Teaching Through Innovation

Friday, September 7, 2012

Curriculum Update September 10-14

Have a great weekend! The kids worked hard and did a great job with MAP testing. Next week we will resume with our regular daily schedule. Please don't forget lap-a-thon is on Friday.

Reading
We will begin Theme 2, Life in Many Places in Rigby. The comprehension strategy focus will be asking questions. Your child should ask questions before, during and after reading which will continue to make them "think" about what they are reading.
The vocab words are: landform, breathe, anxiously, architecture, location
Math
We will take the Topic 1 math test on Monday, which focused on numeration. We will began Topic 2: Number Sense: Addition and Subtraction on Tuesday. The lessons will cover addition meaning and properties, subtraction meanings, using mental math to add and using mental math to subtract.

SS
We will continue our communities unit this week focusing on how their neighborhood relates to their city, county, state, country, continent and the world. We will begin learning about suburban, rural and urban communities.

Science
We are continuing with our solar energy unit. We will focus on how the earth heats different earth materials and we will test the effectiveness of sun screen on different types of sun beads.

Spelling
The Rigby spelling theme will focus on initial consonant blends.
List 1: credit, grand, detest, dragon, grease, quest, drizzle, sprinkle, prove, crowd
List 2: cricket, gravity, problem, grocery, broadcast, drowsy, crumble, creative, grammar, crooked
Extension List: The prefix is mono (one) monochrome, monocle, monolingual, monolith, monologue, monophobia, monopoly, monorail, monosyllabic, monotone

Writing
We completed our letters to our pen pals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey this week.

We will continue to focus on strong beginnings and using words that will best capture the reader's attention.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Animoto Connection Videos

Curriculum Update September 4-7

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day weekend. It was nice that we were able to get some rain, but some sunshine as well.

This week, we will take MAP testing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00-10:30 am each day. It will be reading, math and language arts. This is nothing your child will be able to prepare for, but rather an assessment that will provide us with informative data letting us know where your child is at in each of these academic areas. The test will be given again in the Spring to see how much growth your child has made throughout the school year.

Please remember to RSVP for Common Core night on September 19 from 6-7 pm if you plan on attending.

Reading
We will continue our Community Spirit theme this week in Rigby. We will continue practicing making connections before, during, and after reading with ourselves, other texts, and things throughout the world. Our vocabulary word focus will be arrive, establish, appeal, household and lifestyle.

Math
We will continue our Numeration unit in enVision. This week we will be working on comparing numbers, ordering numbers, problem solving: make an organized list, and reviewing for our test on Monday. Please remember the students are able to take log on to view the lesson again or their math book online at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.

SS

We will begin our SS unit on communities. The focus questions will be What make a community a community? Why do I need a community? Why does a community need me? What makes a successful community?

Science
We are going to continue our solar energy unit. Last week, the student learned about sun dials and tracking their shadows to tell time. They traced their shadows every hour and created sun dials. This week, we learn about thermometers, focusing on thermometers in the sun and shade and earth materials in the sun and shade.

Here are some pictures of the sun dials and the kids tracking their shadows.

Spelling
The Rigby spelling theme will focus on initial consonants.
List 1: balloon, marble, dairy, dolphin, fixture, morning, belong, finger, visitor, double
List 2: brief, breakfast, vacation, doubt, friendship, minimum, maintain, violin, venomous, fantasy
Extension List: The prefix is post (after) postdate, postgraduate, posthumous, postindustrial, postmark, postmeridian, postmortem, postpone, postproduction, postscript

Writing
The writing focus will be on beginnings. I will work with the kids on creative beginnings that will capture the reader's attention.

We will also being writing our pen pals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This will go along with our communities unit where the students will learn about other communities throughout the world.

Have a fantastic week!

Coach Snyder Thank You

This is the kids version of a thank you for Coach Snyder that includes pictures and video from the trip. The MVHS students are working on the professional documentary for the students.

Place Value

We have been working on place value in class. The students have learned about standard form, word form and expanded form. Here is an example:

Place Values - Expanded Form

Each digit of a number, such as 495,786, has a different place value name.
4 9 5,7 8 6
| | | | | |__ digits' place value
| | | | |____ tens' place value
| | | |______ hundreds' place value
| | |________ thousands' place value
| |__________ ten-thousands' place value
|____________ hundred-thousands' place value
There are 4 sets of one hundred thousand, 9 sets of ten thousand, 5 sets of one thousand, 7 sets of one hundred, 8 sets of ten, and 6 ones in the number 495,786. Expanded form shows the number expanded into an addition statement. The expanded form of 495,786 is 400,000 + 90,000 + 5,000 + 700 + 80 + 6.

Word Form shows: Four hundred ninety-five thousand seven hundred eighty-six

Place Value Games & Practice
http://www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err=503&engine=15
http://media.emgames.com/emgames/demosite/playdemo.html?activity=M2A050&activitytype=dcr
http://www.aaamath.com/plc31-placevalue.html
http://www.toonuniversity.com/flash.asp?err=496&engine=5
http://www.mathcats.com/explore/reallybignumbers.html

Monday, August 27, 2012

Team Leggett MVP Schedule

The schedule has been made for Team Leggett MVP. It is very flexible where the days are able to be changed if you need to. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!

Team Leggett MVP

Team Leggett MVP is a week where there is a spotlight on a student in our classroom for an entire week. I will send home a spotlight feature for the student to complete. Here is the schedule of the week.

Monday (Spotlight on Team Leggett MVP): During the week before student is Team Leggett MVP, a bag will be sent home with the child. Students have a week to collect special items with which to fill the bag and share it with their classmates on Monday. Students should also bring 10-12 photos of their choice to display on the Team Leggett MVP board.

Tuesday (MVP Book): The Team Leggett MVP brings his or her favorite picture book to read to the class (or have Mrs. Leggett read to the class).

Wednesday (MVP Parent Letter): Parents will write a letter to the class telling us how special your child is to you. Send the letter in with your child in a sealed envelope and I will read it to the class. The content of the letter is up to you, but you may choose from some of the following ideas: Describe special or funny stories about your child for the class to hear, write a silly or serious poem about your child, send silly or special pictures with a letter describing the pictures, or write a short story with your child as the main character. You may also send in a video for the class to watch if you choose.

Thursday (MVP Lunch): If possible, please join your child for lunch. Our lunch is from 12:30-1:00 pm. You may also choose to have a sibling, friend, or your child's favorite relative be a lunch buddy that day. It can be kept a surprise or you can let your child know in advance. If you are unable to make it all week, please let me know and I will make sure that your child has a special lunch.

Friday (Team Leggett MVP Friends Day): The Team Leggett MVP will be presented with a friendship poster created by the Team Leggett Publicist and signed by all of Team Leggett.

*I am very flexible. If you need any days rearranged, I will be happy to do so. Thank you for making this a special week for the Team Leggett MVP.

Please see the Team Leggett MVP schedule below.

Team Leggett MVP Schedule

Sept. 9-14 Khalel Teopaco

Sept. 17-21 Zach Shrader

Oct. 1-5 Aidan Shaffer

Oct. 8-12 Kate Roth

Oct. 29-Nov. 2 Noah Reed

Nov. 5-9 Gabrielle Privat

Nov. 11-16 Caleb Phipps

Nov. 26-30 Carson Miller

Dec. 3-7 Aiden Lancaster

Dec. 10-14 Macayla Henrich

Jan. 7-11 Evan Harris

Jan. 14-18 Paiten Griffith

Jan. 28- Feb. 1 Ben Fitterer

Feb. 4-8 Mary Fabac

Feb. 25- Mar. 1 Kylee Dunn

Mar. 4-8 Jack Dedrickson

Mar. 25-29 Jack Davis

April 1-5 Meredith Clark

April 8-12 Alec Chesser

April 15-19 Lauren Butler

April 29- May 3 Jack Brackin

May 6- May 10 Bridget Backlund

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Curriculum Update August 27-31

I hope everyone had a terrific weekend! It was great to finally receive some much needed rain.

Last week, we worked on procedures and routines both in and outside of the classroom. The kids are really doing well. We will continue to practice this week.

On September 19, Prairie Ridge PTA will be hosting Common Core night. Information on this was placed in the Back to School packet you should have received on Back to School Night. This will be a night where the teachers will do a lesson with parents to enable you to better understand Common Core. Please return the flier with your child letting me know if you plan on attending.

Rigby Reading
We will begin Theme1 (Community Spirit) in Rigby this week. The comprehension focus skill will be making connections. When your child reads at home this week, please ask them to make connections with what they have read to themselves, other texts and to the world.

Your child will receive a reading log this week. They need to read at least 75 minutes and turn it in by the following Tuesday. After they read, they need to complete a short summary, make a connection, or write down something they are wondering. Please initial each night they read. They DO NOT need to have every night completed, just a total of 75 minutes throughout the week.

enVision Math
We will begin Topic 1 in enVision, Numeration. This week we will cover representing numbers, ways to name numbers, greater numbers, understanding number lines, and counting on the number line.

For homework, it is required to complete the practice side and optional to complete the enrichment side. There will be other math sheets coming home throughout the week that are optional for the students to complete.

Spelling
Your child took a pretest on Friday. If they scored below 7 out of 10, they received the first list. If they scored 7 out of 10, they have an option to study for the second list or for the extension list. Your child should have brought their spelling list home on Friday.

The word study focus this week is short vowels.

Below Level: heavy, insist, inspect, jungle, listen, object, picture, planet, rumble, topic
On-Level: dismiss, advance, gadget, challenge, presence, fidget, frantic, quilt, thicken, blossom
The word study focus of the extension list is pre (before, in advance)
Extension list: preapprove, precaution, precede, predict, prefix, prejudge, prepay, pretest, prevent, preview

I am sending home a spelling relay paper they can use to help them study their words each week. This doesn not need to be turned in. Also, on my class homepage under spelling, there are links they can go to study and a spelling document with a lot of ideas to help them study.
Science
We will begin our solar energy unit. The students will learn how the sun works. We will conduct a shadow tracker lab and create and track the sun with sun dials. The students will have a better understanding of how to tell time based on their shadow.

Writing
The students began writing about their K-State field trip experience. They will be publishing their writing by creating a Voice Thread.

Students will also begin learning about the writing process.

Grammar
We will focus on common nouns this week.

Have a fantastic week!