Hip Hip Hooray!

We've been working on goal-setting both as a class and as individuals since the beginning of the school year.  Two weeks ago we set a goal to achieve at least 550 points as a class by today.  A free period outside would be the reward for all our hard work.  We got points for being proactive, being on task, helping others, working together, using the right volume in class, and getting our homework done and in.  It is amazing to see what we are able to do when we are motivated...students started adding the totals in their heads with every ding of ClassDojo! How is that for math in your life!!?   I am happy to report that the last period of the day we were out enjoying the sunshine with 12 extra points to boot!  And you guessed it...next week we hit the reset button and set some new goals.  :)

In Math we're going to be turning our attention to decimal numbers and fractions in the next week, but we'll need to keep our adding and subtracting skills dusted off because it all gets mixed into the pot and stirred up.  As much as you can talk about parts of a whole in our world around us the better as it is always a benefit if students see that what they're learning in school has a connection to what happens in life.

Wow!  Almost all of you are signed up to come in to parent teacher interviews!  Wonderful :)  Looking forward to seeing all of you then.  There are still a few spots open on both days if you haven't had a chance to book a time.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to make a homework plan with your child!  This is a great step towards each student beginning with the end in mind and becoming more responsible.

Have a great weekend all!

Le jour de l'Action de Grâce

It's already Thanksgiving!  Today we took a little minute to think about things we were thankful for and write them down.  While we are thankful for many things, sometimes we forget to think about them.  For some of us we had to think quite a while to find 5 different ones, but we did it!  The result is rather festive and now hanging outside our door in the hall if you'd like to come admire it.

We're working on building our stamina when writing and reading independently, getting ready to move into Daily 5 in our Literacy Block.  The minutes on the graph are increasing with each practice so we're moving in the right direction!  It is very exciting to see students taking their learning seriously!

Have you noticed that from time to time students are writing their goals in their agendas?  These goals are related to our class mission statement and remind us to keep working on being the best that we can be in the area that we might need to work on.  These are always great conversation starters.  This month we are working especially on the habit of being "Proactive" and we make really good decisions when keeping this habit in mind.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Looking forward to seeing you back on Tuesday!

Lots of little tidbits

The beginning of the year events aren't quite over yet.  And there are some important dates to pay attention to.  Here is a list to keep in mind:
1) September 24: Magazine sale ends
2) September 29: the first deadline for Hot Lunch ordering.  Check the yellow sheet in your child's planner for details.
3) September 30: Scholastic orders due (beforehand is fine!) The flyers came home today.  :)
4) September 30: Terry Fox Run in the afternoon.  Please remember to send good running attire to school that day!
5) October 5: Picture day.  There are two dates marked, but our class sees the photographer Monday.  Yes, I know.  Monday.  I have to set my alarm too!  I usually forget the morning of...which means I get a candid!

Today we started thinking about our class mission statement and made a personal plan of how we were going to do one part of it.  At the end of the day, we each reflected on how well we did.  The yellow post-it note should be in your child's agenda and is a great discussion starter!  We'll be paying regular attention to our mission statement and that will form one aspect of the goals we set throughout the year.

Mathletics passwords are coming out soon, along with yearbook notices.  Keep an eye out for them in agendas :)  

I haven't take the time to mention how much I enjoyed visiting with all of you who were able to come out to our Meet the Teacher Barbecue last week.  Thanks for taking the time to fit that into your schedule and for those of you I haven't met yet, feel free to stop by to say hi or set up a time when you're sure to catch me.  It is always such a pleasure to see you all :)