What a great day!

This has just been a fun filled day. This morning we saw the 3rd grade talent show.  The 3rd graders did wonderful. Many of the students were already thinking about what they were going to do next year. This afternoon we had our class picnic. It was a blast!  We had a water balloon toss, scavenger hunt, ate pizza, and did many other fun activities.  The slide show was fabulous! Everyone really enjoyed seeing all the great times we have had this year.  Thank you to everyone who helped plan this exciting afternoon.  I know a lot of hard work went into it!  

Last week of school

I can't believe it, the end is here.  Too bad the sun didn't shine until the end of the day.  We had to cancel Olympic Day.  Oh well, there's always next year.  Don't forget to join us for Pizza in the Park on Monday.  Students don't have to bring anything but comfortable shoes to play in.  Also, Thursday is only one hour and report cards go home.  The students have a special assignment to showcase their memories from 2nd grade.  I'm giving them creative freedom for what they want to do.  They will present the project on Thursday.  Have a great weekend!

Short Week

This week is just flying by.  Tomorrow is our goodbye celebration for Ben.  Friday is Olympic Day.  Pizza in the Park is Monday, June 2nd.   So much to do, so little time.  Don't forget to sign the permission slip for Pizza in the Park by Friday and to join us if you can.  It's going to be a fun filled afternoon!

Memorial Day

Have a great extended weekend!  The students have no official homework this weekend.  I did ask them to write about the parties, barbecues, and places they would be visiting.  Enjoy!

Tribute to Excellence

Congratulations to Evelyn and Katie for their Tribute to Excellence awards.  We were not able to be at the presentation but we were excited for them.  Also, there were a few honorable mentions: Noah, Davin, Annie, Daniel, Ben, Maciek, Alex, and Nora for chess and lunch bunch participation.

Countdown to Summer

This is the last full week of school.  Where has the time gone?

4th grade

Yesterday we went around to all the 4th grade classrooms and viewed presentations they had of the 50 states.  Some students had games, activities, or demonstrations to go along with their presentations.  Our students had fun seeing their friends and siblings and learning cool information about each state.  A couple students even tied the info they learned into what we were doing in class.  That makes a teacher's heart proud.  Have a great weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather!

What a weekend and a day!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers and moms in spirit.  I hope you had a fabulous day!

Congratulations to all the Fun Run participants!  Katie won 1st place for 2nd grade.  A nice ending to our sports and fitness week.

Today we had the fire safety trailer.  It was fun and informative.  We were at three stations that each explained a different aspect of fire safety.  The students practiced stop, drop, and roll (Daniel made a funny song to help us remember the steps), how to dial 911 on different kinds of phones (they even had a  rotary phone), and the trailer where the students practiced exiting a building (from a window).  Two important points that the firemen wanted the students to share at home were that everyone needs to have a carbon monoxide detector (it's a law in Oak Park) and if possible to have GFI or smart outlets in the home.  Ask your child about it today. 

A.C.E.S

Today was ACES day (All Classes Exercise Simultaneously).  The students had a blast moving continuously for 15 minutes.  We did the Cha Cha Slide and the Macarena.  It's all part of Sports and Fitness Week.  What fun!

Congratulations to our spelling bee finalist Funmi and Maddie.  They did a great job in the spelling bee yesterday. 

Happy Friday!

Have a great time at the Ethnic Festival for those going!  Funmi is going to be in the parade. There is a poster making party tonight at school.  Enjoy your weekend!

Little Red Hen

Today we saw the 1st grade performance of Little Red Hen.  It was astounding!  The songs were the funniest and the costumes were the cutest.  The night performance will be on Thursday. Check it out if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed. 

Our schedule was pushed back due to the play as well as the school picture (we took another all school picture today).  We didn't get to cover any math so there was no math homework.

Courage

Our Spelling Bee participants did great yesterday.  It takes a lot of courage to speak or in their case spell in front of an auditorium full of people.  I think that shows a great deal of courage. Congratulations to all the participants from our class: Nora, Davin, Maciek, Evelyn, Funmi, Maddie, Katie, Annie, and Ben.  Good luck to our finalist Funmi and Maddie!  The final round will be next Tuesday.  They are already studying hard.  

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Raffle winners for the Math Con Challenge were announced today.  Congrats to Nora, Katie, Maciek, Allison, Annie, Davin, Alex, and Noah!

The 1st round of Spelling Bee starts tonight at 6:15 pm.  Good Luck to all the participants!  We have a huge amount of 2nd graders participating, especially from our class. 

Happy Friday!

We celebrated Allison's birthday today.  She brought wonderful healthy treats and we sang to her. Her birthday is Saturday.  Happy Birthday Allison!

No School Tomorrow

Don't forget there is no school tomorrow.

Next time you are in the building, check out our fraction people.  The class used fractions to make different looking people.  Come and check it out!

Full Plate

Reminder: There is no school for the students on Thursday.  It is an institute day.

Today we started a new Open Court story.  There are vocabulary sheets, spelling homework, and super sentences this week.

No raffle drawing today.  I will let you know when the raffle winners are announced.  Thank you for all your support with Math Con.

Timelines have come down and are coming home this week.  The school community has enjoyed seeing them decorate our hallways.  Now we have our Fraction People up, so stop by and see them next time you are in the building! 

Friday News

Suessical was fabulous!  The singing, dancing, and costumes really made the musical stunning.  A great time was had by all.

Math Con is coming to an end.  Monday is the last day to get the challenges in.  So far we are in 2nd place.  Another raffle drawing is Monday as well.

Next week we will be back to the regular schedule as far as Open Court goes.  We will be starting Unit 5 on courage.

Field Trip and Magical Flute

Don't forget the field trip is tomorrow.  Everyone must bring a bagged lunch because there will be no hot lunch or milk for us.

Today we saw a wonderful opera called the Magical Flute.  It featured professional opera singers (Opera for the Young), our 4th and 5th grade chorus, and our very own class.  It was about a brave princess that was trying to escape the Queen of the Night.  She is rescued by a prince and a silly bird catcher.  In the end the Queen of the Night realizes that war does not help anything and declares peace with the Temple of the Sun.  The characters were creative and their voices were amazing.  It was also made interesting with lots of audience participation.  The students had a fabulous time.  

Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the Math Con Raffle Winners: Davin, Daniel F, Alex, Nora, Ben, Katie, Marcell, and Allison.  Next Monday will be another drawing so encourage your child to get those challenges in.

Friday News

We have finished Unit 4 in Open Court.  Next week we won't be starting a new Open Court story. We will have spelling words and bonus words but we won't have super sentences or vocabulary worksheets.

We have also finished Unit 7 in Everyday Math.  Our next unit is on fractions which are always fun.

Next week we have a field trip on Thursday.  We also have a special school wide performance On Wednesday. More details on both to come.  The 1st Math Con raffle is Monday.  Good Luck!

Sunday is Nilo's birthday.  Happy Birthday Nilo!

Have a great weekend and try to stay dry! 

Bus Drill

We braved the rainy weather for the spring bus drill reminder.  We reviewed safety rules and procedures for the bus.  We got wet but it was worth it for something so important.

FYI

Several of our very own were in the lastest issue of FYI.  Nora and Alex both had poems published.  Daniel was interviewed about our FLW box community.  Maciek, Nozomi (we miss you), Noah, Evelyn, and Maddie all recieved honorable mentions.  Check out the FYI today!

Contests

The students are very excited about the Math Con Challenge.  Students will get questions each night to solve.  The questions don't have to be turned in the next day however all questions need to be in by April 21st.  The students will get raffle tickets for each question attempt.  On Mon the 14th and Mon the 21st there will be a raffle drawing for 150 people.  Classes will also be given points for each challenge turned in.  Points are given for correct answers and attempts.  The class that has the most points will win a special prize.  We had a speaker yesterday tell us all about it. There were lots of challenges today wand I look forward to more tomorrow.

Spelling Bee list went home today.  During snack break and whenever students got a chance lists were out and they were quizzing each other.  Spelling mania is definitely in the air.  Good luck to all the contestants.  We have a huge group from our room.

Our Spring Donation box is filling up.  Please keep items coming as someone will match whatever our school donates.  How exciting and for such a great cause!

Finally, please don't forget the permission slips for our trip!

End of the week news

Math Con starts on Monday!  It's a great way to get your child excited about math.  There are a lot of cool prizes to win.  

Congratulations to everyone that participated in the Move and Crunch challenge.  Keep the healthy habits going!  

Salad will be offered next week as a lunch choice for the month of April.  It is the school's goal to become a gold star healthy choice school by having everyone eat hot lunch for the month of April. 

Alex, Maddie, and Daniel won Citizenship Awards this week.  Great Job!

Move and Crunch

We have 100% of our class move for 60 minutes or more yesterday.  Great Job!  Let's keep it going.

Move and Crunch Challenge

The Move and Crunch Challenge is a initiative set forth by Ms. Hackmiller to encourage students to focus on increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables and their physical activity.  The daily target amounts for school age students are 2 cups of fruits and veggies along with a total of more than 60 minutes of continuous movement.  Please encourage your child to keep track of his/her physical activity and the amount of fruits and vegetables he/she eats using a homemade graph.  Students are encouraged to bring in their home graphs on Monday, April 7th.  Each day during lunch this week students will have the option of a healthy treat.  Ms. Hackmiller will be sharing her progress daily and has encouraged students to beat her 'moving minutes and crunching cups'.  Also, in class a graph will be filled in to encourage students to move and crunch. This is a great way to establish healthy habits that can last a lifetime.  Let's Move and Crunch!  

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a restful break.  Some of the spring break trips sounded amazing!  Everyone had a fun filled week.  Now it's back to the grind.  We have started a new research project on dinosaurs.  Be on the lookout for a new website that will help you child gather more information on dinosaurs.  April showers have started a day early.  Be sure to include rain gear with your child in the morning as it seems this will be the case all week.  Also, don't forget the return the signed report card envelopes this week.  Even though spring break was great it's so good to be back. 

Spring Break Is Here!

Spring is finally here!  Enjoy your week and a day off.  There is no homework for the week, not even optional homework.  The students were very excited about that.  However, there are many ways to keep the brain from turning into total mush over the break.  Students can journal about their spring break experiences, play math games, read exciting books, create projects about dinosaurs, etc. The list can go on  and on.  Speaking of dinosaurs the Field Museum was wonderful!  The students had a great time exploring the exhibits.  There was so much we still didn't get to see.  This week would be a great time to check out the museum.  Finally, report cards went out today.  See you Monday, March 31st! 

   

Happy St. Patrick's Day

There will be no spelling words or vocabulary homework this week.  Also, this week is Spirit Week and the students looked great in their clash clothes.  Ms. Gervais and I even wore a clash outfit.  I look forward to tomorrow...pajama day.

Almost Spring Cleaning

Our FLW Community is being retired. All houses must go home tomorrow. Some students have already started taking them home. Also, the 3D settings are finally coming home. Don't worry, if you didn't get a chance to see them you will have the opportunity soon...

Back to Normal

Thanks everyone for being patient while my computer was not being friendly. I couldn't get to the blog page or any Word documents. Things are back to normal now as my computer was fixed today!

A new link has been added to the featured websites. The link has a ton of cool educational games and activities. In the lab, we used it to become paleontologists. To get to the activity, type in dino dig in the search box and the activity should load right up. Enjoy!

P4P and Field Trip Forms

Our school raised $663! Outstanding!

Don't forget the field trip form and money is due tomorrow.

P4P

Our pennies weighed 14 pounds! The totals are still being calculated so there is more to come...

P4P, Open Court, and Computer Lab

The Pennies for Peace campaign is now over. Thank you for all your pennies (and containers)! It seems like a small amount but it goes such a long way towards helping deserving children. Our pennies are going to be weighed and a dollar amount will be calculated for the whole school. I am excited to see how much our school raised. I will let you know the results when I find out.

Most of the students received their end of the unit test today for unit 3. Those that didn't will get them next week. There are multiple marks on the tests. The tests were graded and returned to the students so that they could correct them. The changes that were made were added on a separate piece of paper or highlighted with an arrow.

Finally, the class shared their superheroes stories in the lab today. They worked really hard and their creative writing skill shined through. Have a great, extended weekend!

Homework Change

We didn't get a chance to finish our math lesson today therefore Home Link 6.11 will be due on Friday. We are learning about equal sharing (division) and it is a challenging concept.

Stoplight Upgrade

Our stoplight behavior plan has been upgraded today. In an effort to increase student responsibility and become prepared for next year, some changes have been added to our behavior plan. The biggest change is that now when a student has to turn a yellow card, a green sheet will be sent home. This will let you know what behavior has been going on in the class that day. When a student turns a red card a green sheet will be sent home which will result in a detention. I will contact you via email or phone call to let you know this has occurred. On the green sheet there is a box that indicates whether the sheet is a warning or a detention. All green sheets need to be signed and returned the next day. If you have any questions about the upgrade or green sheet, please leave a comment.

Discovery Fair

We got a preview of the Discovery Fair yesterday afternoon. The students had fun looking at all the interesting and cool projects. You could tell that a lot of work and effort was put into all of the projects. Three of our very own were represented- Nora, Evelyn, and Katie.

Weekend

Everyone enjoy your weekend! Next week is a full week of school, which we haven't had in awhile. Also, leave comments of what you would like to see added to the page. Talk to you on Monday!

Timelines and Reading Log Activity

WOW! I am so impressed with the timelines and settings that came in. They look fabulous! Next time you are in the building come and check them out. They really show the classes' creativity and individuality.

Frank Lloyd Wright Walking Tour

The students braved the cold weather to see the Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio across the street. The students were separated into two groups and given an in-depth tour of the house and studio. The tour guides were impressed by how much the students already knew (thanks Shannon Gerves!) and the questions the students thought to ask. They thought we were a fourth grade group. The students got to see how all the things Ms. Geaves talked about were actually used in Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. Amazing!

Abe Lincoln Presentation

Today we saw a wonderful presentation called "Meeting the Lincolns". An actor and actress portrayed Abraham and his wife Mary Todd. They talked about their life and also took questions from the students. The students had many great questions and really seemed to enjoy the funny and loving way that Mary and Abe spoke to one another. The students saw that Abraham Lincoln was a husband, father, son, and friend. He was not just another president in our nation's history. The students had a great time. Ask you child about it tonight!

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog! This will be another source to keep you informed of what is going on in the classroom. Check my blog often as I will be updated it regularly. Also, I will add important papers that you can view and print from home. Have a great weekend!