Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Updates
Happy Friday! I wanted to give some updates as we approach the end of the year!
SCIENCE- On Monday, April 23, the students have their first Science Journal Check. ALL STUDENTS MUST have 3 pages of research. The three research pages should 1.) be from 3 different sources 2.) have five facts from each source 3) be written on the 3 pages of the back of their Science Journals. ALL WORK SHOULD BE DONE AT HOME AT THIS TIME.
Students should also have started their experiment and have completed the following: Question, hypothesis, materials & procedure.
DISPLAY BOARDS HAVE BEEN ORDERED FOR ALL 4TH GRADE STUDENTS. THEY WILL BE IN STOCK AND READY FOR ME TO PICK THEM UP, THE WEEK OF THE 24. I WILL SEND THEM HOME AS SOON AS THEY ARE HERE. STUDENTS CAN STILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THEIR DISPLAY BOARDS BY TYPING UP THEIR INFORMATION TO PRINTED OUT. I WILL ALSO ALLOW SOME CLASS TIME TO WORK ON THE BOARDS.
ALL DISPLAY BOARDS ARE THE SAME SIZE AND WHITE. You may consider using fabric or butcher paper to cover yours for appeal.
Mid-quarter grade reports are being sent home today. Please keep in mind that this includes the last couple of weeks during which MAP testing was taking place. Therefore, there aren’t a lot of grades in the gradebook. This can quickly lower your child’s grades if they did poorly on one assignment. If you would like more detail regarding specific assignments, please check PowerSchool Parent Portal. There will be many opportunities over the next four weeks to raise grades in all subjects. The Science Fair project will be a large portion of their grade in Working With Words, Writing, Reading, and Science, so please make sure that they are keeping up with assignments and completing them in a timely manner.
Enjoy the weekend!
SCIENCE- On Monday, April 23, the students have their first Science Journal Check. ALL STUDENTS MUST have 3 pages of research. The three research pages should 1.) be from 3 different sources 2.) have five facts from each source 3) be written on the 3 pages of the back of their Science Journals. ALL WORK SHOULD BE DONE AT HOME AT THIS TIME.
Students should also have started their experiment and have completed the following: Question, hypothesis, materials & procedure.
DISPLAY BOARDS HAVE BEEN ORDERED FOR ALL 4TH GRADE STUDENTS. THEY WILL BE IN STOCK AND READY FOR ME TO PICK THEM UP, THE WEEK OF THE 24. I WILL SEND THEM HOME AS SOON AS THEY ARE HERE. STUDENTS CAN STILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THEIR DISPLAY BOARDS BY TYPING UP THEIR INFORMATION TO PRINTED OUT. I WILL ALSO ALLOW SOME CLASS TIME TO WORK ON THE BOARDS.
ALL DISPLAY BOARDS ARE THE SAME SIZE AND WHITE. You may consider using fabric or butcher paper to cover yours for appeal.
Mid-quarter grade reports are being sent home today. Please keep in mind that this includes the last couple of weeks during which MAP testing was taking place. Therefore, there aren’t a lot of grades in the gradebook. This can quickly lower your child’s grades if they did poorly on one assignment. If you would like more detail regarding specific assignments, please check PowerSchool Parent Portal. There will be many opportunities over the next four weeks to raise grades in all subjects. The Science Fair project will be a large portion of their grade in Working With Words, Writing, Reading, and Science, so please make sure that they are keeping up with assignments and completing them in a timely manner.
Enjoy the weekend!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Update and information
As we approach the end of the year, our calendars get very full and there are a lot of upcoming events, so please check the newsletter closely for information. A few important things are highlighted below.
• MAP testing will take place Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please help us to make sure that your child gets a good night’s sleep so they have energy and focus for the test. They are going to ROCK that test. I am so proud of them.
• CONGRATULATIONS to Aubrey Brown, Lexie Gregory, Olivia Bennett, and Jerome Cooper. They worked hard and completed Study Island practice every week for the last nine weeks! Way to go!
• CONGRATULATIONS to Olivia Bennett and Riley Farthing for completing the most math practice packets. They were definitely OUTSTANDING learners!
• The field trip is April 16th. If you have not sent in your permission form and money, please do so as soon as possible.
• If you have not sent in your child’s Kindergarten and 4th grade picture, please send those in at the beginning of next week.
• Talent show entry forms are attached to this email
• The “Meet your school” flyer for Inman is attached.
• I hope that you and your children are able to relax and enjoy the weekend!!!
• MAP testing will take place Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please help us to make sure that your child gets a good night’s sleep so they have energy and focus for the test. They are going to ROCK that test. I am so proud of them.
• CONGRATULATIONS to Aubrey Brown, Lexie Gregory, Olivia Bennett, and Jerome Cooper. They worked hard and completed Study Island practice every week for the last nine weeks! Way to go!
• CONGRATULATIONS to Olivia Bennett and Riley Farthing for completing the most math practice packets. They were definitely OUTSTANDING learners!
• The field trip is April 16th. If you have not sent in your permission form and money, please do so as soon as possible.
• If you have not sent in your child’s Kindergarten and 4th grade picture, please send those in at the beginning of next week.
• Talent show entry forms are attached to this email
• The “Meet your school” flyer for Inman is attached.
• I hope that you and your children are able to relax and enjoy the weekend!!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Updates and information
I am sending the newsletter home a little early this week because I wanted to give a couple of updates.
• Tomorrow, Friday March 2nd, will be 80s/90s day here at Mathews. Students are encouraged to dress up in clothing from those decades. I don’t know about you, but dressing like that is my favorite. It takes me back to my childhood although it is hard to believe that the students think the 80s were so long ago. It feels like yesterday to me!!!
• Please refer to the newsletter for information about next week’s BIG EVENT!!!!
• We will be stopping Working with Words tests and social studies and science content for the next couple of weeks as we kick into high gear with MAP preparation. I have some fun activities planned for review, so I would like to have extra time for math and communication arts. After MAP testing is complete, we will resume our normal schedule.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. This weather is amazing!
• Tomorrow, Friday March 2nd, will be 80s/90s day here at Mathews. Students are encouraged to dress up in clothing from those decades. I don’t know about you, but dressing like that is my favorite. It takes me back to my childhood although it is hard to believe that the students think the 80s were so long ago. It feels like yesterday to me!!!
• Please refer to the newsletter for information about next week’s BIG EVENT!!!!
• We will be stopping Working with Words tests and social studies and science content for the next couple of weeks as we kick into high gear with MAP preparation. I have some fun activities planned for review, so I would like to have extra time for math and communication arts. After MAP testing is complete, we will resume our normal schedule.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. This weather is amazing!
Friday, February 3, 2012
What a week! I don’t know about you, but this week has been extremely busy for our family, so we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Please take a look at the newsletter for reminders and information.
We are already beginning to think about the 4th Grade Celebration to be held at the end of this school year. In preparation, we are asking that you send in a picture of your child from Kindergarten and 4th grade. If you can bring those to conferences that would be greatly appreciated!!!
Mid-quarter grades will be coming home in Friday folders today. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If you have concerns about your child’s science grade, please be aware that we only have 3 grades in the gradebook at this time, so if your child performed poorly on one or two of those assignments, they have not yet had much of an opportunity to redeem themselves. We will have several more grades in science throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Have a great weekend!
We are already beginning to think about the 4th Grade Celebration to be held at the end of this school year. In preparation, we are asking that you send in a picture of your child from Kindergarten and 4th grade. If you can bring those to conferences that would be greatly appreciated!!!
Mid-quarter grades will be coming home in Friday folders today. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If you have concerns about your child’s science grade, please be aware that we only have 3 grades in the gradebook at this time, so if your child performed poorly on one or two of those assignments, they have not yet had much of an opportunity to redeem themselves. We will have several more grades in science throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thank you and updates!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!- A huge thank you for all of the goodies that were provided this week during Teacher Appreciation Week! It really is a pleasure to spend each day with your child; thank you for that privilege.
Godfather’s Pizza Night- Next Wednesday, from 4-9 at Godfather's Pizza, bring in your flyer with your teacher’s name and earn our school 15%! The class with the most participation will earn a pizza party! You can go there and eat or have it delivered.
Please read the information in the newsletter regarding conferences and T-shirts.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Godfather’s Pizza Night- Next Wednesday, from 4-9 at Godfather's Pizza, bring in your flyer with your teacher’s name and earn our school 15%! The class with the most participation will earn a pizza party! You can go there and eat or have it delivered.
Please read the information in the newsletter regarding conferences and T-shirts.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, January 13, 2012
This Week
We had a very busy week this week and learned a lot of new content. There should be some extremely tired brains this weekend! We learned about area both on a grid and with a formula, and we started diving into long division. There were definitely times of frustration, but there were a lot of light bulb moments too! We will continue working until we have mastery of our new content!
We did have quite a few issues with talking out and disrespect in the classroom. I understand that the weather has a great impact on student behavior, and indoor recess is difficult, but I spoke with them at the end of the day about the importance of paying attention and staying on task. We have a new class mantra that we are saying each morning. I will post it below. Please take a moment to discuss the meaning of each statement with your child. I'm looking forward to another great week next week!
1. Respect myself and others
2. Focus and block out distractions
3. Always try my best and improve every time.
4. LET'S SOAR!
We did have quite a few issues with talking out and disrespect in the classroom. I understand that the weather has a great impact on student behavior, and indoor recess is difficult, but I spoke with them at the end of the day about the importance of paying attention and staying on task. We have a new class mantra that we are saying each morning. I will post it below. Please take a moment to discuss the meaning of each statement with your child. I'm looking forward to another great week next week!
1. Respect myself and others
2. Focus and block out distractions
3. Always try my best and improve every time.
4. LET'S SOAR!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Welcome Back!
What a wonderful week we have had. The students have fallen right back into the swing of things and we are off to a great start for 3rd quarter. Please note that Grade Cards were sent home today. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide clarification. I am very excited for all of the fabulous learning opportunities that we have up and coming over the second half of the school year!
Have a great weekend!
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Merry Christmas!
Wow! What a year this has been so far! I am amazed at all of the progress that the students have made thus far. I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with each and every one of your children, and I also feel blessed to have such amazing families to work with.
Thank you to all of the parents who helped and volunteered with classroom parties, Sweet Elephant purchases, and everything else you do throughout the year. All of your help and support is appreciated so much!
When we come back for the 2nd half of the school year we will hit the ground running, so I hope that everyone is able to relax and enjoy the break.
Take a moment to check the GALLERY page on our classroom blog. I have uploaded some videos and pictures, and I will be uploading some more videos over the break. We also made some fun ELF YOURSELF videos. The links are below.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/pLzOk0yGHuQLMmkeAYWo
(Aubrey, Alec, Alyssa, Clayton, Angel)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/bSCbooxMK1i2EeXZJmBs
(Elizabeth, Domonic, D’arrica, Fred, Jackson)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ICErGW6tgWikvB9Tyi0z
(Mariah, Jacob, Lexie, Mackenzie, Madison)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ZOXB44ytAJCi7xkxMuaH
(Olivia, Spencer, Riley, Mason, Zack)
Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a fabulous NEW YEAR! I look forward to working with you all again soon!!!!
Thank you to all of the parents who helped and volunteered with classroom parties, Sweet Elephant purchases, and everything else you do throughout the year. All of your help and support is appreciated so much!
When we come back for the 2nd half of the school year we will hit the ground running, so I hope that everyone is able to relax and enjoy the break.
Take a moment to check the GALLERY page on our classroom blog. I have uploaded some videos and pictures, and I will be uploading some more videos over the break. We also made some fun ELF YOURSELF videos. The links are below.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/pLzOk0yGHuQLMmkeAYWo
(Aubrey, Alec, Alyssa, Clayton, Angel)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/bSCbooxMK1i2EeXZJmBs
(Elizabeth, Domonic, D’arrica, Fred, Jackson)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ICErGW6tgWikvB9Tyi0z
(Mariah, Jacob, Lexie, Mackenzie, Madison)
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ZOXB44ytAJCi7xkxMuaH
(Olivia, Spencer, Riley, Mason, Zack)
Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a fabulous NEW YEAR! I look forward to working with you all again soon!!!!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Updates 12-2
Wow! What a week we have had! I have been so impressed by how hard all of the students are working. They have absolutely done their best throughout the week and it is showing in all that they do!!!
• I am attaching the newsletter so please look that over for important news and updates.
• As you may have heard, we have been very fortunate in that we now have 4 student computers in the classroom. We have been utilizing those computers to do research, type papers, and visit Study Island along with other instructional sites. I feel like there is a new love for learning developing!
• All students recently finished a project on erosion and how to control it. These videos will be posted to the blog soon so check back often! They did a fabulous job and this was their own entirely! I offered no help at all
• If you have computer/internet access at home, it would be great for your child to access STUDY ISLAND while at home. This provide instruction and practice in reading and math skills. Once they have accessed this program at home, I am able to see the scores that they receive and this enables me to offer individualized instruction.
I hope everyone has a FABULOUS weekend!
• I am attaching the newsletter so please look that over for important news and updates.
• As you may have heard, we have been very fortunate in that we now have 4 student computers in the classroom. We have been utilizing those computers to do research, type papers, and visit Study Island along with other instructional sites. I feel like there is a new love for learning developing!
• All students recently finished a project on erosion and how to control it. These videos will be posted to the blog soon so check back often! They did a fabulous job and this was their own entirely! I offered no help at all
• If you have computer/internet access at home, it would be great for your child to access STUDY ISLAND while at home. This provide instruction and practice in reading and math skills. Once they have accessed this program at home, I am able to see the scores that they receive and this enables me to offer individualized instruction.
I hope everyone has a FABULOUS weekend!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Grading system
Parents,
You may have seen some numbers instead of percentages and letter grades coming home on your child’s papers recently. I wanted to take a moment to explain that grading system.
In assessing student work and looking to see who has demonstrated mastery of a specific topic, sometimes a letter grade does not give me enough information. One way that I am keeping track of student mastery of specific topics is with a 4-3-2-1 scale. These numbers coincide with proficiency indicators and tell me what we need to continue working on both individually and as a whole class. The break down on those numbers is as follows:
4-demonstrates complete mastery at an advanced level (becomes a 100% if placed in the gradebook)
3-demonstrates mastery at a proficient level (becomes an 85% if placed in the gradebook)
2-demonstrates mastery at a basic level and needs additional support to achieve proficiency (becomes a 75% if placed in the gradebook)
1-demonstrates mastery at a below basic level. We will re-teach the content in a different way to increase understanding and move towards proficiency. (becomes a 60% if placed in the gradebook)
I hope this clarifies. Please let me know if you have any further questions!
You may have seen some numbers instead of percentages and letter grades coming home on your child’s papers recently. I wanted to take a moment to explain that grading system.
In assessing student work and looking to see who has demonstrated mastery of a specific topic, sometimes a letter grade does not give me enough information. One way that I am keeping track of student mastery of specific topics is with a 4-3-2-1 scale. These numbers coincide with proficiency indicators and tell me what we need to continue working on both individually and as a whole class. The break down on those numbers is as follows:
4-demonstrates complete mastery at an advanced level (becomes a 100% if placed in the gradebook)
3-demonstrates mastery at a proficient level (becomes an 85% if placed in the gradebook)
2-demonstrates mastery at a basic level and needs additional support to achieve proficiency (becomes a 75% if placed in the gradebook)
1-demonstrates mastery at a below basic level. We will re-teach the content in a different way to increase understanding and move towards proficiency. (becomes a 60% if placed in the gradebook)
I hope this clarifies. Please let me know if you have any further questions!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Book Orders
Scholastic Book orders went home today. Please make use of online ordering so that we can earn free books for the classroom! If you would like to place an order for use as a gift, I am happy to help you with that, just let me know and I will hold the order for you until you can pick it up!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Assembly and Veterans' Day
I have uploaded some pictures from our Academic Pep Rally at the High School today.
On Wednesday, we will be celebrating Veterans' Day here at Mathews. We have asked all students to wear red, white, and/or blue if possible. Honor Choir students should wear their Mathews Spirit Wear.
Please see the important information below. This was taken from the newsletter.
Effort
I have begun to notice a decrease in the amount of effort students are putting forth on their assignments. Grades for this quarter are not where I would like them to be, and as I am analyzing tests and quizzes, I am noticing that many students are missing skills that they have previously demonstrated mastery of. Please talk with your child about the importance of always doing their best. If the content is difficult for them, I am happy to reteach the concepts, but we do still have many new concepts to cover throughout the year, so they need to consistently do their best and double check their work so that I do not reteach based on simple mistakes or rushing through work.
On Wednesday, we will be celebrating Veterans' Day here at Mathews. We have asked all students to wear red, white, and/or blue if possible. Honor Choir students should wear their Mathews Spirit Wear.
Please see the important information below. This was taken from the newsletter.
Effort
I have begun to notice a decrease in the amount of effort students are putting forth on their assignments. Grades for this quarter are not where I would like them to be, and as I am analyzing tests and quizzes, I am noticing that many students are missing skills that they have previously demonstrated mastery of. Please talk with your child about the importance of always doing their best. If the content is difficult for them, I am happy to reteach the concepts, but we do still have many new concepts to cover throughout the year, so they need to consistently do their best and double check their work so that I do not reteach based on simple mistakes or rushing through work.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thank you!
A huge thank you to all of my parents for attending parent-teacher conferences this week. I greatly appreciate your support as we work together to help your child achieve and succeed! I feel blessed to work with such an amazing group of families and I am looking forward to the rest of our year together. Please do not ever hesitate to contact me if you have an comments, questions, or concerns. I love working with your children!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
New pictures
New pictures from the Big Event are now posted under the gallery. There are also pictures of the students working hard on their ecosystem posters.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Ready for a new week!
We are about to begin a brand new week and a brand new quarter! I can't believe that we are 1/4 of the way through the school year already. We are working hard and have made so much progress already. Please remember that parent/teacher conferences will be held on Tuesday and Thursday this week. I am looking forward to visiting with all of you!
If you click on the gallery link you will find pictures from Friday's BIG EVENT. The students worked so hard throughout the quarter to be Safe Outstanding learners who are Respectful and Responsible. In other words, they were SOARing! We all enjoyed our celebration on Friday. Ask your child about SOAR bucks each day. They love sharing what they did to earn them!
If you click on the gallery link you will find pictures from Friday's BIG EVENT. The students worked so hard throughout the quarter to be Safe Outstanding learners who are Respectful and Responsible. In other words, they were SOARing! We all enjoyed our celebration on Friday. Ask your child about SOAR bucks each day. They love sharing what they did to earn them!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Happy Friday
Happy Friday!
I am attaching the newsletter, but wanted to remind everyone that next Friday is the end of 1st quarter! I can’t believe it is already here! Time has flown. On that day we will be having our Big Event. I am happy to say that everyone from our class will be attending the Big Event this time! Woohoo! Way to show how we can SOAR. We are asking that the students wear camo that day if they have it.
Also, we are going to begin an ecosystem project this week. I have asked students to bring in pictures of plants and animals that would be part of a variety of ecosystems. If you have any old magazines or pictures that you don’t mind us cutting up, we would love to use those to make our posters! Please send them in at your earliest convenience.
Enjoy the weekend!
I am attaching the newsletter, but wanted to remind everyone that next Friday is the end of 1st quarter! I can’t believe it is already here! Time has flown. On that day we will be having our Big Event. I am happy to say that everyone from our class will be attending the Big Event this time! Woohoo! Way to show how we can SOAR. We are asking that the students wear camo that day if they have it.
Also, we are going to begin an ecosystem project this week. I have asked students to bring in pictures of plants and animals that would be part of a variety of ecosystems. If you have any old magazines or pictures that you don’t mind us cutting up, we would love to use those to make our posters! Please send them in at your earliest convenience.
Enjoy the weekend!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Coats for Kids
Every year the Lion's Club collects coats for students in need. The drive begins Oct. 3 and ends on Oct. 30. You can bring your coats to Mathews Elementary for drop-off.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Happy Friday
It has been an extremely busy week in our classroom! I did get behind on grading this week, but all grades are now posted and current. All of your child's work from this week will be coming home in their Friday folder. We are approaching the end of first quarter (I can't believe it already!!!), so please remind your child to continue to stay focused and do their best. I encourage them to take their time and double check ALL of their work!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am hoping to relax and enjoy the family!
I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am hoping to relax and enjoy the family!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Marble Celebration
Our class has earned another marble celebration so tomorrow is COSTUME DAY!
Please make sure that your child wears a school appropriate costume if they choose to participate. I have asked that they not dress as witches, vampires, etc. Also, no full face makeup is permitted. Otherwise, have fun
Please make sure that your child wears a school appropriate costume if they choose to participate. I have asked that they not dress as witches, vampires, etc. Also, no full face makeup is permitted. Otherwise, have fun
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