Weekly Newsletter 2.14.14

Only 50 Tickets Remaining!

If you have not yet purchased your ticket to the Geauga Achieve Fundraiser set to take place on February 28th, there are only 50 tickets remaining! Contact Robin to purchase your ticket (robin.ludwig@geaugaesc.org or 440-477-7865).

Jasmine Dragons & Geauga Achieve

Geauga Achieve is happy to have involvement with Jasmine Dragons in Chardon! The recent Variety Show by Jasmine Dragons was a big success, and one of our students even got to go on stage (congratulations Isabella!). Geauga Achieve supporters who plan on attending the Fundraiser on February 28th can look forward to a few little surprises from Jasmine Dragons to keep the night moving with fun and entertainment!

Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated on Thursday since we had no school on Friday. The students integrated science with our shaving cream and baking soda heart. It looks like snow on the heart. We dumped a full box of baking soda into a bowl and then gradually added more and more shaving cream. It was a standard size box of baking soda and we ended up using about half the can of shaving cream. The mixture gets mixed together and then after a few minutes it starts to get chilly like snow and feels like the same exact consistency as snow. The students also mixed their favorite color in the concoction.

One of the great things about Valentine's Day is that it coincides with American Heart Month. We worked on some heart healthy activities by watching a movie on Brainpop Jr. about hearts. We also threw a dance party and played limbo. This got the juices flowing with our kids.

Lastly, we also ate yummy heart cookies. Lauren really enjoyed hers!

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: little, know, work, place, years

ELA: Details and Main Idea

Math: Math Journal

Writing: Letters

Science: Matter

Social Studies: Aztec

Dates to Remember:

2.17: No School - Presidents Day

2.23: KIS Nature Scopes Program - 9:00 a.m.- 10:30 a.m.

2.28: 4th Annual Geauga Achieve 2014 Dinner and Auction Fundraiser

Weekly Newsletter 2.7.14

I did not anticipate another snow day last week! As you read in the letter home, "poor" Mrs. Marshall got stuck in the horrific traffic on my way to school on Wednesday. I am so thankful that Ms. Rex and Mrs. Brittain had so much FUN with my students!

Kenston has filed and been approved by the Ohio Department of Education to use “BlizzardBags” to make up three additional days of school. This tool allows students to get an assignment on-line from their teacher’s webpage. The “Blizzard Bag” program allows students to complete assignments without extending classes into the summer. Teachers will work with their administrator to prepare and post Blizzard Bag lessons. Classroom teachers will grade the lessons the same as other assignments and students will receive an incomplete or failing grade if the lesson is not completed within two weeks of the posting date. For students who do not have access to the Internet, paper copies will be available when students return to school.

We recently passed the 100th day of school. From the very first day of school, our class has kept track of the number of days we've been in school in anticipation of the 100th day. Days are often kept track of by counting on the smartboard and using our Rise and Shine binder, providing ongoing opportunities for counting by tens and ones and developing place value concepts. This was more than just a milestone worth noting - the 100th day is the perfect time to have fun with the number 100 while exploring counting, sorting, patterning, and various other math skills and concepts. We started our day with an estimation and measurement activity. We did our calendar and "discovered" that we were at the 100th day of school! Starting at a taped line on the classroom floor, they estimate how far 100 feet would be down the hall. Would they land in the entrance of the school or by the gym? After walking 100 feet, we landed by the cafeteria. It is always interesting how many students over estimate. What's the 100th day without a 100th day sunglasses?!

Next came the fruit loop bracelets (we used fruit cheerios but who knew). The students string groups of 10 fruit cheerios to make a bracelet that has 100 fruit cheerios. Counting groups of 10 is WAY easier to keep up with than trying to remember what number you are on. They did super well! Some made their bracelets with color patterns - and some ate their bracelet and all the cheerios.

We also learned our 100th sight word for the year! What a coinkydink!

Tickets for the 4th Annual Geauga Achieve 2014 Dinner and Auction Fundraiser are now available! Tickets will again be sold $50 per couple. This includes dinner, dessert, coffee & soft drinks, 2 drink tickets. 4 Chinese auction tickets, and a chance at the $1000 reverse raffle prize. The event will include side boards, Chinese auction, silent auction, balloon pops, and the locked box with keys. The location this year is again the Bond Building at Century Village in Burton and will take place on Friday February 28th from 6:00-10:00pm. Contact Robin Ludwig (robin.ludwig@geaugaesc.org or 440-477-7865) to purchase your ticket. There are 150 tickets available this year.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: get, come, made, may, part

ELA: Idioms

Math: Math Journal

Writing: Word Choice

Dates to Remember:

2.13 Class Valentine Party

2.14 No School - Professional Development Day

2.17 No School - Presidents Day

2.28 - 4th Annual Geauga Achieve 2014 Dinner and Auction Fundraiser

Blizzard Bags

Kenston Intermediate School Geauga ACHIEVE Blizzard Bags

Kenston has filed and been approved by the Ohio Department of Education to use “BlizzardBags” to make up three additional days of school. This tool allows students to get an assignment on-line from their teacher’s webpage. The “Blizzard Bag” program allows students to complete assignments without extending classes into the summer.

Blizzard Bag Day 1

Reading:

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

Go to http://www.abcya.com, click on grade K, and play one of the following games in the “Letters” section:

Sight word

Alphabetical order

Spelling practice

Sight word practice:

Build sight words: “Play ABC & 123 Magnets” on http://www.abcya.com/alphabet_number_magnets.htm using the following sight words:

and, can, look, at, like, am, not, play, she, are

Writing:

Go to http://www.storylineonline.net and choose a story to listen to. Then, draw a picture of the characters and tell your parents what your favorite part of the book was.

Math:

Play “marble math addition” on http://www.abcya.com/addition.htm

Science/Social Studies:

Choose one:

Get a bowl full of snow from outside. Time how long it takes to melt. OR Get an ice cube out of the freezer. Put it in a bowl and time how long it takes to melt.

Weekly Newsletter 1.31.14

What a week! Even though we had four snow days in a row, I think the kids did more work in two days than the whole year! I was so proud of how well they transitioned back to school. I also appreciate the work they did over break.

Groundhog Day is all about fun! Groundhog Day comes only once a year and I wanted to teach the students how its arrival is eagerly awaited by thousands of Phil's faithful followers. They learned that if Phil sees his shadow on February 2nd, six more weeks of winter weather will befall the world. If no shadow is apparent we're in for the delights of an early spring. We watched a video on groundhog day and completed a graphic organizer of Groundhog's are, have, and can. The students pointed out he is furry, has big teeth, can whistle, and hibernate. We all made a prediction (we reviewed prediction is a guess) if the groundhog would see sun or shadow. I had the students touch sun or shadow. Some verbally expressed their prediction. It was a tie of four and four. I saved their predictions and we will review them on Monday.

Gung Hay Fat Choy 2014! Friday was Chinese New Year, Happy Year of the Horse! This is one of my favorite units to teach for Social Studies. The students don't get a chance to learn about this very often so they are always so engaged! We of course have to cover where China is on the map and where it is in relation to the USA. They can't believe how far away it is from us. We watched a short clip on Discovery Education and the students were presented with a Chinese New Year Word Wall. I explained how the pictures related to the celebration and also had them hold, use, and eat some of the words on the pictures. The students learned what animal they were for their birth year. Since most were born in 2002, they ended up being the horse. Others who were 2003, were sheep. They added their animal and year of birth on their red and yellow lanterns. We "attempted" to make rice (ended up hard), used chopsticks, ate oranges (good luck), and fortune cookies. We also sang "Happy Birthday" to Alex and Micah. Thank you for the brownies!

Tickets for the 4th Annual Geauga Achieve 2014 Dinner and Auction Fundraiser are now available! Tickets will again be sold $50 per couple. This includes dinner, dessert, coffee & soft drinks, 2 drink tickets. 4 Chinese auction tickets, and a chance at the $1000 reverse raffle prize. The event will include side boards, Chinese auction, silent auction, balloon pops, and the locked box with keys. The location this year is again the Bond Building at Century Village in Burton and will take place on Friday February 28th from 6:00-10:00pm. Contact Robin Ludwig (robin.ludwig@geaugaesc.org or 440-477-7865) to purchase your ticket. There are 150 tickets available this year.

This week we reviewed:

Word Wall Fry Words: find, long, down, day, did

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:

2.14 No School - Professional Development Day)

2.17 No School - Presidents Day

2.28 - 4th Annual Geauga Achieve 2014 Dinner and Auction Fundraiser

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