Red Ribbon Week Success!!

This week there was a competition between all the classes in the school to create and perform a song or cheer for Red Ribbon Week.  I am proud to announce that our class won the school competition!  Together we changed the lyrics to the song "Dynamite" to make our own song about choosing to be drug free.  We even put dance moves to it and it was super!  The kids were so creative and enthusiastic throughout the process and the performances for Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Pfaff, and Mrs. Hammons (our judges)!  When the announcement was made at the end of the day to say that we won the kids jumped up and down and screamed!  As a reward for winning they each received a Red Ribbon Week pencil, activity book, crayons, and a sticker.  The song will be broadcast on the school newscast for all students to see tomorrow!

The lyrics are below followed by the video of our performance.  :o)

Whitley’s Drug Free Song

(to the tune of “Dynamite”)

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes because I’m drug free

We are drug free

I want to celebrate and live my life because I’m drug free

We are drug free

We gonna just say no

We gonna walk away

We gonna just say no

Because we’re healthy

And we’re drug free!

Yeah we’re drug free!

Week of October 25-29

I hope everyone had a restful, fun, and relaxing Fall Break!  Welcome back!  There are a few important reminders for this week.

1)  It is Red Ribbon Week!  Don't forget to wear red on Monday!  Tuesday we will were hats, and Friday wear camoflauge!

2)  Picture Day is Thursday!  Dress appropriately...this image will be in the yearbook!

3)  Parents, please start calling now to sign up for conferences.  You can sign up for Thursday, November 4 or Tuesday, November 9 from 2:40pm-6:00pm.  I encourage everyone to please sign up.  I think parents and teachers have the best influence on children when we work together.

4)  Progress Reports go home Wednesday, November 3rd.
***5)  I was mistaken!  November 10 is also our next Early Release Day.

Here is what's coming up this week in Mrs. Whitley's room!

Facts tests!  Facts tests!  Facts tests!  We are starting a new math unit over division and you're not likely to be very successful with division unless you know those math facts, so we will be having lots more facts tests!

Math:  How do I divide whole numbers and decimals?

This week we will begin a 2 week unit on division.  It is going to move fast!  We will cover division of 1 and 2-digit whole numbers, estimation strategies in division, and dividing decimals.  Please learn those facts, kids!

Reading:  How do I effectively participate in literature circles?

This week students will begin reading their literature circle books and completing a variety of jobs requiring them to use and understand the story elements, to summarize what they read, and to participate in weekly discussions over their reading.  Perhaps the most important life lesson learned during literature circles though is time management.  It is important for students to complete all assigned tasks by each literature circle meeting.  Reading and assignments are primarily intended to be completed during class, but can be taken home to complete if necessary.

Social Studies:  What were the first colonies in the New World?

We will begin a new social studies unit this week examining the 3 original English colonies in the New World--Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth.  This unit will help students to understand why these colonies were successful or not as well as the hardships of creating a new settlement in a new land.

Word Study:  How do words change when you add the suffixes -ed and -ing?

Students will learn rules for adding suffixes to the end of words.  Please see the websites on my Links page for extra practice.

Writing:  How are we scored over On-Demand Writing and what skills do I need to work on in order to improve my personal On-Demand scores?

Students will look at their scores on the On-Demand Writing task they completed prior to the break and use the scoring guide to understand how to improve their writing.  They will also have individual conferences with me regarding their successes and their areas for improvement.

It's going to be a fun and exciting week with Red Ribbon Week upon us!  As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns!

October 11-15

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner.  It has been a busy week!
I have some great news!  Our field trip was a HUGE success!  The kids had a blast and they learned so much!  I also wanted to share with everyone that Mrs. Harris actually showed the students' cell newscasts that I added to the blog to our superintendent, Mr. Upchurch, because the kids did such a nice job.  I am very proud of them and if you haven't had a chance to view the videos, please do so!  They are uploaded to my previous post.  This group of kids is full of such hard workers and they get so enthusiastic about their assignments!

Reminders:
Fall Break is next week!  Relax and enjoy!

Conferences are coming up November 4 and November 9.  It is my intention to meet with every parent. I have so much to share with you about your child's learning and progress.  You may contact the office at your earliest convenience to schedule a confernce with me. 

Here is what we are learning this week.

Upcoming Tests:
Word Study Quizzes:  Wednesday and Friday over the geometric terms
Math Test:  Thursday over Geometry

Math:  This week we have had lessons over congruence and similarity.  Congruent shapes have the same size and same shape.  Similar shapes are different sizes, but the same shape.  They are proportionate to one another.  We will have a math test on Thursday, an open response on Friday, and a study guide to be completed by Wednesday so I can do any necessary reteaching before the test.  I have added several math links to my "Links" page that will provide students with extra practice for this unit over Geometry.

Reading:  This week we are learning about story elements including:  plot, problem and solution, characters, setting, moral/theme.  We are going to learn about each of these elements in preparation for our first round of literature circles which will begin right after Fall Break.  During the literature circles the students will be given "jobs" to complete with their reading of an assigned text to explore the story elements in depth.

Social Studies:  This week we are continuing to discuss the explorers including their futile attempts at finding a Northwest Passage and the positive and negative impacts they had from exploring.  Positives:  claimed land, established settlements, new information for maps; Negatives:  spread disease, killed/mistreated Native Americans.  The kids will also have the opportunity to learn about explorers by visiting various explorer stations this week to experience the tools used by explorers, journal entries by explorers, Native American reactions to explorers, and the important spices sought out by explorers.  This unit will culminate with an open response regarding the impact of the early explorers.

Word Study:  We are continuing to practice the geometric terms and the kids have a quiz over the newly highlighted words Wednesday.  The remaining words will be quizzed on Friday.  After some reflection I decided it would be simpler and easier on the kids to break the terms into three separate, shorter quizzes rather than one large test.  Students can go to any of the great math links I added to my website to practice these. 

Writing:  We began On Demand Writing lessons and discussed the key phrases that are commonly used when writers they need to persuade as a purpose during On Demand writing.  We will practice interpreting prompts, brainstorming, and collecting ideas for prompts this week.  We will also review the scoring guide used for On Demand Writing and have our first practice On Demand response the Monday following Fall Break.

October 6, 2010

We had so much fun in class today!!  Yesterday during Science/Reading the kids had to use non-fiction text features to gather information about certain topics related to cells and cell structures.  Once they finished gathering the information they were to take that information and organize it into a script for a news report on their particular cell topic.  A study guide went home today and this topic will be assessed on Monday when the students will have the opportunity to complete a multiple choice test and to create a model of a cell out of Play-Doh!  Watch below to see the kids' adorable videos!  Way to go, kids!!

Cells and Cell Theory

Structures of All Cells

Organelles

Structures Exclusive to Plant Cells

Week of October 4-8

Welcome fall!  Finally some fall weather and fall celebrations have arrived!  I would like to thank everyone who made it out the Harmony Harvest!  It was a huge success!  I know Corbin and Brennan had a blast!  I also want to thank anyone who bid on my auction items.  Girls' Night and Boys' Night are going to be fun times!  If you were unable to come to the Harmony Harvest, but we still like to be involved in Girls' Night or Boys' Night with myself and Ms. Coomes, please let me know.  The date has not yet been determined.

Please remember that we will be taking our first field trip this week to Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing to tour a historic plantation, participate in an archeological dig, and make our own bricks just like the builders of the orginal home did!  We will be leaving no later than 9:00am Friday and we will return to school at 2:00pm.  Dress comfortably and wear tennis shoes because we will be outside and you may get a little dirty.  Please remember to bring a sack lunch as well.

Upcoming Tests
Wednesday:  S.S. Test over Chapter 4 "Why Europeans Left for the New World"

Math:  What are polygons and quadrilaterals?

*We will continue to apply what we've learned so far in geometry about lines, points, and angles, to explore other geometric figures.
Writing: How do I carefully edit and revise my persuasive letter to prepare for publication?

*This week we will wrap up our persuasive letters and celebrate by addressing and mailing them on Thursday.
Social Studies:  What can we learn about early explorer's by examining artifacts from a sunken ship?

*Last week the kids did a pretend dive into a sunken ship to explore artifacts used by European explorers.  This week we will continue to discuss those artifacts and learn the explorer's motives.
Word Study:  How do we learn important geometric terms?
*This week the kids will receive a word study list to practice from now until October 15th when there will be a culminating quiz over all of the geometric terms and their ability to identify the figures they represent.
Science/Reading:  What are cells?
*This week we will continue reading non-fiction texts to gather information about cells.  There will also be some fun activities to go along with this unit including creating a cell from Play-Doh and making news reports on the parts of cells.