Happy New Year!

     Welcome back everyone.  I hope you all had a great Holiday.  

     We are almost finished with second quarter.  Your child will be receiving his/her last progress report, for second quarter, on Wed., Jan. 13th.  Students will have until Friday morning to get their missing assignments in, to qualify for Worker's Holiday.  Worker's Holiday will be on Friday, Jan. 15th.  We will be having a game day, so students can bring in their favorite game to play.  We will also be having a Pajama Day with our Worker's Holiday, so they can bring their Pajama's in, as well.

     With our subject areas, we are still working on Prime and Composite numbers in math.  In reading we are just finishing up with a novel and working on fluency and comprehension skills.  In social studies, the students are learning about the Gold Rush.  In science, the students are just getting started with magnets.  In language arts, we try to get as much grammar in as possible, and right now we are working with verbs.  The students are working very hard in their writing skills.  We have been practicing the 4 square writing techniques, along with working in the 6 traits of writing.  We will be starting the D.A.R.E program on the 22nd of January.

     It is hard to believe that we are already half way through the school year.  As the end of the year approaches, we have lots of different things that come up, and I will do my best to keep you posted on these things as they arrive.  One you can be thinking about and getting ready for right now is, The Science Fair.  The Science Fair is a few months away yet, but it will be here before you know it, so the quicker you can get an idea for it, the better off you will be.  I will let you know for sure on the date, when I find out for myself.

     Anyway,  your children are the best.  I have really enjoyed them this year.  It will be hard to let them go on to Middle School.  Thanks for all the help you give to me and them. 

     Hi there parents and students.  Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog.  Quite honestly, I have completely spaced it.  

     Anyways, second quarter is quickly passing us by.  Please make sure to stay caught up students, and parents be sticklers in keeping them caught up.  This time of year can get kind of crazy and it is easy to forget homework and things, so please stay focused.  I will try to do the same.

     We do have quite a few assemblies and things coming our way, but we will not let it get in the way of our learning.

     We will be having a class Christmas party on the 18th of December.  I would like to have a gift exchange.  I do this by having the girls buy a gift for the girls and the boys buy a gift for the boys.  They can put on their gift, "To: a boy, From: a boy and To: a girl, From: a girl".  If you are okay with your child doing this, then please only get a gift in the price range of $1.00 to $3.00 dollars.  When people go over this amount, it make others feel bad, so please don't spend more than this.  If it a problem to get a gift at this time, please let me know and I will supply your child with one.

     If your child is in Orchestra or Choir, they will be having their Christmas Concert on Dec. 11th at 2:30, in the Gym.

     We will be making fudge in a bag on Dec. 11th, as well.  If you can donate .50 cents to help out with this project, we would greatly appreciate it.  If you can't, we understand.

     I have had so much fun with your children this year.  This class is an awesome bunch of students.  It is going to be very hard to let them all go..  

     Well, all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy New Year, too.

                                                                       Sincerely,   Mrs. Little

     Hi there.  Can you believe that we are almost half way through second quarter?  Before you know it, we will be half way through fourth quarter.  I can't believe how time flies.  

     Anyhow,  I wanted everyone to be aware of the Share Fair that is coming up on November 3oth.  Your child should have brought a couple of letters home, explaining what they need to do for this project.  Right now, students need to be conducting an interview with either a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or you.  I sent home a list of questions that they need to ask in their interview, so if they haven't done this yet, will you please remind them? The interview questions are due next Tuesday, Nov. 17th.  If the students need extra time to meet up with the person they want to interview, over Thanksgiving, then I can give them extra time.  If by chance you are confused about how to put the poster together, or what the Share Fair is, please feel free to contact me at any time and I will be more than happy to explain it to you.  You can also come into our classroom to view some previous Share Fair projects.

     The students have earned a class party for their awesome behavior.  This party will be next Wednesday, November 18th.  We will have a game day, so if they want to bring in some games from home to play- that is okay with me.  Students can also bring in snacks if they choose to.  I will be sending a letter home, next week to tell you more about it.

     The first Reading Revolution, for second quarter, will be due on Tuesday, November 24th.  If your child has not already turned their first one in, please remind them that it is due before they go to Thanksgiving Break.  I have a lot of students turning in 4 to 5 books a quarter, but still have some that haven't gotten their first two in yet.  Please check with your child to see if they are keeping up on their Reading Revolution.

     Thanks for everything you help me out with.  You all have great kids and I just love the heck out of them all.  Sincerely,  Mrs. Little

Hi there.  It has been awhile since I have updated you on what has been going on in our classroom, so let me take a view minutes to do that.

In reading we are still practicing our read to self and read to someone techniques that we have learned this year.  The students are building their stamina and we are now up to 20 minutes in reading to self.  This is really good.  The whole class reads a book of their choice, with no movement, staying in one spot, and keeping their eyes in their book for the whole 20 minutes.  If one child looks up, goes to get a drink, or talks to someone, we stop the time and have to start our stamina building over the next day.  Same rules apply with read to someone techniques, but students have to read aloud to a partner, so reading out loud is allowed, but the other rules still apply.  The students have built their stamina up to 15 minutes.  We are also starting a new theme for second quarter and it is "Moving On".  When we read in groups or as a class, all of the stories are about ways we can move on.   We are always working on fluency, comprehension and decoding skills.

In math the students are working on multiplying with decimals and reviewing least common multiples.  Most of the assignments right now, deal with chapter 3.

In S.S. the students are studying the constitution and the American Revolution.

In Science the students are just starting matter.

Please know that we are starting second quarter on Monday, October 26th, so we are off to a fresh start with things.  Remind your child to stay caught up and please contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns.  Thank you.  Mrs.  Little

     Hi there.  I just wanted to remind those of you who reads this, about our field trip tomorrow.        We will be leaving the school at 9:00, so please make sure your child is on time.  We will be returning at 3:15 just in time to clean up and catch the buses.  Please make sure you child dresses appropriately. He/she will need good tennis shoes, or hiking boots and long pants.  It might get a little chilly up where we are going, so students will want to bring a jacket or a sweat shirt. We will also be doing some hiking, so please bring some bottled water.  Remember to bring a flashlight for the cave, as well.

     The students just finished up with their Iowa testing and seemed to do a real good job.  You will find out their results at the Spring SEOP conference.

     I look forward to seeing all of you at SEOP's next week.  

     Thanks for all that you do.   Sincerely, Mrs. Little

     Holly cow!  Can you believe that we are half way through September?  We are also half way through first quarter.  Time does fly when you are having fun.

     We will be having our first Worker's Holiday this Friday, Sept.18th.  Please look at your child's progress report on line or at their progress report being brought home today (Wed. Sept. 16th).  In order for students to qualify for Worker's Holiday, they need to have all of their assignments in with an 80% or better.  If they are missing one little assignment, they can't go to Worker's Holiday.  Students have until tomorrow morning, if they are not staying after school, to get their missing work into me. If they are staying after school tomorrow, (Thurs.,Sept.17) they will have until 4:30 to get their work into me.  Most of the students got their missing items into me today, but please double check with them to make sure.

     We have our Field trip coming up next week.  It will be on Friday, Sept. 25th.  Students need to dress appropriately.  It does get cold in the cave and up on top of Cedar Mountain, so a sweat shirt or a jacket would be good to bring, as well as good walking shoes and long pants.  We would like students to bring a flash light if possible.  If your child can't, let me know, and I will provide them with one.

     The students are just finishing up with Volcanoes in science and have probably come home all excited about our Volcano Day coming up in October.  We will be exploding our Volcanoes October 14th.  I will be sending home a letter about how you can make the volcanoes and what you can do to make them explode in the next newsletter.

     In reading we are just finishing up with our "Who Am I?" Theme and we will be starting a class novel soon.  The students have been working on their fluency and how to read-to-self skills, as well.

     In math, students are learning place value.  The assignments are getting longer, so make sure to check for their math being finished each night.

     With L.A. the students are learning how to stick with their "Idea" in writing and learning how to determine complete subjects from complete predicates, in their grammar.

     We are having all sorts of fun learning this week.   Please contact me if you ever have any concerns and thank you for all of the help you give me and your child.  Until next time, take care and keep smiling.  Mrs. Little

     

Hi there.  I just wanted to fill you in on a few things about your children.  It is nothing that you don't already know, but you all have the best kids ever.  I just love my class this year.  The kids I have are very polite and ready to learn at all times.  It is going to be a very fun year.

I hope all of you received the newsletter and the progress report that was sent home yesterday (Wednesday, Sept. 2).  If you didn't, let me know and I will make sure you get those.  We do have a few activities coming up in the next few weeks that you need to be aware of.  Monday, Sept. 7th, we have no school, due to Labor Day.  Orchestra will be starting Tues., Sept. 8th.  If your child is going to be in Orchestra they will need to bring their instrument on that day.  We will be having our Mammoth Cave field field trip on Fri., Sept. 25.  If you would like to come with us, let me know ASAP.  We will be swimming soon.  We start this on the 28th of Sept., so if your child needs a swimming suit, please make sure he/she has one before this time.  If you have any concerns about your child swimming, please feel free to call me or send me an email.  SEOP conferences are during this week, as well.

I have had a lot of students turn in their first Reading Revolution report, but if your child hasn't read their first book yet, they need to try to have it finished by Sept. 15th.  This is when the first Reading Revolution book report is due.  It is worth 50 points.  If they need more time to finish the book that is fine too.  As long as they have two books read by the end of first quarter.

I hope your child is enjoying his/her school year so far and if there is anything I can do for you, or your child, please let me know.  Thanks.....    Mrs. Little