Remember tomorrow is early release for conferences!  We had a fun day! The kids should finish up the language arts packet for tomorrow.  I'll be seeing half of you for conferences. 

We practiced suffixes on our board today.  Then the kids had to use some words with suffixes in sentences.  They also had a writing prompt today.  They had to write about what would happen if a luminous ball flew past their window one night.  They had to use their vocabulary words for the week!  We have shared some and they are really cute so far!  We took our vocabulary and comprehension tests today. A verb packet is coming home tonight- due Thursday!

We read about Jacob, Esau, and Isaac in religion today.  We had a good discussion on trickery and if we think it was right or wrong for Jacob and Rebekah to trick Isaac.  The kids also completed their September SLE self reflections.

We explored www.fossweb.com today.  This is the website that accompanies our science kits.  

Just a reminder that Thursday is early release for conferences.  If you wish to have your child attend after care, please RSVP to the office.  There is no school on Friday due to conferences. 

Happy Monday!  We were quite busy today!  One of our biggest tasks was learning to multiply 2 digit by 2 digit numbers! The kids did really well! We will practice this quite a bit moving forward!

Some of our girls have spent the last week organizing the bookshelf. It looks AMAZING! They had some new rules for checking a book out of our classroom library.  Thanks girls! 

Reading the main selection in small groups so everyone had a part! 

Completing a graphic organizer on paleo-indians. 

We started our energy unit today!  This is always fun!  The kids worked in their science groups to light a lightbulb.  They worked really well together! We will complete observations in our notebooks as well as take notes in them.  

We were able to fit math in right before we left today!  The kids drew models for multiplying 2 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers.  They did really well! We have done this before with 2 digit by 1 digit, and they applied their past knowledge to todays lesson.  

Enjoy the weekend! 

We read Invasion From Mars in language arts today and the kids did a plot chart.  This is a radio play from the 1930s.  It's a fun story to read aloud.  When this first aired, it sent people into a panic because if they tuned in late they didn't know it was a play and not a real alien invasion!  Tomorrow is our spelling test and tonight's homework is page 64.

The kids worked with partners on word problems in math today.  They did a great job! They also completed a math activity that provided them with clues about an area of the world.  Their task tonight is to see if they can identify the country we discovered.  They also have IXL D.14 and D.15.

We will begin our energy unit tomorrow.  This is always fun!  We will make circuits, learn about switches, discuss magnetism, and make our own electromagnet.  We will also discuss the transfer of energy. This unit will last us a few weeks.

This morning, in religion, we discussed Abraham's covenant with God, as well as his sacrifice.  We discussed how Isaac and Jesus were similar in that they were the "lamb" in a sacrifice for God.

The kids are working on an animal fact card about an animal from Arizona.

We reviewed chapter 2 in math today and took the chapter test.  The kids also finished their language arts unit assessment.

With our specials schedule today and the 2 assessments, no homework again!  I promised the kids I'd make up for it tomorrow :)

We counted our school supplies today!  We got tons of great supplies to help schools in need. I will have the total number of items later this week! Thank you again for donating!

All the videos are complete! Phew!  We've viewed 2 so far, and I also showed the kids the original set of videos from a few years ago.  They got a kick out of seeing the current 6th graders in the 4th grade!

Some kids have math homework tonight.  We had a review day of sorts, and before we go over the work together I want to make sure we're all finished.  

If you've not returned your pink form for conferences, please do so ASAP so I can finalize my calendar.  Please note, if I do not get a slip returned, I will not save the time slot.  

Since we've completed the first unit of our Journeys reading program, we are ready to take the unit test.  This is a lengthy test, so I break it up into 3 sections.  We will complete the test by Wednesday, while starting the next unit as well.  We will work on our next lesson through next week, since it's a short week. There will be a spelling test this Friday, however, we will not have one next week.

The kids worked really hard in math today! We reviewed partial products, the distributive property, and learned how to solve equations using order of operations.  Tonight's homework is practice 2.12- both sides.

The kids completed a graphic organizer on the three regions of Arizona in social studies today.  This required them to look back into the text and organize information.

We finished our commercials today! We will begin viewing them tomorrow!  The kids had such a fun time making these!

You received a pink form today with your child's conference time.  Conferences for siblings have been scheduled in coordination with the sibling's teacher.  Please sign the bottom portion of the sheet and return ASAP so I can finalize my schedule.  If you need a time or day change, please let me know via email and/or the returned slip.

My apologies for the late post!  Hopefully your child kept you well informed about our day already!

My favorite thing about today was the virtual field trip we took to the Smithsonian to learn about amphibians!  This was quite spur of the moment and it worked perfectly.  Discovery Education happened to have a virtual trip (so a live stream) that focused on amphibians. This is perfect for us because we are working on creating model membranes to keep a frog (amphibian!!!) moist and alive. Not only was the virtual trip really well run and the information was amazing, the kids were SO into it!  The kids made their final plans for their model membrane today.  They will be selling Ms. Peters (me), a bioengineer who needs to transport her frogs from the rainforest to her lab, a model membrane so she can keep her frogs moist and alive!  Each item was assigned a price today, so each membrane now has a total price.  The rest of the week will be spent creating the advertisement.  I cannot wait to watch the videos!  I will do my best to post and share them with you- this has never been my strong suit but I think I can get Mrs. Yaeger to help me out...or some former student :)

We reviewed our concepts thus far in math today.  An area of challenge seems to be estimating and multiplying, so I'll find some additional practice!

We practiced capitalizing historical events and book titles today in language arts.  We also used an online dictionary look up our vocabulary words.  The kids had fun with this!

The class is writing to the same seminarian as last year, Peter.  They started typing their letters today!

Homework is language arts IXL OO.1-OO.6.

Again, conferences are coming up.  If you know that you will not be able to make a scheduled conference during the work day, please email me asap so I can try to squeeze you in at a different time!

Happy Monday!  What a Monday we had!  Time flew today!  We started our school supply drive today! Please send in new school supplies to help support schools in our diocese. At the end of the drive 4th grade will count, sort, and graph our collection before it gets delivered.  Thank you in advance for your donation!

We are writing to a seminarian again this year.  The kids are writing to the same seminarian as last year!  We started our drafts today and hope to edit and type by tomorrow afternoon.  They will be mailed out by Friday.

We read one of my favorite stories in language arts today, Stormalong!  This is a tall tale about a giant sailor.  Spelling words also came home.  Homophones!!!!  Some extra study time may be necessary.

We multiplied using partial products today. The kids did really well.  The word problems were quite challenging today, but they all gave it their best shot!  Tonight's homework is practice 2.7- both sides.

The groups improved their membrane today.  This could be anything from using less materials, making it more pleasing to the eye, using more materials, or even different materials.  We will observe them again tomorrow.

We ended our day with a beautiful rosary led by the 8th grade.

Conferences are coming up at the end of the month.  If you know that a daytime conference is absolutely not going to work, please let me know so I can do my best to schedule them on other days/times.  This may not always work, but I will try.  The earlier you let me know, the better! Thank you!

Emma and Riley made the announcement at morning prayer about our upcoming school supply drive.  The drive will be held next week!  Please bring new school supplies to support other schools in our diocese! 

The kids made their membranes today!  They had to sketch their designs, then decide on one final design with their group.  They also had to write their justification for choosing that design.  Then we assembled our membranes and poured our water.  We are going to be looking for less than 1/4 cup of water in the bottom after 24 hours!  

We multiplied with the expanded form today.  The kids did quite well! We didn't have time to finish the entire practice, so we'll wrap it up tomorrow morning!

For language arts centers today we worked in 4 groups again.  One group held vocabulary conversations, one group worked with me on a mini lesson, one group had independent sentence practice, and the final group read a short story and practiced identifying theme.  

No homework tonight other than to study spelling words!   

We jumped right back into our work after a long weekend!   We read our new anchor story from our journeys text, The Power of W.O.W.  The kids also wrote their new spelling words.  Tonight's homework is IXL CC.2-CC.7.

We practiced solving problems by estimating and multiplying.  The kids did great!  Tonight's homework is IXL D.13. 

The rule for IXL homework is 30 minutes or until all skills have been mastered.  I went over this with the children today. 

We had a blast in science today! Groups tested materials that they can use to create a model membrane.  The recorded how quickly the water went through each material.  The groups did a fabulous job! We will begin construction on our models tomorrow. 

We continued to work on our posters for the school supply drive today!