Weekly Newsletter 1.24.14

This week, KIS ACHIEVE continued our civilization unit. We finished locating and coloring our map. The globes are almost finished. The students will focus on the Mayan writing and math. In Science, we continued our matter unit. We will be starting our science journals this week. It is my hope that the students will be able to tell you what a solid, liquid, and gas is at home by pointing out examples.

Tuesday, during group speech, the students made centerpieces for the fundraiser. It was called "confetti party ware" and they looked amazing! The students love hands on activities and they all utilized their creativity to pair up colors, shapes, and make the centerpiece their own.

I added a link to the Family Resources page on the Alternate Assessment portal. It gives information/answers questions about the upcoming alternate assessment that will be administered to 3, 4, 5th grade students) between February 24 & April 18.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: been, call, who, oil, now

ELA: Compare and contrast main points and key details

Math: Math Journal, Represent and solve multiplication and division facts

Writing: Introducing complete paragraph and topic sentence

Dates to Remember:

1.28 - STEM Night (5:30-8:00) KHS

1.31 - Alex's Birthday \

1.31 - Cinderella KHS

1.31 - Chinese New Year Party

2.2 - Micah Birthday

2.2 - Groundhog Day

Weekly Newsletter 1.17.14

KIS ACHIEVE settled back in the routine quite nicely. They were all very excited to see their friends again and get back to work. The students were introduced main idea this past week. The kids traced their handprint on a piece of paper. After reading a story, they wrote the main idea on the palm of their hand. The details that support the main idea went on the fingers. We made an anchor chart towards the end of the week to go over what we had learned about main idea. The students grasped the "Big Idea" because during guided reading, they wanted to trace their hand. I was very impressed.

In Social Studies, we continued making our globes. We are almost done and the students will identify the major locations on a globe and the areas (present day countries) that were inhabited by the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Student should be able to locate the prime meridian, poles, hemispheres, continents, and oceans as well as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Peru.

Science continued our matter unit. We focused on solids and made a KWL chart. The students performed a scavenger hunt to find only solids in our class. Next week, we will work on liquids only.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the students introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in our BrainPop video. We also watched a biography on his life. The students wrote why it is important to work together. They also created a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King. Our focus was on identifying who Dr. King was and that we had Monday off school to celebrate all the wonderful things he did. We talked about working together and being fair.

Thank you for all of the donations for the fundraiser. If you have anything else you would like to donate, it would be appreciated. While the student project in the past used to be a quilt, this years project for the silent auction will be imprinted "medallions" of their foot that will then be baked, painted with metallic powder, and mounted/framed. Miss Lessick will be in charge and I am sure it will be stunning.

Everyone should have received your child's progress reports and report cards were mailed. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me or email.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: my, than, first, water, been

ELA: Details

Math: Individual Goals and Daily Winter Math Journal Prompts

Writing: Journal

Dates to Remember:

1.24 - APE Field Trip Bowling

1.25 - Family Fun Day at Freeway Lanes

1.28 - STEM Night (5:30-8:00) KHS

2.2 - Groundhog Day

Weekly Newsletter 1.10.14

Happy New Year! The students were treated to an extended vacation this week but I have to admit that I was so anxious to get back into routine and see the kids. KIS Geauga Achieve, as well as the entire KIS staff and administration, were sad to see Mrs. Karn leave. She had been with my students for a long time and we all miss her. The students, Mrs. Pokorny and I welcomed Mrs. Rugg to our class. Mrs. Rugg came from Cardinal and has been with the program for a long time. We are very excited to have her here. This week, KIS ACHIEVE continued Touch Math Unit 2: Introducing Place Value Tens and Ones. We reinforce this skill daily in our "Rise and Shine" binder.

In Social Studies, we continued our unit on civilization. We focused on the rest of the characteristics that make an ideal civilization and will be learning about the Mayans. With that being said, the students target skills will be to • identify the major locations on a globe and the areas (present day countries) that were inhabited by the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Student should be able to locate the prime meridian, poles, hemispheres, continents, and oceans as well as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Peru. We started making our globes this week.

I am excited to begin our Matter unit. This is almost a two month unit that will have a lot of hands on activities and experiments. The students learning target this week were to understanding solids, liquids and gasses by using tactile senses to comprehend and retain information. We split up into stations the students and with this first activity the students learned that solids have all sorts of shapes. As they experimented with the water, they discovered that liquids take the shapes of their containers. They will also recognize that liquids are visible and can be seen. Mrs. Pokorny guided the last activity which gives the class the idea that gases takes on the shapes of their containers but that the container needs to be sealed to trap the gas. Lastly, they learned that gases are present everywhere but often invisible. The students used their graphic organizer that asked if they could use their five senses with solid, liquid and gas.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: go, see, way, could, people

ELA: Identify main idea and summarize text.

Math: Individual Goals and reinforcing Base 10

Reading Stories: Some students read Winter Fun while others read Places People Live.

Dates to Remember:

1.17 - Mrs. Marshall (Professional Development Day)

1.20 - No School Martin Luther King Day

1.24 - APE Field Trip Bowling