Friday, October 21, 2016

October 17th through 21st

Math-Division Practice!



Mr. Keenoy and Mrs. Gilliland's 

Monster Buddy Activity


     
     
     

Keenoy Koala Newsletter

October 21, 2016

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a terrific week!  As I am sure that you have heard, I enjoy giving out  Koala Cash for students who are following Paxton Keeley and class expectations throughout the day.  After two weeks, each table counts their cash and the table that has earned the most cash receives a goody of some type.  All of the cash earned from each table also counts towards classroom goals that we have made.  Keenoy Koalas reached our lofty goal of 400 Koala Cash last week and voted for a classroom movie celebration.

On Tuesday, we will have a "Cozy Lunch and a Movie" celebration during recess and lunch.  Students are allowed to bring a pillow, blanket, or other cozy item to school.  We will have a picnic style lunch in the classroom while enjoying a movie (probably Disney) voted on by the class.  This is a great group of kids and I am looking forward to celebrating with them on Tuesday.  Thank you for all of your continued support and I really look forward to visiting with you at conferences.

Parent Teacher Conferences
I will be sending home Parent Teacher Conference confirmation times next Friday.  Thank you for returning your request forms so quickly this week.

Food Drive
Thank you so much for all of the cash and food donations this week.  All of these donations will be greatly appreciated by the Food Bank.  We definitely met our classroom goal of 350 canned goodsJ  At last count, the Koalas brought in well over 2,000 items worth of canned goods.  Thank you and soooo generous! 

Fall Party
Next Friday is our fall room party. Thank you so much for volunteering your time or purchasing supplies for this activity.  At Paxton Keeley, we do not dress up in costumes. Instead, students will have a 45-minutes party featuring a game, craft, and snack. Halloween is on Monday, October 31.  School is not in session on this day as it is a teacher workday for elementary teachers (to complete grade cards and prepare for conferences).

Math
*Students practiced dividing by two-digit divisors.
*Students practiced determining which information was missing and identified extraneous      information in problems.
*Students will complete an assessment over this topic next week.

Writing
Revising and editing student personal narratives continued this week. When students meet with me one-on-one, I mentioned strengths and areas to work on.  Each student should leave a writing conference with a clear goal for improving their next draft. 

Together we developed a recipe for a great ending and beginning.
Endings
A)  Resolving problems
B)  Teaching lessons learned
C)  Make changes that tie back to the big meaning of the story or beginning
D)  Overall, why is this moment important to you?

Beginnings
A) Hint of a problem!
B)  Info about main character…thoughts and feelings
C) Create a mood….establish setting

Reading
Students really seem to be enjoying the story, Zach’s Lie by Roland Smith.  This book forces the reader to make several inferences and use the context to solve tough words.  I have continued to model this thinking daily during read aloud.  Students should also be practicing these skills during independent reading time.  An area that we will continue working on is supporting these ideas (especially inferences) with details directly from the text.  This is an area that stood out as a weakness on the 4th grade Communication Arts MAP test last year. 

Science and Social Studies
As you know, I alternate teaching these lessons each day.  I did not get as much accomplished with either as I had planned.  We will continue learning about explorers in social studies and space systems in science.  Hopefully there will be less afternoon conflicts so that these lessons can be enjoyedJ

Reminders
Oct. 28             Student Flu Shots
Oct. 28             Fall Room Party 2:15-3:00
Oct. 31             No School - Teacher Workday
Nov. 6             Daylight Savings Ends...set your clocks back by one hour
Nov. 8             No School - Election Day
Nov. 7, 9-11    Parent/Teacher Conferences
Nov. 11           No School
Nov. 21           Planetarium Field Trip (Rock Bridge High School in Columbia)
Nov. 23-25      No School - Thanksgiving Holiday
                                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

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