Great Job!

The following students met their AR goal for the third quarter:

Antonio
Bri
Makayla
Alexandra
thomas
Samantha
Ashlyn
Hunter
Sebastian
Isabella
Dominic
Zachary

When we start school again on Monday it's a brand new quarter. Everyone starts from scratch and it will be your last chance to meet your AR goal for the year.

Week(s) in Review

In math we have left Multiplication for the time being. However, this does not mean that the children are done learning multiplication. While the students understand the process of multiplication, many students are still a ways away from having learned all of their facts. Please continue to work with your child nightly. Memorizing math facts makes math much easier in the future. 

Our current mathematics study is on graphing and determining different rates of change based on tables and graphs. You may have heard your child talking about the Rhomaarian children and their magic marbles. Here is the story behind it:

For the first thirty nights of every year, each child on Rhomaar is visited by a Magic Marble Messenger, who leaves that child the same number of Magic Marbles each night. The odd thing, though, is that the number of Magic Marbles received by one child each night can be different from the number of Magic Marbles received by another child each night. So different Rhomaarian children can get different numbers of Magic Marbles. The Magic Marbles can be used to buy toys, books, snacks, and other things children like. Also, the Magic Marbles are so valuable that many children do not use all of their magic marbles in any one year and may save some for next year. 

 During this unit, the students have been looking at various Rhomaarian children and exploring how the number of marbles change throughout the month and then develop rules to determine how many marbles each child would have on any given during that month. Students are also asked to predict which child would have the most at the end of the month based upon the number of marbles each starts with and the number

Week in Review

Well, we made it through the first full week (at least the first full week of me in the classroom) since break. After the cold weather that forced us inside for recess, it was a welcome relief to be able to allow the children the chance to run outside and burn off some energy.

This week we began our unit on multiplication. We start slowly and introduce the children to the concept by having them develop their own groupings and then work with them to to figure out how many total items. For example, some students wrote:

There are three black labs.
Each black lab has four legs.
There are 12 legs in all.

Working this way ensures that the children know when and why they multiply. We have begun solving these problems by counting by the number in each group (in the above example we'd count by 4) or through repeated addition (4+4+4=12). Several of the children already have some multiplication facts memorized and I look forward to seeing more children master this skill.

In writing, we continue to focus on word choice. this week we analyzed student writing and graded it using the rubric that I grade the students on. The children were asked to analyze various pieces of writing and then describe the positive and negative aspects of each piece of writing. The goal is to help the children better understand what constitutes good word choice. Ultimately, I'd like the children to grade their own work as harshly as they graded these samples.

This week we began our next science chapter. This one focuses on force, work, and simple machines. We didn't get too far on this, because we needed to allot time for our winter MAP tests. Like the fall, these tests were lengthy and focused on the skills of reading and math. I will be discussing the results of this test with your child next week.

Next week we start the second week of the quarter and many students are already behind on their AR reading. Please remind your child to read nightly. I expect each child to read at least 20 minutes each evening.

Accelerated Reader

As we end the first quarter and begin the second, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate the students that reached their AR goals and to explain what I expect of the students in the second quarter.

The Accelerated Reader program assigns each book a point value based on its length and difficulty. Near the beginning of the first quarter, each student was assigned a point goal that he or she was expected to reach prior to the end of the quarter. The point goal was based on each child's reading level; stronger readers were expected to read more points. The following students reached their goal.

Another AR Post

A few parents have contacted me because they were uable to log into AR Home Connect. As it turns out, I had the wrong link on the website. I have since corrected that link, so you should be able to successfully use the site now.

The direct link is: https://Hosted119.renlearn.com/148433/HomeConnect

Accelerated Reader

This is a long post, but an important one. It explains our entire AR program and will answer many questions you might have about what your child has mentioned. It also includes information about how you can monitor your child's progress.

Reading is an incredibly important skill that all students must master to be successful in school. Students should be reading at home nightly for approximately 30 minutes each day. They can read anything they like, as long as it is material on their reading level .  

One way that I ensure that all children are reading, and understanding, books is through a program called Accelerated Reader (AR). This program is a website that tests students’ comprehension on books they have recently completed. By passing these tests, students show that they have successfully completed the book.

I have assigned each student a book level range from which they should be reading.  I assigned the range based on the individual student’s reading ability.  All books read should be

Accelerated Reader

Two weeks into the third quarter, most students are off to a strong start towards their AR goal.  However, some students aren't quite keeping pace.  The student goals get more difficult each quarter and children should plan on reading at least 30 minutes each evening. Remember, you can always check your child's progress using AR Home Connect.  The link is found on the bar at right.

Also, some of our students are posting very impressive word counts for the year.  Our leader, is John with a superb 2,083,004 words read for the year.

Our runner-ups are:
Kenna 330,899
Alyssa 233,509
Charlie 231,627

As a class, we have read a total of  4,562,929 words.  Great Job!

Accelerated Reader Update

It's been a while since I've posted an update of the students' progress in Accelerated Reader.  Last quarter the students did a very good job and the vast majority of the students reached their quarterly goal.  This quarter, the students are having more difficulty.  We are now just over 1/3 of the way through the quarter, and only half of the students are on track to reach their point goal for the quarter.  Please remind your child to read nightly.  Those students falling behind are required to spend their recess inside reading.

So far our class has read a total of 2,537,667 words this year.
Our Word Leaders for the quarter are:
John - 448,011
Lucas - 79,685
Kenna - 74,277


Our Word Leaders for the year are:
John - 1,195,040
Kenna - 186,950
Jaycob - 135,866

Accelerated Reader Home Connect

Parents now have the ability to track their child's progress on AR.  By following this link, you can view your child's scores on tests and their progress towards his or her goals.  This is a wonderful tool that will allow you to closely monitor your child's success. 

Accelerated Reader

We are about 2/3 of the way through the first quarter and the students have been doing a very good job on their AR tests.  Most students are on perfect pace to reach their quarterly goal while many have already reached it.  For those who have reached their goal, I would like to remind them that they are still responsible for reading nightly and taking AR tests.

Next quarter the goals will be significantly harder to reach for the students.  All students should expect a goal at least 50% higher while some should expect one more than double of what they have now.  Please encourage your child to read at least 20 minutes each night.

As a class, the students have read 885,364 words this quarter.  The following students are our word count leaders:

John-329,392
Kenna-63,296
Jordan-51,492

AR Progress

As we wrap up the first week of Accelerated Reader, I wanted to point out that the students have been doing a wonderful job.  Most students have cmpleted at least one test, with several students completing two or more.  In one week's time, they have read a total of 125,426 words-Great Job!

This quarter's word leaders are:
John-54,529 words
Kenna-17,668 words
Lucas-8,398 words

Accelerated Reader

The students have had nearly a full week with their Accelerated Reader books and I am very please with the progress that many students have already made toward reaching their goals.  By the end of next week Monday, all students must have passed at least one AR test.  Any student not reaching this benchmark, will need to stay in for recess to catch up on reading.  Please make sure your child is spending at least 15 minutes each evening reading.

Accelerated Reader

One last word count update.  During the second semester, the students read 4,365,325 words bringing the year's total to an amazing 6,927,301 words!  Well done everyone!

Accelerated Reader Update

Another amazing milestone this week-3,771,735 words read!  Amazing.  Because they passed the 3.6 million word mark the students earned a movie and popcorn party this afternoon.  Be sure to ask your child about it, I think the movie is amazing.

This week's word leaders are:
Madison-785,360 words
Jonathan-150,659 words
Alyse-140,446 words

Accelerated Reader

This week the students hit another milestone-Three Million Words!  For reading three million words in the third quarter, students have earned an Ice Cream Party!  Next week is a very busy week already, so they will get to enjoy their tasty treat when we return from spring break.

This quarter's word leaders continue to pile on the words.

Madison-426,595 words
Alyse-123,359 words
Jonathan-77,582 words

As we prepare for the last month of school, I thought I would take a moment to look back at the number of words the students read this school year.  When looking back, I found that our 13 students have read a total of 5,604,970 words!  Great job everyone.

Accelerated Reader Update

Another milestone was reached this week after the students read 2,549,029 words in the second quarter.  This earned each child a homework pass. 

Next week monday, April 11, the students will be "cashing in" their reward for reaching two million words.  The children decided that Monday will be a dress up day.  They are encouraging each other to where their sports related clothing. 

The current fourth quarter word leaders are:
Madison: 257,154
Jonathan: 77,582
Amirah: 55,502

Accelerated Reader Report

Today each child was sent home with a report detailing every test taken in the third quarter, their score, and the book's reading level (ATOS BL).  Please take a moment to review your child's progress this year.

Accelerated Reader

The third quarter ends today and I'm happy to report that all but three students met their AR reading goals for the quarter.  Those that met their goal did a great job and really worked hard.  If the student didn't reach their goal, I encourage him or her to read a little more consistently throughout the quarter rather than waiting until the last minute.

The students also read an impressive number of words this quarter; the class read 2,052,895 total words!

This quarter's word leaders were:
Madison-649,819
Jonathan-250,172
Alyse-155,367

No Homework...Sort of

The students don't have any formal homework to complete tonight; however, they have work to do.

Please be sure that the students continue to practice their division facts.  They will have a division sheet for homework tomorrow. 

Also, the end of the quarter is next Thursday.  Time is short for them to reach their AR goal.  Make sure your child continues to read nightly.