Copy of the State of the Classroom Address for January!!
Hello Parents,
Plenty of exciting things are happening right now in C-2. We are absolutely
at our busiest time in the year. We are trying to find the balance between
hard and focused work vs. having fun. Let me fill you in on what has been
going on and also what to expect.
LANGUAGE ARTS
This is definitely a busy time of year. We just began our 2nd trimester
novel, Because of Winn-Dixie. The kids love the book very much. We complete a
chapter profile for every chapter. In these profiles the students are giving
the chapter an appropriate title, identifying characters and setting and
answering questions using the depth and complexity icons.
We are in the middle of learning how to successfully construct and write a
response to literature. This is the 2nd of 3 genres to learn in the 4th
grade. Believe it or not, we are 6 weeks away from the STAR writing exam.
Expect to see writing assignments replacing spelling and vocab homework for a
couple of weeks in February leading up to test day. A reminder that we don't
know what genre we we'll be tested on so it is important that we can write a
summary, response to literature, and a narrative successfully.
MATH
In math, we just finished Chapter 6. The chapter focused on division and
angle measurements. Our next chapter which will begin next week will center
around fractions and probability. This can be a difficult thing for 4th
graders to grasp. Be prepared for some questions during HW time. Remember
that math club is every Thursday after school for students who need extra
assistance.
Here are the dates for Math Gameday through March. They will only change if
it is absolutely unavoidable
FEBRUARY 3, 10 (notice back to back weeks), and 24
MARCH 16 and 30
SOCIAL STUDIES
We have started our focus on the California Missions. Right now we are doing
a simulation to input all the knowledge of the missions into our brains. We
will be starting Mission reports in about 2 weeks. These projects will be
done in class. No mission projects for you this year. You will see their
finished works at open house. We will be going on our trip to the La Purisima
Mission on Thursday, March 8. Make sure you save the date so you can attend!!
SCIENCE
This week Mr. Milligan started his yearly 4th grade teaching of electricity
and magnetism to the 4th graders at CAPE. So far we had an electric shock run
through all our bodies while holding hands, and we have seen the power of
electrons moving from human head to balloon. The kids love him so much and we
are grateful that he shares his knowledge as a volunteer every year. This
benefits your child with a rewarding experience and for 5th grade science
STAR testing as well.
OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
*We have a new class pet named Spike! He is a bearded dragon. They are very
tame animals that make great class pets. He occasionally dances for us and he
enjoys staring at us while we are working!
**Next week Room C-2 welcomes Mr. Rosenkranz to our classroom. He will be
doing an 18 week Tuesday observation of our classroom through his EDUC 521
course at CSUCI. Of course the girls wanted their first girl teacher of the
year (sounds weird to say) but it wasn't in the cards for them. They are just
in a male dominated world this year. :-)
***YAWNING, it happens a lot in this class. Now, you might just say it's the
boring teacher, but it is happening at 8:30 in the morning with comments of
how tired we are. We are in a critical stage of our school year, so any extra
sleep that my friends can get would be extremely beneficial to the classroom
learning process.
DONATIONS
A lot of our early classroom donations have run dry as we have reached the
halfway point. If any of you are in a position to donate some items to the
classroom I would be very grateful.
*Wide ruled paper
*Tissues
*Expo white board markers
*pencils
*glue sticks
If anyone is willing to take a week on as the cricket feeder for Spike, that
would be great. You can get 50 large crickets at Petsmart for under $6.00.
This would help me financially as well. Let me know if you can be a part of
this list and I will make a calendar.
Also remember, monies for the Santa Cruz trip are due very soon. $42 per
person.
Thanks So Much,
Brian Roberts