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Spelling: We reviewed contractions today.

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

Reading: The class provided the new students an overview of how Literature Circles works in our class.

Writing: None today due to technology.

Technology: Students got their web licenses today. Also, the class downloaded Google Chrome to use at school. Google Chrome is the fastest, safest web browser to use. Consider downloading it for use at home. Here’s more information about Google Chrome.

Math: We reviewed multiplication arrays in class today. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 6-7 about using arrays to show multiplication problems.

Science: None today.

Social Studies: We started to learn how American Indians migrated through America and had to adapt to the resources available to them.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Team Day is Friday, September 17 from 10-11:30am. Can you help?
• School Supply list: Some students still need to purchase poly folders to organize their math, science and social studies materials (I have them in class for $1 each).
• Need to update your contact information or send in your email address or phone number? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.

Spelling: Today was a preview of upcoming spelling words. We are continuing with the second-half of the spelling program we started last year. View the Spelling page for more details.

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

Reading: Students received their Literature Circles notebooks today. We also read Esperanza Rising, a shared book that we began last year and will continue this year.

Writing: Students made their writer’s folders today. They also started making an Authority List of subjects that they are “experts” in. A personal narrative piece of writing is due next Friday, September 24.

Math: Students used their Student Reference Book to complete a scavenger hunt. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 2-6 if not finished in class.

Science: None today.

Social Studies: We watched some historical news footage of the September 11 events.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Team Day is Friday, September 17 from 10-11:30am. Can you help?
• School Supply list: Some students still need to purchase poly folders to organize their math, science and social studies materials (I have them in class for $1 each).
• Need to update your contact information or send in your email address or phone number? Do that here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.

We continued our welcome back activities today:

• Students completed a reading screening test to determine the initial reading level of each student.
• Teams worked on skits to help remind the class to use our materials responsibly.
• We visited the computer lab and students began working on getting their web license.
• We also remembered the events of September 11, 2001 by viewing some images and listening to a poem.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Team Day has been moved to Friday, September 17 from 10-11:30am. Can you help?
• School Supply list
• Need to update your contact information or send in your email address or phone number? Do that here.
• Parents and family members, find out more information about our class here.
• Students, visit StudentCentral here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.

We continued our welcome back activities today:

Straw Towers

We discussed the Straw Tower building activity that students completed yesterday. Some insights about teamwork that students shared:

• Sometimes you have to work with a scarcity of resources. Quitters complain about the scarcity, champions overcome their problems and never give up.
• Everyone is important. Just as a pinky finger is important to the body and can cause problems if it’s broken, every person is important to a team and can cause problems if they give up.
• Doing the right thing in the wrong way is wrong. Focusing on building the straw tower taller, without making the foundation strong, will only lead to a collapse later.
• Build your foundation first, before you climb higher. First things first. If you try to take shortcuts to get ahead, your creaky tower will eventually crash down.

Mission Statement

Every team has a mission that explains who they are and what they want to do. Here’s ours:

Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.

Class Goals

We selected the following class goals for this year:

• We will improve our STAR reading scores monthly and grow at least one year by the end of the year.
• All students will pass our math tests with a grade of C or better.
• We will move our magnets no more than ten times each week (or, less than 40-50 magnets each month).

Visit our Class Data Center in the future to track our progress.

Class Rules

We selected one class rule to rule them all:

Follow the High Fives*.

*Respect, responsibility, kindness, honesty and courage

Courtyard Vegetable Garden

We built a vegetable garden in our courtyard last year and decided to donate the harvest to Carriage Town Mission in Flint. Today, we harvested a bunch of tomatoes and onions!

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Team Day has been moved to Friday, September 17 from 10-11:30am. Can you help?
• School Supply list
• Need to update your contact information or send in your email address or phone number? Do that here.
• Parents and family members, find out more information about our class here.
• Students, visit StudentCentral here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.

We continued our welcome back activities today:

• Students completed an initial cursive quiz.
• Teams selected their team captains and we reviewed class jobs and responsibilities.
• We played a game to share some interesting facts from summer or past years.
• We discussed the class behavior procedures. See our Behavior Policy for more information.
• Teams competed in a competition to build the tallest tower out of straws and tape.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Team Day is Friday, September 10 from 10-11:30am. Can you help?
• School Supply list
• Need to update your contact information or send in your email address or phone number? Do that here.
• Parents and family members, find out more information about our class here.
• Students, visit StudentCentral here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.