Wednesday, September 30, 2009

We were able to spend a little extra time working on math again today. Both grades had some work to do for a grade. They worked on it themselves, and then we went over it one by one for them to get the right answers. This is to help boost their grades a little. The students had more than enough time to complete the problems and to change any that would have been wrong while we went over it together. Both grades got their math grades from yesterdays test. There was significant improvement in a lot of the 5th grade students and a lot of the 6th graders did well. Both grades had time to work on their bonus points assignments in class as well.

The science quiz is tomorrow. We took a "pop quiz" today as our review and it will count only as bonus points for the quiz tomorrow. 6th grade received their bonus point assignment for science today and was able to do some work on it. 5th grade will get theirs tomorrow.

We finished the study guides for heritage studies in both grades. Neither grade has very much information for this week.

It Feels Like Fall!

Even thought it officially turned fall last week, today is the first day of cooler weather. Finally, when the kids came in from P.E., they were not sweating or with red faces! We've still got a few weeks before it really starts to stay cool, but I'll take it for today.

The math tests were a little easier today. A lot of it was material that we tested on last week and had extra time to review. Hopefully, the grades improved. Both grades were given a packet of worksheets. This packet will all together count for up to 10 extra points in math class. 5th grade had a while to work on it in class after the test. It is not due until next Wednesday.

We finished the science study guides for the quiz Thursday. Neither grade has much information to learn and we have spent two class periods going over it already, and will go over it again tomorrow.

Both grades received the heritage studies study guide today. A lot of 6th graders finished it in class. We will learn the last few pages of our lesson and finish the answers together tomorrow. There are 18 separate items on the study guide for 6th grade, but 20 questions. 5th grade has only 10 items on the study guide, but one of them is to label 10 countries on the world map. They have a copy of the map and the 10 countries they will need to know.

The bonus point assignments will be given out by Thursday for the other two subjects.

There are still some students that have not brought back their test folders from a few weeks ago. If the folders are not brought back this week, the students will be written up. They have already lost several points from their homework grade in each subject for not having brought back the folders.

Monday, September 28,2009

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends and the nicer (although hot) weather. The Saints pulled it off again and beat the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, Nicholls took quite a beating at their homecoming game against Jacksonville State University.

Both grades did not do too well on the math tests last week, so they retook them for bonus points. I factored in the bonus points and those tests will be going home tomorrow. Because some students have not been doing too well in math, we spent some extra time in both grades going over all of our practice problems and working them out together. Neither grade learned much new stuff last week, so a lot of the test will be what they were tested on last week.

We skipped heritage studies in both grades because it took longer in math and science. The heritage studies test will still be Friday, but not much material will be on it, so it will be halfway between a test and a quiz.

The science quiz will be on Thursday. Both grades got their study guides today and worked on completing them. Almost every student got all of the answers, but we will finish up the rest of the answers tomorrow.

There are only about two weeks left in the first 9 weeks grading period. The students will be given their extra point assignments soon. I will be sure to give them enought time to complete it all for all three subjects.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Both grades did not do too well on the math tests this week. Today, they had to retake them. The tests did not have bonus points, so the problems that they got wrong the first time and get right the second time will count towards extra points to bring up the grades. Since we had to retake the test and practice math for the test next week, neither grade learned a new lesson in math. Most, if not all, 6th graders finished their practice problems in class. 5th graders had 20 minutes to do the work in class. They had to write down the whole list of problems, but only do part of them before Monday. The rest will be done in class on Monday.

With time restarints due to the extra math, we did not learn a new science lesson in either grade. We will have short lessons next week, followed by just a quiz on Thursday.

Parents, there has been an issue with students not returning their test folders. For both me and Mrs. Jodie, some students have not brought back their folders from 3 or 4 weeks ago. They have been deducted homework and conduct points for not bringing them back. If you have not received any new tests from your child every week, then your child is not returning his/her test folders on time.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today we completed the heritage studies study guides. Both grades will have a short quiz on the information Friday. There is less than 15 items on the study guide, so the students should not have a problem studying them.

We reviewed for science today. 6th graders completed an assignment yesterday and 5th graders had a "pop quiz" on everything from their science vocabulary today. This will count as the bonus points for their tests tomorrow, allowing them to get up to 5 bonus points.The 5th graders only have 20 items all together that they need to know. For both grades, we have worked on the information together, Monday and Tuesday. Since it was mostly just vocabulary, each student was responsible for writing the information down from a transparency and had more than enough time to get it done in class the last two days.

6th graders moved on to Greatest Common Factors in math today. I do not like the way that the book shows for solving this problem. I believe that it is for the benefit of the students to work it out the same way that they worked on the charts, like on page 42 #4. They should take the two numbers, write out all of the pairs of factors, then write out the factors, and find the greatest common factor from that. By doing it this way, I feel like it is helping them learn the multiplication facts better because they are having to find what two numbers multiplied together make the original number.

5th grade did not do a new math lesson today. They had a practice worksheet for fractions and then had an opportunity to work out any problems they missed on their math test and ask any questions about ones that they got wrong. This was not for points, because they had a math worksheet from last week that counted as their bonus points. I did it for their benefit, so that they had the chance to ask any questions about how to work something out.

Try-outs started today for the Christmas play. They will continue the rest of this week beforing making their decisions. Not all students will get to have an acting part, but there are extra spots for helpers and things like that.

I'm in the process of calling all of you that signed up for a conference. Please be patient as I can only call a few parents at a time. If you have not heard from me by the end of next week, please leave a comment on here or send a note with your student.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

5th grade did not get their test folders today. I forgot their math tests at home and feel like the best thing is to wait until tomorrow when they can get all of their tests together.

Both grades will only be having a small quiz for heritage studies this week. For 5th grade, we will have about 10-12 items on a "study guide" that we will work on together tomorrow. 6th grade started working on theirs today.

Monday, September 21, 2009

We did not learn new heritagev studies lessons for either grade. We spent extra time on math and science.

Both grades received vocabulary for science. 6th grade finished most of it and 5th grade will finish tomorrow.

Math tests are tomorrow. We spent a lot of time practicing and reviewing in both grades.

FRIDAY!!

Today was a busy day for the whole school because it was Grandparent's Day. The students had more time to have their lunch with the grandparents, which threw off the rest of the afternoon. I'd like to thank those grandparents and parents that donated a book to our class from the book fair. The students really like having opportunities to read in class, and I think they will enjoy those books.

In 5th grade, we started watching a movie yesterday. I wanted to get that finished today, but still had to work on math. Because of our time constraints, they did not have the heritage studies test. THE 5TH GRADE HERITAGE STUDIES TEST IS POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY. I do not like giving tests on Mondays, but there is no reason why the students should not be prepared.

Both grades only learned two math lessons this week. Both lessons went along with each other and did not involve learning many new things. They were given review problems to practice for the test on Tuesday, and I was able to help many students in class today. The test will cover material from the last test, so some of that was included in their practice problems. Some students finished in class, but the rest have to finish for homework over the weekend.

We were not able to start a new science lesson in 5th grade today. They will start on Monday, and just have a short study guide and short test on Thursday. 6th grade wrote out their definitions for the first section that we covered today. All 6th grade students had a chance to finish in class.

Wednesday, September 15, 2009

We played some different games for reviewing for science class today. I'll be trying different things to make it fun for the kids, but still allowing them to get ready for their tests or quizzes. The science quiz is tomorrow. They will have about 15 questions, and be worth about 40 points.

Both grades received a small packet of pages for math. The pages cover metric measures. We worked on it in class as extra practice. I was able to help a lot of the students with converting and working the problems. The book I got the pages from was a bit older, so some of the things were worded differently, but I explained to the students what it meant according to the way we learned it.

We finished up the heritage studies study guides today, so all the students should be prepared to review tomorrow for the test on Friday.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Both grades finished the science study guides today. We will review over the answers tomorrow and have our quiz on Thursday.

The students got their heritage studies study guides today. We answered the questions for everything that we have covered this so far and will finish them up tomorrow with our last lesson before the test on Friday.

Test folders went home today. Some students have not been bringing their test folders back. They are receiving points off of their homework grades for not bringing them in. Several students between 5th and 6th grade did not receive new test folders today because they have still not returned the ones from last week. It is very important that the students get these back to me the next day, or at least the same week as they get them.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Both grades received their science study guides today. There are only about 18 items on each of them, and between today and tomorrow they will have all of the answers. There should be no problems with the science quiz on Thursday.

Although we have started a new heritage studies lessons in both grades, they will not get their study guides until tomorrow. We will answer the study guide for the new lesson we learn tomorrow and the lessons that we have already covered, to make sure they get the right answers. The heritage studies test will be Friday.

Math tests are tomorrow. The tests will be a little shorter than the others. We spent a lot of time reviewing over the lessons today. Some of the students have not been working on the practice problems from the study guide. It is not counted as a part of homework because the study guides are their responsibility and are meant to help them. However, the students need to be practicing their problems to prepare for the tests.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Good news!! There was significant improvement in this week's test scores! That means either I'm getting soft, or the students are paying attention!! It really looks like we have found our groove in the classroom and I hope that you agree. Now, some of you may be saying, "I thought they were supposed to receive their science study guides on Fridays!" Although that will be the typical way we'll be doing it, they had their science tests on Friday and we had not started learning anything new yet. They will have a quiz (not a test) in science on Thursday (our regular day for science tests), but it will only cover a few pages in the textbook, so there is no reason to worry.

Both grades had division problems to work on over the weekend. These will be turned in on Monday. The math tests are on Tuesday. We had about 30 minutes Friday in each grade to go over the math practice problems and I was able to assist several students individually. There were one or two issues with some of the lessons from both grades, so until we get those figured out, I will not put too much of those lessons on the test.

We will be resuming our regular schedule for heritage studies on Monday. We will have that test on Friday, as usual.

For those parents who did not attend Open House, I want to let you know that the progress report grades do not include the homework grades. Also, the first two weeks of school were a little shaky, so there will be an opportunity at the end of the 9 weeks for the students to get extra point assignments to help boost their grades.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Open House is at 6:30 tonight. The students got a letter last week saying it starts at 7:00, but today they got a letter correcting the time. Open House is not a time for conferencing. If you want to meet with me about specific things having to do with your student, I will have a sign-up list to set up a time for a conference.

The students got their math study guides today. Both grades had time to work on some of the practice problems in class. The math test is Tuesday, September 15.



The science tests are tomorrow. We went over the study guides in class today and also played a review game. All they have to do tonight is study their science materials.

I have been keeping the information on each test to a minimum. Because of this, the tests will be shorter and not worth as many points. I think it is working out for them to be tested every week. If we did not have our tests every week, there would be more for them to have to learn for each test. For the last two weeks, the students have had more than enough time to complete the study guides and study them in class. Not all of the students have been taking advantage of the extra class time to study, but a lot of them have.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I'm back! For those of you who don't know, I woke up last Wednesday with a slight fever, which became full blown flu symptoms in a matter of just a couple of hours. I did my best to keep the students working on assignments that would help them, rather than just be busy work.

We had received our heritage studies' study guide last week and some of the students had finished it before I got sick. They had to finish it while I was gone, and we went over it in class yesterday and today to make sure they had the right answers. They will have a small test on the material tomorrow. They've had the material for over a week, and we reviewed it in class today. The test will only be about 70 points, with 20-25 questions.

The science test is Friday. Again, this will be a smaller test with less questions on it. The students did their vocabulary in class on Friday and received the study guide Monday. A lot of the vocabulary words were not included on the study guide so that there would be less for them to study.

Tomorrow night is Open House. I will have the 4 1/2 week progress reports for each student. The grades on there will not include the homework grade. This is because Mrs. Jodie and I think it is important for you to see the student's grades on their own. Homework grades will be factored in for the 9 week report cards. The students have been given bonus points on a lot of the tests. This is to help them get a better grade. Not all students have taken advantage of even trying to get the bonus points. I am doing that for their benefit, but at the same time they are the ones responsible for knowing the material and paying attention in class.

For science and heritage studies, we have been working on the study guides as we cover the lessons in class. There should be no excuses for the students not completing the study guides or having incorrect answers. I think this system will be helpful in making sure they have their information early and are not stuck trying to answer it all at once.

Tuesday, September 1

Yay! The air conditioner is fixed! We were able to be back in our regular classroom today. The unit and everything is all new, so there shouldn't be any more problems with the A/C.

Since the math tests were today, there is no math homework. The students received their heritage studies study guide today. They had some time to work on it in class. There are spaces for them to write the answers and also hole punches for it to be kept in their binders. Tomorrow, they will be able to follow with the study guide and answer some of the questions as we learn about it in class.

We will be reviewing the science study guide tomorrow. All students should have it completed. The definitions were done in class last week and there were only a few questions left that they had to answer. Every time we are working on these in class, I am available to answer any questions that the students have while they are searching for the answers.

The students only have to continue studying for their science tests on Thursday. They have their heritage studies study guide, but it does not (and should not, because we have not learned all of it yet) have to be done tonight.