constitution:



As noted in last week's Thursday folder, the children will have Family Life this Thursday, 9/22. Boys will go at 9:30, and girls will go at 1:15. Both sessions are ninety minutes, and parents are welcome to attend. 

Here's what else we'll be working on this  week:

Language Arts: 
Skills/strategies: summarizing, synonyms/antonyms, character traits

We'll also continue our unit on the New York Times Bestseller, Wonder, which will cover many reading strategies and skills, as well as lead to great classroom discussions. The kids are loving it, and often ask if we can read more - I LOVE that!! 

Math:
We'll be continue our work with identifying place and value to the millions period. Students should be able to read and write numbers through the millions period and be able to write a given number in standard, written, and expanded forms. There will be a quiz on Friday.

Virginia Studies:
Students will continue learning about the geography of Virginia and be able to identify Virginia on a U.S. and world map, as well as identify the bordering states of VA. We'll also continue our exploration of the regions of Virginia. There will be a bordering states quiz on Friday. Ask your child to sing the Bordering States of Virginia song that we'll learn this week!

Week of 9/12

We had a good start last week and we will continue to work on building our class community where we all respect each other and remember our three big rules - to be safe, be respectful, and be thinking. 

Here's what else we'll be working on this  week:

Language Arts: 
Skills/strategies: author's purpose, fiction vs. nonfiction

On Monday, I am going to share a story, 14 Cows for America, that tells about a special 9/11 tribute. It's a true story that shows the compassion that people around the world felt for our country. We will not go into great detail about the events of that day, but we will have a brief discussion about why we remember September 11th, 2001. 
 
We'll also begin a unit on the New York Times Bestseller, Wonder, which will cover many reading strategies and skills, as well as lead to great classroom discussions. I am excited to read this book to the class!

Math:
We'll be conducting a place value investigation and identifying place and value to the millions period. 

Virginia Studies:
Students will learn about the geography of Virginia and be able to identify Virginia on a U.S. and world map, as well as identify the bordering states of VA. We'll also begin exploring the regions of Virginia. 

 

Great Start!

We've had a wonderful first couple of days of school in Room 5! We are working hard to build our classroom community and we're learning how to be successful by making good choices. Below are some highlights of some of the activities we've done so far:

 

Here and in a few other pics below, students are sharing ideas (they "brain-bumped" to find a partner) about what why we are in school and what we need to do the things that we need to accomplish. 

 

 

 We did a Gallery Walk Consensogram to discover 

our interests and get to know each other better!

 Resource teachers and Mr. Thrift reviewed expectations for each part of the building: bathroom, hallway, buses, and cafeteria. 

 

 We did our first Brain Break with GoNoodle today -

 I saw some good dance moves!

Ready for Tuesday?!

It was great to meet those who were able to come to Open House on Thursday! For those who weren't able to make it, I look forward to meeting you tomorrow! Please bring your school supplies if you are able; each student in my class needs a total of six composition books. 

We'll be on a 5-day resource rotation schedule:
A - Art
B - Music
C - P.E.
D - Guidance
Z - Library

Since our first day of resource will be Thursday, we will start with "A day" on Thursday, so our class will have Art. On Friday, we'll go to Music. I will post our resource schedule each week on the right side bar of this page. 
 
I'm looking forward to a fantastic first week of school, are you? :)