Classroom News: August 25-29

This week in science lab students had a great time exploring solids, liquids, and gases and their properties. In class we did a mystery matter activity where students used different properties to describe different solids, liquids, and gases. Students then created a Matter flipbook about each state of matter. They included their own definition for each state as well as examples and then they described the properties. Next week we will wrap up our matter unit and begin learning about the regions in Georgia.

In math, students rotated through a variety of place value centers to help review concepts taught. We learned two new place value games. Ask your child to tell you about them. Next week we will finish up our place value unit and begin learning about different strategies to help us with adding and subtracting.

We have spent the last few weeks reviewing and learning about Daily 5. Students are eager to begin putting what we’ve learned into place. Starting next week, we will begin rotating through our Daily 5 centers. This will be the time that I will pull reading groups and work with students based on their needs.

Our class mission statement is finished! Students worked really hard to make sure it reflects our class goals for the year. Students then created their own mission statements. These are posted around our class mission. Of course I forgot to take a picture before I left today so I will post one next week.

Important Dates

Monday, September 1- Labor Day

Tuesday, September 9- Picture Day

Classroom News: August 18-22

We had another great week and were very busy. I can’t believe we are about to enter our 4^th week of school! The students have settled in and are in a routine. This week we continued to work on place value to the 100’s place. Students are able to model 3 digit numbers using base ten blocks, expanded form, and written form. We will work in small groups next week to practice comparing 3 digit numbers while also rotating through place value centers.

We will wrap up our Matter study next week by learning about the properties of matter and the changes in matter. We will also visit the science lab next week to complete some hands on matter activities. We will then move on to our Social Studies topic of Georgia.

Next week, I hope to finish up our class mission statement. This statement will be written by the class and will be something we follow all year long. We have already built a great classroom environment and I know our mission statement will represent our classroom well. I will post a copy of it when we complete it.

This week we were able to have our first rotation with the I-pads. It happened to fall on a Wednesday, which is our ALP day, so some students were not in the room. Our rotation is every six days so next week we will have them on Thursday. For the students who were in the room, we were able play on an App called Math Fight. They played in partners and practiced their math facts. They students really loved it. This is a free app and can be downloaded for your child to use. We also logged into Raz-Kids for the first time. Students really enjoyed using their headphones to listen to stories on their reading level. If you haven’t sent in headphones, please do so. I will be sending your child’s login information home on Monday. Please allow your child to login in from home. This can be used as their reading time each night and their reading response question can be answered from a story they have read on Raz-Kids.

Homework

Thank you for working with your child on homework this week. Overall, I was impressed with how well they completed it. Please remember to have your child ONLY complete 3 spelling activities. Those activities need to be labeled with the activity name or number. Please THOROUGHLY read the reading response activity. Most students did not complete this correctly. It will usually ask for a picture or illustration which is expected to be in color. The math sheet should also be completed.

Important Dates and Reminders

*September 1, Labor Day-No School 
*September 4, Chick-Fil-A Night
*September 9, Fall Picture Day and Jimmies Ice Cream and Yogurt Night
*September 15-19, Fall Break-No School

Open House Power Point

Classroom News: August 10-14

Parents,

Thank you so much for taking the time to attend Open House last night. If you have any questions about the information presented please let me know. I also want to thank the parents who sent in items off our class wish list. I really appreciate it!

We had another great week of school. We began reviewing the components of Daily 5, completed a writing assessment, worked on expanded form and identifying the place and the value of three digit numbers. We had our first class meeting and continued to talk about being respectful to others as well as taking pride in ourselves and being the best person we can be every day. We visited the Science Lab and the Library as well this week. Next week, we will continue learning about matter and place value. We will review more about Daily 5 and I will introduce reading and writing workshop. Ms. Weston (our guidance counselor) will visit on Monday. Below are a few reminders for next week.

·        Homework will start on Monday. It will be due each Friday. Students will bring home a homework journal where spelling and the reading response will be completed. They will complete one reading response activity, three spelling activities, and a math page. Please label or number the spelling activities in the journal each week.

·       Please remember to send in a healthy snack for your child.

    We will go to the library on Tuesday. Please make sure your child brings their books back so that they are able to check out more books when we go.

·        If you haven’t already done so, please purchase a Leader in Me shirt for your child. The deadline is Wednesday.

Here are some pictures from our Science Lab visit. Enjoy your weekend. 

First Week: August 4-8

     We had a wonderful first week of school.  We spent a lot of time getting to know each other, setting our classroom routines and learning how to work together as a team. Students learned about the Golden Rule. We listened to the story “Do Unto Otters.” The moral of the story was to treat others the way you want to be treated. The students wrote about what the golden rule means to them and signed our class golden rule anchor chart. We really tried to focus on caring about each other and watching how we treat each other. To help us understand this, we listen to the story Chrysanthemum. Students identified how Chrysanthemum’s heart was wrinkled by hurtful words. Students thought about a time their heart was wrinkled and wrote how it made them feel. I have to say, I am very impressed with their writing skills thus far.

     Over the next few weeks we will be learning about Matter in science. This week, to introduce the topic, students participated in a mystery box activity. The box was filled with different solids, liquids, and gases. Students had to try and figure out how the items were all related. They did a great job realizing that some of the objects were solids. Then they quickly picked up on the fact that the other objects were liquids and gases. We will focus on each individual state of matter next week and talk about the different and we will visit the science lab on Tuesday.

Next week, we will begin our place value unit and we will be learning about our Daily 5 and Reading Workshop Routines.

Here are a few pictures from our team building activity.

I am looking forward to seeing you on Thursday night at 6:30 pm for our Open House. Please plan to attend. I will be covering some very important information about our year. See you then J

Important Dates/Reminders

Specials Schedule

M- Computer Lab

T-PE

W-Music

Th-Art

F-PE

Thursday, August 14^th-

5-6pm Kindergarten & 1stgrade & ALP
6pm PTA/Foundation Meeting
6:30-7:30pm 2nd-5th grades     

Tuesday, August 19^th- Zaxby’s Night

First Day, Hooray!!

WE SURVIVED our first day!! The students came in so excited and happy this morning. We had a very busy but productive day. I was so impressed with how well the students listened and behaved. I feel very lucky and privileged to be your child’s teacher this year.

Here are a few pictures from our M&M Ice Breaker Activity. I PROMISE we will not be eating candy very often and I made sure the children with allergies had skittles. Students were given a bag of M&M’s or Skittles. They found different partners, pulled a colored piece of candy from their bags, and answered the question depending on what color they pulled out of their bags. This was a great way to learn about each other.

Each child brought home a Cobb County Folder today. There are several important things that need to be filled out and returned as soon as possible. The most important being the Clinic Card (white) and the Student Contact Card (pink). The sooner you can return them, the better off we will be!!

Thank you again for your support,

Mrs. Keith

Parents,

It was so nice to meet you and your child on Friday. There is a great group of students in the class and I know we are going to have a great year! Below you will find a few reminders. Please read them carefully and let me know if you have any questions.  Have a great Sunday and I can’t wait to see the students early tomorrow morning!

1.       Please send a healthy snack with your child each day. We have several allergies in our room this year. I would really appreciate it if you try and avoid sending in the following items. If you do send them in, please send a note to let me know. Your child may bring in water but please do not send in any type of juice.

a.       Peanuts

b.      Milk

c.       Eggs

d.      Tree nuts

e.      All seafood

f.        Pine Nuts

2.       If you have a transportation change please send in a written note. Do not write these changes in the agenda!

3.       Your child will bring home a folder and an agenda each day. Please check the folder each night and empty it out. Your child will color their behavior color in their agenda as well as write about their day. Please make sure to sign the agenda EVERY NIGHT! The agenda is also were I will write important notes to you. I will go over more specifics at Open House.

4.       Our specials schedule will be the same all year! Yippee!!! This means we will go to the same specials on the same day each week. I will include the schedule at the bottom. Please make sure your child wears the appropriate shoes on PE days.

5.       Please send in ALL supplies as soon as you can. We start day 1 with using many of them. If you are still looking for the ear buds try Walmart.

I think that is it for now. If you can reply to this message I would appreciate it. That way I know that I have the correct email address for you. I check my email often throughout the day and several times at night so this is the best way to reach me.

I am looking forward to a TERRIFIC year,

Mrs. Keith 

Specials Schedule

M-Computer Lab

T-PE

W-Music

Th-Art

F-PE