Upcoming Dates
* Wednesday, April 1st: March Book-It Reading Logs Due (last one)
Please remember to read everyday for 15 minutes with your child. After March, we will not have the Book-It reading logs anymore, but please continue to read on your own!
* Monday, April 13th to Friday, April 17th: Spring Break
No school! Enjoy your vacation!
* Monday, April 27th: If You Give a Pig a Pancake Field Trip
Attached to this newsletter is the permission slip for our field trip to watch this play at the De Anza Flint Center. We will be going in the morning and will return to Eaton by lunchtime. We are able to bring one parent chaperone. Please return this form by next Friday, April 3rd.
Dear Families,
I can’t believe it’s already the end of March. Time is really going fast! I hope you are enjoying the warm weather and sunshine!
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Melissa
Poem of the Week: Spring in the Woods
Song of the Week: Spider or Insect
Kindness is … reading a book to someone special.
Word Wall: build, old, piece, shoe, start, under, very, wear
Next Week’s Sharing: Regular – something recycled
(at least 4 sentences memorized and picture/object to show)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work It Out – Week 3
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Question, Fantasy / Realism
• Word Families: words with igh
• Sounds: vowel pairs oo, ew, ue, ou, long I (ie, igh)
• Grammar: Pronouns
• Math: This week we finished our chapter on Measurement. Students should know how to measure length or height in centimeters and inches, and they should know how to compare different capacities and weights. We also spent several days practicing how to solve longer word problems by breaking down each sentence. I am teaching students to read one sentence at a time and write down any numbers or information that may help them. We are still working on addition and subtraction facts to 20.
• Writing: Congratulations to several more authors who finished their Mitten stories this week. We also had several authors finish their first expository Writer’s Workshop piece. Great job! This week, we practiced writing paragraphs as a whole class using colored strips of paper. We have been learning how to outline our writing and to organize our thoughts.
• Circuit: For our weather circuit this week, we went to Mrs. Zankich’s class. She taught us about the water cycle, and we learned about Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation. We made a weather wheel and learned about water cycle facts.
• Science: We made a book this week called “The Twelve Days of Spring.” We learned about different plants that bloom in the springtime, and learned a song to match our stories. Also, we had an opportunity this week to walk through the Science Fair. We saw many interesting science experiments and projects by Eaton students. This week, we officially received our new science kits on air and weather. We are starting to talk about air and explore air with different solids such as straws, feathers, balloons, and other solids.
• Social Studies: This week, we talked about why people should help others. We reviewed the golden rule and learned about what happens if we have a helpful heart.
• Computer: We went on Starfall this week to read a St. Patrick’s Day story, as well as other fun stories of our choice.
• Buddies: This week, we saw our fourth grade buddies. Since we didn’t see them last week, we did a St. Patrick’s day book with our big buddies, called “Looking for Gold.” Students had to describe where the leprechaun is looking for gold, using spatial words such as over, under, across, through, and around.
• Art: Mrs. Abada came this week and she returned our clay pots that we made last week. This lesson we used paints and learned about colors and mixing colors.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
March 20, 2009
Upcoming Dates
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form.
* Wednesday, April 1st: March Book-It Reading Logs Due (last one)
Please remember to read everyday for 15 minutes with your child. After March, we will not have the Book-It reading logs anymore, but please continue to read on your own!
* Monday, April 13th to Friday, April 17th: Spring Break
No school! Enjoy your vacation!
------
Dear Families,
Today the second trimester report cards are going home. Remember that ELD students have a separate report card for Language Arts (Reading/Writing/Speaking on pages 4 & 5). In order to exit ELD, students should be at level 4 (Early Advanced) or level 5 (Advanced) in all 3 areas of Language Arts by the end of the year. Also, students should be trying to get “4” in other areas such as math, social studies, and science, which means performing at grade level. All students are making great progress!
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Julia
Poem of the Week: Wearing of the Green
Song of the Week: Spider or Insect
Kindness is … increasing the peace
Word Wall: afraid, any, bear, follow, most, tall, water, idea
Next Week’s Sharing: Weather Poem
(at least 4 sentences memorized and picture/object to show)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work It Out – Week 2
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Monitor/Clarify and Sequence
• Word Families: words with oo (good)
• Sounds: oo sound and compound words
• Grammar: Proper Nouns for Places and Things
• Math: We have been working on measuring capacity this week using containers that are bigger or smaller. We have learned how to measure using cups, pints, and quarts. Please continue to practice this at home. In addition, we are working on numbers up to 20. Sometimes this means adding 3 numbers such as 3+3+6= or other times, just adding double facts 8+8= and double plus one facts 8+9= . Take a look at the work coming home this week and see if your child had a lot of mistakes on adding bigger numbers! If so, please practice practice practice!
• Writing: Along with our Mitten stories, we talked about Writer’s Workshop and the last step, the publishing step. A few students have published their first expository piece this week by writing in their best handwriting and illustrating their writings. The best part about publishing a piece is the Author’s Chair! Students get to read their stories to the class and sit in the teacher’s chair =)
• Circuit: For our weather circuit this week, we went to Mrs. Bachelor’s class and we talked about clouds and thunderstorms. She taught us about lightning and we made a stormy picture.
• Science: We have been talking about seasons and how the weather is changing from Winter to Spring. We also learned about St. Patrick’s Day and talked about rainbows.
• Social Studies: For our Peacebuilders and Kindness Journal lesson this week, we talked about increasing the peace around us. We learned different ways to increase more peace and sorted different examples into two groups: increased peace or decreased peace. Afterwards, students thought of their own examples of ways to increase peace.
• Computer: Since it was Kinako’s last week, we went to the computer lab and wrote letters to Kinako. We decorated our letters and put them altogether in a book for her to take to Japan.
• Music: Miss Rachel came to our class this week and she taught us how to do a partner dance called the Minuet! We danced several times to classical music. Also we learned a pirate song to sing.
Today is Kinako’s last day =( We are sad to see her leave but we are happy that she was part of our class this year. Good luck and have a safe move to Japan!
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form.
* Wednesday, April 1st: March Book-It Reading Logs Due (last one)
Please remember to read everyday for 15 minutes with your child. After March, we will not have the Book-It reading logs anymore, but please continue to read on your own!
* Monday, April 13th to Friday, April 17th: Spring Break
No school! Enjoy your vacation!
------
Dear Families,
Today the second trimester report cards are going home. Remember that ELD students have a separate report card for Language Arts (Reading/Writing/Speaking on pages 4 & 5). In order to exit ELD, students should be at level 4 (Early Advanced) or level 5 (Advanced) in all 3 areas of Language Arts by the end of the year. Also, students should be trying to get “4” in other areas such as math, social studies, and science, which means performing at grade level. All students are making great progress!
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Julia
Poem of the Week: Wearing of the Green
Song of the Week: Spider or Insect
Kindness is … increasing the peace
Word Wall: afraid, any, bear, follow, most, tall, water, idea
Next Week’s Sharing: Weather Poem
(at least 4 sentences memorized and picture/object to show)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work It Out – Week 2
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Monitor/Clarify and Sequence
• Word Families: words with oo (good)
• Sounds: oo sound and compound words
• Grammar: Proper Nouns for Places and Things
• Math: We have been working on measuring capacity this week using containers that are bigger or smaller. We have learned how to measure using cups, pints, and quarts. Please continue to practice this at home. In addition, we are working on numbers up to 20. Sometimes this means adding 3 numbers such as 3+3+6= or other times, just adding double facts 8+8= and double plus one facts 8+9= . Take a look at the work coming home this week and see if your child had a lot of mistakes on adding bigger numbers! If so, please practice practice practice!
• Writing: Along with our Mitten stories, we talked about Writer’s Workshop and the last step, the publishing step. A few students have published their first expository piece this week by writing in their best handwriting and illustrating their writings. The best part about publishing a piece is the Author’s Chair! Students get to read their stories to the class and sit in the teacher’s chair =)
• Circuit: For our weather circuit this week, we went to Mrs. Bachelor’s class and we talked about clouds and thunderstorms. She taught us about lightning and we made a stormy picture.
• Science: We have been talking about seasons and how the weather is changing from Winter to Spring. We also learned about St. Patrick’s Day and talked about rainbows.
• Social Studies: For our Peacebuilders and Kindness Journal lesson this week, we talked about increasing the peace around us. We learned different ways to increase more peace and sorted different examples into two groups: increased peace or decreased peace. Afterwards, students thought of their own examples of ways to increase peace.
• Computer: Since it was Kinako’s last week, we went to the computer lab and wrote letters to Kinako. We decorated our letters and put them altogether in a book for her to take to Japan.
• Music: Miss Rachel came to our class this week and she taught us how to do a partner dance called the Minuet! We danced several times to classical music. Also we learned a pirate song to sing.
Today is Kinako’s last day =( We are sad to see her leave but we are happy that she was part of our class this year. Good luck and have a safe move to Japan!
Friday, March 13, 2009
March 13, 2009
Upcoming Dates
* Monday, March 16th: No School – Staff Learning Day
Teachers will be coming to school to work on writing strategies. We will be using rubrics to look over grade-level writing assessments.
* Friday, March 20th: Cupertino Library *rescheduled*
Sorry! We were rescheduled to visit the library next Friday instead of today. Please send your child’s blue library card to school again and have him/her remember the 4-digit password. Your child can check out 2 books. Please return them directly to the library on your own.
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form by March 27th.
-----
Dear Families,
Thank you for the cute birthday cards and wishes this week. I appreciated the kind thoughts and I used this opportunity to write praise notes to many students. I am encouraging students to “surprise” other students with praise notes, by noticing something extra special that happened that day. We have been talking about doing kind things all the time, and not just because they want a praise note, but because they want to be nice. I hope you can also encourage your children to help others at home.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Kinako
Poem of the Week: Cloud Parade
Song of the Week: Spider or Insect
Kindness is … stopping germs from spreading
Story of the Week: Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea
Vocabulary of the Week: People 3
Word Wall: again, both, or, gone, want, turn, hard
Next Week’s Sharing: Riddle – something green
(at least 4 sentences memorized and hide object in a bag)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work It Out – Week 1
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Summarize / Problem Solving
• Word Families: -ow (long o)
• Sounds: vowel pairs oa and ow
• Grammar: Proper Nouns for People and Animals
• Math: Our measurement chapter is continuing on from length and height to weight. This week we discussed the words “pounds” and “kilograms.” We are comparing objects to see if they weigh more or less than a pound. We also continued reviewing our math facts to 20 and working on reading clues to solve different word problems.
• Writing: Mitten stories are continuing and about half of the class has finished! Writer’s Workshop has also been progressing well. We have been practicing Prewriting and Drafting, and now we are learning how to Revise and Edit our pieces to make them better. It is important we take the time to re-read our stories to look for mistakes with capitals, punctuation, and spelling. We practiced using dictionaries to help us spell difficult words.
• Circuit: For our weather circuit this week, we went to Mrs. Byers’ classroom. She taught us about how rainbows appear and we wrote a few sentences about rainbows. Then we used watercolor to draw a rainbow and decorated it with construction paper.
• Science: We talked about seasons this week and life cycles. Since Spring is starting next week, we read some stories about spring and what we might notice in our environment. We created a spring tree using tissue paper flowers and decorated our drawings. Then, we wrote a Spring poem that describes what Spring means. Also, we are talking about Spring and baby animals. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and discussed the lifecycle of a caterpillar. We will be studying different books written by Eric Carle in the next few weeks.
• Social Studies: For our kindness journals this week, we talked a little about proper ways to stop germs from spreading. We talked about washing our hands before we eat and coughing or sneezing using a tissue. For peacebuilders, we have been learning about PeaceTalk, our ways to solve problems with our friends. We are practicing using “I feel ___ because ____.” statements to speak with a person who does something hurtful to us, and we are brainstorming how to solve those problems. This week, we read the story, Amazing Grace, about a girl who overcomes put downs, and learned a song called, Amazing Peace.
• Computer: We practiced fractions in computer lab. We had to make ½, 1/3, and ¼ with different shapes including squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles. The most challenging ones were for the 1/3 fraction.
Have a great 3-day weekend!
* Monday, March 16th: No School – Staff Learning Day
Teachers will be coming to school to work on writing strategies. We will be using rubrics to look over grade-level writing assessments.
* Friday, March 20th: Cupertino Library *rescheduled*
Sorry! We were rescheduled to visit the library next Friday instead of today. Please send your child’s blue library card to school again and have him/her remember the 4-digit password. Your child can check out 2 books. Please return them directly to the library on your own.
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form by March 27th.
-----
Dear Families,
Thank you for the cute birthday cards and wishes this week. I appreciated the kind thoughts and I used this opportunity to write praise notes to many students. I am encouraging students to “surprise” other students with praise notes, by noticing something extra special that happened that day. We have been talking about doing kind things all the time, and not just because they want a praise note, but because they want to be nice. I hope you can also encourage your children to help others at home.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Kinako
Poem of the Week: Cloud Parade
Song of the Week: Spider or Insect
Kindness is … stopping germs from spreading
Story of the Week: Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea
Vocabulary of the Week: People 3
Word Wall: again, both, or, gone, want, turn, hard
Next Week’s Sharing: Riddle – something green
(at least 4 sentences memorized and hide object in a bag)
• Language Arts: Theme 7 We Can Work It Out – Week 1
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Summarize / Problem Solving
• Word Families: -ow (long o)
• Sounds: vowel pairs oa and ow
• Grammar: Proper Nouns for People and Animals
• Math: Our measurement chapter is continuing on from length and height to weight. This week we discussed the words “pounds” and “kilograms.” We are comparing objects to see if they weigh more or less than a pound. We also continued reviewing our math facts to 20 and working on reading clues to solve different word problems.
• Writing: Mitten stories are continuing and about half of the class has finished! Writer’s Workshop has also been progressing well. We have been practicing Prewriting and Drafting, and now we are learning how to Revise and Edit our pieces to make them better. It is important we take the time to re-read our stories to look for mistakes with capitals, punctuation, and spelling. We practiced using dictionaries to help us spell difficult words.
• Circuit: For our weather circuit this week, we went to Mrs. Byers’ classroom. She taught us about how rainbows appear and we wrote a few sentences about rainbows. Then we used watercolor to draw a rainbow and decorated it with construction paper.
• Science: We talked about seasons this week and life cycles. Since Spring is starting next week, we read some stories about spring and what we might notice in our environment. We created a spring tree using tissue paper flowers and decorated our drawings. Then, we wrote a Spring poem that describes what Spring means. Also, we are talking about Spring and baby animals. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and discussed the lifecycle of a caterpillar. We will be studying different books written by Eric Carle in the next few weeks.
• Social Studies: For our kindness journals this week, we talked a little about proper ways to stop germs from spreading. We talked about washing our hands before we eat and coughing or sneezing using a tissue. For peacebuilders, we have been learning about PeaceTalk, our ways to solve problems with our friends. We are practicing using “I feel ___ because ____.” statements to speak with a person who does something hurtful to us, and we are brainstorming how to solve those problems. This week, we read the story, Amazing Grace, about a girl who overcomes put downs, and learned a song called, Amazing Peace.
• Computer: We practiced fractions in computer lab. We had to make ½, 1/3, and ¼ with different shapes including squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles. The most challenging ones were for the 1/3 fraction.
Have a great 3-day weekend!
Friday, March 06, 2009
March 6, 2009
Upcoming Dates
* Sunday, March 8th: Daylight Savings Time
Remember to change your clocks one hour forward (Spring Forward, Fall Back!) this weekend!
* Friday, March 13th: Book Orders Due & Cupertino Library
Please write ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs if you would like to purchase books. Also, we will be walking to the Cupertino public library in the afternoon. Remember to send your child’s blue library card to school and have him/her remember the 4-digit password. Your child can check out 2 books. Please return them directly to the library on your own.
* Monday, March 16th: No School – Staff Learning Day
Teachers will be coming to school to work on writing strategies. We will be using rubrics to look over grade-level writing assessments.
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
In today’s Friday Folder, you will find either a blue or green summer school form. This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form by March 27th.
-----
Dear Families,
It has been raining everyday this week. Fortunately, on a few of the days the kids were able to go out to play, but everyday we have been eating inside. I think not going outside has been difficult for some children because they do not get a break from the classroom setting. Please continue to remind your children to follow classroom rules and to treat each other nicely.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Emi
Poem of the Week: What the Rain Said
Song of the Week: Four Hugs a Day
Kindness is … eating healthy for your body
Story of the Week: What is the Sun?
Vocabulary of the Week: People 2
Word Wall: been, evening, far, forest, goes, hungry, near, soon
Next Week’s Sharing: Regular – Your Favorite Book
(at least 4 sentences memorized and bring book or picture to show)
• Language Arts: Theme 6: Animal Adventures – Week 3
• Stories: Red Eyed Tree Frog
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Predictions and Inference
• Word Families: -ay
• Sounds: vowel pairs ai and ay
• Grammar: Naming Words for One or More
• Math: We are doing two chapters simultaneously in the next few weeks. We are reviewing our addition and subtraction facts up to 20 as well as starting our chapter on measurement. We have been learning lots of vocabulary words such as shorter, longer, taller, heavier, and lighter. We started practicing using a ruler to measure items using centimeters and inches.
• Writing: Since some students are finishing up the Mitten stories, we are starting Writer’s Workshop. Students are going to be writing expository pieces on their own, following the five steps of writing. We are practicing how to outline and organize our pieces.
• Science: We are starting Weather and it is perfect because of the rain! We read several books about rain and made a rain poem using words that describe rain. Also, we made umbrellas and raindrops to hang from our ceiling.
• Social Studies: On Monday, it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday! We have been reading many stories about Dr. Seuss, and we even had a special visitor from the Cupertino Rotary club who read and donated a new book to our classroom!
• Music: We saw Miss Rachel again this week. She came into our classroom since the MP room was used for class pictures. We practiced listening to beats, and writing down the beats we heard. We are learning how to notate half notes, quarter notes, and rests.
• Computer: To go along with our Weather circuit, we used Kidpix to make a rain and umbrella picture. In our umbrellas, we practiced making fractions, specifically 1/8th. Students had to decorate the setting of a rainy day.
• Buddies: To go along with Dr. Seuss’ birthday, we read the story, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Then we learned how to make fish origami with our buddies.
• Class Pictures were on Thursday. We should be getting them in a few weeks. Please remember to check your child’s backpack everyday to make sure you don’t miss any important information! Class picture envelopes are usually given out only the night before.
We are losing another student in few weeks =( Kinako and her family will be moving back to Japan, and her last day with us is on Friday, March 20th. We will miss them very much!
* Sunday, March 8th: Daylight Savings Time
Remember to change your clocks one hour forward (Spring Forward, Fall Back!) this weekend!
* Friday, March 13th: Book Orders Due & Cupertino Library
Please write ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs if you would like to purchase books. Also, we will be walking to the Cupertino public library in the afternoon. Remember to send your child’s blue library card to school and have him/her remember the 4-digit password. Your child can check out 2 books. Please return them directly to the library on your own.
* Monday, March 16th: No School – Staff Learning Day
Teachers will be coming to school to work on writing strategies. We will be using rubrics to look over grade-level writing assessments.
* Friday, March 27th: Summer School Forms Due
In today’s Friday Folder, you will find either a blue or green summer school form. This is a free program offered by our school district, and it is optional. If you are interested in having your child attend summer school, please complete and return the form by March 27th.
-----
Dear Families,
It has been raining everyday this week. Fortunately, on a few of the days the kids were able to go out to play, but everyday we have been eating inside. I think not going outside has been difficult for some children because they do not get a break from the classroom setting. Please continue to remind your children to follow classroom rules and to treat each other nicely.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Star of the Week: Emi
Poem of the Week: What the Rain Said
Song of the Week: Four Hugs a Day
Kindness is … eating healthy for your body
Story of the Week: What is the Sun?
Vocabulary of the Week: People 2
Word Wall: been, evening, far, forest, goes, hungry, near, soon
Next Week’s Sharing: Regular – Your Favorite Book
(at least 4 sentences memorized and bring book or picture to show)
• Language Arts: Theme 6: Animal Adventures – Week 3
• Stories: Red Eyed Tree Frog
• Strategy and Skill Focus: Predictions and Inference
• Word Families: -ay
• Sounds: vowel pairs ai and ay
• Grammar: Naming Words for One or More
• Math: We are doing two chapters simultaneously in the next few weeks. We are reviewing our addition and subtraction facts up to 20 as well as starting our chapter on measurement. We have been learning lots of vocabulary words such as shorter, longer, taller, heavier, and lighter. We started practicing using a ruler to measure items using centimeters and inches.
• Writing: Since some students are finishing up the Mitten stories, we are starting Writer’s Workshop. Students are going to be writing expository pieces on their own, following the five steps of writing. We are practicing how to outline and organize our pieces.
• Science: We are starting Weather and it is perfect because of the rain! We read several books about rain and made a rain poem using words that describe rain. Also, we made umbrellas and raindrops to hang from our ceiling.
• Social Studies: On Monday, it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday! We have been reading many stories about Dr. Seuss, and we even had a special visitor from the Cupertino Rotary club who read and donated a new book to our classroom!
• Music: We saw Miss Rachel again this week. She came into our classroom since the MP room was used for class pictures. We practiced listening to beats, and writing down the beats we heard. We are learning how to notate half notes, quarter notes, and rests.
• Computer: To go along with our Weather circuit, we used Kidpix to make a rain and umbrella picture. In our umbrellas, we practiced making fractions, specifically 1/8th. Students had to decorate the setting of a rainy day.
• Buddies: To go along with Dr. Seuss’ birthday, we read the story, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Then we learned how to make fish origami with our buddies.
• Class Pictures were on Thursday. We should be getting them in a few weeks. Please remember to check your child’s backpack everyday to make sure you don’t miss any important information! Class picture envelopes are usually given out only the night before.
We are losing another student in few weeks =( Kinako and her family will be moving back to Japan, and her last day with us is on Friday, March 20th. We will miss them very much!
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