Looks like another cold week for the Midwest. Due to the frigid temperatures I am not sure how often we will be at school this week. Hopefully the meteorologists are all wrong and we have a full week of school for the first time this quarter!
This week, due to all of the cancellations and delays, we will be continuing what we were working on last week.
In Social Studies we are working on Chapter 5 focusing on the 13 original colonies. The students received a study guide on Thursday which was originally due Monday. I am sure many of them did not take their social studies books home Thursday assuming we would have school on Friday, but I expect them to at least attempt to finish it on their own. I will not count it as late if they at least attempted it. The test for this is planned for the end of this week, but will depend on cancellations.
For Science we are working on electricity. They have been having a LOT of fun with this concept, so it will be sad to bring it to a close. The study guide for this will be passed out this week, and the test will be either at the end of this week or pushed into next week.
English is finishing up Unit 5 on Verbs. We are only working on the second half of the unit as we took a test for the first half at the end of the second quarter. They will also receive a study guide for this subject this week, and we will finish up the unit next week with the test.
Reading we will be meeting with our groups to work on inferring and theme. Centers will be working on opinion (persuasive) writing, inferring, theme, prefixes, and main idea.
As you can see, we have a lot of tests coming up! The students are receiving the study guides plenty of time in advance, though, so just looking it over for a few minutes every night will definitely help them out!
Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up on February 6th and 10th. I would like all of the slips back, even if a conference was not requested, so we can start setting up times.
Have a great week everyone!
Mrs. Perkins
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Focus Boards
Focus boards are good to go! Here is what I did today (who says teachers get days off?!). All of the subjects can be found on the boards.
Enjoy!
Mrs. Perkins
Sunday, January 19, 2014
MLK Day Week
Today I was able to make it out to watch some of the boys play basketball. It was a lot of fun, and I was pretty impressed with the talent! Keep up the good work boys! I am hoping I will get to watch the girls play sometime soon as well.
This is a short (and another freezing cold!) week ahead with no school tomorrow. Hopefully there are no more cancellations as we are out of calamity days.
I have started something new in the classroom called a Focus Wall. This will allow the students and anyone coming in the room to see what our focus is in each subject. I am hoping this will also help the students in their focus and allow a visual and heads up for what we are going to learn each week.
Some subjects like social studies and science will be fairly simple. For example, this week the focus for science will be electricity. Reading and English will be more complicated and broken down into specific skills. I will post it as soon as I have it completely finished!
I wil post again tomorrow with a (hopefully) completed board and specific topics for the subjects.
Have a great night!
Mrs. Perkins
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
My New Year's Resolution...
...update this darn blog/newsletter!
Seriously, though, I am going to make it my mission and goal to do the following:
1. Update the classroom blog every week
2. Update Progress Book every week
3. Grade papers and get them back to the students within one week
4. Spend more time on individual student goals
This upcoming week (if we ever get back to school...) the students are going to work on a goal-setting assignment. I am going to keep these and meet with the students individually to go over their goals and how they are going to achieve these goals. What I have definitely noticed with most of the students is they KNOW what their goals should be. What they do not quite understand is HOW to achieve those goals. It sounds good when you put it on paper, like when we did the essay back in the second quarter, but actually following through with these goals is more difficult and complex than just writing it down. I am going to attempt to meet with each student every few weeks to get an update on their goal.
There will be a few changes when we get back to the classroom. One of the wonderful things about being a first year teacher is the amount of change that occurs in your classroom as your grow and learn with the students. Change is not always good, but I am hoping these changes are for the better! I will update the students and try to update here as much as possible about these changes.
This semester will gradually become even more difficult as we buckle down and get ready for those tests-that-shall-not-be-named. Starting in March and going into May (so pretty much the entire 4th quarter) we will be doing a TON of testing. These tests include:
1. PARCC Field Testing (March)
2. MAP Testing Round 2 (March-April)
3. OAA Tests (April-May)
I hope to make the kids prepared enough they will not be overwhelmed or overly-anxious about these tests, but simply work hard and do the best they can!
Last I heard report cards will still be going out next Friday. I will let you know if this changes!
Have a wonderful week, and I will write again as soon as possible!
Mrs. Perkins
Seriously, though, I am going to make it my mission and goal to do the following:
1. Update the classroom blog every week
2. Update Progress Book every week
3. Grade papers and get them back to the students within one week
4. Spend more time on individual student goals
This upcoming week (if we ever get back to school...) the students are going to work on a goal-setting assignment. I am going to keep these and meet with the students individually to go over their goals and how they are going to achieve these goals. What I have definitely noticed with most of the students is they KNOW what their goals should be. What they do not quite understand is HOW to achieve those goals. It sounds good when you put it on paper, like when we did the essay back in the second quarter, but actually following through with these goals is more difficult and complex than just writing it down. I am going to attempt to meet with each student every few weeks to get an update on their goal.
There will be a few changes when we get back to the classroom. One of the wonderful things about being a first year teacher is the amount of change that occurs in your classroom as your grow and learn with the students. Change is not always good, but I am hoping these changes are for the better! I will update the students and try to update here as much as possible about these changes.
This semester will gradually become even more difficult as we buckle down and get ready for those tests-that-shall-not-be-named. Starting in March and going into May (so pretty much the entire 4th quarter) we will be doing a TON of testing. These tests include:
1. PARCC Field Testing (March)
2. MAP Testing Round 2 (March-April)
3. OAA Tests (April-May)
I hope to make the kids prepared enough they will not be overwhelmed or overly-anxious about these tests, but simply work hard and do the best they can!
Last I heard report cards will still be going out next Friday. I will let you know if this changes!
Have a wonderful week, and I will write again as soon as possible!
Mrs. Perkins
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