Consider the Halloween Party a Success!
I want to thank all of you students for behaving so well and representing our class so well during our Halloween party. I have our photo gallery all set to go, along with the movies that I shot. Enjoy and have a great weekend.
Watch out for those crazy zombies!
Halloween Party Tomorrow!!
Tomorrow we will be having our Halloween party. Our wonderful room parents will be having some games and teats for us, should be a great time!
Here is the schedule for tomorrow:
- 9:00-9:30 School Health Walk
- 9:30-10:15 Halloween Movie
- 10:15-10:30 Get Costumes On
- 10:30-10:45 School Parade
- 10:45-11:35 Halloween Party
- 11:35-11:45 Clean Up, Pack Up
- 11:50 Dismissal
Here are some other things for you to know about tomorrow. Costumes are welcomed but not required. No weapons or face painting is allowed. Costumes should be of the type that the student can put on independently, or with very little help. All parents are welcome to come and join us around 10:15 or 10:30. Room parents can come any time to help set up.
If you have any questions, please reply to this post because other parents may have the same questions.
The only homework that could come home tonight would be a math sheet 4.2 Practice and handwriting sheet, and any corrections that still need to be made.
Unfortunately, I Will Not Be In School Tomorrow
I will not be in school tomorrow due to Nadia still having a high fever general sickness. Last Friday my wife stayed home with her, but she has not gotten better enough to send her back to day care. I have some fun Halloween math activities for you to do that review word form, expanded form, and comparing numbers. Please be on your best behavior and represent our class well.
See you on Tuesday!
read moreFor Parents: 21st Century Skill – Hired or Not, Bicycle Race
Today in math we did a strange type of pretest. We played a scenario of “Hired or Not”. Here is a video of some of our work. As a captain of a kids mountain bike racing team I was hiring teams of two accountants to figure out how much it would cost to get all new racing gear for my team. They were presented the information below and were allowed to ask me, the captain of the team, any questions they wanted before beginning the project. They then had 40 minutes to come up with a total.
This project not only worked as a pretest for chapter 4, adding bigger numbers, but also a practice in true 21st Century Skills. Data and information is quickly becoming a commodity for us because of the internet. As your kids grow into the market places of the future, it is what they do with that information that will set them apart from their peers. Because of this, information fluency is key. Information fluency involves these skills:
- asking good questions
- accessing the most appropriate information
- analyze and authenticate the information. What is good, what is fact, what is opinion, what is bias. Arrange the information.
- apply the knowledge from the data and the tasks. Reteaching the concepts.
- assessing the process and the product.
This project contained a focus on each of these in some manner.
At the end of the lesson, no kids were hired, but we learned a few very important lessons about organizing our processes, asking relevant questions, and proceeding slowly and carefully.
We will do more of these projects in other subject areas through out the year. They are a fun and challenging break from the information practice of our typical days. I’m still looking forward to hiring my first teams!
Have a great weekend!
read moreJust the Work Again
Sorry not to post much classroom news. I have been using every spare minute to assess your children with their regrouping skills in math, during silent reading, and even stealing moments between subject. So, here is the work for the day:
Our Newest Episode is Ready for Listening
Our latest episode of the Marchionda Minuted podcast stars Jake. I will let you go over to our podcast page to listen to Jake talk about sports and super powers.
Not much news other than the podcast. I have been really busy getting ready for the conferences tonight. Each parent will get a report that includes graphs of how your child is doing in each subject area relative to the class average. There is a sample one below.
Looking forward to seeing you all at conferences!
Just the Work, Updated Grade Book
Here is the work for the day. Our online grade book has been updated, also.
Looking for a Volunteer Family to . . .
. . . decorate your class pumpkin. Our student council has asked our classes to decorate a pumpkin for school. This year our pumpkin has to be “silly”. The only rule that I am aware of is that it cannot be carved, but things can be stuck in it, glued to it, painted on it and everything else. If you and your family are interested in decorating our class pumpkin, please comment to this post.
Just Really Proud of You, That's All . . .
There is no news in this post, just a message to say that I am proud of all of you students – and thankful for the support of all of your parents. Lately, I have received some very kind words from parents and warm hugs from students. Thanks so much for being a great group to work for.
read more
Friday News – WKCE Testing Around the Corner
We will be taking our WKCE tests for reading and math on the first week on November. We have broken the test into the first four days of the week, in small chunks. There is no need for snacks or any other special arrangements. This testing environment is similar to our typical, everyday testing environment – and much of the test is easier than my tests! I’m sure if the students do their best and relax, scores will be great.
Thanks for a great week, kids! See you on Monday!
Also, take a peak at our calendar for the specific dates for the WKCE testing and listen to our latest classroom podcast.
read moreAssessment Thursday
Today was a big day to get some assessment out of the way. We did our school’s SMART goals assessments for both reading and math, along with our district assessments for language arts. Thanks kids for rolling with the changes. Below is our science writing for today.
Here is the work for the day. Remember to read Turtle Bay and study your spelling words!
New PodCast! Episode 3 Starring Ashley!!
During our computer lab time, while all students were exploring addition using virtual base ten blocks, Ashely and I sat down to record our third episode of the Marchionda Minutes PodCast. Its a great show! Head on over here to listen to it on our “Podcast” page.
Today in math we practiced regrouping in the ten and hundreds places, even throwing in regrouping to the thousands place. I appreciate all of the hard work and the way you pay attention in class. Great work, kids! You all make teaching a joy. 
Next I would like to put out a reminder to all parents and students to be sure to wear a warm jacket to school. That’s what the cute squirrel is for. He is here politely requesting your warmth on the playground. Warm Jackets make this squirrel happy. You would not want to see this cure squirrel become sad, now, would you? Please wear your warm jackets. Thanks.
Here is the work for the day:
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