Our amazing liaisons have created a link for a reading circle sign-up, which is included in the blog links. If you have your fingerprint clearance, we would love to have you in our classroom so you can share in the wonderful literature we read together. There is a spot available for tomorrow, but Galileo testing is throwing off our schedule a bit. We can jump into the small reading groups on Tuesday, October 6th.
Also, I have posted a link to sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences. The conference dates are scheduled at the end of Fall Break, from October 19th to October 21st. Please take a look at the available appointments and select a time that best suits your schedule. You should also be receiving an email with a link to the sign-up platform. Next week, the front office will be adding all of our links to a spot on the Lincoln website. Mrs. King and I look forward to meeting with you all!
Please view the links on the left side of the page for tutoring, parent-teacher, and reading circle links.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Free Concert this Weekend
Hello!
I want to let you all know about a fantastic, free, cultural opportunity happening this weekend. I'm a member of the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, a professional-level volunteer orchestra based in Chandler. This Sunday (10/4) at 3pm, we are giving a concert entitled Fate Awaits at the Chandler Center for the Arts. We're playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Vitali's Chaconne for violin and orchestra, among other great works, and admission is absolutely free! If you are coming and you or your children would like to learn more about the works that we're playing beforehand, please don't hesitate to email me (jfranklund@archwaylincoln.org). I love talking about music, and I find that I enjoy concerts so much more if I am familiar with the works being played. :)
I want to let you all know about a fantastic, free, cultural opportunity happening this weekend. I'm a member of the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, a professional-level volunteer orchestra based in Chandler. This Sunday (10/4) at 3pm, we are giving a concert entitled Fate Awaits at the Chandler Center for the Arts. We're playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Vitali's Chaconne for violin and orchestra, among other great works, and admission is absolutely free! If you are coming and you or your children would like to learn more about the works that we're playing beforehand, please don't hesitate to email me (jfranklund@archwaylincoln.org). I love talking about music, and I find that I enjoy concerts so much more if I am familiar with the works being played. :)
Monday, September 28, 2015
Spalding Spelling Homework
Hello!
Today (9/28) your student will bring home this sheet of paper for their spelling homework:
They will also bring home a composition book that they have been using for practicing phonograms in class. There are directions on the sheet, but just to review: please dictate (or have someone else dictate) these words to your student three times. Your student's words should look exactly like the ones on the sheet, including rules and markings. You may make corrections to your student's paper right away. When the homework is done, please initial the bottom of the sheet where it says "Proofed by:", so your student can turn the sheet in the next day for homework. Thank you so much for your cooperation!
Today (9/28) your student will bring home this sheet of paper for their spelling homework:
Week 8 Overview
Hello!
We have a big week ahead of us, with three quizzes by the end of the week. Our Meteorology test is now on Wednesday, which should give our students plenty of time to practice decoding and creating weather station models. On Thursday, we will have a quiz over the first 15 chapters of Pollyanna. We have all enjoyed discussing this book together during the past few weeks, and I feel confident that our students will do well on the quiz. Finally, on Friday we will have a Math quiz cover the order of operations. We've been working on this concept diligently for the past few weeks and I am again confident that our students know their stuff!
Ms. Walls and I have been so impressed with our class' presentation skills! Last Thursday and Friday they all recited Afternoon on a Hill for the entire class. No one got a grade lower than 100%! In fact, the class average was a 21 out of 20! Today, some students presented the flags they made for history class (we've been learning about heraldry). We so enjoyed the made-up countries your students thought of and loved their creative and detailed flags!
In our Spalding class today, we finally started working on 4th grade spelling words. The students were all excited to move on from "baby" words and rule pages to bigger, tougher words. Ms. Walls, under the direction of Mrs. Clause, has set up a new homework method that we will be following for the rest of the year in our spelling class. I've written a separate blog post explaining the homework in detail here.
At the end of this week, we will start preparing for Rocket Math, a face-pace math facts program we will be using to supplement Singapore Math. Expect more details here soon!
Have a great week!
We have a big week ahead of us, with three quizzes by the end of the week. Our Meteorology test is now on Wednesday, which should give our students plenty of time to practice decoding and creating weather station models. On Thursday, we will have a quiz over the first 15 chapters of Pollyanna. We have all enjoyed discussing this book together during the past few weeks, and I feel confident that our students will do well on the quiz. Finally, on Friday we will have a Math quiz cover the order of operations. We've been working on this concept diligently for the past few weeks and I am again confident that our students know their stuff!
Ms. Walls and I have been so impressed with our class' presentation skills! Last Thursday and Friday they all recited Afternoon on a Hill for the entire class. No one got a grade lower than 100%! In fact, the class average was a 21 out of 20! Today, some students presented the flags they made for history class (we've been learning about heraldry). We so enjoyed the made-up countries your students thought of and loved their creative and detailed flags!
In our Spalding class today, we finally started working on 4th grade spelling words. The students were all excited to move on from "baby" words and rule pages to bigger, tougher words. Ms. Walls, under the direction of Mrs. Clause, has set up a new homework method that we will be following for the rest of the year in our spelling class. I've written a separate blog post explaining the homework in detail here.
At the end of this week, we will start preparing for Rocket Math, a face-pace math facts program we will be using to supplement Singapore Math. Expect more details here soon!
Have a great week!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Week 7 Overview
Hello!
I hope you all had a relaxing and restful weekend. Ms. Walls and I are looking forward to another week of learning and growing with your students. On Monday, we will start reading Pollyanna together during Literature class. Ms. Walls and I have both been looking forward to this book. This is my first time reading it and I love to discover new books, and it's one of Ms. Walls childhood favorite (or at least the Hayley Mills movie was). We're really enjoying starting our history unit about the Middle Ages, and we have a fun science project planned for the week as well. We'll be studying weather and weather forecasting and practicing our decoding skills by learning some weather station symbols.
Spalding Night is Tuesday night (9/21) from 6:30-8. If you're confused about Spalding or have any questions, please attend and get all your questions answered!
Have a great week!
I hope you all had a relaxing and restful weekend. Ms. Walls and I are looking forward to another week of learning and growing with your students. On Monday, we will start reading Pollyanna together during Literature class. Ms. Walls and I have both been looking forward to this book. This is my first time reading it and I love to discover new books, and it's one of Ms. Walls childhood favorite (or at least the Hayley Mills movie was). We're really enjoying starting our history unit about the Middle Ages, and we have a fun science project planned for the week as well. We'll be studying weather and weather forecasting and practicing our decoding skills by learning some weather station symbols.
Spalding Night is Tuesday night (9/21) from 6:30-8. If you're confused about Spalding or have any questions, please attend and get all your questions answered!
Have a great week!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Week 6 Overview
Hello!
This week has been full of new things to do and learn! On Tuesday, we had vision and hearing tests for the whole class. Ms. Walls and I have been really impressed with how well the students are adjusting to and embracing our classroom procedures; we were very proud of how quiet and still they were while waiting for their hearing and vision tests, even though it had interrupted P.E., one of their favorite specials!
As we we have been studying weather in our science class, we've had the opportunity to do a few demonstrations. We created thunder in the classroom by inflating brown paper lunch bags and then popping them all at the same time, simulating the rapid increase of air pressure around a lightning bolt. We also tried to simulate lightning by rubbing a balloon on a student's head to create friction, then bringing the balloon close to a fluorescent light bulb, hoping that the electric charge would jump from the balloon to the light bulb, simulating electricity jumping from cloud to cloud or cloud to ground. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but we were able to still talk about electricity and lightning anyway. Maybe you could try it again at home and have better luck than we did in class!
We were planning to have our final Wonderful Wizard of Oz quiz on Thursday, but after reviewing the study guides, we decided to have a discussion about themes today and move the test to Friday (9/18). We want to make sure the students are prepared to do their very best on the quiz! On Monday, we will start Pollyanna, so please make sure your student is prepared for class and has the book!
Have a great week!
This week has been full of new things to do and learn! On Tuesday, we had vision and hearing tests for the whole class. Ms. Walls and I have been really impressed with how well the students are adjusting to and embracing our classroom procedures; we were very proud of how quiet and still they were while waiting for their hearing and vision tests, even though it had interrupted P.E., one of their favorite specials!
As we we have been studying weather in our science class, we've had the opportunity to do a few demonstrations. We created thunder in the classroom by inflating brown paper lunch bags and then popping them all at the same time, simulating the rapid increase of air pressure around a lightning bolt. We also tried to simulate lightning by rubbing a balloon on a student's head to create friction, then bringing the balloon close to a fluorescent light bulb, hoping that the electric charge would jump from the balloon to the light bulb, simulating electricity jumping from cloud to cloud or cloud to ground. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but we were able to still talk about electricity and lightning anyway. Maybe you could try it again at home and have better luck than we did in class!
We were planning to have our final Wonderful Wizard of Oz quiz on Thursday, but after reviewing the study guides, we decided to have a discussion about themes today and move the test to Friday (9/18). We want to make sure the students are prepared to do their very best on the quiz! On Monday, we will start Pollyanna, so please make sure your student is prepared for class and has the book!
Have a great week!
Week 5 Overview
Hello!
I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! Ms. Walls and I certainly did. We have had a busy week this week with a quiz over the Wizard of Oz on Wednesday, a quiz about pronouns on Thursday, and a math test on Friday. We've been reviewing in class in preparation for all of these assessments, and we're confident that our scholars can do well.
Progress reports will be submitted on Friday. Almost all the students who are currently receiving low grades are missing homework assignments that, once turned in, will raise their grade. We've heard reports of parents removing homework from folders at home and not sending it back to school, so just a friendly reminder: please only keep at home the work in your student's yellow take-home folder. Thank you!
Have a great week!
I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! Ms. Walls and I certainly did. We have had a busy week this week with a quiz over the Wizard of Oz on Wednesday, a quiz about pronouns on Thursday, and a math test on Friday. We've been reviewing in class in preparation for all of these assessments, and we're confident that our scholars can do well.
Progress reports will be submitted on Friday. Almost all the students who are currently receiving low grades are missing homework assignments that, once turned in, will raise their grade. We've heard reports of parents removing homework from folders at home and not sending it back to school, so just a friendly reminder: please only keep at home the work in your student's yellow take-home folder. Thank you!
Have a great week!
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Week 4 Overview
Hello and welcome to Week 4!
This week we have two big events:
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This week in Language Arts, we will start learning how to write dictations and summaries of short passages. These are skills we will be working on all year, so your students should not be alarmed if they are difficult at first. In Math, we are learning how to find factors and multiples of numbers. We are continuing to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz together and we have a quiz over chapters 8-15 planned for next Wednesday (9/9). In Geography, we are studying mountains, mountain ranges, and mountain wildlife. In Science, we are learning about the different layers of the atmosphere. Geography and Science have converged very nicely, as we have discussed how the atmosphere thins as you climb up tall mountains.
Have a great week!
This week we have two big events:
- Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 2nd, 6:30-8. Please do not bring your children, as space is very limited
- Picture Day: Thursday, September 3rd. Order forms can be given to the photographer that day, or you can order online:
Choose: my images
Choose: school
Start the online order process
This week in Language Arts, we will start learning how to write dictations and summaries of short passages. These are skills we will be working on all year, so your students should not be alarmed if they are difficult at first. In Math, we are learning how to find factors and multiples of numbers. We are continuing to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz together and we have a quiz over chapters 8-15 planned for next Wednesday (9/9). In Geography, we are studying mountains, mountain ranges, and mountain wildlife. In Science, we are learning about the different layers of the atmosphere. Geography and Science have converged very nicely, as we have discussed how the atmosphere thins as you climb up tall mountains.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Weeks 2-3 Overview
These last few weeks have just flown by! We've enjoyed getting to know your students better through all of our class activities. We have such a wonderful, curious group of students!
During the past few weeks, we have finished our review of 3rd grade and started new content. In math, we've practiced finding number patterns, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing large numbers, and rounding. Two of our classroom's favorite activities are solving word problems on white boards and skip counting using disco moves! In spelling, we are focusing on learning Spalding markings and writing correctly in the Spalding notebooks, which will eventually contain all spelling rules and words. We also read through chapter 9 of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz together. It is such a joy to hear your students reading aloud with expression and gusto! In geography, we studied times zones and in science, we continued our study of clouds and weather.
On Monday (8/21), Mrs. Margie Clouse came to observe our Spalding class. She learned the Spalding method from Mrs. Romilda Spalding herself and Ms. Walls and I are so grateful to have her as a resource as we work through the curriculum. She will be observing us every other Monday and helping us teach spelling and phonics in the most efficient way. On Thursday (8/24), we got the chance to put our science learning into practice by making a cloud in a bottle. By dropping a lighted match into a 2-liter bottle with an inch of water at the bottom, and then quickly closing the bottle and squeezing it, a small cloud was formed inside the bottle. If you want to find out why, ask your students!
As we have begun to dive into 4th grade content, you may have noticed your children struggling with their homework. Ms. Walls always writes down how long she expects each homework assignment to take so the students can copy it into their agenda. If it takes them significantly longer to complete an assignment, please let us know! We don't want our students to struggle unnecessarily and if a concept is proving difficult for many students, we will be happy to review it in class.
A few dates to keep in mind in the coming week:
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Choose: school
Start the online order process
Have a great week!
During the past few weeks, we have finished our review of 3rd grade and started new content. In math, we've practiced finding number patterns, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing large numbers, and rounding. Two of our classroom's favorite activities are solving word problems on white boards and skip counting using disco moves! In spelling, we are focusing on learning Spalding markings and writing correctly in the Spalding notebooks, which will eventually contain all spelling rules and words. We also read through chapter 9 of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz together. It is such a joy to hear your students reading aloud with expression and gusto! In geography, we studied times zones and in science, we continued our study of clouds and weather.
On Monday (8/21), Mrs. Margie Clouse came to observe our Spalding class. She learned the Spalding method from Mrs. Romilda Spalding herself and Ms. Walls and I are so grateful to have her as a resource as we work through the curriculum. She will be observing us every other Monday and helping us teach spelling and phonics in the most efficient way. On Thursday (8/24), we got the chance to put our science learning into practice by making a cloud in a bottle. By dropping a lighted match into a 2-liter bottle with an inch of water at the bottom, and then quickly closing the bottle and squeezing it, a small cloud was formed inside the bottle. If you want to find out why, ask your students!
As we have begun to dive into 4th grade content, you may have noticed your children struggling with their homework. Ms. Walls always writes down how long she expects each homework assignment to take so the students can copy it into their agenda. If it takes them significantly longer to complete an assignment, please let us know! We don't want our students to struggle unnecessarily and if a concept is proving difficult for many students, we will be happy to review it in class.
A few dates to keep in mind in the coming week:
- Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 2nd, 6:30-8. Please do not bring your children, as space is very limited
- Picture Day: Thursday, September 3rd. Order forms can be given to the photographer that day, or you can order online:
Choose: my images
Choose: school
Start the online order process
Have a great week!
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