Almost-April Showers

Snow, then rain. Spring in Illinois is always full of surprises!

Some info. for you to know:

• Your student should have brought home a note about an opportunity to have a spring photo taken on April 8. If you are interested in an additional school photo for this year, that's the time.
• Today, a letter will be arriving home regarding a music field trip on April 29. Also, the April School Newsletter will be arriving at your home today.
• I have also instituted some handwriting practice at the end of each day. I can really tell some students have needed it and are benefiting from it. They have papers they can show you each week.

Math: Spring Training packet; ask your student what they have been learning. They have engaged in some fantastic group conversations about multiplication and finding missing factors. It's been a challenge for them, and I am proud of their thinking.

Language Arts: Jackie's Nine topic: Integrity; TOFGN Ch. 10; discussed silent "gh"

Social Studies: Tour of the Southeast; start memorizing locations of states for Ch. 6 assessment

Science: Weekly Reader; ask your students about it!

Welcome back!!

It was so good to see the students again. Glad everyone returned safely.

Math: We discussed the monthly theme of working on a team. We also looked at the April calendar. Then, we worked on our Spring Training packets.

Language Arts: Six-Minute Solution; TOFGN pre-reading for Ch. 10; phonics activity for silent k; read about persistence in Jackie's Nine

Science: Worked on matter packets

Social studies: Tried to identify different music that evolved from the Southeast

If your child has not returned his/her report card envelope and the signed card, these are officially due tomorrow. The copy of the report card is yours to keep.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o' the Afternoon to Ya!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

Math: Math Minute 48; Graphiti

Reading: TOFGN Ch. 9 Pre-Reading; silent g words

Social Studies: President presentations (tomorrow is the last day)

Science: Discussed end of the year Miller Park trip expectations; students came up with a great list as a class; worked on matter booklets

We have been working on handwriting exercises to improve our writing and fine motor skills. These will be coming home for parents to view.

Sorry for the delay...

It's been a strange week. I apologize for the lag in updating the site.

We have been a bit low in the homework area due to ISAT. That will change next week. Grade sheets were sent home yesterday. The quarter ends tomorrow. I cannot believe it!

We are a week away from Spring Break. The students have worked hard, and certainly deserve the break. We have early dismissal on March 20.

Reading: TOFGN Ch. 8; quiz on Ch, 7-8

Science: Brainpop videos on measurement and properties of matter

Social studies: worked on Power Points; received order of President Presentations; tour of Southeast
Social studies homework: Practice what you will say for your presentations

Pat the Cat

While we celebrated Dr. Seuss' contributions to early literacy, I challenged the students to write stories using 50 words or less. This was the same challenge Dr. Seuss' publisher gave him and the result was Green Eggs and Ham. Now, after scrutiny from a panel of non-biased judges (OK, it was only my 12 year old, but it wasn't me), I present to you the winning entry: Pat the Cat by Daniel, Austin, Wanyae, Quentin, Jadan, and Shawn. Edited by Mrs. Plato.

Pat's a cat,

and he's fat.

Here is a story

of the fat cat.

Once ago

Pat the fat cat

ate a huge rat.

So then he swallowed Dr. Seuss,

and after that

he swallowed a moose.

The moose never came out,

so Pat just walked himself out.

And once the fat cat never came back

(he swallowed himself).

So that Pat

the cat

never came back.

Now for our day:

Math: ISAT Math Session 1; Session 2 tomorrow (multiple choice and short-answer)

Reading: Six-Minute Solution; Jackie's Nine; TOFGN Ch. 7

Social Studies: Started tour of the southeast; lab time tomorrow for Power Point presentation

Science: Brainpop videos on states of matter and measuring matter

Science homework: finish worksheets; come with questions if you are stumped

Power Points begin tomorrow

We will be starting our Presidential Power Points tomorrow. Students were asked to be sure pages 16-18 are completed in their packets before they would be getting on a computer. It's meant to come only from their timelines, notes, and essays. All research work should be over.

Tomorrow's Friday free time will be Horton Hears a Who. We will also be having PJ day and reading some final Dr. Seuss titles.

ISAT reading, session 3 will be tomorrow. This is the last session of reading for this year's test. It is structured much like today's test, with some multiple choice and an extended response. I was very pleased with student efforts today. They really seemed to give it their all.

Fox in Socks

It's ISAT, Round 2 today! Students participated in science and reading tests today. Tomorrow, they will have their first test requiring a written extended response (reading).

We focused our Dr. Seuss theme on Fox in Socks today. Our funky sock combinations can be seen in the slide show below. What fun!

Students have grade sheets and planners awaiting signatures tonight.

Thank you! Thank you! Sam-I-Am!

Ah, the moral of a great Dr. Seuss book. "Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may I say!" Green Eggs and Ham fit beautifully with our story from Jackie's Nine about determination today. That Sam-I-Am... he was one determined soul.

Today was ISAT, Day 1. Students took a science section of the test today. Tomorrow, they will take a reading section and the second science section.

We are also having Crazy Sock Day tomorrow. I will be bringing in Fox in Socks and attempting to read it to the class. Those who would like to participate are welcome to wear some "odd" socks, if they wish. Friday is PJ day. Those who earn free time will be watching Horton Hears a Who. That wraps up a week about the joy (and comfort) of reading.

In class today, students finished their "What is Freedom?" essays for the VFW Auxiliary contest. They were also offered the same challenge as Dr. Seuss: write a story using less than 50 different words (this was the challenge his publishers gave him; he ended up writing Green Eggs and Ham). They could repeat words, but they had to stick with their list of 50 or less.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday! That's not why we had off, but that sounds like a national holiday in the works for me. In this post, I have included a "wordle." You can make a "wordle" at http://www.wordle.net/. The application takes text that you enter and creates an image with words in proportion to how many times they are used in the text. Unfortunately, it seems to ignore pronouns. However, enough is given in this "wordle" for one to guess which Dr. Seuss book was Mrs. Plato's favorite when she was a little girl.

One of my favorite moments as an adult was seeing Jessie Jackson on Saturday Night Live reading this book. It's the best! Click here to see.