1st week back

We had a great week at school, especially being the first week back from a break!  I was ready to get back on my schedule and see the students again.  We started the week with a few changes.  I will no longer be sending home the reading log and multiplication log.  I have posted them on the blog (left side in the links) if you want to print them out, you can or have your student write down what they normally do on a piece of paper.  I considered not posting the peek at the week any more in a hope to teach the importance of writing in their agenda everyday!  But, as a parent I would love it if my son's teacher posted all assignments, so I am considering telling the students I'm not posting it, but still post it!  Am I being tricky??  Please make sure your child has their name on their coat.  I have a pile of coats in my classroom, that are about to be sent to the lost and found, with no names.  Everyday I ask if anyone has a coat in the pile to get it and everyday they are still there.  I know they have to belong to someone in my room, but no takers!  If your child is missing a coat, please encourage them to look in the pile!

On to academics...in writing we started working on our month long research project.  This project is on an animal found in Georgia.  (Yes, Kaylee was right, river otters are found in Georgia and Maya, alligator snapping turtles are found in south Georgia!!)  So, each child has an animal and they need to gather information on this animal.  On February 1st we will be inviting the parents to come in and view all our hard work.  This will include a report, diorama, and short presentation.   I will be sending home more information on Monday.  This will take the place of a book report for January.  In reading we are working on prefixes and suffixes and started Literature Circles.  A literature circle is very much like a book club.  Math we are learning about fractions!!!  Try to find places in everyday life that you can have math conversations!  Cooking is a great place to learn fractions.  In my math class we start getting real hungry because I relate fractions to many types of food, especially pizza!  Social studies we started learning about Mary Mcleod Bethune and in Science, Georgia habitats. 

As a reminder, a lot of papers, including report cards went home on Friday.  Have a great weekend and get a lot of rest, some of the students were struggling with being tired this week!
Thanks,
Mrs. Borg