BIOGRAPHY BOOK REPORT

Directions for the biography book report will come home on Monday.  I can start approving books early next week.  I am encouraging students to find a biography in the "Who is/was...??" series.  Those are a pretty quick read & written for this grade level.  I would like for students to focus on reading about individuals who have made an impact on the world--not just someone who is "popular."  Students should also be selected a biography about a person that is new to them--not someone they read about in 2nd or 3rd grade.  BIOGRAPHY DAY [complete with costumes!!] will be Thursday, March 2nd. 
 

Prodigy Games for Math

Are you looking for resources to help your child with math? Or even to provide some enrichment for them?  Our school-provided textbook has a vast library of resources online, and we recently signed up for Prodigy Games to supplement those resources.

Prodigy is a fabulous resource for extra practice with mathematics. Best of all, it's free (there is an optional paid site as well)! Children begin by taking a quick placement test [we did this in class today!!], and it gives them work based on their skill level.  It's all done in a game format, so the children don't even know they are learning while they are playing the games!  Even the "tests" are done in game format! 

We signed everyone up for an account in class. If they don't remember their username and password (it's not the same as AR), please email me and I will give it to you.

Happy computing!

Student Council

We will be electing new Student Council Representatives this Friday. We will have one representative from each 4th & 5th grade class. Students can only serve one time. Student Council Reps visit classrooms and make morning announcements. They also organize and carry out coin drives and activities for our school. Student Council Reps must be positive role models for other students in order to be on Student Council.

Meetings are every Wednesdays from 7:45-8:15 AM in my room. I need students to be on time as our meetings are short & fast paced. Parents will need to be able to drop them off on Wednesdays at 7:40 so they arrive on time.

The Student Council Rep  for 501 will be selected by the students in  Room 501 this Friday. Candidates  will  give a short speech to our class on why they want to be on Student Council. Our first meeting will be next Wednesday. Permission slips will come home Monday.

Valentine's Day Party

We will be having our Valentine's Day party on February 14th.  A SIGNUP GENIUS will be coming out soon!!  
Please watch for it!!

We have 34 students in our class!!  If your child wants to pass out valentines at the party, s/he needs to make sure to have one for each person in the class.   No one should be left out!!  

PACKING LIST

I sent home a packing list today for Coloma--just so that you can start thinking & planning for our trip.  Kids should definitely have GOOD WALKING / HIKING SHOES [waterproof??] for our trip--and not brand new ones that they just got "for camp." They should be broken in so that we are not contending with blisters--ugh, those are NEVER fun.  

Breakout Box PHOTOS!!

We experienced our first "Breakout Box" today--similar to those "Escape Rooms" that are becoming popular.  We had a great time--collaborating, communicating with each other, being creative and thinking critically!!  We broke out with 22 minutes to spare and are ready for another one....WOOHOO!!!  

Mystery Science & NGSS

We are about to start Mystery Science in our class. This week, we will investigate whether a volcano could erupt in our backyards...YIKES!!  This is an online program for teachers that brings the NGSS to life. NGSS stands for Next Generation Science Standards and is an exciting new approach to science across all grade levels. The Mystery Science lessons involve real life videos, pictures and articles taken directly from the news. Students use creative thinking and collaborate with other students to solve questions and sometimes design solutions. We are stepping away from our textbook as it has become a dated tool. Ask your kids what they learned during the Mystery Science lessons & activities. Grades will be taken from classwork and end of unit assessments that measure student's understanding and application of new concepts.

Here is a link if you want to learn more: NGSS for Parents