Dec. 15th

5th Grade Math: Many students did much better on the retake of the multiplication test over multiplying a 3 digit number by a 2 digit number! Although I am very pleased with this, they still need to practice their multiplication facts. I am noticing that most of them do not know their facts very well, and this is something that they need to know for 5th Grade. Over break, my challenge to all of my students is to practice their multiplication facts for at least 10 minutes a day.  This doesn't necessary have to be flashcards either. They could practice with a whiteboard, piece of paper, etc. With your permission, they could try some multiplication games online as well. They could even try some multiplication games with a deck of cards! Practice makes perfect! :)

4th Grade REWARDS: We have really been working hard decoding words. One thing that the kids seem to struggle with is the sound vowels make verses the name of a vowel. We really don't talk about vowel sounds much in 4th Grade, and they seem to have forgotten. Another thing that we have been learning is suffixes. Suffixes come at the end of words and sometimes sound different than they look.
For example: manage sounds like man-edge, but looks like man-age.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: All of the students are continuing to work really hard at earning prizes and books, and I am amazed at how much better readers the kids are from when I first started seeing them. I am also noticing that the amount of errors that the children are making are going down as well! Make sure to keep reading over break!

I hope that everyone enjoys the holidays and their two weeks off! I also encourage all of the kids to curl up and read a good book over the break! :)

Dec. 13th

5th Grade Math: Today we went over how to multiply a 3 digit number by a 3 digit number. The main thing that the kids usually get stuck on is remembering to add their zeros. We will be retaking the test from Monday tomorrow, and I am letting them use their multiplication grids while they are taking the test. Their homework tonight is a multiplication page, front and back. One side has problems with 3 digit by 2 multiplication and the other side has problems with 3 digit by 3 digit multiplication.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: Congrats to Dannee and Emily who both earned their books today! Tyler has really been on a roll as well and he finished his 18th story today earning him a prize! Woohoo! :)

Dec. 12th

5th Grade Math: After giving the multiplication test test today over multiplying 3 digit by 2 digit numbers, I see that we need more practice on this. I think that the main problem is that the students do not know their multiplication facts. We have been taking timed tests over multiplication 3 times a week. They should be practicing their facts at home. Once we start getting into long division, this will be extremely helpful!

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: Congratulations to Kyrsten who completed her 12th story today and earned a book! Keep up the amazing work!

Dec. 9th

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: Zachary earned a well deserved prize today for completing 6 stories in his folder! He has been on a roll and has finished 18 stories so far this year! Way to go!

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! :)

Dec. 8th

5th Grade Math: Test was today, so there is no homework tonight! :)
Because of the music rehearsal tomorrow, we will not be meeting for Math until Monday. On Monday we will be taking an assessment on multiplying 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. I have been showing them how to do those problems by using the traditional method of multiplying. They should be pretty familiar with this because we have been practicing everyday.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally:
Congratulations to Miriam who earned her book today for finishing her stories! Keep it up!

Dec. 7th

5th Grade Math: I have good news and bad news. The good news is that there is no homework tonight! The bad news is that the test is tomorrow.  :)
We went over the study guide today as a class. If they know how to do the problems on the study guide then they will do fine on the test. I am also giving an assessment test on Monday over multiplying 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. We have been solving one of these problems everyday at the beginning of class since the beginning of October, so all of the students should know how to do this and should pass with flying colors!

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: The kids are doing an excellent job and I am noticing a difference in their fluency and accuracy! :)
Congratulations to Cierra and Aiden who earned a book today for reading 12 stories! Keep up the great work!

Dec. 6th

5th Grade Math: Unit 2 Test is Thursday! The Study Guide went home tonight. We will be spending time tomorrow going over the problems if I feel like the kids need a little bit more practice. Also, if they get a parent signature on the bottom of the page, I give one extra credit point on the test!

Dec. 5th

5th Grade Math: Today we talked about story problems using fractions. We have not gotten to fractions yet this year, but these types of problems will be on the test. We will be spending a little bit more time on this before the test. The test will start Thursday and end Friday. We also learned how to convert seconds to minutes, days to weeks, etc. This will also be on the test.

4th Grade REWARDS: We are learning how to decode words and find how many word parts are in a word. You can find how many word parts a word has by putting your hand underneath your chin and counting how many times it moves while you say the word. We also talked about vowel sounds and the other sound of c.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: Many prizes and books are still being earned and the students are working hard!
Congratulations to Charlotte who finished her sixth book earning her a prize! Awesome job!
Congratulations to Ramsy who took home a book today after he finished his 12th story!
Keep reading! :)

Dec. 2nd

5th Grade Math: Earlier this week we went over how to find a magnitude estimate with addition and subtraction. After I graded the kid's papers, I realized that most of them do not understand the concept. We went over some more examples today, and I gave them back their original assignment with a blank copy attached. Their homework for the weekend is to fix all of the mistakes that they made the first time. I will count the new score as their grade for this assignment. If they need help with how to solve a problem using magnitude estimation, they can use their SRB pgs 38-40 or 42-43 to help them.

The next test over Unit 2 will be December 8th or 9th, depending on how many more days we need to review. I will send home a study guide before the test.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally:
Congratulations to Xander for finishing his twelfth story today earning him a book to take home! Way to go!

Dec. 1st

5th Grade Math: We went over mean, median, mode, and range. The kids all seemed to understand how to do the problems, but tonight they have an assignment that uses bigger number than last nights. They are assigned to do both sides of the sheet.

2nd & 3rd Grade Read Naturally: We seem to be moving right along and students are passing their stories and earning lots of prizes and stickers!

Congratulations to the following students that earned a book for reading all 12 of their stories!
Joe
Chase
Sara
Also, Kara earned candy today because she completed six of her stories! I am very proud of all of my students for their awesome work! :)