Week 7

Yeah, Fall is here!!  But did you your kids tell you that our classroom felt like Winter on Friday?  Something is wrong with the air conditioner in our room, and it kept blowing out very cold air despite the fact that the thermostat was set on as high/hot as it would go.  It has been reported to the county, so hopefully they will get the work order and fix it over the weekend.  Just in case, have your child bring a jacket.  Thanks.

Don't forget that the Native American test is Monday.  The kids have had a study guide for a week, so hopefully they have been studying each day. After Native Americans, we will move on to Explorers.  We have six major European explorers to study, and yes, this is a very in depth unit just like the Native Americans. 

We tested on Graphs/Data Analyzing on Friday in math, and we will be moving on to coordinate graphing this week.  This unit only takes a few days, so they will most likely test on Friday.  It's actually a fun little unit.  After that, we will spend a week reviewing all math skills taught this nine weeks in order to prepare for our math benchmark test.  This test will test them over all skills taught this first nine weeks of school, and it does count as a grade.

In your child's Friday folder there is  a conference form.  If your child has a sibling, I met with that child's teacher and we tried to come up with times that were close together in order to help you out.  It is always very hard to schedule 25 conferences.  I thank you for understanding that I have to remain on a schedule for these two days.  Conferences are scheduled for 20 minutes and they can't go over into another time slot.  If one conference goes over just by 5 minutes, it can throw all of the other conferences off for the rest of the day.  I do look forward to meeting with each of you.  Please sign and return the conference form on Monday.


Your child received a Gladiator reading bookmark in their Friday folder two weeks ago. If your child wanted to participate in this, it is due on Sept. 26... THIS Monday.

The book fair is coming to Burnette.  Our preview day is October 3, and our shopping day is October 6.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Please excuse any typos. Thanks!

Week 6

I am really enjoying this nice weather!  How about you? :-)

In my math class, we have started studying about graphs.  The students have had lots of fun taking surveys, organizing their data, and creating graphs.  We will continue this graphing unit for another week.  We will review at the end of the week and be ready to test on Friday, September 23.. If you would like to help your child look over some graphing information, you can pull up the online textbook.  I put the log-in information on last week's blog posting.

Although we still have two Native American tribes/regions we will be learning about this week, I am going to go ahead and send home the Native American unit study guide this Monday.  We will test on Monday, September 25. This is a unit with LOTS of information, so it would be in your child's best interest to start reviewing now. 

As I mentioned at curriculum night, our spelling studies have changed a bit.  Actually, your child will continue to have the same types of dictation sentences they have had in the past (along with the regular spelling homework on the five words), but there will be ten new words added that include prefixes and suffixes.  This is a new word study program adopted by Gwinnett County.  We will be doing lessons daily on prefixes and suffixes that pertain to these words, but it is their responsibility to study the words throughout the week.  They will be given time to write the words in their agenda book each week.  They will receive the words either Monday or Tuesday of each week.

In science with Mrs. Howell, your child will test on their water and weather vocabulary on Tuesday of next week.  They should have their words and study materials in their journal.

Please continue to send in any Fun Run fundraiser money that you have collected. Way to go to those that have already turned money in. 

We have started receiving our Time Magazine. The kids had fun reading their first issue. It was a blast discussing 'on line school' with the kids, as this was the topic of the featured front page article.  

Soon you will be receiving information about conferences, so please be on the lookout for all the details.

Please remind your child that our media center day is every Monday.  This is a weekly opportunity to renew a book or check out a new one.  We go as a class once a week, because there simply aren't many opportunities for students to go individually. 

Does your child know all of their multiplication facts?  Do they have quick recall with them?  If not, please work with your child each night using flashcards.

I think I have covered all of the important tidbits of information for the week.  If I remember anything, I will come back and post again.  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Please excuse any typos.  Thanks!

Week 5

The kids had a great time at the Fun Run!  Thanks so much for helping your children get pledges for their efforts.  You can send this money in any time until the end of the month. 

Progress reports went home Friday.  Please sign and return these on Monday.  Please look through the folder for any other papers that need to be signed and returned. 

Last Thursday, your child should have brought home a study guide for their subject/predicate test, which they will take on Monday.  Please take time time to review this topic with your child.

For my math class......You are  going to see multiplication timed activities averaged in with their math grades. The students are given 30 problems and they have 5 minutes to complete them.  For the most part, the students have done great. Please remember, your child is supposed to have mastered the times tables in third grade.  They actually start learning them in second grade.  These weekly activities can really hurt a math average if your child receives several failing grades, so if your child is struggling with quick recall of their multiplication facts, please help them study EACH NIGHT.  Just spending five minutes a night doing flash cards can make a huge difference.

If you would like to view the math or social studies textbook online, I have created an account.  The log in information is: username: 4phillips  password:math    The link for the websites can be found on the school's web page.

Topics of Study
Types of sentences
Graphs
Native Americans (different regions/tribes)
Water/Weather
Reader's response
Character Traits
Themes of Stories
....much more

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  The weather is beautiful!

Three Day Weekend- week 4

Yeah!  It's so nice to have a 3 day weekend.  Enjoy this time with your children.

The kids had so much fun with the first auction.  I hope to do this at the end of each month.  In order for it to work though, I will need ongoing donations.  Those of you that have donated items already, they were all perfect, so keep them coming.  We have one month to build the stock back up, so if you see cheap items, go ahead and grab them.  A great place can be Target's dollar section, which is located right when you walk in their front door.  Sometimes they mark this section 75% off, and things can get really cheap. You can send in items all through the month.

Now that I have every one's individual reading level figured out, we are ready to get Reader's workshop into full swing.  This means that I will be working and conferencing with students in small groups and individually.  We will also begin working on reading strategies.  This is ongoing throughout the year, and includes topics such as questioning the text, connecting with the text, and visualizing the text (among many others).

Other topics of study include:  character traits, Native Americans, estimation, sentence structure, sustained silent writing, memories for writing (we share 3-4 memory bags a day), water cycle, and many others

NOTE:  My math group will test on estimation and rounding this coming Friday. 

Remember, we do have a fundraiser going on.  Your child brought home all of the information and the collection envelope in last Friday's folder.  Thanks for your support in helping your child get donations.  We are scheduled to have our Fun Run on September 9.

In this Friday's folder, you will find an information request sheet for our class directory.  Thank you for filling this out and returning it on Monday.

If your child signed up for a club, I also included any club information I received. 

Please take the time to look through your child's papers.  If your child did not do well on an assignment, I will sometimes  put a sticker at the top requesting that you sign and return it. I like to keep these papers on file just incase your child shows a pattern of struggling.  This can be very helpful in conferencing about struggles, as well as helping me keep track of specific skills your child is need extra help with. 

I am really enjoying this group of kids, and I feel like we are having a great year.  Enjoy your weekend. 

Pleae excuse any typos.  Thank you!