Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Hello! Long time no blog! (I do apologize) Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods:

Language Arts

We are continuing our study of novels by adding Literature Circles to our Literacy Centers! Literature Circles are a great way to give the students some more responsibility for what they're learning, and providing the opportunity for student-led discussion. Students will be assigned a different role (or two) each night, and will be expected to complete that role by the next day. These roles are different, and give students the chance to practice and identify their various strengths and needs as a learner! Students will be, if they haven't already, be coming home with a Literature Circle packet in their Guided Reading Baggies. Their assignment will be written on the front of the packet. Each assignment needs to be initialed by a parent/guardian in order for the student to get their Smiley Face on their baggie.

While we are studying novels, we are focusing on story elements (character, setting, problem, and solution) and connections. There are three types of connections that the students will be identifying - text to text ("This chapter reminds me of this book..."), text to self ("This reminds me of the time when I..."), and text to world ("This reminds me of what I heard on the news...").

Social Studies

We are finishing up our economics unit this week! Our assessment will be this Friday, March 19th. Students were sent home with a page of notes they took on what to be prepared for on the test. If this page is missing, please let me know and I can send that information to you. As a culminating activity, I am also entering our class in the Maryland Council for Economic Education's "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" poster contest! This is optional, however I do strongly recommend that the students participate for the experience! Here's some information:
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: 2009-2010 Poster Contest


Annual Economics Poster Contest for Maryland Students in Grades 1 through 8

Brought to you by the Maryland Council on Economic Education with generous assistance from the Baltimore Branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Maryland & Delaware (CCCS), and Towson University.

The Maryland Council on Economic Educations annual economics poster contest for Maryland students in grades 1 through 8 was developed to help teachers stimulate interest in learning basic economic concepts by giving students an opportunity to creatively demonstrate their understanding of one of the following concepts: scarcity; natural, human and capital resources; opportunity cost; specialization and interdependence; producers and consumers; or goods and services.

Sixteen state winners will each receive a $50 Series EE- savings bond and recognized at the Maryland Council's annual awards program in May, 2010.

Winning posters will be made into a September, 2010-December, 2011 calendar printed and distributed through the generosity of the Baltimore Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of MD and DE.

The deadline for entries is April 15, 2010.

Below is the link for the contest rules :)



If you are in need of any supplies, including a sheet of paper with the 1/2 inch border, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to supply those for you!

Math

This week brings us to probability! Students will be able to learn about the likelihood of various events, how to calculate possible outcomes, as well as determining theoretical probability. For example, the probability of landing on "heads" when flipping a coin is 1/2 - 1 favorable outcome, for two possible outcomes. Similarly, the probability for rolling a "4" on a die is 1/6 - 1 favorable outcome, for six possible outcomes. The post assessment for this unit will be Monday, March 22.

Our next unit will be fractions! Students will be taking the preassessment for this unit on Friday, March 19th. We will begin studying this unit on Tuesday, March 23.

We are continuing to practice our multiplication facts. Students will receive a weekly practice packet - and be quizzed at the end of the week. Please time students for one minute, circle or underline where they reached at one minute, and then allow them to finish the practice sheet. This will provide additional fact practice.

Congratulations to our students for earning over 200 Soaring With Pride Stickers! Since this was such an awesome milestone, we are having an extra celebration this Friday, March 19th. We will be having lunch at the picnic tables at the Wetlands, then enjoying a few extra minutes of recess. Parents are more than welcome to attend! We will be at the Wetlands at 11:15, and recess will be immediately afterwards. Way to go kiddos! Keep up the great work!

Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing so many of you at the Multicultural Fair this Friday, March 19th, from 6:00 - 8:00! I know many of you will be presenting at the fair and I can't wait to see!

Thank you for all your support! Have a great day!

:)