February 20-24

"Freezing 
cold winds, 
biting chills, and 
white snow fluffed hills 
Valentines day, oh how gay! 
presidents' day is coming our way. 
February, sweet and small, greatest month of all."
-  Eric Lies, 28 Word Poem for February

We began our week by creating multiplication/division diagrams to solve number stories using a letter to represent the unknown amount. Students felt very grown up and enjoyed this peek into pre-algebra. Other lessons this week include playing Multiplication Top-It and applying strategies to multiply larger factors.  Children will use parentheses in number sentences and practice using PEMDAS for solving multi-step problems. Students will have a Home Link each night for homework. 

Our spelling rule this week involves More Words with Long o.  Students will have a spelling assignment Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for homework.  Please help your child study for his or her test on Thursday.  

Scholastic book orders went home last week.  They'll be due back on or before March 16th.  Our classroom code is HB244 for online orders.

We will attend a Techsploration regarding Simple Machines this Thursday morning.  Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring this awesome experience! 

Have a fantastic week and vacation!  :)

February 14-17

"Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius."  
-  Pietro Aretino 

Happy Valentine's Day!  We had a great start to our school week with time spent in Computer Lab.  Students practiced signing in and working on the upcoming Smarter Balanced Test.  Today they practiced the Math portion and next week we will take a lot at the Reading/LA section.  

There will be no math homework tonight in honor of this special holiday. Students will only have a spelling assignment.  Our rule this week involves words with long o. Students will have a spelling homework each night this week.  

Our math lessons this week include learning the game Beat the Calculator to self assess automaticity with multiplication facts, constructing quadrilaterals and measuring and plotting distances to the nearest half inch. Students will have a Home Link on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of the wonderful parents for your support throughout the year.  I appreciate my volunteers, party planners, and donators of goods and supplies.  I am grateful for your help, communication and kindness.  

Have a fantastic week!  :)

February 6-10

"The birds are gone, The ground is white,
The winds are wild, They chill and bite; 
The ground is thick with slush and sleet, 
And I barely feel my feet."

We began our week by playing Baseball Multiplication to build fact fluency.  The kids enjoyed playing cooperatively in groups of four.  Other lessons this week include using square products as helper facts to find products of near squares, playing Beat the Calculator to assess automaticity with multiplication facts, constructing quadrilaterals and measuring and plotting distances to the nearest half inch. Students will have a Home Link each night for homework. 

Our spelling rule this week involves Words with Short o.  Students will have a spelling assignment Monday through Wednesday evenings. Please help your child study for his/her test on Thursday night.  

Thank you to parents who have sent in t-shirt money and order forms for our upcoming music concert. Please let me know if your child needs a scholarship for the t-shirt.  I'm happy to make that happen so we can all be in matching tops.  :)

I will be sending home a class list this week to help students who choose to make valentines for the class. Please remind your child to make valentines for all students in the class if they choose to participate in this fun event. Students will exchange valentines next Tuesday on Valentine's Day.  

Have a wonderful week!