Fifty-Fourth Day of School

Today we took a reading comprehension test with a lexile level of 260-270. Of 23 students taking the test, 14 passed and there was one 100%.

We had discussions today using new discussion procedures. Mr. Brooks used our class as a recording sample.

Notes for our upcoming Science and Social Studies Tests went home today. The Social Studies Test will look very much like their notes only the boxes will already be on the page for them. They will need to draw label and write. For the Science Test they will be writing responses to questions about the forms and properties of matter.

There will be no homework tomorrow night.

Unit 2 Week 3 Preview

This week we will emphasize comparing the past and the present (tested), review comparing the effects of geography on lifestyles (tested) and some of the concepts learned in Science in order to be able to pass a test next week in Science and Social Science. Students should be bringing home their notes from class in order to study (discuss) with you for their test. They should be able to name several differences in lifestyle between people that live in a warm climate from those that live in the cold. They should also be able to mention some differences between living in the past and the present. We will discuss differences in shopping (in the past- fewer stores with a wider variety of items and services), transportation (in the past- slower animal-powered vehicles on dirt roads), school (in the past- one-room school buildings for all ages without computers), and clothing (in the past- long-sleeved dresses and shirts with high collars and bows or ties, stockings or high socks and boots).

We will be spelling with 's' and 'r' consonant blends this week (step, spend, grab, trap).

Reading logs are due on Thursday.

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Forty-Ninth Day of School

Today we read about Alaska and Spain. We compared lifestyles of two different climates to that of ours in and near Carson.

You should find your child's Topic 4 Math Test with them today. Of the 22 students taking the test, 19 students passed with an adjusted score of 12 or more. One student scored 100%.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we discuss cooperation and our role in helping out. We discuss families and neighbors working together to help each other. Our oral vocabulary words are appreciate, partner, cooperate, responsibility, and delectable. This week we will continue with the comprehension strategy of summarizing. We will focus on short vowel 'e' (tell, went) in spelling and touch on long 'o' spelled 'o_e' (hope, note). Our sight vocabulary words are eat, no, of, some, who. For grammar we will pluralize nouns requiring '-es' (lunches, dishes). We will complete a simple Flow Map in order to retell a story. We will complete our personal Tree Map of favorites and then begin work on a Tree Map which we will use for the brainstorming (prewrite) of our unit project on neighborhood workers. I would expect for our parents to know the neighborhood worker of their child's choosing and to be discussing the tools, dress, and duties of the worker in order to facilitate and improve writing fluency. 

In Social Science we will discuss at length how physical environments affect the way people live (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, recreation) (HSS 1.2.4) (tested). We will compare the environments of Alaska, Spain, and California.

Forty-Sixth Day of School

In Science today we worked in small groups to solve a problem concerning small particle solids using graduated separating screens. More groups than expected (based on performance in years passed) were quite successful.

Great News! The equipment request for our Final Project (it is being referred to as "final" but is not exactly final as the majority of the work will take place in March) has been funded through DonorsChoose. A great big thank you to those parents, other family members, and foundations for their generous gifts and quick response. The project was funded much more quickly than anticipated. Look for progress updates posted here. The tentative plan is to have an early evening filming in early March (probably beginning at 5:30) during Family Literacy Night. We will probably need to start earlier than 5:30 for those that can be there earlier so as to accommodate everyone.

There is Math homework this weekend and a test on Monday.

Reminder: We will not be sharing treats the day of Halloween.

Forty-Fifth Day of School

Today the students worked in groups to develop interview questions for a particular type of animal about which their group read (RI.1.1). Three of the 4 groups were very successful with this task.

We will likely have a Topic 4 Math Test on Monday.

Forty-Fourth Day of School

Today we read several selections about baby animals and their development and how they are raised by their families. We used the texts to differentiate between the  main idea and details.

We examined photos of school rooms from two different eras and found that children wore different clothes to school long ago and the girls specifically were required to wear dresses. The new classroom had computers and chairs made of a composite material as opposed to wood. Our classroom as well as the old classroom both had chalkboards (tested).

Some students wanted information to be posted about the downtown Los Angeles Library. If you have never been, it's quite an amazing place just to walk around and see. It is very accessible from the end of the blue line by just walking north 3 blocks. There is also an amazing children's section with a beautiful, appropriately-sized theater. From the library, if you continue walking one block east and 2 blocks north you will reach the historic Angel's Flight just past 4th on S. Olive. Riding the flight to the bottom of the hill puts you directly across the street from the Grand Central Market. There you will find a wide variety of foods to sample. From Grand Central Market walk two blocks south to Pershing Square. Board the red line with a transfer back to Metro Center Station and then transfer back to the blue line. There is a blue line park-and-ride on Wardlow (223rd turns into Wardlow) and Pacific.

Another good family outing is to take the Balboa Island car-ferry. Take PCH south to Jamboree and turn right. Jamboree becomes Marine Avenue which ends at South Bay Front. Turn right on South Bay Front which takes you to the ferry. However, if it is busy, the queue for the ferry may build from the north-approaching street which is Agate. Once across the bay you will be on Balboa Peninsula. Once there you will find the Balboa Fun Zone and Pavilion. Continuing northwest on Balboa Blvd. brings you to Newport Blvd. and then back to PCH.

Bring me photos/drawings or post a link to untagged images (in the comment section) of your excursion for extra homework and have fun.

Eight Unit 1 Projects are now complete.

Final Project Update

A DonorsChoose project was placed in Room 11's name recently to supply most of what we will need for our final project. I am posting this link because until October 22, the DonorsChoose board is matching all donations which use the promo code INSPIRE during checkout. All gifts are tax deductible. So, if you know of anyone with some extra cash laying around looking for a tax write-off send them our way. We are already $70 dollars up.

Forty-Third Day of School

Today we learned the important skill of how to summarize a selection. A summary is different than a retell in that it only gives the main idea of a selection without details. A good summary is about a sentence long and answers the questions: where, when, who, what, and how, often in that order, Today we summarized two selections. We found that some genres may not have a setting so where and when will be excluded from the summary. Summarization is a good skill to be practicing at home during reading time especially if a child is being read to.

We also recalled the selection we read about Alexander Graham Bell and developed essential questions to ask in an interview. Some students shared their interviewing skills again. The students who shared their interview are quite likely the same students to be earning a 4 on their report card in speaking. Our essential questions were:

• What did Alexander Graham Bell do for a living?
• Tell me about Alexander Graham Bell's mother.
• What did Alexander Graham Bell try to do when he was young?
• Tell about Alexander Graham Bell as a teacher.
• What was Alexander Graham Bell famous for?

Six students have completed and turned in their Unit 1Project.

Tomorrow the following question will be asked in class.

Hal has 3 chance tickets. Jude has the same amount of chance tickets as Kip. Altogether there are 15 chance tickets. How many chance tickets does Kip have? Explain how you know.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors having already examined ourselves, our abilities, and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. For a unit project students will focus on a worker of their choice and write an expository piece about them. Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

Forty-First Day of School

Students will be coming home with their Science experiments in a zip-lock bag. The compound is largely harmless. They have been instructed to keep it away from carpet and furniture.

There is Math homework this weekend.

The class will have a substitute teacher on Monday. Availability for after school conferences will continue on Wednesday.

Reminder

Please remember it is necessary to have appropriate shoe wear for school. It has been necessary to exclude children from P.E. because of their shoes. Please consider shoes with ties or straps and that practicality and safety supersedes fashion. It is also better that children have one pair of well-fitting, comfortable, secure shoes rather then a pair to match each outfit. Children should also not be wearing platforms of any type or shoes with a raised back heel.

Thirty-Eighth Day of School

Today we read about American Hero Roberto Clemente. We formulated questions to ask about Roberto Clemente based on our new knowledge. We then used those questions to interview a partner about Clemente. Some partners brought their interview to perform at the front. One pair performed their interview for the principal. We were so pleased with our abilities to be interviewed, to interview, and to speak almost extemporaneously, we thought it might be a good idea to use this format for our end of the year project.

Here's the way this may be unfolding: Students will become an expert on a particular subject [an aspect of nature (e.g., bees, clouds, a planet), or a famous person]. They will develop 6 to 8 questions which will be asked of them regarding their subject. They will memorize answers to the questions they have prepared. They will be interviewed as an expert on their subject by another student while being recorded on camera. They will dress professionally as an expert would dress on a talk show.

Our Roberto Clemente questions:

• Who was Roberto Clemente?
• What kind of person was he?
• How did Roberto Clemente die?
• What did Roberto Clemente want to build?

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals.

For our upcoming unit it will be necessary for students to focus on a particular occupation of their choosing. Parents should be aware of their child's choice and possibly help their child research information about that occupation. Your child will need to know and be able to articulate where a person in the selected profession works, what they they wear, what tools they use, and what task they perform.

Thirty-Sixth Day

All 22 students taking the Topic 3 Math Test passed with an adjusted score of 12 or better.

From our discussion on the humane treatment of animals and their habitats, some students suggested that one of our tangents be mentioned here online. A simple and effective solution for ridding your home of unwanted vermin is to pour peppermint oil on some cotton placed in a cup and to then place those cups in each room of your house. This has the added benefit of making your home smell minty fresh. It is best to use pure peppermint oil which can be purchased online for about $36 for 16 ounces. This should last quite a while for a small to medium sized home. When purchasing, make sure your product is pure and not diluted with a carrier oil.

Thirty-Fifth Day

We have begun work with formal talk moves in order to practice accountable academic discussion. We are practicing using the following sentence frames within discussion:

•  I agree with (*) and would like to add...
• I disagree because...

In practice this may sound like:

Mediator: Which character's response to the problem was most sensible?

Student 1: I think the 3rd pig's response was most sensible because a house of bricks would be strong.

Student 2: I agree with (Student 1) and would like to add that sticks and straw are not very sturdy building materials.

Today we learned how some herbivores have to eat for most of their waking hours in order to satisfy their dietary requirements. We learned that some carnivores can go several days without eating. We learned this in conjunction with what animals need to survive.

We took our second timed math test today and will take Topic 3 Math Test tomorrow.

Thirty-Third Day of School

Unsatisfactory notices went home today. If we have already conferenced regarding areas of concern an unsat. notice was not sent home. Keep in mind that these notices are only for your child's reading, writing, and math grades. Also, it is unnecessary for your child to know the contents of the unsat. notice at this time. Remember, an unsat. notice is sent to the parent per district policy to inform a parent that their child may have earned a 2 or a 1 on the report card in the indicated core subject. I does not mean that your child is in danger of failing or repeating their current grade. If you are one of the parents who received a notice and would like to discuss your child's progress, please come after school (not Tuesday) for a conference. There are approximately 5 weeks left before first report cards go home.

We will likely be taking the Topic 3 Math Test this coming Friday.