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Hi there. I hope that your weekend is well. It is supposed to be beautiful weather, which is perfect for Saturday Live. If you attended this amazing event, please write Saturday Live in the planner for $50. What an amazing way for so many people to come together for a sole purpose...Billing's kids. They are one of my favorite! :0)
Friday was a great day! Midterms came home. We spent our CC Meeting time taking a look at where we stand, what we need to do to better ourselves, and a plan to get there. For the most part, grades are outstanding. If your child got a low grade, it may be due to a missing assignment. Please consult the online version for more details or feel free to call me to help you understand them. I will also be adding four more grades this weekend, so they have already changed, and some students turned in their missing work so their grades improved tenfold. I am so proud of every child for their hard work and effort in all academic areas.
On top of the midterm, you will find a character report card. The students filled this one out after reviewing what each trait looked like in a school setting. They gave themselves a letter grade and then were asked to show evidence as to why they gave that grade. They didn't have to do this for all of them, but were encouraged to do it for some of them. They then had to share it with me and if I needed to, I added comments of my own. Kids are generally harder on themselves than I am. It was fun to share with them and just sit and listen to their reasonings. I just love this class! What a great group of kids that have honestly already come so far since day one. Be proud! I know that I am. Midterms need to be signed and returned on Monday. Thanks!
Upon reading the RLJ journal entries last week, I discovered that some kids would like more of a challenge in class. One area that was brought up was spelling words. I had two students ask for more challenging words. This week we are working on homophones. I listed the unit's words to the right, but I also listed a challenge list. I pulled these words from the internet and they were classified as 8th grade homophones. They are not so difficult in the sense of spelling them, as they are in the sense of understanding which word is which. On this week's spelling test, students will have to listen to the sentence the word is read in, and determine which spelling is correct in that context. So, not only do they need to spell it correctly, but they also have to select the correct homophone. If a student spells the word correctly, but selects the incorrect homophone for that number, it will be marked incorrect. I will offer the challenge list to all students. They will need to learn on their own what these words mean, as they won't have example sentences like the ones in our text books. When giving the test, I will read them in my own context sentences. The challenge here...going beyond the teacher and self discovering the meaning of higher leveled homophones. On Monday, students will be asked to select a test in which they will take on Friday. All students will be required to do the weekly work in the 4th grade textbook regardless of the test they choose to take.
I also discovered some issues on homework. I have some students requesting more, and some requesting less. Here is my solution. I will offer higher level math skill sheets. These sheets will require some thinking and problem solving. They are at first glance quite challenging. My fear here, is that they will run to you to help them, creating more work for you at home. That is not what I want. So, I plead with you to encourage them to take a deep breath, go read the directions again, and take it one step at a time. The skills are still the same as what we are learning in class, it is just taking it to a deeper level. Love it! If your child become's frustrated, please just praise their efforts. If you want to sit down and help them, great. If not, then that is fine too. It is simply to challenge those that want to be challenged, and it will be a daily choice to be challenged if they want it, but it will not be required. Keep me posted on how this goes will ya?
Last week, I posted a video of the kids throwing away their "goodbye" topics. Thank you to those of you that shared that the video didn't work. I was finally able to get it put up. I enjoyed watching it again myself, and can't help but smile and getting a little teary eyed watching them let a part of themselves go. I love that I have created an environment that each and every child feels safe to take risks in. They are really beginning to open up and share their lives with me. That is an honor, and one I take very seriously. There is soooo much research out there that states when a child feels connected and important to a teacher and an environment they will do much better academically. I always think of the age old saying, you can't win their brain until you win their heart. THAT is why I take the time to do CC meeting. THAT is exactly why I feel I can push your child above and beyond their limits. They are beginning to trust me, and I am building solid relationships that don't rely on fear tactics or punishment, but rather respect and an honest sense of them having an important place and role in the classroom. They know that I truly care about them, and that my job is to do what is right for them. What an amazing responsibility that is. One I am again honored to have. Enjoy the show!
Miss Taylor was our star of the week last week. She shared her clacky balls. Those are amazingly fun! She also shared a name plate that she bought. Taylor likes to hike. She found an agate on one of her hikes in the Rims. It was beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us Taylor!
This week academically student's will be learning...
Math: Decimals. We will take numbers to the hundredths place value. We will write them as fractions with whole numbers, words, and in standard form. We will read them, round them, compare them, and add/subtract them.
Lead 21-Small Groups. We will continue to journey down the Heritage trail with ipads in tow. Kids are mastering the skills of determining important information and synonyms. Now, we will branch into Author's purpose, main idea, context clues, and making connections. We will also finish up our fiction book reports and read a fiction piece together looking at figurative language such as onemonopia, similes, and metaphors.
Language-Nouns. We will work on plural nouns this week. Students will show mastery of identifying a noun, classifying a noun as a person, place, or thing. They will be able to add an s or es to a noun to create its plural form. They will also work with irregular plurals. We will continue to review the types of sentences, subjects and predicates, and basic punctuation of a sentence.
Spelling-Homophones. (See above for expectations)
SS-We will dive into latitude and longitude along with using a map scale to determine distances on a map. We will finish our Fallen Rock novels and have our author visit this week. A study guide will be given for a final test on the novel, and the final test will either be this Friday or next Monday. I will know and share more as the details unroll. The week after next, we will begin our journey through our great country and learn our first set of states and capitals.
Monday is a special day for one of our students. Taryn will be a year older! Happy Birthday to her! This is our first birthday in class and brings up the topic of birthday treats. Students are welcome to bring in treats for the class. We will share those at the end of the day. Since we are a real world classroom, my procedure for treats is for students to open up a birthday shop, like a bakery. They are then allowed to sell their treats for fake money. They get to keep the profits. This is a good thing because then if kids don't want a treat, they don't have to embarrass the birthday person by saying no thank you to their yummy snacks. It also teaches a life lesson to those that don't have extra cash that sometimes in life, our choices limit our fun. I sure am hoping everyone is able to "buy" a special treat from Taryn if they want to, but if they are not able to, I am hoping even more that they are able to step back and figure out why. Birthday treats of course are optional to bring in. Students do not have to bring in treats to share on their birthday. I celebrate birthdays by buying the student their favorite soda to drink in class after lunch. They absolutely should feel special on their special day. If your child has a summer birthday, I will send home a letter with their "unbirthday" date this week. :0)
Monday is also a special day for a second reason at Arrowhead. We will be taking a walk to the Lillis Center to practice our off site evacuation drill. All students and staff will leave Arrowhead at 10:00 and walk to the off site location. This is where you would pick up your child if such an event would ever happen. This is only a DRILL. Parents will NOT need to come pick up kids. We will simply walk over, show kids where we would go, explain the process to them, and then return to school. It should only take a the most 45 minutes. Please make sure that kids have on comfy shoes when they leave for school however. We will practice walking quickly yet safely. Thanks!
I would like to close by saying thank you. I have so many reasons to be thankful this year. I am blessed with a great class that is eager to learn, wonderful and supportive staff members to help me when I need it, and then I have you! You have all been so amazing to me. I am so glad that we have created a safe environment for us as well. Being able to honestly and openly communicate is essential. I mess up. I know that. But, you tell me I do so in such gracious, professional, and kind ways. I appreciate that. Yo also sing my praises. You share with me when I am doing something right. This may sound silly, but I am a huge believer in pointing out the positives. When you do that for me, it is like you plug my batteries in and charge me up! It makes me want to do more and more for your child and for your families. I love all the emails, planner comments, and texts. Please continue to communicate with me (positive or negative). I can't be the best me without you! Please know how much a appreciate you!
Have a wonderful weekend with your kids.
Kindly,
Ms. Erickson
