Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving Break is over and I'm back! I thought I'd be able to finish the last few days before the break, but I ended up with a case of bronchitis. We are going to be getting back to our regular schedule this week, though.

The students still had math lessons to learn while I was gone. We reviewed those today and they will have an in-class, graded worksheet to take the place of a test grade. They will be able to use their books and ask questions.

The students were supposed to get their science vocabulary done before the break, but the 5th graders did not do it. They will have to finish them tonight so they can be on task. Both grades got the study guides today and will have the test Thursday.

We began our heritage studies lessons today. We will do the majority of the study guide tomorrow and will finish them on Wednesday. The test will be Friday.

There are only three weeks of school before the Christmas break. The second grading period ends with this year. Report cards will not go out until after the break, but only grades from before the break will count.

Test folders will be going out tomorrow. Since I was not able to be at school to put them together in time last week, the students will have two weeks of tests sent home.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The students received another paper today dealing with Harvest of Hope. They are having a cake decorating contest. Anyone participating has to have their cake turned in Thursday morning. The cakes will be sold on Friday as part of the fundraiser.

Test folders will not be going home until tomorrow.

Both grades had a math test today. We will learns some lessons tomorrow and Thursday and complete graded worksheets Friday instead of having the lessons carry over the week.

We completed the science study guides today. The test for that is Thursday.

6th grade did more work on the heritage studies study guide and 5th grade got them today and began working on them. We will finish them up in class tomorrow.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Harvest of Hope is Friday. The students received a paper requesting certain donations. They also received a paper as a reminder for it. Mrs. Heather's phone number is on the first paper if you have any questions.

Today, both grades completed math worksheets and we went over them to prepare for the test tomorrow. Since the Thanksgiving break is next week, I do not want the students to have information to remember over the break. To avoid that, we will simply be learning new lessons Wednesday and Thursday. Friday, they will complete worksheets in class as a grade.

We worked on the science study guides today for both classes. We will finish those up tomorrow and have our test Thursday. 5th grade has a science assignment to be turned in for a grade tomorrow. Most of the students finished in class, but those who did not have to finish for homework.

6th grade received the heritage studies study guide today but we did not have a chance to work on it for 5th grade. We will continue working on those tomorrow and Wednesday.

Thursday, November 11, 2009

Both grades had their science tests today. 6th grade had a few minutes to review on their own and 5th grade we reviewed together before the test.

Those students who brought back their progress reports signed today are getting 2 bonus points in each of the 3 subjects they have for me.

6th grade made Greek drama masks in class today. We reviewed a little for the 5th grade heritage studies test. Both grades have the test tomorrow.

5th grade has learned 3 new math lessons this week, but they all tie in to be basically the same thing. We will review tomorrow and I will also have worksheets for them to practice on. 6th grade still has a new lesson to learn tomorrow but we will start practice problems and I should have a worksheet for them, too.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Veteran's Day! I hope that those of you who have family members serving now or who have served are able to realize all the good they have done and are doing for our country. Thank you.

The students have received papers with some announcements. First, the Harvest of Hope has been pushed back to Friday, November 20. Hopefully not too many people are leaving early for the holidays. Also, due to the awesomeness of the girl's volleyball team, they have made it to the state play-offs. Tomorrow will be a special Warrior Day for the students to wear jeans and any HCS t-shirt. They do not have to pay the $1 this time. They also received the November PTC Newsletter with the calendar on the back.

Progress reports went out today. For Mrs. Jodie's class, they also just received the test folders today. They did not include the homework grade, which for most students is a 100/100. The 6th graders had a definite improvement in their grades, and I think a lot of them are happy with the grades so far. Also, a lot of 5th graders have made significant improvement and are doing better.

We reviewed for the science test tomorrow in both grades. Also, we completed the heritage studies study guides for both classes.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Progress reports go out tomorrow. It looks like the majority of the students are doing a lot better and I think they will be proud of their grades.

Both grades have to complete the front of the heritage studies study guide and a worktext page tonight. We will finish the study guide up tomorrow.

We finsihed the study guides in science today. We will review and have our test Thursday.

Math tests were today. I am not able to have those factored in to the progress reports for tomorrow. We will start our new lessons tomorrow.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Tomorrow is the last day for the boxes to be turned in for Operation Christmas Child. A couple of students have turned in boxes already. Tomorrow is also the cookie cake party for 6th grade.

Both grades had the science test today. We were able to review before it in both grades.

Tomorrow we will have our heritage studies quiz in both grades.

We learned new lessons in math in both grades today. We will have practice problems tomorrow and another new lesson.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Since the 6th graders won the door decoration for Red Week, they are being rewarded with a cookie cake party this Friday. Drinks will be provided, but 4 students have volunteered to bring in a bag of chips to go along with the cake. I'll remind those students tomorrow. The party will be the last part of the day before dismissal.

Yesterday, some 5th graders missed the science lesson becuase they had a 4-H meeting. They were not in class for the questions that they need for the test tomorrow. They have had the vocabulary since Friday and I told them they would be responsible for finishing the questions today. There aren't many questions, so it should not be a problem. We went over the answers in class, too. We also were able to review in 6th grade for the science test tomorrow.

5th grade and 6th grade are only having a quiz in heritage studies this week. They have all of the information that they need.

We started our new math lessons today. For 5th grade, they learned adding and subtracting with uncommon denominators. Last week, they learned how to make common denominators and a few weeks ago they learned adding fractions. I'm confident that they will do well since they already learned it, just in two separate parts. We spent the majority of our class time working on it so that each student could do their assignment. I also assigned them each a few problems to turn in so that I can see if they are getting it. 6th grade moved on to multiplying decimals, but it's simple and requires regular multiplication. The only difference is where to put the decimal in the answer.

It seems like both classes are going to be doing better in math, especially once they realize that they already know how to do all or most of it for this week.