General

Quarter 3 has begun and we are now working on solidifying our basic multiplication facts.  The scores you see on your child's grade report for their basic facts are CURVED.  Here is some information to help you interpret their scores. 

If you take your child's percentage grade and subtract 40, this will tell you how many facts your child was able to get correct in one minute.  To pass with a C- they need to get 30 correct in one minute.  If you add 40 to this score, you will see a grade of 70% or a C- on Power Grade

Look back at an earlier blog to see the importance of learning the basic facts and how it affects future math achievement in algebra and pre-algebra classes.  Working with your child for 5 minutes EVERY day with flash cards will guarantee an improvement in their basic facts.

We are ending up our unit on Bullying/Peaceable Schools.  Students are creating Public Service Announcements (PSA) to inform us about how bystanders can take away a bullies power and help the target. 

Students have been using digital photography and the program Imovie to help create their PSA.  We have until the end of the week to complete this project.  Students are able to stay afterschool to continue working on their PSA. 

We are in our second week of research for our Near East Asian Research Project.  Students are working in groups, researching a specific Ancient Near East civilization.  We will begin presentating on Wednesday of this week.  Make sure to complete any additional research at home before Wednesday.

Ask you child which civilization they are researching.  Find out about the Hitittes, Assyrians, Persians, and more.

The students have been working hard, and I am looking forward to hearing their presentations.

Reading:

Monday: 09-17 - We will begin work on Unit One of our vocabulary book and then discuss and practice writing for the upcoming test on the story "Nadia the Willful."

Homework:  Review the story "Nadia the Willfull."  Pay attention to characters, the setting, and the moral of the story.

Tuesday: 09-18 - **EARLY RELEASE**  Test on the story "Nadia the Willfull."

Wednesday: 09-19 - We will continue work on Unit One of the vocabulary book; Completing Sentences.  We will begin reading our next short story, "The School Play."

Homework: Vocabulary book- Unit One: Completing Sentences

Thursday: 09-20 - We will finish reading and discuss the story "The School Play," and continue work in the vocabulary book on Unit One with antonyms and synonyms.

Homework: Vocabulary book- Unit One: Synonyms & Antonyms

On Thursday, August 30, Josh Orlan visited my classroom to talk to student about some very important life skills.  Mr. Orlan is a mortgage broker in Lincolnwood.  He spoke to the class about establishing credit and maintaining good credit.  Also, using this credit to one day buy a home and how banks loan money out to potential home buyers.  He finished with a great message about how working hard in school with pay off in the future when they become first time home buyers themselves.

This is a direct tie in to our classroom economy and this has already proven valuable as our students will be in the market to purchase or rent a home or condo in my classroom.

Thanks again to Josh Orlan for sharing this important information.  Attached are some pictures of the day.

Math students are reviewing their addition facts this quarter.  Part of their homework every evening is to practice with flash cards for 3-5 minutes.  If a student can get 5 A's in a row, they can skip the flash cards .   I assess students by giving a series of Mad Minutes.  I count only the five highest scores when I do report card grades.  That means if we take 10 Mad Minutes, only the top five scores will count.  Not only do I look at the actual scores,  I also take into account improvement made over time. 

Students are expected to get a minimum of 30 problems correct in one minute to pass.  Many students are not there yet with their addition facts.  Studying nightly at home DOES help!  Many students can get more than 60 correct by the end of the quarter. A bit of trivia ......  the all time record in my class for addition is 136 problems done correctly in a minute!  This was set during the 1994-'95 school year.

We will review subtractions facts 2nd quarter, multiplication facts 3rd quarter, and division facts 4th quarter.  

This week in reading we will be continuing to visit with Ms. Murray in the library to discuss this years nomination of the Rebecca Caudill books.  Remember, if you read at least 3 books, you will eligible to vote in February!  :)

This week in science we will be looking in the 3 "spheres" that make up our Earth.  These three spheres are the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and the lithosphere.  There will be a very quick quiz on these "spheres" on Wednesday, September 5th.  At the end of the week we will be discussing the Nitrogen cycle.

****Don't forget about your community service hour to receive your DARE t-shirt****