Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Homework for Tuesday, October 26th

• Home Link 3.3
• Study Spelling Words
• Read

Our Red Ribbon Week activities are off to a great start! Here is a preview for Wednesday's activities

                   “You “Can” Show Good Character”

                   Wear Some Red to Show You are Drug Free!

                   *Students will receive a “twizzler” treat.

                   *Can collection for Norwalk Food Pantry 

                        *Spirit for Norwalk Football Playoff Game 

Today (Monday), our class participated in the 3rd grade intramural kickball tournament at recess. We played a hard-fought game against Mrs. White's class, but unfortunately, we came up one point short! It was fun to participate in the games, and we're anxious to have more opportunities to play intramural sports during the winter months.....it will definitely give us a break from all the indoor recess I'm sure we'll have again this year! :(

As a reminder, you should be recording the titles of the books your child is reading at home in the front of his/her planner. The district goal for the end of the year is that your child will read 20 books. By this point in the year, I'd like to see that you and your child have recorded at least 6 books. This would put yourchild right on track to complete the end of the year goal. I believe there is a place to record on page 8 of the planner. This might not be the exact page, but it's close. If you have any questions, please let me know.

It's getting to be time for me to start working on report cards. I will be sharing these with you during conferences which will be held on November 9, 10, & 11. Please remember there is NO SCHOOL on November 10, 11, & 12 for students. I look forward to seeing all of you at conferences and discussing your child's progress with you.

The Norwalk Warrior football team will travel to Oskaloosa on Wednesday, October 27th, for a first round play-off game against Oskaloosa. Game time is 7:00 p.m. If you are interested in tickets for the game, you may purchase them on Tuesday from 7-5 or Wednesday from 7-4 at the High School Athletic office. There will also be long-sleeve play-off t-shirs for sale. The cost is $15. They will be sold at Lakewood on Tuesday or you can get these at the Athletic Office as well.

Have a good Tuesday!

Mrs. Vroegh

Monday, October 25, 2010

Where in the world is October going?!? I can' believe it's the last week of October already....it's been a very busy month!

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school. We'll remind the kids about making good choices as well as why we celebrate Red Ribbon Week each year. There will be special dress up days and activities all week long. I know this will be a lot of fun for the kids!

Dress Up Days are as follows:

Monday: Dress as your favorite athlete.

Wednesday: Wear a little red with your Purple & Gold. Let's show our support for the Norwalk football team! They will travel to Oskaloosa for a first round play-off game.

*Bring an item to donate to the Norwalk Food Pantry.*

Friday: Wear your purple & gold. We'll have an assembly at 2:00 today as well.

The kids will get to do special activities each morning and during lunch as well.

In writing, the kids are taking on the role of a newspaper reporter. They writing news summaries of the story we read last week, Penguin Chick. We're hoping to be able to use the Flip camera to videotape their news stories and we'll try to share these with all of you.

During math, we are working on a measurement unit. The kids will be working on using different tools to measure items in our classroom and the school. They will learn to decide which units are appropriate in different situations.

Homework for Monday, October 25

Reading practice book page 58
Study Spelling Words
Read

Homework for Tuesday, October 26

Math Home Link 3.3
Study Spelling Words
Read

Have a good week!

Mrs. Vroegh

Monday, October 18, 2010

Our trip to the zoo couldn't have been timed more perfectly! This week in reading our story is The Penguin Chick. We'll work on identifying main idea and details as well as summarizing. Our centers will involved activities to practice and reinforce these skills. The kids will also be doing some research on his/her favorite animal. Hopefully they got some good ideas during our trip to the zoo!

The students will be taking our DIBELS fluency assessment on Monday & Tuesday during our small group reading time. Please remind your son/daughter to concentrate and do his/her best on this test.

We took our Unit 2 math assessment on Friday. I am in the process of gathering information to share with your regarding this assessment. Please be looking for it soon, and I will also share it with you during conferences...they are coming up soon!

We are continuing to learn about the human body and maps during science and social studies. Ask your child what the largest pieces of land on earth are called. They should also be able to explain why we use a compass rose. This week, they will work on drawing a map of their bedroom. They'll be asked to give the map a title, a map key, a compass, as well as label important landmarks.

Monday's Homework

• Study spelling words
• Math Journal page 56
• Cursive sheet
• Read

I would like you to continue to record when your child reads at home, however, you'll notice I'm no longer "requiring" a specific number of minutes each night. A parent who is also in education shared an article with me that I found interesting. It stated that many times when we "require" children to read a certain number of minutes, it has a negative effect on them. Kids will start to look at reading as a chore, which obviously, I don't want. SO, I'd like you to continue to encourage your child to pick up books and read at home. As a parent, take the time to write down the minutes and titles in your child's planner just as you have been. You'll find a spot to record titles of books they are reading at the beginning of the planner...page 8, I think, but I don't have the planner home with me, so this may not be correct. Just remember, reading just like any other activity requires practice in order for kids to get better at it, so as always, let's work as partners to help the students become better readers. Read to your child, with your child, and listen to your child read. Hopefully we'll continue to see your child improve his/her reading skills.

Have a good Monday!

Mrs. Vroegh

Friday, October 15, 2010

Happy Friday!!

We are excited for our field trip to the zoo today....it's going to be a BEAUTIFUL day!

Tonight the Norwalk Warriors football team will host Newton. The game will be played at the Simpson College football field in Indianola. The freshman games starts at 4:45 with the varstiy to follow at 7:30. Come out and support the Warriors!

Pizza Ranch in Indianola will be holding a "Norwalk Pizza Night" in conjunction with the game tonight. Stop by the Pizza Ranch between 5-close to enjoy their pizza buffet. If you choose to do this, our school will get $1.00 per person. Your child received a card today that you need to present to Pizza Ranch. This card will let them know you are supporting Lakewood Elementary.

Next week, we your child will bring home his/her Unit 1 reading test results. Most of the scores were very good. Please don't worry too much if your child's score is not where you'd like it to be, however, do talk with your child abotu the importance of taking his/her time, reading carefully, and checking over work.All of the skills on the test were taught throughout Unit 1 and were reviewed during the past week. We will work toward improvement each unit.

We will be taking our DIBELS reading assessments next week. These are fluency and comprehension assessments we take three times per year. Remind your child to concentrate and do his/her best. These tests give us important information about your child's reading abilities and help us make decisions about how to best meet your child's reading needs.

We will  start Unit 2 in reading on Monday. Your child will bring home a spelling list, and we'll test on Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Vroegh

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend...can you believe it's October? It seems to me that a year ago it wasn't nearly as nice, so I'm appreciating the weather!

On Monday, I spent our professional development day learning about our new DIBELS tests. The students will be given these tests in the next week, and I'll share the information with you at conferences. I also presented information on the Iowa Core and the Common Core to our elementary math & science committees. Finally, I had a little bit of time to work on my professional portfolio. I am on evaluation this year, so along with setting a professional goal and being observed and evaluated by Mrs. Anderson, I am also resposible for completing my portfolio. This portfolio contains artifacts and reflections which show that I am meeting the eight Iowa Teaching Standards.

This week in class, we will be reviewing for and taking our Unit 1 reading benchmark test. The students will not have a spelling list this week. Along with the comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and grammar components of the test, we will also check on reading fluency and accuracy. At the end of each unit, we use the information we get from these assessments to help us in grouping the students for small groups. It will be a busy week of reading tests!

In math, we are finishing up Unit 2. On Friday, the kids reviewed the "partial sums" method for adding larger numbers. I would ask that you have your child practice using this strategy, however, if he/she has a faster way for adding larger numbers ACCURATELY, by all means, they are welcome to use another strategy. My ultimate goal, obviously, is that the students get the correct answer in the most efficient way possible. Everyday Math exposes the kids to many different ways to solve problems and I ask that the kids practice the different ways in class and on homework, but as I said, if they have a faster way to solve a problem, by all means GO FOR IT! All kids learn differently, so I would certainly not discourage a student from solving a problem in the way that makes the most sense to them. On Tuesday & Wednesday, we'll learn and review strategies for subtracting larger numbers, on Thursday we'll review adding three numbers, and then on Friday we'll start our Unit 2 review and assessment. I'm hoping we can get this completed before we go on our field trip so we can start Unit 3 on Monday, October 18th. We'll see how it goes! :)

Homework for Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Math Home Link 2.7
Cursive handwriting sheet

As always, continue to encourage your child to read at home or read to/with your child. Thanks for your help and support!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Vroegh

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Happy Thursday!

I am gone today to attend an Iowa Core meeting at Simpson College. I'll be spending the day with a large group of teachers from Norwalk and other districts learning more about the Core and what we need to do to make the transition to full implementation easier. I have to admit, I'm not really that excited about missing a day in the classroom, but I'm sure the kids will be in good hands. I've left plenty to keep them busy, that's for sure!

Tomorrow is "Hat Day" at Lakewood! For 5 Warrior Way tickets, the kids can wear a hat on Friday. This is just another example of an incentive for the kids to be "Respectful, Responsible, & Safe" at Lakewood. Next week, we'll have a drawing for breakfast with Ms. Else! The kids are always excited to see what's going to be next!

I've had a lot of questions about Acclerated Reader. Hopefully, you've gotten a chance to read the newsletter Ms. Hanson put together and that some of your questions have been answered. I wanted all of you to know that this program is completely voluntary. I will encourage those students who are interested to participate, but it is by no means a mandatory expectation. I see this as being a good way for the kids to read a variety of genres as well as focus on reading comprehension. One of the stories that we have a quiz for is If You Made A Million, which is the story we read in reading groups last week. My plan is to take the kids to the lab next Monday and have them practice using the quiz for this story. Hopefully this will get them better acquainted with the process. I'm also currently reading Charlotte's Web to my class, which also has a quiz we could take when we finish the story. I will be touching base with the kids next week to let them know which level they should choose for books. I also plan to look at the quiz list and pull books off my classroom library shelf that would work as well. My hope is that this will make it easier for the kids to choose books. If you have any questions, you can email me, and I'll try to answer them, or I'll contact Ms. Hanson if I don't know the answer. :)

Homework

1. Math Home Link 2.6
2. Grammar page 18
3. Study spelling words
4. Read 15 minutes

We will take our final selection test for Unit 1 on Friday. This is over the story My Rows & Piles of Coins. Next week, we will review for our Unit 1 test and take the test which covers all the skills we've learned during Unit 1. There will be no spelling list next week. Spelling will resume on Monday, October 18th.

Have a great day!

Mrs. Vroegh

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Sorry I'm a little bit behind on the blogs...it just seems like there's never enough time in the day!! Today (Monday) was a good day! We introduced our comprehension skill (character & setting) and strategy (story structure) during whole group reading. The students read two short passages to practice identifying characters and setting during a story. In the afternoon, we learned about the vocabulary words that will be tested on Friday. The students also worked on centers. Each week, we have a variety of literacy and writing activities for the students to work on when they are not meeting with me in a reading group. This week, the students will work on the computers to research money from around the world, make vocabulary booklets, listen to our main selection and identify character traits during listening center, write about a time when their family bought something important, and re-read their leveled reader from last week and describe the characters and setting in the story. Each activity reinforces a skill we are currently teaching or one we've taught from a previous week. The students are getting better and better at managing their time during seatwork & centers in order to get everything done on time! This is our final week for Unit 1 in reading. We've learned a lot about money and how important it is in our lives. Next week, we will be taking our Unit 1 benchmark test which will cover all the vocabulary, phonics, comprehension, & grammar skills we have covered during this unit. Please remind your child to do his/her best on this test. We will use the information from the test to help us group the students for small groups during Unit 2.

During science today, they continued to study their owl pellets and identify bones. They are observing and discussing their findings as well as making predictions. They are enjoying this activity! In social studies, we are continuing our study of maps. We are focusing a lot of geography skills right now as we practice reading maps and improving our map skills. Hopefully toward the end of the week, we'll talk a little bit about Christopher Columbus as Columbus Day is approaching!

Math finds us working on number stories. Today we used the Part/Part/Total strategy to solve story probelms. Tomorrow we will work on Change to More/Less problems. Toward the end of the week, we will introduce and/or review strategies for solving multi-digit addition and subtraction problems. Please remember that our goal in Everyday Math is to expose the students to a variety of strategies when learning how to add and subtract. These methods may be different and foreign to you, but please work to help your child practice the strategies we are teaching. Ultimately, my goal is for the children to find the most efficient and effective way to solve the problem correctly on their own. It may take some children longer than others to find out which way they understand the best. Please be patient as your child learns to add and subtract larger numbers, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Homework for Tuesday, October 5

1. Math Home Link 2.5
2. Spelling worksheet
3. Read for 15 minutes (record reading minutes either at the bottom of the planner near your signature or on the October calendar located at the beginning of the month of October in the planner)
4. Study spelling words

Don't forget that next Monday, October 11th, there is NO SCHOOL for students. Also, we'll be going on our field trip to the zoo on Friday, October 15th. If you signed up to join us, I'll be contacting you with more information soon!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Vroegh