Week 30!

Hello families!

I hope this blog post finds you rested and relaxed after a great weekend! Mine was one of those nonstop weekends that has me looking forward to my routine of the work week! We celebrated my husband's birthday this weekend with families on both sides and some great friends (read: I cleaned the house, had people  over, cleaned up the house and repeated 3 times!)!
This upcoming week will be an exciting one, I will be at a professional development on Monday and Tuesday with the Arizona Department of Education on teaching reading effectively. Mrs. Smith will have the reins, and I will be back on Wednesday. I will have limited access to email at the conference, so I appreciate your patience with my communication, and if you need to get a message directly to your child I suggest calling the office those two days!

Announcements:
Field trip: We will be going to the Pioneer Living History Museum on Thursday, April 13! This is an amazing trip that I am greatly looking forward to! It will be an all day event, if you'd like to volunteer please send me an email so I can start generating a list. The field trip cost will be $20, and a permission slip will go home shortly. I will send an email the day the permission slip goes home!

Book  Reports: You child should've received a new book report in their Friday Folder. Some students got biography books, and some got a literature book. I didn't have enough of the same genre to go around students either got a biography book report or a literature cube book report. Please let me know if you have any questions on them! I am happy to help.

Fine Arts and French night is coming up on April 7th! The students have been practicing a song for a video for the French portion and its ADORABLE (or should I say mignon?)!

AzMerit testing starts this week for our 3rd through 5th grade students, while this doesn't directly impact your second grader, they will be taking it next year and we are prepping them through computer use and practice! If you come to volunteer please keep in mind students are testing and don't throw too big of a party in the hallway :]

We will start reading Little House in the Big Woods next week! If you don't already have it, please order it here.

Here is a look at our week:

Language arts: We will start a new unit on dictionary skills! We will become dictionary daredevils, alphabetical order aficionados, and guide word wonders! If you find yourself with nothing to talk about in the car help your child visualize the alphabet by asking what would come first in a dictionary; the word dog or the word iguana and WHY. In literature we have finished up Sarah, Plain and Tall, ask your scholar about the ending :]. This week we will spend some time in fairy tales and tall tales and explore the lives of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Casey Jones!

Math: Next week in math we will continue working with time! Please continue conversations with your time master. Next week we will relate time to events of our daily life. We will find the duration of a time interval in minutes and house, as well as attacking word problems with elapsed time. We will review and take a Unit 1-11 cumulative test on Friday. The homework Thursday night will provide great practice for Friday's test!

History: We are continuing on our journey west, learning about The Pony Express and following the cowboys, farmers, and miners on their adventures and challenges that come with moving to new lands. Can your history buff tell you about Daniel Boon? Robert Fulton? Jedidiah Smith? Or my person favorite Levi Strauss?

Science: Have you noticed all the magnets disappearing from your refrigerator? Students are LOVING our new unit on magnets. This week we will continue experimenting with magnetic poles and magnetic fields. We will also investigate and discover how a compass is a magnet!

XOXO,
Mrs. Cook

Spring Break Post

I hope you have a great spring break ahead of you! I will spend mine snuggling with Chief, prepping some fun units for fourth quarter, and writing to you about each of your incredible kiddos!

Thank you all for the birthday love. You showered me with kindness and love, in the form of flowers, sweets notes, Cheetos, things that made my teacher heart sing (stamps, scented markers, post-its), and the perfect accessories for my blue kitchen! This is what my desk has looked like all week, these flowers have brought me so much joy!

Pictures from the fun had this week:

If practicing fractions with M&M's is wrong I don't want to be right.

Writing can be a lot more productive with a change of scenery :]

Teamed up with 5th grade to have a great discussion on criticism!

Simple Machine Centers!

Here is a look at our short week when we return from spring break:

Language arts: We will continue to read Sarah, Plain and Tall next week. In chapter 8 Sarah starts to feel sad, lonely, and homesick. We will discuss what we would miss if we moved and formulate a paragraph based on our list. In grammar we will review all the parts of speech we have learned so far. Ask your scholar if they can name all 6! (Cheat sheet: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, and pronoun.) We will review classifying sentences, and continue to build our own that follow the 5 rules of a complete sentence!

Math: We will hit the ground running after spring break with a new unit on TIME! We will do a review of concepts learned in first grade, and then dive into minutes before and after the hour. We appreciate your partnership in talking to your kiddos about what time they get up, what time you leave for school, what time you eat dinner, etc. That will greatly help us when we tackle our chapter on elapsed time!

Science: We will be ATTRACTED (hehe) to a new unit on MAGNETS! This will require a lot of exploration and experimentation with different materials. Can you scholar identify magnetic objects at home? What materials are these objects made of?

History: We will continue our journey forward in time as the scholars pioneer unchartered territory. Ask your scholar how the invention of the steamboat changed American life and enabled the growth of cities. Friday we will explore the Oregon trail!

Weekly Recap

Aaaaccchhhhooo! Our classroom is in need of some more tissues and Lysol wipes! We have been battling so many germs in school, and doing our best to wipe our desks, pencils, and supplies as much as possible. Mrs. Smith and I would really appreciate donations of tissues and Lysol wipes, we are totally out!

We also need a few bags of M&M's donated for a fun fraction activity next week. If you are able to donate a bag, please send them in with your child before Wednesday!

We had such a fun week! Here are some cute pictures of our week:

We all loved getting to show some school spirit!

Working together to use our pencils in a new way! As levers to move Hot Tamales from one bowl to another!

Accidental twinning! Same dress, and Toms!

Here is a look at our upcoming week:

Language arts: In language arts next week students will take a break from diagramming and building sentences in isolation, to building wonderful sentences that fit into a paragraph! Students will be writing about their favorite animals, using supportive details as to WHY those are their favorite animals. Feel free to brainstorm this weekend. We are all loving Sarah, Plain and Tall. We had a blast making a book cover for ourselves, ask your child what adjectives they used on their book cover to describe themselves. Our class voted on the title Mrs. Cook, Slow and Awsome for my book title, which was quickly defended that I'm a slow runner...not slow at doing tasks ;]. This week we will look up vocab words, and answer comprehension questions for chapters 4-6. We will also write an article for a pretend newspaper describing a friend that we'd like to have in our lives, much like that article Pa wrote for Sarah!

Math: Next week we will continue to explore the world of fractions! We will make pizza and discuss fractions through looking at pizza toppings, and pizza slices. We will understand that fractions are a part of a whole, and that fractions are EQUAL parts. We will use M&M's to make fractions come alive as well!

History: Monday, students will wrap up the War of 1812 by learning about Dolley Madison, Old Ironsides, and the Star Spangled Banner. Please ask your historian to tell you about these important historical elements. Next, we will head west!

Science: Simple machines will continue into next week. We will take a closer look at how pulleys allow us to use gravity to help move heavy loads. We will create our own pulley using a soda can! Next, we will review how wheels and axles help us move heavy loads by decreasing the amount of friction. How do simple machines make work easier?

Welcome March!

Next week we welcome March, my very favorite month of the year!
 We had a great last week of February! We loved wearing our spirt shirts today!

Here is a look at our upcoming week:
- Coming soon, I apologize for technical difficulties!
Language arts: We will be starting a new literature book this week; Sarah, Plain and Tall. We will dive into new vocabulary, like what is a hearthstone, and what it means to be feisty. We will also discuss why Sarah feels like a move is necessary, and why Pa places an advertisement in the newspaper! Be sure to ask your literature experts for answers to these questions. In spelling we are still working hard on our beautiful cursive, and are tackling some challenging spelling words this week! In grammar, we will continue to classify sentences and even start making our own sentences when given a list of parts of speech.

Math: Next week we are working on making change! We will be working hard on picking different menu items and paying for them, while doing mental math in our heads to make change! We will continue to work on attacking word problems, focusing on multistep word problems, for example if I buy 4 pens that cost $1.40 each, and give the cashier $10.00 how much change will I receive? If students get step 1 incorrect, it sets them up to do poorly on step 2!

Science: Simple Machines will continue through taking a closer look at inclined planes, wedges, and screws. We will do a few hands on experiments to explore how these simple machines work. We will also be sending home a "Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt" for scholars to find examples of Simple Machines at home! **Warning: Cheesy science joke ahead** What did the tree say to the wedge? - I'm stumped! :]

History: The scholars will dive into a brief study of, what some refer to as the second war of independence: the War of 1812. Ask your scholar to identify key points for the Merchant's and War Hawks.

Week 25!

I hope you had a great 3-day weekend with your families! I spent mine doing boring housework, including painting the garage (insert eye roll here) - glamorous I know..

We had so much fun this past week! We learned CURSIVE and the kiddos were PUMPED! They did an amazing job! We also had a blast during Great Hearts Day, and worked together so well!

The next book we will be reading is Sarah. Plain and Tall. Please send it in with your sweet student by Monday February 27th. 

Here is a look at our learning this week:

Language arts: In ELA this week we will read a tall tale and discuss the components of a tall tale, and how that differs from a fairy tale. We will continue to diagram sentences in grammar, we are doing SUCH a great job with this, and can diagram sentences with TWO prepositions! We have finished up Cricket in Times Square and will be starting our next book; Sarah Plain and Tall next week!

Math: We are learning about MONEY! Coins, dollars, change, oh my! We will work on reviewing coin value, adding two prices together, as well as attacking word problems. When purchasing something talk to your child about the cost, and ask what the cost would be if the item were 10 cents, or 2 dollars more. Mental math is still a strategy we are working to strengthen!

Science: We are moving from learning about how our human body work as a machine to learning about simple machines! Can your scholar identify simple machines at  home or around their community? We are excited to embark on this hands-on unit!

History: We will continue looking at The Constitution, paying close attention to The Bill of Rights this week. We are working to memorize The Preamble, how much an you history buff recite (sing) to you? 

Week 24!

Wow! What a week! I feel like the students are growing and maturing before my very eyes!
We celebrated the end of our Greek Unit by making Laurel Wreaths, and we had to work together to create our own countries. The theme for the week was COMPROMISE!

Updates and Announcements:

Great Hearts Day: On Tuesday we will be celebrating friendship all day for Great Hearts Day! We will have a virtue award assembly in the morning, and a celebration in the classroom from 2:00-2:30. While I don't need help for the celebration, you are more than welcome to come in and feel the joy of friendship!

Field day: We are Persia and our color is BLUE! Students can decorate shirts, and are allowed to wear athletic clothing. Please email me if you are able to donate a cooler, ice, snacks, or mini water bottles.

Here is a look at our coming week:

Language Arts: In Spalding next week we will learn CURSIVE! The students are SO excited to start on this adventure! We will not have spelling words next week, and Spalding homework will be to practice cursive letter formation. A packet will be coming home Monday night for parental reference as well. As we move forward, students will choose whether they want to write in cursive or manuscript, but Mrs. Smith and I will switch to writing in cursive. In third grade students will have a cursive refresher at the beginning of the year, but will be expected to be able to read cursive from the get-go! In literature we will finish Cricket in Times Square! It has been so wonderful to watch the students fall in love with the characters. In grammar we will continue to diagram sentences and work on writing paragraphs.

Math: We will finish up our unit on multiplication and division with a test on Thursday. Wednesday math centers and Wednesday night homework will provide great review and practice for Thursday's test. On Friday the students will be introduced to our new unit, MONEY through review of coins and their value!

Science: Next week we will take our test over the Human Body on Thursday! Please help you scholar review their study guide at home and ask them to tell you how much they remember about each body system, healthy eating, cells, tissues, and organs! We will be playing a "Jeopardy" style game in class!

History: We will continue to study the Constitution, and learn about our Founding Fathers. We will discuss the Anti-Federalists and what they stood for!

Happy Friday!
Announcements:
Great Hearts Day is coming up on Tuesday February 14th! We will be focusing on friendship that day, doing activity to promote teamwork, and having a fun celebration. Please sign up here to donate to our activities!

This week we celebrated the 100th day of school! We wrote about all the things we will and won't do when we turn 100, the things we will know, and what we will look like! As usual we had a super fun week full of learning, growing, and laughing! Here are some pictures of what we'd look like at 100!

Here is a look at our learning for the upcoming week:

Language arts: Next week we will look at direct and indirect quotations in the story The Hare that Ran Away. In Grammar we will also continue studying pronouns and subject pronouns, as well as classifying parts of speech in sentences. The students are doing a wonderful job classifying sentences, and can go through the question and answer flow of a sentence independently and confidently! Stay tuned for video evidence! :] In literature we will read chapters 10-13 in Cricket in Times Square and continue to follow the adventure of Chester Cricket, Tucker Mouse, and Harry Cat! Ask your super scholar what happened to the Bellini's newsstand!

Math: In math next week we will work through division problems and fact families! We will discuss different ways to attack a division problem, including repeated subtraction, drawing pictures, and thinking of the "friend" multiplication problem! Students are loving this unit!

Science: Next week in science we will review the functions of our body systems and learn ways we can help make sure that our body systems continue to run smoothly so we can stay healthy. We will also learn a new word: calories! We will spend time reviewing ALL the concepts we have learned in our Human Body Unit through playing a fun review game. A study guide will be sent home with you school on Thursday night. We encourage you to read through it and ask your scholar to retell some of the things they have learned!

History: In history this week we will not only journey to another place, but a much later time in history to discuss the American Constitution. Challenge your scholar to make connections between the US and Ancient Greek democracies.