Weekly Newsletter 3.21.14

This week, KIS ACHIEVE finished up their math alternative assessments. I am happy to report, that so far all students went up from last year with most passing! I am amazed at the energy and how hard they are working. This week we will work on the 5th grade Science and then we will be all done!

Some students continued to work on arrays while other students mastered visual division. Next week, I will introduce mixed numbers and fractions. They also reviewed the concepts of the positions, counting sets, addition, subtraction, sorting, patterns, charting, and following directions.

This week, we focused on using the words “nonfiction” (also known as “real” or “informational”) and “facts.” Students will be asked to identify the main idea of a text and determine the details that support the main idea. The main idea is what the text is mostly about. The main idea can also be called the central idea. At home you can help your child with main idea by reading with them. When they finish a chapter ask “What was that chapter mostly about?” ,“What details support the main idea?”.

“Quick! What’s the difference between Incas, Aztecs and Mayans?” The students just learned about the Aztecs and now will focus on the Incas. We will examine and compare the Aztec and Inca civilizations today. For each of the themes, our format will be similar: How was this theme illustrated in the life of the Atzecs? How was this theme illustrated in the life of the Incas? What are key similarities between the two civilizations with respect to the theme? What are key differences between the two civilizations with respect to the theme? What is the significance of these similarities and/or differences?

Dates to Remember:

3.24-28: Right to Week

Weekly Newsletter 3.14.14

This week, the students learned about proper nouns. We made a collage of proper nouns from pictures. The students made connections and some called their cousin's name a proper noun, KIS, city they live in, month of March etc.

In Math, some students have been focusing on previously learned skills including: identifying numbers, counting sets, adding and subtracting using objects, sorting and positions. Others have continued worked on shape identification, coin identification and general number sense. We continue to work on active participation skills and IEP goals and objectives. They were also introduced to tiling the surface area of different plane figures, finding the area of a given figure by counting or skip counting.

In Reading, The students have explored the concept of summarizing texts using transitional words. We will continue this skill as we look closely at fiction and nonfiction. In addition, students will continue to work on making good predictions as they are reading. Good readers are always thinking while they are reading. This week your child will be asked to stop and make predictions throughout various texts. Your child will be asked to provide evidence from the text to support their prediction. This will help the students make connections with a story. A connection is made when a reader is reminded of something that has happened to them in their life. The purpose of a connection is to help a child develop a greater understanding of what is happening in the text.

We wrapped up our Matter unit in Science. During the unit, students were asked to identify important vocabulary words, draw I pictures to illustrate the definitions, find real classroom objects to illustrate the concepts, and post them on our interactive vocabulary board. The students all did an amazing job! Our next unit will be on physical science and we will focus on sound.

For Social Studies, the students will create a Google Presentation on Aztecs and shared it with his/her partner(s). This program allows the students to work on the exact same presentation, simultaneously. Next week, we will finish our presentations and begin presenting them.

Thank you Mrs. Robertson for sending us some amazing kids for our Reading Buddies. The students are so happy to see them and they are engaged the entire time.

3.14.14 was Pi Day! We celebrated Pi Day with my 5th graders by reading Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi, played a game of chance), with Pi(e) graphs, finding our birthday in Pi (a website that locates strings of digits), making a bar graph of the frequency of the first 100 digits of Pi, measuring circular objects’ circumference and diameter, and finally making and eating pie.

We expect as children progress though different grades in school they will face different challenges. My students have had to experience a lot of changes in the past few years both at home and at school. I am amazed at their resilience and flexibility in the classroom while keeping a positive attitude. We have had some amazing paraprofessionals come through our class in the past three months and each one has brought a new vision and experience. The kids and I are so excited to welcome Nancy Fade back. Nancy is a true professional and the kids love her. We also miss Cathy Rugg and hope she feels better soon. While Cathy has been healing at home, we have been blessed with two amazing ladies. Irene Catalina and Honey Fiore. For the short time they were with us, Irene and Honey never gave up on the kids. Someone walking into the class would think they were with them for years. I am so lucky to have a supportive team. I am not aware that many children would deal with so many changes in a few months, but my kids have not missed a beat! They are growing intellectually and emotionally. I often think if this quote in regards to education, “growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” Let’s take a moment to celebrate our kids!

Blizzard Bag Day #3

Reading:

Read one book to/with your child, or have him/her read a book to you.

Choose a NON-FICTION book from: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-c/fiction-nonfiction/load.htm?f

(When you point to the words as you read, you can click on each one to hear it read to you or you can click on the ear icon to hear the entire sentence read aloud.)

Writing:

Using the book you read/listened to above, identify the main idea.

Write a sentence to tell ONE fact that you learned from the story.

Draw a picture to illustrate your sentence.

Math:

Play “one hundred number chart” on http://www.abcya.com/one_hundred_number_chart_game.htm OR Play “numerical order” on

http://www.abcya.com/numerical_order.htm

Weekly Newsletter 3.7.14

This week in Math, some students have been looking closely at how to solve multi-step problems using all four types of equations. Some students are working on mental math strategies to help them quickly solve problems. Next week, we will work on rounding numbers in a multi-step problem.

In Science, the students have explored the changing states of matter. Today, they learned to differentiate between condensation and evaporation. To make it meaningful, the students did a melting experiment with chocolate chips. First, we watched a video from Scholastic on the changing states of matter. We incorporated a movement activity where the kids represented water molecules transitioning through different states of matter acted as molecules and would move slow(solid), a little faster(liquid), and run(gas. The students made their own picture cards for evaporation and condensation. After students correctly demonstrate an understanding of the movement of molecules, I have them respond with the correct vocabulary word defining each transition. Our next thing was to complete our melting matter experiment.

First, students observe their baggie of chocolate chips. They used a graphic organizer to draw the chips and circled to describe their state of matter. Then, the students "applied heat" by squeezing gently or lightly breathing on their bag for two minutes-Next, they drew what their chocolate looked like and circled to show the state of matter.Then, we put the chocolate baggies in the freezer for five minutes. After the five minutes were up, we opened the bags to see that the chocolate had in fact returned to a solid shape--this time, the shape of the bag. Afterwards, we discussed what they learned about temperature and its effect on the states of matter.

In Reading, We have been looking closely at the challenges of reading nonfiction (expository text). The students are beginning to understand that nonfiction must be read slowly and carefully. We have determined that it is okay to stop many times, reread, ask questions and activate schema as we read and that this process is very much like running a marathon. The students are reading Balto and we completed Bonya, Bonya which tied into KIS World Read Aloud Day.

This week we celebrated Fat Tuesday and learned the History of Mardi Gras. The students watched a video and loved seeing the floats, costumes, kids, candy, and parade. The students made their own mask and did not want to take it off! Another tradition for Mardi Gras is donuts and the most popular are Polish Paczki, pronounced “Punch-Key”. For hundreds of years in Poland, the countrymen have been celebrating the arrival of Mardi Gras by making these delicious jelly filled donuts from the finest ingredients available, including as much lard and fat as they can put in a doughnut. We were lucky enough to have Mrs. Fade bring in Paczki's and we loved them. Thank you!!!

My colleague, and KIS Geauga ACHIEVE general education Social Studies's teacher Mrs. Robertson, has a very special announcement regarding an important grant. Please support Kenston Intermediate School.

Our school is competing for a Follett grant with a grand prize of $60,000. Follett is an educational company that provides printed and electronic materials to students from pre-K through college. Their company is looking to reward schools that use 21st century skills, such as collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. The grant is comprised of two main parts: a written response to questions (70%) and a video showing the 21st century skills in practice (30%). In order to earn the grant, we need to get as many votes as possible during the voting window (March 7, 2014 through April 4, 2014). Each person may vote only once per day! Please vote daily to ensure our students can benefit from this exciting opportunity. To Vote: 1. Visit the link below: Note: Please use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your search engine. http://www.follettchallenge.com/video.cfm?id=53#.Uxnda_ldUXt 2. Click “vote with email” or “vote with Facebook.” 3. Type your email into the box and click “submit your vote.” 4. You will receive a confirmation 5 digit pin via the email address provided from Follett. It takes less than a minute to receive it. Copy and paste that into the form and click “confirm your vote.”

Weekly Newsletter 2.28.14

This week, KIS Achieve continued to study the states of matter in Science. The students determined Matter is anything that takes up space. This week we will conduct experiments.

Hip Hip Array! This week, we have been exploring arrays. The students have grasped this 5th grade standard quite nicely. We will be working on more difficult problems as we near the end of the year.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: very, after, thing, our, just

ELA: Adjectives

Math: Arrays

Writing: Opinion

Science: States of Matter

Social Studies: Aztec

Dates to Remember:

3.5 World Read Aloud Day