Our last week before spring break and it finally feels like Spring. We will be wrapping a few things up this week before we relax next week. Below is the focus in each subject.
Social Studies: causes of the American Revolution; quiz on Friday
Science: Macroinvertebrate poster; field trip to Prairie Forks Conservation Area
Math: multiplying and dividing fractions; quiz on adding, sub, mult and div fractions Friday
Reading: theme and predictions
Please make sure students are prepared for the field trip Wednesday with appropriate clothing (mid 50s and chance of rain) including comfortable shoes that can get dirty and possibly rain boots, a water bottle, and a sack lunch.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
READ A THON FUN!!!
Our Read A Thon on Friday was a huge success! We enjoyed ourselves all day with reading influenced activities. As a school, we raised over 13,000! Thank you families! This money helps each grade level provide wonderful Grant School activities to all students. Below you can see some pics of the reading fun we had. Also, there is a schedule of focus for this week.
READING: Ecolit book clubs: Lit Journal 2 due Friday, March 13
MATH: Fraction Multiplication
SCIENCE: Food and Energy chain through stream macroinvertebrates
SOCIAL STUDIES: Causes of the American Revolution
MAP Testing: Preparation for MAP testing (check Weekly Resources page for information on the new testing system for this year.)
READ A THON FUN!!!
We had 3 guest readers: Charu, who presented on India, Author and Grant School mom Kim Becking, and West Middle School Principal, Dr. Dewey
We also spent time reading with our Preschool Buddies.
We watched 2 great plays by Lucy and Micah.
And of course we had our relaxing free reading time too!
READING: Ecolit book clubs: Lit Journal 2 due Friday, March 13
MATH: Fraction Multiplication
SCIENCE: Food and Energy chain through stream macroinvertebrates
SOCIAL STUDIES: Causes of the American Revolution
MAP Testing: Preparation for MAP testing (check Weekly Resources page for information on the new testing system for this year.)
READ A THON FUN!!!
We also spent time reading with our Preschool Buddies.
We watched 2 great plays by Lucy and Micah.
And of course we had our relaxing free reading time too!
Monday, March 2, 2015
CHEMICAL CHANGE FUN
Below are a few pics of our chemical change demonstrations. There is a baking soda plus vinegar produces CO2 balloon. Then Jack is using his own CO2 to make a color reaction with bromothymol blue and water. Finally, glow sticks and chemiluminescence. We will have a couple more demonstrations tomorrow.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
LET THE 3RD TRIMESTER BEGIN!!!
Families, I have included weekly plans and a snapshot of March below. I enjoyed family conferences a lot. Overall, our class improved an impressive amount in the quality of our work and this was reflected in the amazing number of improved marks on the students' progress reports. I am very pleased with the atmosphere of our community as we move forward to our last few months at Grant School.
As always, this will be a busy spring and I am updating the important dates on the blog as best I can. Notice on March 10, we a 5th grade family meeting for any family members who are interested in helping plan our end of the year events (including Hannibal, Civil War Day, Graduation, End of the Year party, and Memory Book). Mr. Kuensting have the privilege of witnessing firsthand what a special time tis can be for these kids and we couldn't make it happen without the help of the wonderful Grant School families and PTA. I am sending home the "Friday Folder" on Monday this week because there are important papers I want to make sure go home to be viewed.
Our March focus will be on Fractions and fraction application in real world problems, Colonial History and causes of the American Revolution, Word Study work, Eco Literature Dioramas, and learning about food chains and energy in regards to Benthic Macroinvertebrates to prepare us for our field work after Spring Break.
This week:
Monday: word study, Colony paragraphs, chemical changes, choose Eco Lit chapter book, subtraction of fractions
Tuesday: word study, Colony paragraphs, Eco Lit reading, add of mixed numbers and improper fractions
Wednesday: word study, Colony paragraphs, conservation of Mass, Eco Lit reading, sub add of mixed numbers and improper fractions
Thursday: word study, Colony venn diagram, counselor, Eco Lit reading, fraction review and games
Friday: READ A THON!!!!!!
Last week, we focused on reflecting upon our progress as learners and completing our website portfolios. The conference homework is for families to view their portfolios at home sometime. We also spent time relaxing with fun math activities, time with Buddies, and viewing 3rd grade President presentations and book fair books. Check out these cool math designs below. I am also including some cool astrolabes from January when students were working on Age of Exploration projects.
Fibonacci Spirals:
Explorer Astrolabes:
As always, this will be a busy spring and I am updating the important dates on the blog as best I can. Notice on March 10, we a 5th grade family meeting for any family members who are interested in helping plan our end of the year events (including Hannibal, Civil War Day, Graduation, End of the Year party, and Memory Book). Mr. Kuensting have the privilege of witnessing firsthand what a special time tis can be for these kids and we couldn't make it happen without the help of the wonderful Grant School families and PTA. I am sending home the "Friday Folder" on Monday this week because there are important papers I want to make sure go home to be viewed.
Our March focus will be on Fractions and fraction application in real world problems, Colonial History and causes of the American Revolution, Word Study work, Eco Literature Dioramas, and learning about food chains and energy in regards to Benthic Macroinvertebrates to prepare us for our field work after Spring Break.
This week:
Monday: word study, Colony paragraphs, chemical changes, choose Eco Lit chapter book, subtraction of fractions
Tuesday: word study, Colony paragraphs, Eco Lit reading, add of mixed numbers and improper fractions
Wednesday: word study, Colony paragraphs, conservation of Mass, Eco Lit reading, sub add of mixed numbers and improper fractions
Thursday: word study, Colony venn diagram, counselor, Eco Lit reading, fraction review and games
Friday: READ A THON!!!!!!
Last week, we focused on reflecting upon our progress as learners and completing our website portfolios. The conference homework is for families to view their portfolios at home sometime. We also spent time relaxing with fun math activities, time with Buddies, and viewing 3rd grade President presentations and book fair books. Check out these cool math designs below. I am also including some cool astrolabes from January when students were working on Age of Exploration projects.
Strait Lines Make Curves!!
Fibonacci Spirals:
Explorer Astrolabes:
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
TIGER LINKS FROM MS. MAGGIE SCIENCE
Maggie Science shared a presentation with us today on the importance of conservation with and the endangered tiger subspecies.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
ECOSCHOOLHOUSE TOUR
We had our first official Ecoschoolhouse tour today and it was a hit! We sent thank you cards to all our contacts from our community field trips earlier this year. Our thank yous included an invitation to take an Ecoschoolhouse tour. Today we had may guests from CCUA come and learn about the Ecoschoolhouse. You are welcome to take a tour too! Just email Mr. Nies about a time (jnies@cpsk12.org). Here are a couple shots of our guests enjoying their tour. Great job, kids!
Sunday, February 8, 2015
WEEKLY UPDATE
Families, this week I am adding something new to our blog. You will see a page to the right called WEEKLY RESOURCES. I will be adding helpful resources for our weekly focus in each subject on this page. This is intended for kids to have extra resources as needed and also to support appropriate iPad usage at home.
Concerning the iPads, we have had an unusual amount of breakage this year. I put a hold on taking them home so I have a moment to revisit our routine. Most of the time, the breakage is due to a little but of mishandling or just not being careful enough. I am talking to the kids about being All-Stars with these devices and making sure they know they come at a high cost (financially, environmentally, and culturally). We have screen protectors that came with the devices which I will send home to have kids put them on with guidance from an adult. Please help your child attache the screen protector carefully.
Focus for this week:
Reading: Book Shares!
This week, readers can work on a book share for their last book. We will expect 7 completed by Spring Break.
Writing: Explorer Narratives.
We will be drafting our narratives using techniques we drafted in class. Kids will be expected to use commas, quotations, include character thoughts, actions, and words in a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Math: Fractions.
We will connect fractions to decimals and percents this week. There will be a fraction test on February 12. I know this is the Valentines Day party but I want to get the test out of the way before the weekend. If your student has done their best in class and practiced at home, they will be prepared. I will also make sure there is a study guide.
Social Studies: Colonies.
Our next focus will be on the differences of the 13 colonies and their regions. Students will be compiling information about the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies into group websites to share.
Science: Mixtures! After we finish up our tree diagrams on Monday, our focus will be on properties of mixtures. We will relate our activities to our overall them this year of litter and stream organisms. The actual objectives we are focusing on for February are:
Concerning the iPads, we have had an unusual amount of breakage this year. I put a hold on taking them home so I have a moment to revisit our routine. Most of the time, the breakage is due to a little but of mishandling or just not being careful enough. I am talking to the kids about being All-Stars with these devices and making sure they know they come at a high cost (financially, environmentally, and culturally). We have screen protectors that came with the devices which I will send home to have kids put them on with guidance from an adult. Please help your child attache the screen protector carefully.
Focus for this week:
Reading: Book Shares!
This week, readers can work on a book share for their last book. We will expect 7 completed by Spring Break.
Writing: Explorer Narratives.
We will be drafting our narratives using techniques we drafted in class. Kids will be expected to use commas, quotations, include character thoughts, actions, and words in a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Math: Fractions.
We will connect fractions to decimals and percents this week. There will be a fraction test on February 12. I know this is the Valentines Day party but I want to get the test out of the way before the weekend. If your student has done their best in class and practiced at home, they will be prepared. I will also make sure there is a study guide.
Social Studies: Colonies.
Our next focus will be on the differences of the 13 colonies and their regions. Students will be compiling information about the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies into group websites to share.
Science: Mixtures! After we finish up our tree diagrams on Monday, our focus will be on properties of mixtures. We will relate our activities to our overall them this year of litter and stream organisms. The actual objectives we are focusing on for February are:
·
Conduct an investigation to determine whether
the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances
·
Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence
that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or
mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved
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