Mar 9, 2010

Day's highlights:
Teacher Cafe (hot chocolate, etc)
Read book: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Recess
Vocabulary: Tom Sawyer
Lunch
Science: seeds
Vocabulary continued
Recess
Keyboarding
Pack up

Homework:
Q: Is your game thought provoking?
Continue working on board game (Due Fri)

Mar 3, 2010

1/2 Day

Day's highlights:
Math problems: measurement conversion
Read Lewis & Clark book
Recess
Lunch
Played Silentball

Homework:
Green Book: page 509 even OR Orange Book: unknown page even

Mar 1, 2010

No update on Friday due to out of town.

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Math lesson: geometry figures
Recess
Math lesson: geometry figures continued
Lunch
Share who is your WA historical figure name and brief bio
Junior Scholastic
Packed up
Recess
Media: Book Fair
Keyboarding

Homework:
Finish geometry figure/picture
Think about how to do WA historical figure speech
Look for tongue twisters for Wed
Bring pocket sized stuffed animal for tomorrow

Feb 25, 2010

Day's highlights:
GEO Passport: State Study
Math facts practice sheet
Synonyms
Recess
Lunch
Coin presentation
Planner

Homework:
WA explorers info: name, birth & death dates, family history, education, married, any children, major contributions, any other work.

Feb 24, 2010

Day's highlights:
GEO Passport: State Study
Finished "Honest to Goodness Truth" book
Art Discovery: Chinese ink pandas
Recess
Lunch
Pack-up

Homework:
GEO Passport study: regular and States
Library: write government letter (only 1 kid per group)
Green math sheets

Feb 23, 2010

Day's highlights:
AM Q
AM Q check
Share snail observations (homework from last night)
Writing Prompt: final draft
Recess
Writing Prompt: final draft continued
Lunch
Class Meeting: Cafeteria food throwing report, Not passing tests in class after passing big test to get into Excel.
Math Assessment test
Recess
Keyboarding: Ultrakey, Mathisfun.com (Tanks)
Planner

Homework:
Book Orders
Anticipate Explorer unit of WA state: Locate one example of a famous person from WA state history 1800-present.  Use info to convince teacher to let you use that person instead of who you will draw tomorrow.
Green Math packet: due tomorrow
GEO Passport: US States & Capitals

Feb 22, 2010

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Writing prompt: "Important Person in my Life" (pre-write)
Recess
Writing prompt continued (writing)
Lunch
Writing prompt continued (editing, revising)
Science: Snails
Planner
Recess
Library: Government
NO Keyboarding

Homework:
Write detailed observations of snails and sketch from memory (due tomorrow)
GEO Passport study (for 3/17)
Book Orders

Feb 18, 2010

Day's highlights:
Student Council
Math: green papers
Dental presentation
Recess
Talked about Olympics
Lunch
Talked more about Olympics
Junior Scholastic pg15 Q's
Recess
Shared C&P comparisons
Keyboarding: Aesop's Fables

Homework:
Junior Scholastic: write paragraph about soda tax, read pg4, 8-12, all Q's on back page.
Finish 3 green papers
Newmark $ (if not done already)

Feb 17, 2010

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Jump Rope for Heart assembly
Recess
Math: Fractions
Lunch
GEO Passport testing
Finished art: Firecrackers
Recess
Music
PE: World Champ Jump Roper

Homework:
Dental hygiene paper
Write what learned about Coastal and Plateau Native Americans

Feb 16, 2010

Day's highlights:
Shared about long weekend activities
Wrote in planner
Recess
Practice Chinese New Year
Lunch
Chinese New Year program
Art Discovery
Keyboarding (for those who didn't leave with parent)

Homework:
Study GEO Passport levels 1-5 -- Test tomorrow!

Field Trip slip and $6.75

Feb 11, 2010

In a previous post, I mentioned the filming of the Parent U webinar at my house.  The Columbian wrote an article about the program and interviewed me for it.  It was in today's paper in the C Section and online at: http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/feb/11/webinars-educate-parents-esd-program-aimed-at/.  I feel this program could help many parents as it grows to cover many more subjects.

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Paper about modern Olympics
Recess
Another paper about Olympics medals
Lunch
Play about 1920s poet Langdon Hughes
Recess
Get ready for end of day
Keyboarding

Homework:
None.

Feb 10, 2010

Didn't do one of these yesterday.  I had a film crew at my house all evening recording material for the new ParentU webinar program that our kids' teacher included as an email attachment.  Good times!  You can find out more about the program here and here.

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Valentine guessing game
Class Meeting: running--new punishment
Recess
Class Meeting continued
Watched YouTube Chinese song
Lunch
Valentine's Party
Recess
Music: Old Tom White
PE: Learned about heart and blood cells flow

Homework:
None.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Zero.

Feb 8, 2010

Sorry about the skip on Friday 2/5.  Busy night and football weekend.

Day's highlights:
AM Q
Discussed what's coming up today
Recess
Finish crayfish question from Friday and feed them
Lunch
Made Valentine boxes
Recess
Media: researched facts about WA State government groups (Supreme Court, Governor, etc)
Keyboarding

Homework:
Memorize song written in planner.

Feb 4, 2010

Sorry for the late post today. I was a special illustrator guest at a presentation at the Evergreen district offices about using Graphica as a literary tool in the classroom based on the ideas discussed in the book Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6.



Day's highlights:
Author's Chair
Recess
Fed crayfish
Paper about crayfish observations
Math: Fractions
Lunch
General discussion about homework practices, Brothers & Sisters
Math: Fractions
Star Student vote
Author's Chair pt 2
Star Student winner
Checked math paper
Recess
Goals
Planner
Keyboarding

Homework:
GEO Passport study (Levels 1-5)
Bring shoebox (if not brought yet)
Continue doing Jump Rope for Heart

Feb 3, 2010

Day's highlights:
1/2 Day
Flip-Flop day
Music
PE
Watched Chinook Native American video
Announce Crayfish still alive
Recess
Lunch

Homework:
GEO Passport study (Levels 1-5)
Study two of 7, 8, 9, 11, or 12 multi facts
Write fiction story "What Really Happened at Dr. Teacher's Office?"
Find shoebox for Valentines Day

Feb 2, 2010

Day's highlights:
Clean desks
Clean crayfish tanks
Recess
Science: crayfish page
Making Coastal or Plateau houses
Lunch
Science: finish crayfish page
Math: multiplication fact assesment
Recess
Keyboarding
Class Meeting: math vocab

Homework:
Science: answer question from class
Math: division page
Junior Scholastic: Q's page 23 #1, 5, 10
Finish typing from Monday

Feb 1, 2010

Day's highlights:
Started blue math sheet.
Received Native American info packets
Recess
Groups to write paragraph of Native American facts (see homework)
Lunch
Notified about death of crayfish, Crayzilla.
Observations/experiments on remaining crayfish.
Recess
Library: Study branches of government and creating bibliography
Keyboarding

Homework:
Type one paragraph based on two Coastal and Plateau Native Americans facts and draw examples of them.
Finish blue math sheet.
Read "All Write" pages 60-63.

Jan 29, 2010

Day's highlights:
Colored bear face mask
Visit from Taiwanese students
Recess
Learned surprise guest...seven crayfish!
Continued coloring bear face mask
Lunch
Observed crayfish
Presented Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. plays to other classes
Recess
Music: recorders
PE

Homework:
None!

Jan 28, 2010

Day's highlights:
Decision on WA Children's Choice Books (#1 = Two Bobbies)
Art Discovery: water bottle totem poles
Cleaned up floor (spilled rice!)
Social Studies: Read Coastal passage
Guess the Guest
Lunch
Partner for checking Atlas work
Social Studies: Read Plateau passage
Partnered for Native American groups
PM Q
Recess
PM Q check
Practiced Rosa Parks skit
Keyboarding

Homework:
Read & finish Plateau and Coastal passages
Social Studies: page 42 Q 2, 4, 5 at top, page 51 Q 2-4 in complete sentences
Think about Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. plays for performance tomorrow.
Research two facts about your Native American groups.  Write and bring tomorrow.

Jan 27, 2010

Day's highlights:
Keffeler Cafe
Blue Storyworks page
Discussed new Junior Scholastic
Recess
AM Q
Lunch
GEO Passport
Read last two WA Children's Choice books (One is a Feast for Mouse, The Pencil)
Recess
Music
PE

Homework:
Junior Scholastic: Atlas, questions 1-10 (pages 8 & 9)
Get ready for a few surprise guests. :)
Prepare to study Coast and Plateau Indians on Thursday.
Art Discovery: bring creative mind

Jan 26, 2010

Day's highlights:
AM Q: 2 math problems
Performed Native American skits
Recess
Practiced MLK, Jr. skit
Lunch
Word search
Math: probability
Recess
Keyboarding
Planner

Homework:
Lit O's: summary of book (not like 7 pages.  Short, like a page or two long.)
GEO Passport study
Still need at least two empty toilet paper rolls and one egg carton.  Due next Monday.
Book order due Friday.

Jan 25, 2010

Day's highlights:
Two math problems (AM Q)
Super long class meeting about class rules (no playing guns)
Recess
Substitute arrived
Read WA Children's Choice Book (Mrs. McCaw Learns to Draw)
Lunch
Practiced MLK Jr. play like 4 times
Practiced Native American skit
Recess
Library
Keyboarding

Homework:
Lit O's: summary of books if they finished book already, if not, regular Lit O's.
Empty toilet paper roll (x2) for Native American project. Unknown due date.
Think about how our Conference planned goal has changed since Oct.
Finish Native American skit.  Due tomorrow.
Book Orders.

Jan 22, 2010

Day's highlights:
Birthday celebration
Math: check yesterday homework, did another page in class
Practice Rosa Parks and MLK, Jr. plays
Lit circles sharing
Storyworks magazine activity sheet
Music
PE

Homework:
None

Jan 21, 2010

Day's highlights:
Birthday celebration
Keyboarding
Practiced Rosa Park play
Literature Circles sharing with groups
Student Council report: final sucker sale flavors, sale dates (Feb. 4, 5, 8-10)

Homework:
Received newsletter
Complete story based on music. At least a paragraph.
Literature Circles
Green Math Book group, page 508 (all problems but C, D, E, F, G)

A Fresh Start

I'm starting this blog to help communicate with other parents what is going on in our kids' classroom and homework.  I'll post up daily what my son is communicating and feel free to comment if and how that differs with what you're hearing from yours.

Please do not use student, teacher, or school names in your posts.  I do not wish to compromise the privacy of anyone. This is not a blog that I imaging anyone outside of the class parents or administration will want to view or find, but just to error on the side of caution, please keep names absent.