MrHowd.com

Spelling: We learned that the common spelling patterns for the /j/ sound are gy, gi, ge, j and dge.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences, seven or more words each, are due on Fridays.

Reading: Students received new Literature Circles books today.

Writing: Today was the final school day to work on the next writing piece, a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. The project is due Monday, February 6. Students are publishing their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. Students should be nearing the completion of their project at this time. See here for a complete list of resources. Homework is to finish the writing piece.

Math: None today due to STAR Friday.

Science: Students completed a district science test about magnetism and electricity today.

Social Studies: We reviewed the continents and features of the globe today.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 3

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at JupiterGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with JupiterGrades?

Notes:

• Want to grab your favorite time for the Spring Parent Teacher Conferences in March? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: We learned that some sounds are spelled different. For example, the words yes and ready both have a short e sound, but different letters make that sound in each word.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences, seven or more words each, are due on Fridays.

Reading: Students previewed new Literature Circles books today

Writing: Students worked on their next writing piece, a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. The project is due Monday, February 6. Students are publishing their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. Students should be nearing the completion of their project at this time. See here for a complete list of resources.

Math: We reviewed multiplying with mental math using a trick called “compensation.”  Here’s an example:

1. To multiply 27 x 4, first round the largest number to an easier number:
1. 27 rounds to 30
2. The new problem is 30 x 4
1. This is now an easier problem that can be solved mentally. The answer is 120.
3. Now to compensate. Since we rounded up to 30, we need to move back down to the actual answer:
1. Since we rounded 27 up to 30, we went 3 over our answer.
2. We are multiplying by 4, so we went up 3 x 4 too much. We are 3 x 4 = 12 over our answer.
3. Remove 12 from the answer of 120.
4. The answer is 120 – 12 = 108.

Homework is to complete Journal R5-4 to continue practicing this skill.

Science: Students completed a science experiment about measuring liquid volume and mixing colored water to create a spectrum. Homework is to finish the Color Spectrum experiment if not done in class.

Social Studies: We reviewed the continents and features of the globe today. Homework is to finish the Label the Continents review if not done in class.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 3

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at JupiterGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with JupiterGrades?

Notes:

• Want to grab your favorite time for the Spring Parent Teacher Conferences in March? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Have you heard about “Love and Logic”? Here’s a little to explain it:

With a flexible menu of skills in our approach, and common sense at work, adults using Love and Logic skills may come across quite differently at times. Nevertheless, the “Love and Logic” approach should always look like the following:

A loving attitude toward the young person. A key principle of the Love and Logic approach is that we preserve the dignity – of the child AND the adult. Does yelling and threatening preserve kids’ dignity? How about ours?

Shared thinking and control. Adults using Love and Logic techniques resist the urge to come up with all the answers and solve all the problems. Instead, they give kids the gift of thinking about and solving problems. They ask lots of questions and give lots of choices so kids stay in on the action.

If you would like to learn more about Love and Logic, the school library has several books on the subject available for parent check-out.

Read about the other strategies of Love and Logic.

Spelling: None today due to the late start day.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences, seven or more words each, are due on Friday.

Reading: The final groups performed their plays today, reading with fluency using correct speed, tone and volume.

Writing: None today due to the late start day.

Students are continuing to work on their next writing piece, a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. The project is due Monday, February 6. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. Students should be nearing the completion of their project at this time. See below for more details.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• See examples of Choose Your Own Adventure fiction websites here and here.
• Look at an Underground Railroad Choose Your Own Adventure website.
• Look through the Underground Railroad Interactive History Adventure book (hint: search for “the end” to see some of the endings of the book).
• Look at some examples of different kinds of endings in a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.
• View the titles of all the Choose Your Own Adventure books to get adventure topic ideas.
• Play Zork, a text-based computer game. Here is a list of commands and directions. Here is a map of the dungeon if you get stuck or lost.
• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: We practiced multiplying with mental math using a trick called “compensation.”  Here’s an example:

1. To multiply 27 x 4, first round the largest number to an easier number:
1. 27 rounds to 30
2. The new problem is 30 x 4
1. This is now an easier problem that can be solved mentally. The answer is 120.
3. Now to compensate. Since we rounded up to 30, we need to move back down to the actual answer:
1. Since we rounded 27 up to 30, we went 3 over our answer.
2. We are multiplying by 4, so we went up 3 x 4 too much. We are 3 x 4 = 12 over our answer.
3. Remove 12 from the answer of 120.
4. The answer is 120 – 12 = 108.

Homework is to complete Journal P5-4.

Science: None today due to the late start day.

Social Studies: None today due to the late start day.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 1
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 3

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at JupiterGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with JupiterGrades?

Notes:

• Want to grab your favorite time for the Spring Parent Teacher Conferences in March? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: None today due to our technology time.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences, seven or more words each, are due on Friday.

Reading: Two groups performed their plays today, reading with fluency using correct speed, tone and volume. The final groups will present tomorrow.

Writing: Students continued to work on their next writing piece, a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. The project is due Monday, February 6. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. Students should be nearing the completion of their project at this time. See below for more details.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• See examples of Choose Your Own Adventure fiction websites here and here.
• Look at an Underground Railroad Choose Your Own Adventure website.
• Look through the Underground Railroad Interactive History Adventure book (hint: search for “the end” to see some of the endings of the book).
• Look at some examples of different kinds of endings in a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.
• View the titles of all the Choose Your Own Adventure books to get adventure topic ideas.
• Play Zork, a text-based computer game. Here is a list of commands and directions. Here is a map of the dungeon if you get stuck or lost.
• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: We practiced multiplying partial products today. Here’s an example:

1. To multiply 27 x 3, first break the 27 into parts:
1. 27 = 20 + 7
2. The new problem is (20 + 7) x 3
3. Next multiply the parts:
1. 20 x 3 = 60
2. 7 x 3 = 21
4. Now add the products:
1. 60 + 21 = 81
5. The answer: 27 x 3 = 81

Homework is to complete Journal P5-3.

Science: Students practiced measuring liquid volume using graduated cylinders. Homework is to finish the Measuring Liquids activity.

Social Studies: We reviewed the district economics test today.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 2

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at JupiterGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with JupiterGrades?

Notes:

• Want to grab your favorite time for the Spring Parent Teacher Conferences in March? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.