Mrs. Wadkins' 5th Grade

Supplies Needed!!!

2012-01-31T16:00:00.000-06:00

We are down to a ration of pencils. I am giving students 2 a week until I run out, from my emergency stash. I strongly suggest that you make sure your child has pencils they can stash in their lockers.

We are also in need of dry erase markers (we have 5 to last the rest of the year), and highlighters. As we start test preparation we will be using even more of the dry erase markers and highlighters. Thank you for your generous donation to our class.

In other news:

Students turned in their Arbor Day posters yesterday. We had several really good ones this year! They worked very hard on this.

On Thursday the students will be introduced to the DARE program. This is a program that is done all over the state. What is unique about our program is that students have the opportunity to go to DARE camp this summer after finishing the program. We are the only town in the entire state that does this. We are very thankful for all of the sponsors that make this happen.

Spelling test is this Friday as usual. Time got away from me so we did not do an in class pretest. I encourage you to test your child and help them with the spelling words they are having difficulty on.

If you have not scheduled a conference please do so now! I will be calling on Friday to let you know what is left. Click on the sentence and it will take you to the google calendar so you can see what is available.

Next Tuesday is the wax museum during the lunch hour. Last year, if your child attended Garfield, they were statues. This year they get to go and hear all about it. It is always exciting to see what this group has learned or tells about that previous years didn't mention.

On next Wednesday is picture day! We WILL be taking a class picture that day! (Oh joy I'll be exactly 1 month away from having Flint. It will be a fun class picture for sure!)

Conference week is the 13-16th. Valentines day party will be on the 14. This is the last party your child will have. No holiday parties in Middle and High School. I'm game for making it as special as possible.

Unit 18 Spelling

2012-01-29T14:10:00.000-06:00

1. duties
2. earlier
3. loveliest
4. denied
5. ferries
6. sunnier
7. terrifi ed
8. abilities
9. dirtier
10. scariest
11. trophies
12. cozier
13. enemies
14. iciest
15. greediest
16. drowsier
17. victories
18. horrifi ed
19. memories
20. strategies
Challenge
unifi ed
dictionaries
boundaries
satisfi ed
tragedies

Unit 17 Spelling

2012-01-22T14:05:00.000-06:00

1. tiring
2. borrowed
3. freezing
4. delivered
5. whispered
6. losing
7. decided
8. amazing
9. performing
10. resulting
11. related
12. attending
13. damaged
14. remarked
15. practicing
16. supported
17. united
18. expected
19. amusing
20. repeated
Challenge
assigned
entertaining
operated
rehearsing
donated

Spelling List For Jan. 20th

2012-01-17T15:31:00.001-06:00

1. scrubbed

2. listening

3. stunned

4. knitting

5. carpeting

6. wandered

7. gathering

8. beginning

9. skimmed

10. chatting

11. shrugged

12. bothering

13. whipped

14. quizzed

15. suffering

16. scanned

17. ordered

18. totaled

19. answered

20. upsetting

Challenge

compelling

deposited

occurred

threatening

canceled

Happy New Year

2012-01-09T14:25:00.000-06:00

A ton of exciting things are happening in fifth grade! I'm sorry that the blog hasn't been updated in awhile. I posted this weeks spelling words earlier today. They are also already up on spellingcity.com.

Today a packet and letter went home about postcards. We are asking students to fill out addresses and bring them back. You have no obligation to buy. Students will get a prize just for filling out their postcards. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

This week my class has Mrs. Campbell for Science. They will have her for 2 more weeks. We are currently working on test preparation for State Assessments. Please be on the look out for reading test examples to come home. You can go over these with your child to continue to help them prep for state assessments. Please also continue to work with your child on their multiplication facts!

I am currently working on my Master's Degree. I graduate in May! (I'm very excited. I have learned a ton of different activities to do with your children.) The class I am currently taking is called Action Research. I have to do a research study and write a huge paper about it. I sent home today 10 letters asking for some of your children to participate in this study. The study is about using multiplication and finding strategies to help remember the basic multiplication facts. I need to signed permission slip by Friday. I am going to try and email each of the parents that I sent letters home to. This way they know to be on the look out for it.

The box tops competition is in full swing! Please make sure your child is turning in their box tops to our room. Put their name on the bag that has their name on it.

Spelling test is this Friday.

On Monday, January 16th there is no school.

On January 20th we will have the school wide spelling bee. On Thursday, January 12 we will have a class spelling bee. On Friday, January 13 we will have a fifth grade bee. The top 4 spellers will then go on to compete for the school spelling bee.

We just got word that Day at the K is scheduled for 17th. This is after school has ended for the year. So we are looking into other field trip opportunities.

Friday, January 27th there is no school.

We do have our c-section to have Flint scheduled for March 8th. I am planning on working up until March 7th. Dawn Rumford will be my long term sub. She will finish out the year with the kids. I will be back in periodically to say hi. Bringing the baby of course. I will be there for 5th grade graduation.

Spelling Words for January 13th

2012-01-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

Spelling list for Unit 15 January 13th.

formal
whistle
label
puzzle
legal
angle
normal
needle
angel
pupil
struggle
level
local
bicycle
channel
global
stumble
quarrel
article
fossil

Challenge words:

identical
vehicle
mineral
colonel
artificial

Hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-28T15:52:00.001-06:00

I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving break! I know I did. Today a lady came around to talk to the kids about doing health careers. This is an after school program that takes 10 kids from 5th grade to go to the hospital and do activities such as touring the hospital. They will also be paired with one of the volunteers from the hospital. Once the children are selected it will start in January and be on the 3rd Thursday every month. If you have questions please contact Donna Zornes.

Progress reports were due back today! If your child has not brought their signed report back they can do so tomorrow. Spelling pretest started today. Some students were testing and will take it tomorrow.

Testing has started this week and will finish up next week for MTSS. This test measures their fluency and accuracy while reading. So far everyone that has been tested is making progress compared to the fall scores.

Book orders are due on Friday. I will be out of the building Friday morning for a Dr. Apt. I will be back at lunch. So I will send in the book order after school. Please remember that if you are wanting it to be a surprise for your child to let me know!

In science/social studies labs your child is starting a big colony project. They just finished social studies with me and should have completed their "fakebook" page about their explorer. Ask your child about it.

Students need to bring a paint shirt to keep in their locker by Friday.

Spelling Words!

1. human
2. exact
3. award
4. behave
5. credit
6. basic
7. vivid
8. evil
9. modern
10. nation
11. robot
12. panic
13. select
14. cousin
15. item
16. police
17. prefer
18. menu
19. novel
20. deserve
Challenge
autumn
nuisance
logic
column
laser

November 14th

2011-11-14T15:15:00.001-06:00

Good evening,

Wow has it been a crazy couple of weeks! There is spelling this week!!! And we DO have school on Friday!

**Spelling list will be at the bottom of this post and it will be added to spelling city.

**There are several things going on over the next few weeks please make sure to check everything.

**Over the weekend 5th grade teachers sent home a huge paper turkey feather. Here is the letter that accompanied it.

Dear Families,

As we approach our Thanksgiving season, we will be discussing the many things we have to be thankful for in our lives. As a display of our thanks, I have given each student a feather to decorate with all of the people and things they are grateful for. Please make sure their name is written LARGE somewhere on the feather for everyone to see. Please copy and cut pictures of family and friends, draw items, use stickers (and any other craft items)- whatever you and your child would like to use to decorate. This will be their personalized feather of thanks. next week we will add each feather to the fifth grade turkey to show the school how much we have to appreciate. Please enjoy some time with your child over the next few days to reflect on how much good we really do have in our lives. The feathers should be finished and brought back to school on Monday NOVEMBER 14th. Thank you so much for your involvement and support!

**Only 8 students turned in their feather today! Please help your child finish their turkey feather and bring it in to school tomorrow!

**The 4th and 5th grade musical is this Thursday. The dress rehearsal for Garfield will be at 2:30pm. The public performance will be at 6:30 PM that night! Please have your child in costume and in the gym at 6:20pm that night!! I look forward to seeing you there.

**I am sending a packet home tonight that is due on Friday! It includes math and reading practice. The point of this packet is to help prepare them for state assessments in the spring. It was a joint 5th grade decision to send them home. They have all week to complete the assignments. We want to give every advantage to our students to allow them to be successful during state assessments.

**Last week we started using new classroom money. The students have a log on for learningearnings.com They can earn class paper money for different various things during the day. I can also send them a direct deposit. Students earn $5 for having a no tally day, $20 for being entered into the student of the week drawing, $10 for every A that is put in the gradebook, $5 for every B. Students have also applied for jobs and earn $5 a day for their job. I encourage you to have your child log into their account and show you all the cool prizes they can buy and how it works. They can even earn money for playing the educational games on the website. :)

**In class we have been talking about respect. I have talked with the kids about how I am going to have to really be strict until they prove they can handle some freedom. This may mean that one minute we are a little laid back and another we have to tighten up our rules. I have discussed with the students that sometimes life is not fair and I do not want to hear them shout out that that isn't fair. IT will be an automatic tally if I hear them say it isn't fair. So far we have been much better since I have become more strict. I do not like to be so strict, but it seems to be working for now. If after Thanksgiving break they seem to still have themselves under control I will start giving them back some of their freedoms.

Spelling words

1. bargain
2. journey
3. pattern
4. arrive
5. object
6. suppose
7. shoulder
8. permit
9. sorrow
10. tunnel
11. subject
12. custom
13. suggest
14. perhaps
15. lawyer
16. timber
17. common
18. publish
19. burden
20. scissors
Challenge
narrate
mentor
attempt
collide
ignore

Happy Halloween and other treats...

2011-10-31T15:48:00.000-05:00

The following is an email from Dean Katt our Superintendent about Dr. Jean McCally.

I have some sad news to sharewith everyone. Dr. Jean McCally passed away early Saturday morning.

Jean has been an inspirationto many of the USD 290 staff over the past 14 years. She worked in thePaola school district for 8 years before coming to the Ottawa school system asthe Garfield Elementary Principal for three years. Jean then served asthe Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for 11 years, whereshe was instrumental in developing many innovative programs and a progressivecurriculum that has benefited thousands of Ottawa students. She wasa true educational leader that always put kids first. She will be sorelymissed by everyone in the educational community.

USD 290 will not have schoolon Friday November 4. The number of staff attending the service is toogreat to provide coverage of all the classrooms. All staff will be off onFriday and leave request will not be required.

The district office will beopen for a short time Friday morning for the Chamber of Commerce Coffee that isscheduled for 8:00 AM.

Service arrangements are asfollows:

Funeral services for JeanMcCally, age 47, of Ottawa, who died October 29, 2011, after a two year battlewith breast cancer, will be held at the Ottawa University Chapel, 10:00 a.m.Friday, November 4, 2011, interment will follow at Highland Cemetery. Mrs. McCally will lie in state at the Lamb-Roberts Funeral Home from 11:00 a.m.to 4 p.m., Thursday prior to her visitation. The family will receive friendsfrom 6 to 8:00 Thursday evening at the First Baptist Church, Ottawa. Thefamily suggests memorial contributions be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure or University of Kansas Cancer Center, c/oLamb-Roberts Funeral, 325 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Condolences may be sent to the family through www.lamb-roberts.com.

Dean Katt

USD 290

Superintendent of Schools

1404 South Ash St. Ottawa, KS 66067

(785) 229-8010

Tonight is Halloween. Please remember that there is school tomorrow and students need plenty of sleep. Please also try and limit their sugar intake tonight. I am asking that no candy be brought to school. (Unless there is enough for everyone.)

Most of all be safe and have fun!!

Spelling list is at the end of this blog post. I will post it on Spelling city later tonight or tomorrow.

1. cellar

2. flavor

3. cougar

4. chapter

5. mayor

6. anger

7. senator

8. passenger

9. major

10. popular

11. tractor

12. thunder

13. pillar

14. border

15. calendar

16. quarter

17. lunar

18. proper

19. elevator

20. bitter

Challenge Words

21. stellar

22. clamor

23. tremor

24. circular

25. adviser

Free Cell Phones!!! This is not spam!!

2011-10-28T11:00:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Below is an awesome linkto the Reachout Wireless government program that allows forindividuals/families to receive a free cell phone (and maybe some of youalready know about it).
To apply, a person needs to qualify by being enrolled in Medicaid, Food Stamps,SSI, TANF, Section 8, LIHEAP, and theNational School Free Lunch Program.
A person may qualify if they fall under the Federal Poverty Guideline.
Check the web site out below, or call the toll free number at: 877-870-9444.
I called to try and get more applications, but they only allow theindividual/family needing the phone to apply. They do not send out applicationsto agencies...
People can also apply online.
Please pass this information on to whoever you think can use it, or feel freeto have any families contact me that you know of, and I will be happy to assistthem in getting a phone.

https://www.reachoutmobile.com/

Thankls!!

The letter sent home by Mrs. Cannady about the Music Program

2011-10-25T13:40:00.002-05:00

October20, 2011

To the4^th& 5^th grade Parents/Guardians,

The 4^thand 5^th grade classes have started preparations for their fall musical,“Go West!,” A Musical Celebration of America’s Westward Expansion. Auditions for Speaking Parts & Solos havealready taken place during class time. All students were given the opportunity to audition for a part duringmusic class, and all students who want a part will get a part. Speaking parts are completely voluntary. Those with speaking parts will receive a copyof their scene and lines with this letter. Please help your son and/or daughter memorize the scene they are in, whothey follow and their speaking lines.

Theperformance date is set for Thursday,November 17^th, and will feature the 4^th& 5^thgrade students in the musical, “Go West!” Forthe program, the students will need to arrive by 6:20PM on the risers in theGarfield Gym. The program will begin at 6:30PM in the gym and should conclude by 7:10PM. The program is a graded assignment. If your son/daughter will not be able toattend for any unforeseen circumstance or falls sick the day of theperformance, then please send a note, call or email, and I will make sure thatyour son/daughter has the opportunity to make up the 100 points for the nightperformance and 50 points for the school performance during the day.

Studentswho are portraying actual characters with speaking parts need to dress similarto that character. These students have been asked to research their characterhere at school and/or possibly at home. Students are to find out how said character dressed and any informationpertaining to said character.

Studentswithout speaking parts should come dressed either in nice dress clothes or asany historical figure we are discussing in the musical; Pioneer, Cowboy/girl(Cowpoke), Gold Miner, Railroad Worker, Native American, Steamboat Traveler,Train Engineer, Texan, Townsperson, Trapper Man/Woman, Farmer, Sailor, MountainMan/Woman. (If no special attire can befound, then a plain, simple shirt and pants will work just fine. No sweat pants or holes in jeans please.)

Allstudents are working extremely hard learning songs, choreography & speakingparts, and we are looking forward to sharing it all with each of you! We’ll see you on the 17^th! If you have any questions please call or emailme at school, 229-8060 ext. 4621/ cannadys@usd290.org. The best time to reach me by phone is 9:00 –9:40AM.

Sincerely,

StephanieCannady

K-5Music

4-5Honors Choir

Garfield Elementary

Last full week of October

2011-10-24T13:57:00.001-05:00

First I want to say thank you to everyone who made their parent teacher conferences. This is very important for both your child and myself. I had several very good conversations with you, and appreciate everything you are doing at home to make your child successful.

This week is red ribbon week. During red ribbon week we promote being drug free. It also doubles as a type of spirit week.

Monday: Wear Team Apparel
Tuesday: Wear red, white, and/or blue
Wednesday: wear Garfield apparel
Thursday: wear tennis shoes
Friday: wear your favorite clothes. (it is also our jammie party day, so you could wear your favorite jammies)

Our students were able to earn enough party points to get their class party. We will have a game/extra recess/pajama party on Friday. If your child has had 3 or more strikes, (4 tally days), they do not get to participate in the class point party. The couple of students who do not get to participate in the class party will have work that they can catch up on and other things to do outside of our room. Students may wear their pajamas and bring a game to play. I will lock up any personal player devices (Nintendo DS, PSP, gameboy, iPod touch, etc) in my cabinet so it will not be stolen out of lockers. They also have the option of bringing a board game to play. Any games brought to school must be rated E for everyone or 10 and up.

Friday afternoon at 2:45 is our Harvest party. You are welcome to attend and hang out. Jessica Slocum is the room mom. If you have any questions please email her at jslocum30@gmail.com I believe she is reminding everyone what they signed up to send with their child/bring. I will also include it here.

Napkins: Shane Gibbs
Plates: Jamie Walters
Salty Snack: Jamie Keiter and Shelly Mason
Healthy Snack: Shelly Frank and Rachel Smith
Sweet Snack: Marilyn Grube and Tina Edwards
Volunteers that have signed up to be in the room for sure are Leslie Miller, Shelly Mason, Angela Roberts, and Jessica Slocum. Others are welcome to come in as well.

Spelling Test is also on Friday. No one passed the pretest so everyone has to take the test on Friday. The nature of this weeks list does not allow for me to put them on spelling city. Spelling city does not recognize the words that are really 2 separate words.

Spelling Unit 9:

wildlife
uproar
home run
headache
top-secret
teammate
wheelchair
light bulb
well-known
throughout
life preserver
barefoot
part-time
warehouse
overboard
post office
outspoken
up-to-date
awestruck
newscast

Challenge Words:
motorcycle
overseas
quick-witted
stomachache
bulletin board

Tuesday, Oct. 4th

2011-10-04T16:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday a letter from Mrs. Wormington went home about the situations we have been experiencing in 5th grade. Please make sure you find and read that. For your convenience I am also putting it here on the blog. I have several students who have missing math work. I'm willing to work with them after school on this Fri, and next Mon, Tues, and Thurs. Next Thurs is the last day for students to get things done and turned in. That Friday there is no students because I am working on grade cards. If your child needs to stay please email me so that I can make sure I am here.

I just now uploaded spelling words to spelling city. Sorry I did not get to that yesterday.

The letter from Mrs. Wormington:

October 3, 2011

Dear Parents,

I wanted to make you aware of three concerns that were discussed with all of the fifth graders on Friday. The first concern addresses behaviors that have been challenging the ability for each classroom to have an effective learning environment. in the Elementary Handbook, the students received an explanation of the expectations/guidlines under the Student Conduct/Discipline section. it reads in the handbook;

Student Conduct/ Discipline

Students may be disciplined for any of the following reasons:

Willful violation of any published adopted student conduct regulation;

Conduct which substantially disrupts, impedes, or interferes with school operation;

Conduct Which endangers the safety or substantially impinges on or invades the rights of others;

Conduct which constitiues the commission of a felony;

Conduct which constitutes the commission of a misdemeanor;

Defiance of school authority;

Disruption or interference with school operation;

Possession of a weapon at school, on school property or at a school-sponsered event.

Violation of any provision of the behavior code may result in disciplinary action up to and including suspension and/or expulsion.

The meaning of the two areas of conduct that are underlined was the focus. Behaviors that disrupt, impede, or interfere with learning are blurting out, interrupting the speaker, talking during instruction, arguing with the teacher, or any inappropriate comments or actions that are deemed disrespectful. These behaviors invade the rights for others to obtain an effective learning environment as outlined by the students and their teachers at the beginning of the year.

The teachers will be developing a contract to reflect the expectations for an effective learning environment. We will ask each student and parent to sign and agree that they understand the expectations. Please look for this to come home before the end of the week.

The second area of concern is the jelly bracelets that some students are wearing. You may or may not be aware that these bracelets have an inappropriate meaning attached to them. Apparently, each color bracelet has a different sexual meaning. if someone snaps a colored bracelet off of the wearer; it results in one of them performing an act with the other. now, just because your child is wearing the bracelets, does not mean he/she is attaching the meanings, but the "talk" is out there. I am discouraging that these bracelets be worn at school. The conversations become a distraction to learning.

The third area of concern is that there is some talk among students that involves content with sexual innuendos. These are turning in to rumors that become concerning to the students involved. I sent a strong message that this will not be tolerated at Garfield Elementary. Any student who spreads a rumor becomes part of the problem. the students were instructed to tell a teacher, the counselor, the principal, or a parent if thy are told a rumor. They don't tell another student. Their response should be, "I don't spread rumors." Any future problems with rumors of this nature will be investigated and documented as a bullying incident.

Please have conversation with your student about each of these concerns. Keeping an open line of communication with your student will be instrumental in helping him/her to deal with the content that they may or may not be read to be exposed to at such an early age.

I appreciate your support with all of these concerns. Please don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.

Amy Wormington

Princiapl

Spelling

2011-10-03T15:30:00.004-05:00

1. earth

2. peer

3. twirl

4. burnt

5. smear

6. further

7. appear

8. worthwhile

9. nerve

10. pier

11. squirm

12. weary

13. alert

14. murmur

15. thirsty

16. reverse

17. worship

18. career

19. research

20. volunteer

21. yearn

22. engineer

23. interpret

24. dreary

25. external

Calling all parents!!!

2011-09-30T13:37:00.002-05:00

Are there any parents out there who could volunteer to help during either reading (1:00-2:30) or Math (10:15ish-12:00) or both? It doesn't have to be every day. Just consistent if at all possible. You would be helping students who had questions during centers or rotations, while I work with a small group on that days concept. I can really use another set of eyes in my classroom. I am by myself most days without any adults in the room to help out at all. If you are interested please let me know!! Email, text, call. I remember a couple of people saying they could at the beginning of the year but I don't remember who had said they could! :) Thanks for your help!

Spelling Lists and News

2011-09-27T11:17:00.001-05:00

Good morning,

At the bottom of this page you will have the spelling list. I will also update Spelling City.

Tomorrow we are going to COWS at Lincoln. COWS stands for Careers on WheelS. The purpose of the presentation is to show 5th graders why they need to graduate high school. It shows the different career possibilities using different vehicles. Make sure you ask your child about it tomorrow!

We will be going to the ACT Ottawa performance of Sleeping Beauty on Oct. 6th. The cost is $1. Please send this to school with your child ASAP. I will be collecting it. If you have ANY questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

There are some students that I will be sending a note home with. This note is in regards to putting their class projects on the class website. We will be doing a big explorer project and I want to be able to post it on here so that you can share it with your friends and families all over. I'm very excited about it. If you filled out the technology (orange) sheet both front and back at the beginning of the year during enrollment you do not need to worry about this. There were only 5 students whose parents forgot to fill it out.

Conferences are very quickly approaching. If you have not set up a time with me please do so! I will post on the calendar at the bottom of this page who is when. This way you will know what I have available if you have not signed up yet.

Spelling List Unit 6 Test on Friday Sept 30

glory
aware
carton
adore
aboard
dairy
ordeal
pardon
warn
vary
barely
torch
barge
soar
beware
absorb
armor
stairway
perform
former
Challenge Words
discard
forfeit
orchestra
rarity
hoard

Have a fantastic Weekend

2011-09-19T16:15:00.000-05:00

Good evening. Friday I did send home the unit 2 social studies test. It was open book with a partner and if they did not get it finished they were to finish it last weekend. There were only 4 students who turned in a test on Friday and several left their social studies books here over the weekend.

Spelling is up on spelling city. We are working on theme and visualization in reading. Our story this week is "Elisha's Diary."

In math we are working with probability.

Here is this weeks spelling list.

ounce
sprawl
launch
loyal
avoid
basketball
moist
haunt
scowl
naughty
destroy
saucer
pounce
poison
August
auction
royal
coward
awkward
encounter
Challenge Words
poise
loiter
exhaust
assault
alternate

Also....

2011-09-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

Please be sure to read the previous post. :)

Scholastic Book orders are going home tomorrow. They are due on Sept. 30. I will be submitting the order that morning. Remember you can order online securily with your debit or credit card. And if you order online I get bonus money/points to spend on books for our classroom!

There is a link to the left showing you where to go to order books. :)

Help me win a Project from Limeades for learning!!!

2011-09-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

Please help our classroom!!! Goto http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/ and search for my project. I am one of only 2 people in Franklin County trying to fund a project for my classroom. http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/pages/search?src=start I'm not sure if this link will bring up my page to vote for. If it does not then click on search by location. Put in Kansas then click Franklin County and the Garfield. You will find my project there. But please spread the word via facebook, email, phone calls etc. You can vote everyday until Sept 29. IF you get a code from a sonic drink you get 2 free extra votes! Please help fund this project for your kids!

Thanks for supporting me!!!

Happy Monday!

2011-09-12T11:23:00.001-05:00

Good morning,

Spelling words are written down in your child's planner. They are also posted to spellingcity.com/bekahjwadkins.

In math we talked about number stories that use addition and subtraction. We talked about variables (when a letter represents a word), and open sentences (number sentences that use variables.)

In reading we talked about vocabulary and we are starting a story called "Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood." While reading this story we will be talking about sequence of events, common and proper nouns, and the suffixes -ion, and -tion.

On Friday we will be visiting Lincoln School for the COWS (Careers on Wheels) Program. This is from 9:30-10:30.

Spelling Words

glue

flute

youth

accuse

bruise

stew

choose

loose

lose

view

confuse

cruise

jewel

execute

route

cartoon

avenue

include

assume

souvenir

Challenge Words

conclude

pursuit

intrude

subdue

presume

Friday Sept 9th

2011-09-09T08:47:00.000-05:00

Today in class we watched this video http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/nick-news-what-happened-the-true-story-of-september-11th-full-episode.html It seperated fact from fiction about the attacks on our country. It is only 20 minutes long and well worth watching. It inspires hope and makes students informed. I urge you to watch it and talk about it with your child. You may never forget that day, but they will never know that day if we don't tell them about it.

On a lighter note. We took our spelling test today, caught up on missing work, and finished up our reading selection about elections. The main focus for reading this week was comparing and contrasting.

Remember to continue working on multiplication facts with your child.

Change in Dismissal Pick Up for 3rd-5th Grade

2011-09-06T14:58:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon,

Today we took the spelling pretest. If your child received an A+ on the first 20 they do not have to take the test on Friday. If they did not get all of the challenge words correct they will need to take that part of the test. If they received an A+ on all 25 words they do not have to take the test at all. Your child is bringing home their pretest. If they have a purple star on it they do not have to take the test on Friday. There are only 4 students who do not have to take the test on Friday. The list for this week is at the bottom of this post. Words are also up on Spellingcity.com/bekahjwadkins

Slight Change in Dismissal Pick Up for 3rd-5th Graders

The city has requested that we make a slight change to the dismissal traffic pattern. Students will still be picked up on College in the loading zone. Instead of waiting on 13th street between College and Cedar, parents are asked to enter the line from 13th and Mulberry along the school property. However, buses will need to be able to exit the circle drive and make the turn toward Mulberry. Because of this, staff members will be at the entrance of the circle drive and at the exit of the circle drive helping to direct cars and keep cars from stopping between those two points. Thank you for your patience as we find the safest way to pick up your children. If you have nay questions, please don't hesitate to contact the school.

School Picture Day
Picture day is on Tues, September 27th.

Spelling List

sign

groan

thrown

strike

mighty

stroll

compose

dough

height

excite

apply

slight

define

odor

spider

control

silent

brighten

approach

ChallengeWords

require

plight

reproach

opponent

defy

Good Afternoon

2011-08-31T16:11:00.000-05:00

Hello,

I'm so sorry that this week I did not get the spelling list out until today. It is in your child's planner.

Spelling Words
awake
feast
stray
greet
praise
disease
repeat
display
braces
thief
ashamed
sleeve
waist
beneath
sheepish
release
remain
sway
training
niece

Challenge Words
stale
afraid
freedom
eager
explain

These words are up on spelling city now. www.spellingcity.com/bekahjwadkins

Important Dates

Thursday Sept. 1st- Parent Information Night
5:45-6:10 – Session 1

6:15-6:25 – Gym, Message from Mrs. Wormington

6:30-6:55 – Session 2

You only have to come to 1 session.

Don't for get to "Brown Bag It!"

2011-08-22T17:32:00.000-05:00

Today was another awesome day. :) We were slightly chatty but no big deal really.

Remember your healthy snack and to wear deodorant!! We are switching our schedule around some, nothing is finalized yet, but when it is I will post our schedule.

Thank you everyone who joined the facebook page! We now have a direct link to it. http://www.facebook.com/mrswadkinsclass

Homework for tonight:
Brown Bag it!
Students were provided with a brown paper bag today. They are supposed to fill it with an item from each of the following categories. They will share it with the class through out this week. I told them to try and get something from each category, but at the very least 8 categories.

CATEGORIES
* a hobby or free-time activity that you enjoy
* one of your favorites (food, color, music, book, etc.)
*future plans or goals
*something you'd like to do better
*a place you'd like to visit
*something special about your family
*the best part of summer vacation
*something that reminds you of a memorable event or time in your life
*something that you really dislike
*a talent or special ability that you have

A flyer went home with the girls today about cheer camp. OHS Cheerleading Clinic is Saturday, August, 27th. 9am-10:30am. Ages 4 through 5th grade. Registration starts at 8:45. Cost for the clinic is $10 and for an additional $10 you can get a T-Shirt.

Tomorrow a flyer will go home about the 2nd annual cupcakes for kids event. Support Communities in School and the Back Snack Program! Purchase a cupcake from Ottawa Country Mart on August 26th and 27th and proceeds will go to help students in need in the Ottawa School District.

Our behavior system is a system of tallies. Students will get a tally anytime they are blurting, off task, disrespectful (both to adults and peers), messing around in the hallways, etc.

Tally 1 is a warning
Tally 2 is a warning
Tally 3 lose 10 mins of recess
Tally 4 lose entire recess
Tally 5 a note goes home
Tally 6 is a visit to the Principal Mrs. Wormington

In order for our class to earn a party they have to earn 600 points. At the end of the day any student that does not have a tally earns the class 1 point. Students can also earn party points by obtaining compliments from adults and for doing well in class and line.

If a child has a 4+ tally day they get 1 strike. If a student ends up with 3+ strikes they do not get to participate in the class party. Parties will be determined when they are earned.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to an amazing year!

What a great start to the year!!!!

2011-08-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

If you are reading this CONGRATULATIONS you found our class blog!! I will be posting schedules, notes, updates, homework, and lots of other miscellaneous information on here. If you notice down below this post there is a google calendar that has important dates on it. I will be adding conferences to this as they are signed up for. And anything else that is coming up as well.

We got today off to a GREAT start. We toured the school, went over expectations, and procedures. We will have P.E. on Mon., Wed., and Fri. Please make sure your child has tennis shoes on these days.

It is very warm outside. Please remember to have your child wear shirts that are at least 2 fingers wide at the shoulder. They may bring water bottles to sit on their tables. Also please, please, PLEASE have your child wear deodorant. Many of them are about to hit puberty or already have. When they run around in this heat and then come back into our stuffy classroom it is very odorous in here. And I don't mean a fresh clean smell. ;)

I will also post on here when there is homework due and my expectations for each item. Students should be reading for at least 20 minutes every night on top of whatever other homework they have. (I forgot to mention that to the students today. I will let them know on Monday.)

Please don't ever hesitate to contact me if you have concerns, celebrations, or anything else on your mind that you think I would find beneficial to know.

I have unlimited texting and unlimited T-Mobile to T-Mobile. Me email comes to my phone, so I am usually able to respond to email rather quickly after school hours. 785-229-5793 is my number. If you call and I don't answer please leave a message and I will return your call. I have an almost 2 year old at home, so often I am chasing him and do not hear my phone, but I do check it regularly.

Free Ice Cream tonight!

2011-08-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the School Calendar for this year. Please also check the google calendar below.

Meet the teacher and supply drop off is tonight from 4:30-6:30. The ice cream social is from 5:30-7:30.

I'm very excited for this year. I will be adding resources and any notes that I send home will also be on here.

Ice cream social

2011-08-10T20:01:00.001-05:00

PTA would like to sponsor an ice cream social on August 18th from 5:30-7pm in the school courtyard for all Garfield families following the "Meet the Teachers" night. It will be an informal gathering as a welcome back to school.

Below is a list of donations we are looking for to support the ice cream social. Please respond to Staci Weingartner at staciweingartner@hotmail.com if you are able to donate any of the supplies or are able to assist serving.

supplies for ice cream social
gallon vanilla ice cream (approx $7 gallon)
chocolate syrup (approx $2 bottle)
caramel syrup (approx $2 bottle)
whipped cream (approx $2 bottle)
strawberry topping (approx $2 bottle)
styrofoam cups
napkins
spoons
oreo cookies (approx $2 bag)
root beer (option for individuals who prefer a root beer float)

Thanks again for your support and looking forward to a fabulous school year.

School is almost here!

2011-08-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if there are any parents checking the blog over this summer, but I thought I would update it. Especially since some of your children I'm sure to have again. I'm going to put the school supply list on here as well.

Enrollment went well yesterday. I saw several of you come out. It is always a pleasure to see my students and their families.

Class lists will be posted on the the doors Monday, Aug 15th, by 4pm. After this time if you do not want to come in and check the list you can call or email me and I will let you know. I cannot let you know before this time as the list is subject to change before then.

Meet the teacher night and school supply drop off is Thursday Aug 18th from 4:30-6:30. When you come in you will go to your new classroom and get everything dropped off. Depending on who your teacher is, well depend on what they want you to do with your school supplies.

I'm looking forward to a fantastic year! If you haven't checked out the class facebook page yet please do so! I will also be updating the fb page when I update this blog.

Colored Pencils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At least 24
Erasers (Pencil Top). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Box
4 Pack of Dry Erase Markers. . . . . . . . . 1 pkg.
Highlighters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Glue Sticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pkg.
Scissors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 pkg.
Pencils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Pkgs.#2 or Mechanical
Pens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Blue, 1 Red
Tissues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Boxes
Small, Self-Contained Pencil Sharpener . . 1
Crayons (Optional)
3 Spiral Notebooks . . . . . . . . Red/Blue/Green
Disinfecting Wipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Pencil Box or Bag
Hole Punched Pocket Folders . . . . . . . . Red/Blue/Green
Black Sharpies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1 Box Sandwich Bags . . . . . . . . . . . . . Girls
1 Box Gallon Bags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boys
1 Refill roll of Scotch Tape
1 Roll of masking Tape

Fifth Grade...

2011-06-12T21:14:00.001-05:00

Is it bad that it is June and my new room is almost completely set up and I am SO EXCITED for the school year to start?! I can't wait to see who all are officially in my class next year!! This blog is now going to be named Mrs. Wadkins' 5th Grade!!

The last day....

2011-05-19T18:25:00.001-05:00

Today was bitter sweet. There were tears, laughs and even chocolate chip pancakes.

As I look back at this year I do nothing but smile. Each and everyone of my students felt like my own child. They have grown and matured so much.

I think back to one of my students starting the year so quiet and shy. Today she was laughing and giggling and having a great time.

A couple of others were so frustrated with math that they would be in tears. Last week they came up to me and showed me how they had done it on their own.

My rough and tumble boys that would bicker and fight gave me a challenge, but they always stuck up for each other on the playground.

I will never forget my two that were stuck together the first month of school because they couldn't get along. Though the last few days of school they were back to bickering, they actually enjoyed each others company most of the year.

Then there was my "the answer is ninja!" As he struck a pose. That will always make me laugh.

This group is so dear to my heart. They have been a joy to get to know. Not only have the kids been great, but I have amazing parents this year. Thank you for all of your help both at home with your child and at school with me.

I hope everyone's summer is marvelous and on the bright side I will have some of you again next year! Love you all!

Pet Show and Tell

2011-05-16T16:08:00.004-05:00

Monday 5/16

8:15 Makayla

8:25 Molly

8:35 Isaac

8:45 Bayleigh

10:25 Chris

10:35 Susie

10:45 Ryan

1:40 Sean

1:50 Westen

3:20 Nikki

Tuesday 5/17

8:15 Moriah

9:05 Payton

10:15 Amaya

10:25 Jeremaih

11:35 Aidan

3:20 Rami

Wednesday 5/18

10:45 Katie

2:40 Regan

5.5 Days! Boy has this year gone fast!

2011-05-12T09:05:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

There are many different items going on these next few days! Be checking your child's planner daily.

5/13 AM Gaming Party. Students can bring board games, hand held games, wii games. I will bring in my wii for the kids to play Just Dance and Guitar Hero. Any games that the kids bring in need to be rated E for everyone. I will lock their games in my cabinet so that they are not in lockers.

5/13 2pm State Assessment Recognition assembly. The tickets will be drawn for prizes.

5/16-5/18 Pet Show and Tell. I will be sending home the schedule tomorrow for this. I will also post it here. If you have not sent in your preferred times please do so by tomorrow morning.

5/16 2pm Outside assembly for students who scored exemplary and had the best effort. Everyone will attend. The Big Kahuna will be here.

5/17 1:30pm 5th Grade Promotion. 4th graders will watch so they know what is expected of them next year. Honors Choir is also singing at Promotion. If your child is an Honors Choir student please have them wear their shirt to school.

5/18 Field Day Make sure you wear Tennis Shoes and Shorts

5/19 Movie and Pancakes. If you would like to help me with this in the morning please contact me asap. I have 1 volunteer so far. We will also be cleaning out lockers and getting ready to leave for the summer. Students will get their yearbooks on this day. Noon dissmissal. NO lunch served. Please send bags with your student so they can bring home everything out of their lockers.

Happy Monday! Only 12.5 Days of school left and tons to do!

2011-05-02T17:28:00.000-05:00

Dairy Queen will not be back open in time for our outting. So our class made suggestions for a different party and revoted. They chose to watch The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith.

12-year-old Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life. Written by Columbia Pictures

This is a PG movie. It has the following profanity in it: 4 uses of "ass" 1 use of "dammit" ''4 uses of s**t'' '' 5 hells '' and 10 uses of oh my god. I will be sending home a note. I told the kids that parents might not agree to us watching this. I am ok with that and so are the kids. If you do not want your child to watch this video please let me know ASAP. Email is fine and no one will be outed for being the one to "ruin" it for everyone else. All but 3 kids wanted to see this movie. Please let me know what your desire is.

A reminder about the upcoming events in our classroom.

Tuesday 5/3 Last Art Class for the year
Wednesday 5/4 Honors Choir Tour If your child is not in Honors Choir they will be staying at school
Friday 5/6 Picnic at the Frank house and Kick Ball with Book Buddies. We will walk over to the Frank's house right after specials. We will picnic there and play a few games. We will head back to the school around 1. We will then play kick ball with our book buddies at 3:00.
Friday 5/13 Gaming Party The students may bring electronic games or board/card games to play. I will lock all gameboys ect in my cabinet when they are not being used. Please remind your child that games should be rated E for everyone for them to play at school. I will be bringing in my Wii and several group games that they can play.
5/16-5/18- Pet Show and Tell I will schedule when parents can bring in pets for the kids to share. Be watching
5/19 Movie Party/Last Day of school. We will be dissmissed at noon. We will watch our movie and clean out lockers and our classroom. We will also be signing yearbooks this day. If you want your child to have a shirt signed please provide the shirt and the sharpie. Without written consent from parents I will not be allowing students to write on each others clothes.

School Calendar for next year

2011-04-25T10:47:00.002-05:00

Here is the link for the school calendar for next year. :)

Wow has the year flown by....

2011-04-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

Good Morning,

For most of the 4th graders the math and reading assessments are over! Wahoo!! Science assessment is next week and then we will be done with state testing! Everyone give a cheer!

We have several things going on in the next couple of weeks, so make sure and check the calendar at the bottom of the page.

The students have earned several parties for the end of the year for trying so hard on State Assessments. As long as they do their best on the Science Assessment they will also earn the animal show and tell the last week of school.
This Thursday is the class respect party. We will be watching Tangled, wearing PJs, and snuggling with a pillow or a stuffed animal.

May 6th we are going to Katie Franks house for a picnic and ice cream. We will leave after specials at 10:10 and be back after lunch. We will be walking. If your child needs a school lunch for that day please let me know by tomorrow so I can order it. Does anyone have a wagon we could borrow to put our lunches in? I know I'm a horrible mom that doesn't have a wagon for her child yet. :)

May 13th is our gaming party. The students may bring their handheld games. I will lock them in my cabinet when they are not playing them. Games must be rated E for everyone to play. I will be bringing in my Wii for the kids to play. If anyone has a ps3 or xbox they would be willing to let us hook up to the tv that would be awesome. Preferabbly with games for 4 people.

May 17th is when we will walk to DQ and get ice cream and go to the park. Students need to bring their own money to purchase ice cream. If DQ is not open by then we will reevaluate what party we will do instead.

The last week of school May 16-19 will be our pet show and tell. Please email me with the animal you are bringing 3 times during that week you will be able to bring in your child's pet and I will get a master schedule to you. From 9:20 until 10:10 we are in specials. We are at lunch from 12:00-12:45.

Next week will be our last spelling test. So if your child's grade is low you will want to really encourage studying this week!

Spelling List 31 for test on Thurs., Apr. 28
you’ll
there
then
than
first
people
great
school
important
once
began
remember
letter
strong
already
follow (ing)
someone
along
bottom
check
reading
fall
Our skill this week is homographs.
Homographs are words that are
spelled the same, but sound
different and mean different
things.
wind     close     lead    live
does     use   bow   wound
present     excuse

City Wide Track Meet

2011-04-21T08:34:00.000-05:00

The track meet is today. Hopefully the rain stays away.

The snow cone mobile will be at the track selling snow cones for $2. I will not be responsible for holding your child's money.

If your child would like to bring a water bottle that is fine. Please make sure their name is on it and Garfield. All elementary schools from Ottawa will be there. I will not be responsible for their water bottle.

I will take pictures at the meet and put them on a cd for anyone who would like a copy. Just email me or send a note with your child. I will try to get pictures of everyone, but with the nature of a race it is difficult to get everyone. I would ask for a 50 cent donation to help with the cost of the cds for pictures.

Thank you for your continued support of our class!

There is school tomorrow!! I plan on seeing your child in class!

Crazy Week

2011-04-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

Today Randy Nadler is coming to talk with us about his travels. The City Wide Track Meet is on Thursday at noon. 4th grade runs first. There is school on Friday!

Science Assessment is the first week of May. Once that is complete will will be completely done with testing!!! Wahoo!!!

Spelling List 31 for test on Fri., Apr. 22

their

after

through

because

sound

something

always

form

kind

father

night

picture

across

example

stand

surface

carefully

gold

build

glass

rock

tall

How are a prefix and a

suffix different? A prefix

is added to the beginning of

a word and ALWAYS changes

the meaning. A suffix is added

to the end of a word and some-

times changes the meaning of the

word. Practice giving your child

words and have them add a prefix.

un- re- in- im- mis- de- ex-

sub- anti- multi-

The Cats out of the Bag...

2011-04-13T16:22:00.000-05:00

For a very long 3 weeks I have had to keep my mouth quiet about some exciting news... no I'm not pregnant, but I get to move to 5th grade!!! Mrs. Steelman from Eisenhower will be taking my spot. She is amazing and will do awesome here! I'm so excited to possibly get some of my students again next year! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful afternoon!

Spelling List

2011-04-13T16:17:00.001-05:00

Spelling List 30 for test on Thurs., Apr. 21

there

then

than

another

because

again

something

thought

enough

change(d)

himself

didn’t

though

quite

easy

walked

least

happened

foot

care

low

else

We are proofreading homophones

this week. Please go over the differences between these homophones.

there/their/they’re

your/you’re

there’s/theirs

to/two/too

who’s/whose

lets/let’s

its/it’s

One test down 2 more to go!

2011-04-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

Good morning parents,

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. The next to last group of testers is working on the Reading assessment as I type. Next week we will finish up the reading assessment as a grade level. The science assessment is the first week of May.

In math, we are working with reflections and division. Please continue to stress multiplication facts and the steps of long division with your child.

There are a few important dates coming up as the year draws to a close.

On Monday Randy Nadler will be presenting to the 3rd-5th graders about his most recent trip. Next Thursday is the city wide track meet in the afternoon.

We do have school on Good Friday.

Snow?!!

2011-03-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

Thankfully the snow has melted! This week brings the start of Assessments for some. The ones taking assessments have notes in their planner to remind them. It will be the math assessment this week. Please continue to work with your child on these important skills. Especially multiplication and input/output tables. A great website to help with assessments is http://www.ixl.com/math/standards/kansas/grade-4.

Spelling test is on Friday. Take home task is due on Thursday. Remember that the take home task is what the skills part of the spelling test goes over. \

Please remember that we do have school on Good Friday, April 22nd. There is a PTA meeting this Thursday in the library at 7:00.

Please make sure your child is getting plenty of sleep (around 10 hours) and eating a healthy breakfast.

Assessments are looming

2011-03-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon,

I hope Spring Break was relaxing and reenergizing for everyone!

The next group of students test in Math next week. Please make sure your child is eating breakfast and getting plenty of sleep. Continue to work with your child on their multiplication facts. This years fourth graders are very lacking in this department. Remember over to the left under resources there is a multiplication game that students can play.

To prepare your child for the reading assessment please work with them on prefixes and suffixes.

Especially these ones:

-ness

a state, quality or condition of being

-ment

act of, state of, result of, process of

-less

without, missing

-ful

filled with, having, giving, marked by

-en

make or made of

under-

below, beneath

non-

not, no, absence of

ex-

out, out of, from

dis-

opposite of, lack of, not, negative, undo

anti-

against or opposite

Spelling test is on Friday, take home task is due on Thursday.

In math we are talking about fractions, percents, and decimals.

Book orders are due on Friday.

Spelling List 27 for test on Fri., Mar. 25

there

their

its

water(s)

through

again

animal

enough

half

American

instead

gone

beautiful

everyone

watch

distance

although

pattern

sky

walked

main

someone

This week’s skill involves

recognizing words that end

with the long i and long e sound.

The words usually end in y.

sky happy

by fluffy

my any

qualify body

Monday :)

2011-03-07T15:26:00.000-06:00

Literature festival is on Wednesday. Your child needs to bring a lunch! We will be back in time for dismissal. Spelling city is updated for this weeks list. Test is on Thursday.

Please continue to go over division with your child. Several students are still having issues with this.

Spelling List 26 for test on Thurs., Mar. 10

there

its

another

because

don’t

enough

it’s

example

family

nothing

english

certain(ly)

six(es)

person

matter

fact

rain(s)

lay

size

wild

weather

miss

Suffixes are added to the end of a word. When we add –es, we need to

change the –y to an –i and add –es.

fly—flies

If the word ends in a short vowel and

consonant, double the consonant then

add the –ed or -ing, drip –dripped—dripping. If the word ends in silent e,

drop the e and add the –ed or –ing.

rope—roped—roping

hope--hoped--hoping

If the word ends with a consonant y,

just add the –ing.

try—trying

carry—carrying

Let the testing begin..... Make sure we cowboy and cowgirl up!

2011-03-02T09:06:00.000-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. We have had some crazy days these past 2 weeks.

Earthworks is TOMORROW!!! We will be leaving around 8 and be back around 4. Don't forget to pack a healthy non-wasteful lunch! I encourage you to pack your child's lunch in their regular lunch bag and to not use sandwich baggies. Aluminum foil is recyclable and just using your regular reusable containers is totally acceptable.

Some of your children have started testing. Others will be after spring break. Please make sure your child is getting adequate sleep at night and a healthy breakfast. We have a western assessment theme this year . We are doing test preparation groups in the morning while the other students are testing. I found a great math site to help with practicing. I have also listed it in the resources box to the left. http://www.ixl.com/math/standards/kansas/fourth This gives you practice for each individual indicator for the assessment. Later today I will post the tested indicators so you can work with your child as well.

If anyone knows of a great reading practice website please feel free to share!! I'm always up for ideas!

Take home task is due on Friday and the test is Friday as well.

Spelling List 25 for test on Fri., Mar. 4

you(‘ve)

heard

there

your

most

because

such

before

among

summer

understand

carefully

everyone

system

begin(s)

possible

snow

rain

suddenly

easy

leaves

you’re

Our skill this week is plural nouns.

Most nouns are made plural by adding

-s. Nouns ending in s,sh,ch,x,and z are made plural by adding –es. Nouns ending

with consonant –y are made plural by

changing the y to i before adding the es.

Nouns ending in –f or –fe are made plural

by changing the f to a v and adding the es. Some nouns stay the same, and others

change the base word completely.

parent—parents

class—classes

family—families

half—halves

deer—deer

mouse—mice

Terrific Tuesday!

2011-02-15T16:04:00.000-06:00

Today in math we talked about probability and spinners. We are continuing to work on fractions and division. State assessments will be starting right before spring break for some students.

In reading we talked about Author's purpose: to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. A great place to see all three types is in the newspaper. I have been reminding students that if there is any opinion in the text at all it cannot be inform. To entertain is always fiction, and to persuade is trying to talk someone into buying something or believeing a certain way. Please continue to work on these concepts with your child.

Spelling take home task went home today. It is due on Friday since I forgot to pass it out yesterday.

Book orders are due by Friday. I will fix it online so that it is open until Friday as well.

Please start sending in your $20 for EarthWorks. If your child did fundraising for Scentsy they do not owe anything for this field trip. :) Thanks to those of you who participated.

Family night is this Thurs. We will be talking about state assessments. There will be pizza provided.

I want to say a BIG thank you to the parents who came in and helped with Kansas Day and the ones that have been helping me in the classroom! I really truly appreciate it!

Spelling List 23 for test on Fri., Feb. 18

would

its

too

world

earth

second

it’s

United States

really

among

hundred

probably

beautiful

system

fact

third

quite

carry

distance

although

they’re

Our skill this week is proofreading.

Students are routinely asked to check their work for errors. The take home task is a great practice for each of our weekly skills. It is also related to our skills test each week. Write something for your child to proofread and correct errors.

Conference week day 2

2011-02-08T18:43:00.000-06:00

Good evening parents,

Today in reading we talked about strategies for taking the state assessment.

In math we continued work with comparing fractions. Please continue to work on multiplication facts.

Calendar Items:

2/9 Tomorrow is dress rehearsal for Wax Museum. If we do not have school tomorrow (which I'm sure we will have school) then Wax Museum will still go on Thursday. We will not reschedule.

2/11 No school

2/14 Valentine's Day Party the party will start at 2:30. I sent out emails tonight with reminders on who is bringing what.

2/17 Family Night. 6pm. We will be talking about state assessments

2/21 No School

2/22 Kick off Assembly for state assessments. State Assessments start for some students They will continue past spring break.

Parent Teacher Conferences

2011-02-07T16:43:00.000-06:00

Good Evening,

Conferences are this week. Please be on time so we don't fall behind on the schedule. Picture day is tomorrow. We will be taking a class picture.

Please continue on working with simple fractions and count bys in multiplication.

Math assessment starts in 2 weeks! :)

Pajama Day

2011-02-03T20:34:00.000-06:00

If your child has been arguing that tomorrow is a pj day they are absolutely correct. They earned their class party and it was planned for tomorrow, I've had a few parents emailing, texting, and calling to confirm. The kids are remembering so the party is on! :) We will be watching Alpha and Omega and wearing our pjs. Any questions just text, email, or call! :) 7852295793

Snowmageddon

2011-02-03T12:58:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon parents!

A school reach was sent out to inform everyone that the Wax Museum was moved to next Thursday, February 10th from noon until 1. If your child still needs pieces to their costume please let me know ASAP so I can help find clothing and other items.

State Assessments are looming!! We will start testing the last week of February, which is only 2 full weeks away!! Please continue working on multiplication facts! We have had almost 2 full weeks off since school started January 3rd. This being said, we will be doing tons of prep work to make up for this! Be looking for your child to come home with practice tests and watch here on the blog for tips on how to make your child successful during this high stress time!

Also, book orders are due Feb. 15th. The catalog will be sent home the next time we have school. It is ready on scholastic.com for you to order that way! Remember that our class receives a free book for every order that is placed online! The link is to the left posted under resources!

Stay warm and we will see you soon!! Don't forget to call and set up your conference time for next week!!

It's a Slick Monday

2011-01-31T15:55:00.000-06:00

Good Afternoon!

Today in reading we talked about diagrams and their importance. Please continue to work with your child on prefixes: non, ex, dis, under, anti. Also work on suffixes and their meanings. ment, able, ful, ness.

In math we will continue working on fractions. For your child to be successful with fractions they MUST know their multiplication facts. Please continue to practice these with your child.

We are gearing up for EarthWorks. If you participated in the fundraiser you do not have to pay anything for your child to attend. If you did not participate the cost for your child to go to EarthWorks and the cost of the bus is $20 total.

I found a neat typing website to help your child practice their typing skills. http://freetypinggame.net/play.asp I will also add it to they resources section. :)

Help!

2011-01-24T17:44:00.000-06:00

I am needing a parent or 2 who are willing to help me get some organization tasks accomplished. I need to get book orders ready to go out as well as some different parts of my classroom organized. If you are willing to come in and help please email or text me! wadkinsre@usd290.org 7852295793 :) Thanks!

Our class is also out of highlighters! If you find any laying around without a home could you please send them our way?!

Parent Teacher Conferences

2011-01-24T17:21:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year!! Please don't forget to call the office 785-229-8060 to set up your conference time!! As I get an updated calendar I will try to update my google calendar as well!

Happy Monday!

2011-01-24T16:58:00.000-06:00

Good Afternoon,

This has been quite a day. There are several items coming up in the following weeks. Please be sure to check the google calendar and your child's planner pages. This Thursday is our Kansas Day Celebration. This will be an all day celebration, with a 2 hour break in between for lunches and recess. We have several presenters that the students will see. Happy 150th birthday Kansas!

Costumes for Wax Museum need to be at the school by Wed February 2nd for dress rehearsal at 11. If you will not be able to make it Friday February 4th for Wax Museum you are welcome to attend my classes dress rehearsal. If you are having troubles coming up with a costume please let me know so that I can gather the required materials. Please remember we do not expect you to spend money. If you are choosing to buy costume pieces I recommend shopping at good will and thrift stores. (To bad it isn't garage sale season!)

We are currently in need of some old fashioned spectacles (glasses for my students who still don't know what the word spectacle means), football clothes (we have 2 students who are portraying football players and have no football clothing), and art supplies such as an easel, paint pallet, etc. Thanks for helping us out!

In math we are working with probability. Is it certain, likely, very likely, 50-50 chance, unlikely, very unlikely, or impossible to achieve. We have also started working with basic fractions. Please continue working with your child on count bys (2,4,6,8,10, 12... these are count bys of 2s) One way is to have your child practice saying them in their head while they brush their teeth. Your child should know all of their count bys through 10s. So all the way up to the number times 10 for each number 1-10.

In reading we talked about problem/solution text. We will also continue talking about main idea and details.

We have state testing starting the last week of February! This is quickly approaching. I haven't seen the official testing schedule yet, but please know that it is coming!

My students did finally earn their class party. We will be doing this February 4th before Wax Museum. The kids voted and decided that they want to watch Alpha and Omega for their party. They are allowed to wear pjs or bring a stuffed animal/pillow. We also won the Scentsy Pizza Party. We will do this the same day as our movie. (I might also bring in cupcakes for my birthday, haven't decided yet.) This pizza party will not replace school lunch.

Spelling List 20 for test on Thurs., Jan.27

all

there

their

only

through

too

because

often

together

several

answer

usually

morning

really

cannot

ready

already

carefully

leave

everything

game

system

bring

Students need to practice

consonant blends. These

are two consonants whose

sounds are blended together.

For example:

dr br cl th tr sk sl

fr pl

Have your child find words

that demonstrate these blends.

Happy Tuesday

2011-01-18T15:56:00.000-06:00

Good evening all,

The school spelling bee was today. Chevonne in our class got 3rd place and will be an alternate if one of the other two can not make it for the county spelling bee.

Literature Festival packets went home today. If you would like to order a book for your child, so that they may have it autographed, these are due by January 31st.

Take home task is due on Thursday and test is on Friday.

My great grandmother passed away yesterday, therefore I will not be at school on Thurs. or Fri. Mrs. Laura Duty will be my substitute. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email or call me.

Spelling words:

are(n’t)

there

their

then

than

its

important

it’s

example

half

brought

special

complete(ly)

already

problem

winter

heavy

carefully

beautiful

everyone

they’re

Students need to spell words

that make comparisons. For example:

long—longer—longest are comparisons.

Long is called the positive, longer the

comparative, and longest the superlative.

Sometimes you must double the consonant when adding the suffix.

flat—flatter—flattest

OR change the y to an i

sunny—sunnier—sunniest

OR drop the silent e and add the

suffix.

white—whiter--whitest

The following is a letter from the Ottawa Library:

Dear Parent:

You are invited to attend a fun and exciting reading program that will begin this February at Ottawa Library! PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME_® is designed to help families help their children improve their reading skills and enjoy reading.

There are many things that families can do to both encourage and facilitate a child’s interest and skills in reading. PRIME TIME is a special 6- week program of storytelling, reading, and discussion for parents and children in grades K-5. PRIME TIME doesn’t just help to improve reading skills; it also helps families learn to talk about books in ways that will aid children in school. The program is FREE and a FREE dinner is served. Special story-times will be offered at the same time for younger brothers and sisters. Door prizes will be given away nightly and families who participate regularly will be given a free book!

PRIME TIME programs are presented by a discussion leader and a storyteller who use award-winning children’s books to:

• encourage parents and children to read and talk about books as a family activity;

• help parents and children learn how to choose books and use library resources.

Families who want to participate must pre-register and may do so by completing and mailing the form accompanying this letter or by calling the library at 242-3080.

PRIME TIME programs will be held every Thursday, beginning February 3^rd through March 10^th at 5:30 pm at the Library located at 105 S. Hickory.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact me at the library or via e-mail.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Shannon Leonard, Youth Services

Ottawa Library

shannon.leonard@ottawalibrary.org

Brrrrr..... It's cold!

2011-01-12T15:15:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon! It was so nice to be back into a routine today. I hope you enjoyed your two snow days! Please remember that as temperatures stay low, to send your child with gloves, hats, and heavy coats. We are having indoor recess while temps are this low, but waiting for parents to arrive at the end of the day is rather chilly.

In reading we continued to work on comparing and contrasting information. In math we played division dash and worked on different strategies for multiplication. Please continue to work on count bys and multiplication facts with your child. There is a link under resources for multiplication games. We also began our Earthworks curriculum today. There will be no spelling test this week.

Students need to continue working on coming up with a costume for their famous Kansan. If you need help coming up with ideas please let me know ASAP! We DO NOT expect you to go out and buy items for a costume. The costume needs to match the era and job of the person your child is portraying.

Don't forget that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday! :) Have a happy week!

Thoughts and Well Wishes

2011-01-05T08:10:00.000-06:00

Good Morning,

Katie Gardner, one of our 3rd grade teachers, is scheduled for one of her surgeries today at 11. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today. Katie's family has set up a website where you can check on her progress. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katiegardner/journal Thank you again for all the positive thoughts, the prayers, and the well wishes for her!

In class:

Yesterday we talked about measuring angles and identifying angles. (acute, obtuse, straight, right, and reflex)
We started our Famous Kansans project, this is also known as wax muesum.

JUNGLE BOOK AUDITIONS
NEED 6 men and 1 boy and 15- 30 other people (anybody)
This is a TRUNK show- during the day, at the schools, one acts, minimum props, etc

Audition Dates:
Wednesday, January 5th, 5-8pm
Thursday, January 6th, 5-8pm

Location:
Carnegie Cultural Center
501 S. Main St.
Ottawa, KS 66067
(785) 242-8478
click here for map

Good Afternoon

2011-01-03T15:56:00.001-06:00

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Break was very relaxing for my family. We stayed at home and cleaned! Over break Ms. Gardner, who teaches 3rd grade, was in a very serious car accident. She is expected to recover; however, she has a very long, rough road of recovery ahead of her. Please keep her in your thoughts and/or prayers. You can send her free cards courtesy of the hospital she is staying at.
The website is
http://wesleymc.netreturns.biz/cheercards/

We start testing the last week of February. Please continue to work on multiplication facts and reading for 20 minutes at home.

In math we began studying angles and degrees. We learned that a circle has 360 degrees. We will learn how to measure angles later this week.

In reading today we talked about comparing and contrasting, as well as, using Venn Diagrams.

I will be sending home book-it coupons for November and December later this week. Book-It logs for January went home today.

Spelling List 17

2011-01-03T15:14:00.002-06:00

Spelling List 17 for test on Fri., Jan. 7

there

their

use

using

through

because

does

again

always

usually

true

perhaps

certain

past

instead

either

understand

moon

animals

mind

outside

they

HELP!!!

2011-01-03T11:14:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!

I am needing a parent or two to come in and help me get materials ready for EarthWorks. We are starting next Monday and I need someone who can come in and make copies and assemble books! Let me know ASAP! Thank you so much for your help!

Happy Wednesday!

2010-12-15T09:45:00.001-06:00

Good Morning!

It has been a crazy couple of days. I was out sick on Friday and took a personal day on Monday. The kids were great for the subs! I am so very proud of these guys!

We are working more with reader's workshop and fostering a love for reading. In math we are starting division. Please work with your child on their count bys! EX 2 are 2, 4, 6, 8. 10, 12, etc. This will help with their multiplication facts. They need to know this information! Please continue to work with them on multiplication facts every school night for 20 minutes! There are links under the resources pages to help the kids practice!!

Shhhhh don't tell the kids! I am not going to make them take the spelling test on Friday. For the holidays I'm giving everyone an A for that test. They have all been working so hard this quarter! Everyone has improved their spelling grade! I'm so proud of them!

Honors choir students are going to the holiday shop today. The rest of my class will be going tomorrow. If you would like for your child to have a chance to purchase items for their siblings and you please send money with them. Everything in the shop is one dollar a piece.

Holiday party is at 2:15 on Friday. Jamie Keiter is in charge. If you have any questions you can email her at mikjam1609@hughes.net

Shelly Frank you signed up to bring Plates and Napkins
Rachel Fogle you singed up to bring a Salty Snack
Jennille Wilt you signed up to bring a healthy snack
Jamie Wlaters you signed up to bring a Sweet snack
Julie Porter you signed up for a sweet snack
Michele Altendorf you signed up to bring juice box drinks

Party Volunteers are Jamie Keiter, Shelly Frank, Julie Porter, and
Wendy Rossman.

On Friday students will be bringing everything home from their locker. The custodians will be disinfecting the lockers and will throw away anything that is not school property. We are going to try and get a head start on this process today, but it must be done by Friday.

Over the break please continue to work with your child on their multiplication facts!!

Good Afternoon

2010-12-08T14:35:00.000-06:00

Today we took our pretest in math over unit 6. We are starting division, measuring angles, and multiplication. Please continue to practice multiplication facts with your child. Several of our 4th graders do not know their facts!!

In reading we are working on the prefixes anti (against or opposite) dis (opposite of) ex (out, from) non (not) under (below) and teh suffixes ful (filled with) less ( without) ment (act of, result of), and ness (quality or condition of being)

We are also out of dry erase markers. If anyone has any laying around please consider donating them to our 4th grade class!! Thank you!!

Lattice Multiplication

2010-12-02T14:55:00.001-06:00

The above link is also in the resources box. A friend of mine teaches in Spring Hill and made this you tube video on how to do lattice multiplication. You might find it very helpful! :0)

Wahoo!!! My computer is back

2010-12-02T11:46:00.000-06:00

My computer had some issues so our tech department had it. I forgot what it was like to teach with out technology! It was an interesting past couple of days!

In math we have been working on partial products multiplication, lattice multiplication, and reading and writing large numbers.

In reading this wee we have been talking about setting. Next week we will be working with prefixes and suffixes. We will be going over anti-, dis-, ex-, non-, under-, -ful, -less, -ment, -ness

I'm going to see if I can find some online resources to help work on these skills. If you have any websites worthwhile please share!!!

Our Scentsy fundraiser is turned in and will hopefully be here soon. Sarah did get an email saying that the Scentsy corporation had the largest snow storm in years at their packing plant. Everything should still be here before Christmas. As soon as I know our total about raised I will let you know! Thank you to everyone who helped out!

Our Christmas party will be December 17th at 2ish. I will be emailing everyone that signed up to bring/send items to remind them.

Thank you so much for being such awesome parents!

THANK YOU

2010-11-22T21:35:00.000-06:00

Thank you to Wendy Rossman and Jamie Keiter for working on our class library!! It is coming along nicely!

Thank you Shelly Frank for the stickers, pillows, and everything else you have sent our way!!

Thank you Jan Boese for helping out during Math and Reading!!

Thank you Rachel Smith for the digital cameras!!

Thank you all of my parents this year! I am truly blessed to have such a great group of parents. You all go above and beyond the call of duty!

Thank you!!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

Good evening,

No spelling this week!

Our fundraiser has kicked off! Just a reminder that we do have to pay sales tax, but Sarah our consultant is making absolutely no money on this fundraiser!! She is donating her entire commission to 4th grade!! If you would like to opt out of the fundraiser you can just send your $20 for your child to attend EarthWorks. Orders are due on Monday Nov 29th so that they can be delivered to you before Christmas!

Thanksgiving break starts Wednesday and goes through the weekend.

Remember to be practicing those multiplication facts and reading for 20 minutes every day! Multiplication has come to the 4th grade and it isn't going away!

Just another Marvelous Monday!

2010-11-15T16:51:00.000-06:00

Good evening,

Today we started multiplication in math and started to work with time lines in reading.

Our scentsy fundraiser kicks off on Thursday before and after the music program! Please swing by my classroom before or after to get your fundraiser information and see what scentsy is all about! Scentsy orders are due no later than November 29th so that orders can be in before the Holidays!

This weeks spelling list is

Students need to practice
adding suffixes to words
ending in one vowel and one
consonant.
begin beginning
drop dropping
skip skipping
mail mailing
sun sunny
spell spelling
hop hopping

pelling List 13 for test on Fri., Nov. 19their
through
usually
family
really
course
idea(s)
cannot
shown
complete
strong
probably
class
piece
common
stop
am
talk
whether
fine

Check this out!! It looks like tons of fun!!!

2010-11-12T11:10:00.001-06:00

Happy Veteran's Day!! Remember to thank a veteran!

2010-11-11T09:07:00.000-06:00

Good morning,

Today in reading we continued to read the "Phantom Dog" from the Ottawa Herald. Ask your child what has happened in the last 12 chapters! We only have 6 chapters left!

In math we are taking our math test over unit 4. This includes: multiplication, decimals, and measuring.

I writing we continued our state reports.

Our classroom is in dire need of stickers! We are out of stickers for planners!

Spelling test tomorrow!

I need to find a fun catchy title!

2010-11-09T14:34:00.000-06:00

Good Afternoon,

Today in reading we talked about conflict and resolution. We read "The Bravest of Us All" to help with this concept.
In math we talked about personal references for measurement in both the metric and standard measures. Please also continue working with your child on the addition and subtraction of decimals. They are getting better everyday, but still need practice.

We continued work on our state reports today. It was the last day to work in class on this project. We will be giving our presentations the week of Thanksgiving Break.

Please make sure and note the calendar at the bottom of this blog. It has all events that are relevant to 4th grade. :-) The scentsy fundraiser information night is the same night as the 4th and 5th grade program. We thought it would be easier for parents to just come to the school for one night instead of 2 separate nights. If you have any questions or comments please let me know!

Monday, November 08, 2010

2010-11-08T15:03:00.000-06:00

Good Afternoon,

Today we talked about measurement in centimeters in math. In reading we talked about cause and effect. We are continuing our state reports. The students will give their reports the week of Thanksgiving break.

We have several activities coming up. On November the 18th is the 4th and 5th grade music program. On this day we are also kicking off the scentsy fundraiser. It is not mandatory to do this fundraiser, you may choose to pay $20 for your child's way to EarthWorks if you would prefer that. :-) Sarah Christopher our Scentsy consultant has agreed to be here before the program and after the program on the 18th of November to answer any and all questions about Scentsy. So please at least stop by and see what it is all about. Remember the holidays are coming up and these would make great gifts!

Good Morning

2010-11-04T09:55:00.001-05:00

Good Morning,

Today is going to be rather eventful. We have the communities in schools CD recording today in the art room. The kids have been working extremely hard at memorizing the selected song. We also have counselor today.

I am sending home the Book-It reading log for November. In order to earn their book-it certificate your child must read 400 minutes a month.

There have been some slight changes to our check in procedure for coming into Garfield. All visitors coming in to Garfield through the main doors will need to sign in and get a visitors badge between the hours of 7:30 and 3:35. If you are dropping your child off for school in the morning, please send them into the gym from the South East gym doors. We want to ensure that Garfield continues to be a safe place for all of our students!

Tonight there is a Title 1 Parent meeting at 6:30 in the Library. Pat Skiles and Kim North will be sharing what it means to be a Title 1 building and will answer any questions.

Tonight is also the PTA meeting.

Tumblebooks are available to parents and students online! Tumblebooks provide a variety of books read to children as well as quizzes and games. Please utilize this great resource for your kids!

Tumblereadables have books for read alouds: www.tumblebooks.com/tumblereadable/auto_login.asp?U=garfieldelem&P=login

Tumblebooks:

http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=garfieldelem&P=books

Book orders are due on November 12^th.

November 18^th is the 4^th and 5^th grade music program. We are asking parents to please come in at 5:30 to my room to learn about our Scentsy fundraiser opportunity for EarthWorks. You can also stay after the program if this option works better for you. We will be here for both. J

Also Garfield PTA is now recycling CAPRI SUN drink pouches!

Monday November 1st

2010-11-01T10:04:00.001-05:00

Good morning!

I hope you didn't keep your children out too late last night! (They do tell on you! Haha) Sounds like all of the kids had a very exciting weekend. They are very sluggish this morning but I hope it will pass by lunch time.

In reading we worked some more with reading charts. We talked about why charts are important and how they are a great way to convey information quickly.

In math we will be estimating with decimals. Many of the students are still becoming flustered with decimals. Please continue to work with them on this and help ease their uneasiness. The more they practice with decimals the more comfortable they will become.

In social studies/writing this week we will be starting our state reports. Each child will be assigned a state and will gather information and create a presentation for that state. They will be given a rubric to follow.

Last week's spelling test will be given today. I am also sending home this weeks list. Take home task is do as always on Thursday.

Please remember that candy is to stay home. My students are sweet enough with out it! :-)

Book orders are due on November 12th.

pelling List 11 for test on Fri., Nov. 5’s’s’t do/not’s let/us’s it/is’ll he/will’ve they/have
there
their
other
its
every
until
almost
it
whole
because
among
special
person
hold
probably
matter
stand
box
start
that
Students will be tested
on contractions. Here are
some examples:
don
let
it
he
they
See if your child can find contractions

make up that contraction.

Thursday Oct. 28th

2010-10-28T14:39:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is our class party! We are wearing our pjs and hats (the hats are for red ribbon week). We will be watching How to Train a Dragon at 10:15. Our Fall party starts at 2:30. Can't wait to see you guys there!

Today in reading we read Chp 7 of the Phantom Dog serial story from the Ottawa Herald. It is getting very interesting!! Ask your child about it!

In math we are very frustrated with decimals. We are working on place values and how to compare decimals. We are only going out to the hundredths place for now. Eventually they will be expected to know out to the thousandths place. Please help your child with this. Even if you are only comparing money. Let them know it is the same thing with regular decimals out to the hundredths place. Please also continue to work on count bys/ multiples through the number 12.

We will start our state reports on Monday. :-)

Please don't forget that we are not dressing up for Halloween this year.

Tuesday, October 26th

2010-10-26T16:38:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon!

After looking at the spelling take home task I realized that the students do not need to turn anything in this week for that! Please make sure they are practicing which there means what. Just continue to practice!

In math we started working with decimals. Several of the students are very frustrated with this new concept. We just started today with the place value chart and learning the different names. We learned tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. Tomorrow we will learn what decimals look like.

In writing we finished up our autumn poems. These were based on the five little pumpkins poem. If they did not finish it in class it was homework.

In social studies we worked on reading map scales and why it is important to know how to read a map scale. We will begin working on state reports here in the near future.

Tomorrow is "Team up against drugs" make sure you wear your team apparel for Red Ribbon week.

I have almost all of the permission slips for PG movies. I will make sure and post here what movie we will watch when it is PG and make an effort to inform parents who would like to know.

Monday October 25th

2010-10-25T15:01:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon,

It sure was a scorcher in our classroom! They must have the heat on a timer and not know that it was 80 outside and didn't need to be 80 inside!

Today in reading we worked on the importance of reading charts. In math we took the unit 4 pretest. We will begin working with decimals. In social studies we continued working with the southeast. We will begin working on state reports this Wednesday.

I am proud to announce that our class has finally earned a class party! I am sending home permission slips today for you to let them watch pg movies. They really want to watch How to Train Your Dragon which is rated pg. Please send permission slips in tomorrow. They have been warned that if even 1 permission slip is not returned we will be watching a g rated movie of my choice. :-) We will be doing our class party this Friday from 10:15 until lunch at 12. They may also wear pjs and bring either a stuffed animal or a pillow (whatever they bring it must fit into their locker.) So Friday is going to look like this: Reading from 8 to 9:15. Music and PE from 9:20 until 10:10. Movie from 10:20 until 11:58. Lunch is from 12 to 1. We will do math from 1 until 2:30. Halloween party is from 2:30 until 3:30! Parents are always welcome to join us! If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to let me know!

Spelling take home task went home today and is due on Thursday. The test is this Friday (I'm not sure when I'll fit it into the schedule, but we'll make it work!)

This week is red ribbon week! Today was wear your clothes backwards. Tomorrow is dress like a friend day. Wednesday is wear your favorite team. Thursday is wear sunglasses, and Friday is wear your favorite hat.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Spelling List for Oct 29th

2010-10-25T09:07:00.002-05:00

pelling List 10 for test on Fri., Oct. 29’t’s—theirs—there’s—they’re

there

first

its

right

around

between

always

don

better

English

perhaps

ready

complete

hundred

strong

voice

probably

area

horse

Students need to know

the difference between

these often confused

homophones.

Their

there

Fall Party

2010-10-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Parents!

Several parents signed up for the fall party! We will start our party at 2:30 next Friday (Oct. 29th).

Jessica signed up to send napkins
Jennille signed up to send plates
Ivy signed up to send a salty snack
Rachel signed up to send a healthy snack
Wendy signed up to be at the party and bring a sweet snack
Shelly signed up to be at the party and bring a sweet snack
We could still use another salty snack and another healthy snack.
I just realized that I did not have a spot to sign up for drinks. This might be something someone might want to send with their child.

As always any and all parents are welcome to come hang out with us the day of the party! Please remember that we are not dressing up for Halloween this year! :-)

Spelling List for Oct. 21st

2010-10-19T07:44:00.002-05:00

Spelling List

9 for test on Thurs., Oct. 21’s young’t—we change

there

their

people

learn

toward

really

become

ready

special

hundred

fast

felt

kept

notice

can

Irregular verbs
the complete spelling in the past tense instead of adding an -ed suffix.
For example, we do not add
-ed to take, instead we write
took.
make made
ran run
write wrote
do did
bring brought
think thought
keep kept
eat ate

Let the Conference Week BEGIN!!

2010-10-18T16:13:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon!

Conferences kick off today! If you haven't scheduled a conference time please do so! 229-8060!

In math today we worked on identifying whether a number sentence is true or false. In reading we worked on problem/solution nonficiton text.

Don't forget that there is no school on Friday!

Book fair is this week during conferences.

Doughnuts for dad is this Thursday.

Cupcakes for Kids!

2010-10-15T20:37:00.002-05:00

Support the Ottawa Communities in Schools Back Snack Program Purchase a cupcake from
proceeds will go to help students in need in the
Ottawa School District Keim Bakery and Cupcakes for Kids Sponsored by Keim Bakery and Ottawa Business and
Professional Women 304 S. Main
Ottawa Time: 6 am to 10 pm
Date: October 22nd & 23rd

Thursday, October 14th

2010-10-14T12:43:00.002-05:00

No School Tomorrow or next Friday!

Conferences

I will be calling parents tomorrow during my work time to set up conferences with anyone who has not called in. On Monday I will be sending reminders home about conferences. Thank you to our PTA for the goody bags!! I personally look forward to these every year!

Cupcakes for Kids

Support the Ottawa Communities in Schools Back Snack Program. Purchase a cupcake from Keim Bakery 304 S. Main and proceeds will go to help students in need in the Ottawa School District.
This is only for October 22^nd and 23^rd from 6am until 10pm.

Fundraiser pick up

Is today starting at 3:35. Hopefully everyone is finished picking up their fundraiser items from the gym by 5:30pm.

Reading Tribes

We had Reading Tribes today. We read I Wanna Iguana and talked about Responsibility. Responsibility is our character trait for the month of October.

School Book Fair

The school book fair is the week of conferences. We are also doing Doughnuts for Dads on Thursday morning for our 3-5^th grade dads from 7:30am until 8:00 am.

Wednesday Oct. 13th

2010-10-13T18:28:00.000-05:00

Today was a fantastic day!
Some students need to finish their flip chart books for social studies. This is due tomorrow so that I can add them to the grade book.

We had a disabilities awareness day today. We had 2 people from the youth action center from Topeka. The kids really seemed to learn a lot from it.

In math we are continuing to learn about problem solving and number stories.

As always there was a scholastic magazine that went home today.

Reminder no school on Friday!!
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Tuesday October 12th

2010-10-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon,

Fundraiser items will be in Thursday October 14th at 3:35. Please make arrangements to pick up your items.

No School this Friday or next.

Conferences: Please remember to call the office and set up your conference time! 785-229-8060

In math we worked on air distance and in reading we worked on what to do if the students need help while I am conferencing with other students.

Spelling List for Unit 8 Test on Thursday!

2010-10-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

Spelling List

8 for test on Thurs., Oct.14

their

first

water

goes

great

until

form (ed)

enough

almost

earth

several

answer

usually

later

built

state

list

stood

hundred

ten

Students need to practice

compound words. Compound

words are made of two separate

words that when put together-

become a new word.

Examples: chairman homework
cardboard letterman Northwest

Monday, October 11th

2010-10-11T09:59:00.001-05:00

Good Morning,

I hope everyone enjoyed their 10-10-10 day! I certainly enjoyed mine! Book orders should be in today.

Conference schedules are up and ready to be filled. Please call the office at 785-229-8060 between 8:30 and 4:00 to schedule a time. If you have any concerns you would like to talk about please email me or send me a note. This way I can guide our conference to talk about what is on your mind. I am limiting conferences to 15 minutes. Please be mindful of your time and others. If you feel that you need more than 15 minutes please chat with me about a good time to conference.

Reminder: NO SCHOOL ON THIS FRIDAY OR NEXT!

In reading we read about special types. This includes bold face words and pronunciation guides.
In math we will be continuing our world tour and hitting Africa. During the world tour we talk about measurement and maps.

Today is also the Fire Safety Rap presented by the fire department. Remember to rehearse your safety route and meeting destination for your family!

Spelling take home task is due on Thursday and the spelling test is on Thursday as well.

Sorry I did not post yesterday.

2010-10-06T13:55:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the school was blocking blogger.com so I was not able to update the blog.

Today we continued working on our commercials for our exports in social studies. During Reading we mapped out our book nooks for reader's workshop, and in math we corrected math journals and caught ourselves up. Please continue to work with your child on multiplication facts and converting from yards, feet, and inches to their counter part. So inches to feet, inches to yards, ect.

Just a reminder that we are not doing Halloween costumes this year.

Here is what Mr. Green has to say about Halloween:
"Just a heads up to let you know that I am changing the Halloween party craziness to a fall party theme. There will be no costumes nor a parade. I am letting parents know in the newsletter that will hopefully go out today. If there are questions as to why, let them know that we are not wanting to increase the financial burden on families with the costumes as well as maintain our focus on meeting the educational needs of the kids. We will have a classroom celebration for the season at 2:45 on the 29th of Oct."

Spelling List for Test on Friday October 8

2010-10-04T20:20:00.002-05:00

Spelling List 7 for test on Fri., Oct.8

there
their
because
should
always
important
sure
it’s
example
turned
half
remember
idea(s)
special
complete
oh
person
hot
anything
hold

Students need to practice
words that have more than
one meaning. The Take Home
task will help them.

Examples: fire store miss
letter space

Happy Monday!

2010-10-04T16:15:00.002-05:00

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone's weekend was a blast! Fall has come and I hope it sticks around for awhile.

Spelling lists went home today, along with the take home task. The take home task is due on Thursday. The spelling test is Friday.

I submitted book orders today. They should be in soon!

In math we began working with multiplication. Please continue to practice math facts with your child. :-)

Grade cards will go home during conferences. I will be setting up conference times here soon. If you have a specific date and time that you would like please email it to me ASAP.

Book It logs went home today. The goal is for students to read 20 minutes a night Monday through Friday. If this is accomplished they will have 400 minutes a month, which is the goal. If students read 400 minutes in the month they will recieve a personal pan pizza coupon.

I will be doing conferences on Monday, Tuesday, and if necessary Thursday the week of October of 18th.

Thursday Sept. 30

2010-09-30T15:05:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon!

Today has been fantastic. I talked with OPET/Communities in Schools about the grant I filled out to receive headsets to work on digital storybooks. Hopefully it went well. I feel like it did.

We did a math pretest today, along with a fire drill! (Yippee! Got to love the unexpected. The students did great and went right back to work afterward!)

In reading we talked about taking care of books and the reason we need to. We are almost to a point where reader's workshop will be off the floor and running! We also had pictures at this time, so the students did not have to have pictures after PE! Yeah! Thank you moms for making this happen.

In writing/social studies we made time lines of lives.

I'm extending book orders to Monday. I will be gone tomorrow and don't want the sub to have to deal with that. We found out today that my son, JD, has strep throat. Yuck!!

Don't forget to bring in those box tops!!

Monday Sept. 27

2010-09-27T15:33:00.000-05:00

In math we worked with creating bar graphs and in reading we worked with descriptive text.

Spelling take home task is due on Thursday and book orders are due on Friday.

Spelling List 6 for test on Fri., Oct. 1

there

their

each

its

again

sound

often

almost

however

city

early

nothing

certain

fire

special

ran

full

town

complete

Students need to

practice adding these

suffixes to words.

-s -ed -ly -ful -ing

-er -est -able

Friday Sept 23

2010-09-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

Good Evening Parents!

I am having issues accessing the blog at school and have forgotten to post by the time I have gotten back home.

This week has been fantastic!

We finished our digital story book about Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. Some students brought home a yellow permission slip. This is the back side to one of the enrollment papers from the beginning of the year. The parents who did not fill this out at the beginning of the year have received it. This will give us permission to post the digital story book on our web page. Then parents can watch it at home and send the link to relatives for them to see. Since all of the fourth graders in our class worked on this project we need permission from all of the parents. Our digital story books have the students illuastrations and voices. There are no photographs of the children that are used.

Spelling List

2010-09-21T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ok technical difficulties are over and now I can post.

We did MAP Math testing today. We started Reader's Workshop today by sharing our favorite books. It was very enlightening to hear the students talk about their favorite books and tell why they were their favorite.

Box Tops contest started today and ends on Monday, Oct. 4th.

Book Orders are due next Friday.

Reminder: Wednesday is an early release day and Friday students don't have school.

Spelling List 5 for test on Thurs., Sept. 23
there
their
first
its
because
always
together
form
animal
several
ground
front
American(s)
mean(s)
certain
fire
ready
green
yes
built
Students need to practice
spelling patterns for the /j/ sound
as in jar.
j dge ge
gi gy
One way to practice
would be to do a scavenger
hunt through the newspaper, cut
the words out, then sort them.

Monday Sept 20th

2010-09-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

Good evening!

I'll get the spelling list posted tomorrow morning. Spelling task is due on Thursday.

Today we worked with texting our answers to the teacher... With the clickers. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Box tops contest started today! Bring in those box tops! One of these years my class will win! We always come so close!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Friday Sept. 17th

2010-09-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!

Today we had our spelling test, book buddies, and our second class meeting. The only homework for tonight is to read 20 minutes.

Don't forget book orders are due October 1st. I am not sure when fundraiser items will be in. I will keep you posted.

Today a letter went home about flu like symptoms. There were several students out of the building with illness. Please remember that your child needs to be fever free for 24 hours to return to school. If your child is out due to illness please let the front office know. If you would like for me to send home the work they are missing please make arrangements with myself or the office to have those materials delivered to you.

I hope you have a fun and safe weekend! The Ottawa Car Show is this weekend. Maybe you will see JD, Adam, and I at Cruise Night!

Wed. Sept. 15th

2010-09-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

Good Evening,

I'm sorry I am updating this so late. Homework from tonight was to read for 20 minutes. I provided a Scholastic News to read. They do not have to bring that back.

This morning during reading we pretended that the electricity was out and worked by flashlight. The students seemed to really enjoy it. Our digital story book for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is almost complete! I'm so excited! We are done with recording voices for everyone but three students. I just need to scan in their pictures and compile everything. :-)

In math today we learned about the many ways we can name numbers.

Early Release!!!

2010-09-15T07:43:00.002-05:00

Don't forget that today students are dismissed at 2:55!! We have meetings at 3:10 so please be prompt with pick up!! Thanks!!

Tuesday Sept. 14

2010-09-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

Good Evening,

Our book orders came today and I passed out the items. I am sending a new scholastic set of book orders home tonight. They are not due until Friday, Oct. 1st. They should be ready online as well.

The digital story books are coming along nicely! I hope to have them finished this week!

During math time we took the reading MAP assessment.

Take home task 4 is due on Thursday and as always read 20 minutes every night!

Monday Sept. 13th

2010-09-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

Today we started working on our digital story book for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We partnered up and each partner is doing a chapter from the book. Once finished we will have the entire story finished. I am hoping to post it to the blog when we are finished or parents to see.

Tonight the spelling task went home. It is due on Thursday. I am finally posting the list. I'm sorry it didn't get put on last night. Spelling City will be ready tonight as well.

In math we started our world tour with Washington, D.C. We learned the differnt uses for numbers.

Here is this weeks spelling list.

there

their

then

than

words

most

work(ed)

enough

country

true

United States

cold

American(s)

though

behind
rest

perhaps

certain

six

feel

Students need to be aware

of the different spellings for

the sound /s/ at the beginning

of snake.

ce ci cy s ss sc

Tomorrow September 13

2010-09-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

Please don't forget PTA fundraiser packets are due in! If you would like to make a donation in leu of selling fundraiser items that is ok as well.

Spelling test will be tomorrow, since we didn't get time to take it on Friday. Later today I will post the spelling list for this week.

Enjoy this BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon! Go spend some time outside!

Friday

2010-09-10T19:02:00.001-05:00

Good evening,

We did not get a chance to do the spelling test today. This gives your child all weekend to study some more and be ready!

We finished Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing today. Ask your child what happened to Dribble the turtle!

In math we used the clickers. It was not as successful as I would have liked but both the students and myself are still learning the software and hardware.

Clickers are like a voting tool. Students type in their answer to a question and it sends their answer to my computer. In theory it is great because it means less time grading and more time planning. However we are still working out user error and software error. I do think the kids really enjoyed playing with them. Hopefully in the near future we can get them up and going full time! Now if I could convince the school to buy me a class set that is just for my room so we could use them all the time!! ;) (unfortunately they are about $1,000 per class set)

Enjoy your weekend!
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