Wow, was Saturday nice or what!?! My neighbor bbq'ed and we even got out in the yard and did some work. Well guess what, there is a winter storm warning for tomorrow. Lovely. Guess I have to take the snow pants back out of the box.
Here's the latest... Language We are continuing to read books that support our Space Unit. This week we will read two selections that are fiction/folk tales but have a scientific bend as well. One book about the moon (and its phases), another about the sun (and why it is important). We will be resuming iBlock next week (FYI). Writer's Workshop The young authors have finally wrapped up their convincing restaurant reviews. They sat with partners and read over each others work with a simple checklist to make sure their work was 'publishable'. Next, they will tackle writing T.V. or movie reviews. We will use similar strategies as before (add multiple reasoning, give details, and make counter arguments), and add a few more strategies in the future. Math Unit 6 began on Monday. We will be collecting and analyzing data for the next few weeks. Comparisons are a big part of the complexity of this unit, so please be careful with homework. It can get a bit tricky. On a side note, many of the kids are doing a fabulous job on their math scrolls, with more than a handful already reaching into the 1000's. A great achievement indeed. Science It's all about the moon! We reviewed the moons phases with a fun experiment early in the week. We had to make the room very dark! The kids did a great job naming the phases as they orbited the moon (moved a styrofoam ball) around the earth (themselves), with a sun (bright lamp), reflecting off of the moon. We learning that the first half of the cycle is waxing to the full moon, and the second half is waning to the new moon. We will learn all about how craters form and do a fun activity and experiment, then finally we will wrap up learning about the moon with a short quiz at the end of the week. Good times! Miscellaneous -'Read Aloud Day' is Wednesday the 24th. The entire school will sit down in each respective classroom and read the same book at the same time. This year the selection is called Wolf Won't Bite by Emily Gravett. We'll be opening our classroom doors to read at 8:45, and throughout the halls you will hear the same book being read to all the students of Middleton. Fun, right? -Bill Buczinsky is a poet who will be coming to visit next Thursday to entertain and teach the kids all about poetry. He is a hoot and very talented to boot. Ha! -Thanks for all the supplies from the Valentine's Day fundraiser. A couple extra boxes of kleenex are a teacher's best friend. Especially during the winter 'sick' season. -Pulaski Day is Monday March 7th. No school that day. Put it in the books. That is all for now. Take care, ~Mr. Layes
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Just a note:
I'm sending the spelling quiz we took last Friday home today. I decided to test 10 random word wall words that we have already covered this year and have been up on our wall. This is a good indicator of whether or not your child has remembered and retained the information taught previously, and how often they look to the word wall as a reference. This was not meant as a pop quiz, or gotcha, just a tool to understand if a child needs more support. Thanks. ~Mr. Layes I hope that everybody had a nice relaxing three day weekend. It was lovely visiting with many of you last Thursday and Friday for conferences. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out at any time.
Starting this week, first grade will be testing a new strategy called iBlock. For 30 minutes, three days a week, students will be broken up into specific reading groups (based on need and level) and travel to a different classroom to work. This means that our schedule has changed a bit, but we will manage (snack in the afternoon, etc.) ***NOTE: 1st grade is taking a gap week in reading and math. Because of this, we will be doing math homework online (see today's note coming home), and there will be no new spelling/word wall words. Without further ado, here's the latest... Language Since we are taking a gap week to introduce iBlock, I decided to touch upon some grammar skills. This week students will learn all about nouns; what they are, how to identify them and watch some video and play games to understand these important words. Writer's Workshop Much of this week will revolve around writing a letter to the president. We watched two videos, one to understand what the POTUS does, and another that explained how many letters are received by the White House every day (did you know that President Obama reads 10 letters everyday, and even writes back?!? And he has done this since his first day in office. Cool, right?) We will brainstorm ideas that include questions, thank you's and wishes. We will begin by writing a rough draft and later this week, students will work hard to edit and create a great finished letter. Math This week will begin with a pre-assessment for Unit 6 (on comparisons and data/graphing). Afterwards, we will take the rest of the week to invite Ms. Larenas in the room to learn some new games using Versatiles. These games will act as a review for many of the content already learned, but also a tool to enrich many students as well. I'm excited to get these going and have them be a big part of our Daily 3 program. Again, thank you for spending 10-15 minutes on Xtramath and/or IXL this week. If for some reason you are unable to access the internet, please let me know. Thanks. Science/Social Studies We will be spending some time on Tuesday learning about President's Day, and more specifically, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We will also learn more about them reading our Scholastic Newsletter at the end of the week. During science, we will be learning more about the moon, specifically looking at the phases of the moon for the month. Waxing and waning will be covered extensively. Additionally, I couldn't help myself with the amazing news out this weekend. We spent about 20 minutes today talking about gravitational waves and black holes. We watched a couple videos that help explain these amazing celestial bodies, and this new discovery that proves one of Einstein's theories made 100 years ago. Exciting stuff. Miscellaneous -Again, a big thank you to all those of you who made it out for conferences. I truly appreciate all the support that you give to your children at home. -Hawaiian Day is coming up this Friday. Please come to school in a Hawaiian shirt or lei. -Fitness Night is tomorrow from 6:30-8:00! See the flyer sent out yesterday for details. Come on by, it's a really fun time. That's it for now. I'm starting to catch those winter blues. Looking forward to spring. Take care, ~Mr. Layes Ok, so there was a little push back about having no Valentine's Day festivities. So, if you have something to pass out on Thursday, you may bring it in and we will take that last 15 minutes of school to share our valentines. We will not be having a classroom party though. Please note:
-Nothing edible should be given -Make it small and meaningful (no goodie bags full of plastic please) -Please do not put names on items. NO NAMES! I have 11 boys and 10 girls. Passing things out takes 10x longer when there are names attached. And... Box tops are being collected until February 19th. Please get these in asap. Thanks, ~Mr. Layes Hello everybody, welcome to the year of the Monkey. Careful with your finances and keep yourself healthy this year (so say the astrologers for what it is worth). Conferences are at the end of the week. Please sign up on the Middleton site to find a time to meet either on Thursday night or Friday morning. If you are having difficulties please call Nerieda Rivera in the office for assistance. Thanks.
Here's the latest... Language We are still learning more about the moon during language this week. We will learn more about the first moon landing in 1969 and listen to audio and watch video to help the students understand how important that feat was, close to 50 years ago. We will compare and contrast the moon to the earth using Venn diagrams as well. Writer's Workshop This week we will continue to write about opinions, and specifically about restaurant reviews. Students have chosen one of their favorite spots to eat, and are writing several reasons on why someone should go there. Students learned that it is important to also discuss non-food related qualities of a restaurant like cleanliness, amenities, and variety of food. Math We are wrapping up Unit 5 this week. We have been learning how to add and subtract teen numbers using story problems. Students are learning how to use their 100's chart to help them solve equations such as 23+40, and 80-30. We will review and assess this week. Next up...comparisons and data! Science This week we will continue to learn more about the moon. Moon phases and how the moon changes shape will be the topic we focus on later in the week. We also will take time on Monday to learn more about the Chinese New Year and create our own hongbao (lucky envelopes), and Chinese lanterns. Miscellaneous -The 100th day of school is on Tuesday! Crazy how time flies. I'm already beginning to miss them. We will celebrated by reading 100 books (collectively), and doing some fun math games using 100. -The Middleton student council is selling cuties this week during lunch on Tuesday-Thursday for Valentine's Day. All proceeds will go into the councils coffers. Last year they spent their money on buying new recess equipment for the school. If you would like, please send $1 in to purchase a bag of two cuties (mandarin oranges/tangerines). -Speaking of Valentine's Day, since we are celebrating Chinese New Year, 100th day of school, and will talk about the Presidents Day holiday weekend this week, I would like to forego any celebration around Valentine's Day. Additionally, our last day is Thursday for conferences, so I'm hoping that this holiday will fly under the radar (it's not my favorite if you haven't noticed). If you find that this is heartbreaking, I can be swayed, but at this time I'd rather not exchange Valentines. Email me if you have any push back. -Family Fitness night is coming up on February 18th between 6:30-8:00 at Middleton. Come and join us for fun and games while we burn some calories and try to keep healthy during the cold winter months. What a snooze fest of a Super Bowl, right? Go Peyton, enjoy going out on top. The only highlight was that fumble for a touchdown and the avocado commercial. That's all for now. Take care, ~Mr. Layes |
AuthorMr. Layes hails from the Pacific NW, cut his teeth on the streets of NYC, and now calls the Midwest... home. Archives
September 2017
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