Open House

Open House was a great success with 87% of the students in attendance. Parents shared their expectations of their children, the teachers and themselves. After the students complete the activity this week, we will compare the data looking for similarities and differences.
It will be hot this week, so come prepared dressed in school-appropriate but lightweight clothing. Spaghetti straps and flipflops are not permitted according to the school handbook. Also, be sure to bring a water bottle with a good lid.
I can't wait to see all of the bright, shiny smiles tomorrow!

Counting Down

Only a few more days until school begins. I hope everyone is as excited as I am for a new year to begin! By now you should have received a letter from me as well as a post card with instructions for the first day. I will have materials available for our journal project, but don't forget to bring photos, stickers, or magazine pictures that reflect your taste.
Other things to bring for the first day:

• Snack-Be sure your snack is HEALTHY. If you are not sure what healthy is, click here for ideas.
• Water bottle-Your water bottle MUST have a lid. The pop up kind is best for avoiding spills.
• School supplies-At the end of the year you received a list of school supplies that you would need this year. Check out the fourth grade web page or click here for the school supply list.

For more information, check the newly designed district website and keep checking this blog.

We the Teachers

Okay, I found a new site today that has the best stuff! I absolutely ADORE when I do not have to creat my own material but can adapt (or steal) someone else's! We the Teachers has science powerpoints, worksheets, links, and more AND you can search by subject or grade level! Draw a Scientist is a cool lesson that I am sharing with my SOSI cohorts, and this website has a powerpoint that is perfect, in fact designed, to use with the activity! Science notebooks and journals are a big topic in SOSI, and of course this site has a powerpoint about setting up an interactive notebook!

First Assignment

For the first day of school, each student will need a composition notebook. This is a great time to purchase them because they can be found for 50 cents or less at stores like Target and Staples. In addition to a notebook, everyone needs to bring in several pictures (that will not be returned) that represent important aspects of your lives. Pictures cut from magazines and/or photographs are perfect for the activity that we will do.
I hope to see you at the Open House on Tuesday, August 21 from 5-6 p.m!

Classroom Economy

Okay, I've been searching the web for the best way to create a classroom economy since Sarah Robertson, a teacher at Loveland, shared the idea during SOSI. I love the idea of creating a classroom economy because it accomplishes so many goals at one time: 1. Students practice money skills (math). 2. Economic concepts are explored in depth and with hands on, practical activities (social studies). 3. Students can take ownership in the rules of the classroom by setting and following consequences and fines (citizenship-social studies). 4. Children's literature can be used to complement the unit (language arts). Meanwhile, behavior management is being addressed as well!
Beth Newingham's webpage has links to her experience with a classroom economy. In fact, she has even written a unit for Scholastic entitled "Creating a Classroom Economy". I think that this is a great place to start, but I'm not sure that I can use every idea as is.
While I initially searched Heather Renz's website for references to the classroom economy, I got lost looking at all the other ideas I want to "borrow" from her. I think her Mastery Club may go into effect for the 2007-2008 school year. I love it!
Another site that I found and will borrow ideas from is Amanda Madden's. Her STAR binders may well inspire ROCKET binders. I have also been looking for a good/new way to implement writing workshop in my classroom. For organization, this site beats all!
When I visit other teachers' website, especially like the ones above, I wonder where they find the time to create and maintain the details. It's no wonder that teachers like them win awards!

New Blog?

Mrs. Thompson really keeps me on the ball with this thing called blogging! We have spent some time over the past two weeks exploring the avenues down which blogging can take us, and hopefully down which we can then take our students. I had no idea there were so many options! If you are interested in blogging, check out blogger.com for a simple start to blogging. Chelsea, a fifth grader I know, recently started a blog for when she is bored:) It's amazing how quickly she caught on and it gives her something to do this summer!

School is out!

It is summer vacation! I hope that everybody is enjoying their time off from school. Don't forget to keep reading and working on your math skills all summer!