1/8/16

Happy New Year from Mrs. Conrad’s room! And a terrific start to the year it has been!

Lots to get back into and the kids were ready to roll this week!! Excitement toward our learning goals and getting a chance to see THE FROZEN RUSH at Sunday River were definite perks!

Frozen Rush

Calendar:

1/11 - Gr. 4/5 Cross Country Skiing

1/12 - Gr. 4/5 Cross Country Skiing

1/13 - Gr. 2/3 Cross Country Skiing

1/14 - Gr. 2/3 Cross Country Skiing

1/18 - Holiday No School

1/19 - Gr. 3 Rugrats Skiing (AM)

1/19 - Gr 4/5 Cross Country Skiing

1/20 - Gr. 4 Rugrats Skiing (PM)

1/20 - Gr. 2/3 Cross Country Skiing

1/21 - Gr. 5 Rugrats Skiing (AM)

1/21 - Gr. 1 Rugrats Skiing (PM)

1/21 - Gr. 2/3 Cross Country Skiing

1/22 - Gr. 2 Rugrats Skiing (PM)

Snack Host for next week: Jayden Thurston

Highlights of the classroom:

Literacy Time:

Esperanza Rising, Just Juice, and Doll Bones are the terrific books for us to start the year with.

Each group has some similar skills and activities to do, such as: editing work, parts of speech scavenger hunts, literary element work, and spelling.

Differences for skills are based on skill level, proficiency of standards, and learning needs.

On IXL, students have been working on EE.1 for the Language skill of editing practice. Please, please, please have them work on IXL at home, too.

Math Time:

Decimal computation, parts of a whole number, number lines, fractions as they relate to decimals, simplifying fractions, adding & subtracting fractions, properties of multiplication, and multiplying numbers ending in zeros.

We are practicing these concepts in a number of ways; math journal notes and follow-up, whiteboards, small group, whole group, and IXL. If you have internet at home, these are the skills that the students are finishing up: C 5,6,and 7.

Social Studies:

Each student has been fact-finding for a person in history- ”Explorers throughout the ages.” We will be sharing and discussing the news and details, concerning our explorer, through a variety of activities next week.

Science:

Next week, we will do a few interactive science experiments: chemical reactions and simple machines;  to stimulate curiosity and discussion to practice the “Scientific Method.”

A reminder, there is no RUGRATS this Thursday.

Looking forward to more learning and fun with my fabulous group!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Conrad  

Calendar of Events

11/11 - Holiday! No School

11/16 - Photo Retake Day

11/18 - Gr. 5 Field Trip to Gulf of Maine Research Institute

11/19 - P/T Conferences 3:30-7:00

11/23 - P/T Conferences 3:30-7:00

11/25 - Workshop Day! (No School for Staff & Students)

11/26 - Holiday! No School

11/27 - Vacation Day! No School

11/30-12/4 - Cromwell visits to Grades 1-5

12/2 - PTA Meeting

12/5 - Breakfast w/Santa

12/7-12/11 - Childrens Stage Adventure (Mahoosuc Arts)

Healthy Snack HOST for next week is: SELENA

WE are moving mountains in MATH! I am so excited about the great effort that the students are putting into the many math topics we are practicing right now.

Here are a few:

• Algebraic and variable expressions. Examples: 3m= 36, subtract five from the product of six and four, 36f when f =24
• Estimate by rounding. Examples: 46 x 37= 50 x 40 = 200
• Patterns of Zero and Ten. Examples: 20 x 3= (Think of 2x3=6 and add the zero.) 60, 500 x 50 = (5x5 =25 and add three zeros) 25,000
• Classifying shapes for geometry.
• Attempting to master the facts. +, - x, / (XtraMath)
• Double digit multiplication.
• LONG division with 2 digit divisors (estimating the quotient)

In Science, we just began our first unit on the Ecosystem. We played an exciting game called “Kahoot! “ This had the kids on their feet and applauding each other. We have a list of vocab words to learn, along with the content of the theme, and have each chosen a Maine Coast animal (fish, bird, mollusk, or mammal) to study. Today, we wrote our bold beginning or ‘Hook” to our report/article.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Conrad

Calendar of Events:

10/20 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game WES @ CPS

10/21 - Gr. 5 Field Trip to Old Fort Western

10/27 - Mahoosuc Performance "Tinpanic Steel Band"

11/3 - Workshop Day

11/4 - Flu Shot Day (Elementary students)

11/11 - Holiday! No School

11/12, 11/13 & 11/16 - Tooth Fairies

11/19 - P/T Conferences

11/23 - P/T Conferences

11/25 - Workshop Day!

11/26 - Holiday No School

11/27 - Vacation Day No School

Next week’s healthy snack host is TRAVIS. :)

A reminder about our field trip to FT. WESTERN next Wednesday! Please bring in your permission slip and $ before Wednesday.

We had a good turn out for Grandparent’s Day today. The students always enjoy this day!

Students shared their raps for the Four Corners project, their work on their laptops, and played games.

Academics:

In Math, we are becoming more proficient with the order of operations. Students feel pretty good with their work in class and at home. We are also working on multiplication; large numbers by one digit #’s and have learned our 3’s timetables. Next week, the 4’s!!

We are also working with decimals: reading and writing them, rounding, greater than/less than, place value, and addition.

We played a game of “Fact-Family Hoe-Down,” which was  a lot of fun!

In Literacy areas, we wrote biographies of a class member and made their portrait for the bulletin board. We also began new reading groups: The Barn by, Avi and Woods Runner by, Gary Paulsen. Students are working on vocabulary, sentence and mechanics skills, being prepared with discussion questions for group time, and continued comma work.

Social Studies Topics include: Marco Polo and the early explorers; students worked in 2 small groups to read and discuss the “big ideas” of Marco Polo’s significance to exploration, and the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. We watched the Walt Disney movie, “Johnny Tremain” which is based upon the historical fiction novel written by Esther Forbes in 1943.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Conrad

October 2, 2015 Newsletter

News from Mrs. Conrad’s RAD Classroom!!

We had some terrific fun this week with our learning! Students have been working in small groups to discuss articles and concepts of study. This is really important to the best and most efficient ways to learn, along with the higher engagement, critical thinking, and creativity it sparks. It is more fun to learn with others than to learn everything in a solitary fashion.  

Calendar of Events:

10/6 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game WES @ CPS

10/9 - Workshop Day

10/12 - Holiday - No School

10/13 - School Photo Day

10/13 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game CPS @ WES

10/16 - Grandparents Day

10/20 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game WES @ CPS

10/21 - Gr. 5 Field Trip to Old Fort Western

10/27 - Mahoosuc Performance "Tinpanic Steel Band"

11/3 - Workshop Day

Next week’s “Healthy Snack Host”: Riley

Academic Happenings:

We have been working really hard on Literacy skills-comma usage, sentence types, mechanics, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, dialogue, and paragraphing. We still have a long way to go, but progress is happening!

Students are working on informational reports about “Sharks” for their KidBlogs. They have researched and are on the drafting stages of their reports.

In Social Studies, we are working on geography and mapping to go with our Native American studies of the Four Corners region. Students are finding out about statehood, state tree, state bird, natural resources, native peoples, etc.  A science connection for this is; learning about the state’s climate and landforms.

In Math, we are rocking the skills of  PEMDAS, “Order of Operations.” I am so happy with the excitement the kids have when we are learning new things. They stay engaged and are willing to work hard. (Something to work on for my students would be math facts: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.)

Yes, I will say it, my students are RAD!

Super proud and happy with my class! Everyday is a great day  spent together!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Conrad

September 18, 2015 Unbelievable wether we are having!

Calendar of Events

9/21 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Practice

9/22 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Practice

9/25 - Gr. 5 Field Trip to Sunday River

9/28 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Practice

9/29 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game CPS @ WES

10/6 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game WES @ CPS

10/9 - Workshop Day

10/12 - Holiday - No School

10/13 - School Photo Day

10/13 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game CPS @ WES

10/16 - Grandparents Day

10/20 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Game WES @ CPS

10/21 - Gr. 5 Field Trip to Old Fort Western

10/27 - Mahoosuc Performance "Tinpanic Steel Band"

This weather has been so fantastic- a bit warm, but fabulous nonetheless! Let's keep it coming!

Next week, the Healthy snack host is Chelsea.

News of the week:

NWEA testing has begun. We are 2 tests down and 1 to go. Next week, we will complete our Language NWEA. 

We finished our class book, Kneeknock Rise. Our new class book is, Sing Down the Moon, by Scott O'Dell. This books goes great with our Social Studies work of early colonization and Native American cultures. 

Speaking of Social Studies, the students completed "Text Feature" articles about the Inca and Aztec cultures. Their work included a subheading, short summary, a caption with a descriptive sentence, a map and a side bar. 

Today, the 4/5 wing, students and teachers, got together to discuss playground rules. There have been some recent instances of bad behavior, aggressiveness, and disrespect. We thought it was important to meet as a wing to talk about a few of the issues and discuss the expectations of fun and safe playground use. We want to applaud the positive behavior and understand the consequences for the negative behavior. 

If anyone is interested in volunteering in our classroom, please get in touch. We need adults to help with leading small groups or 1:1; for basic fact practice, reading groups, math helpers, or even being a presenter to our class about your job, education or hobby. 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Conrad

Main idea and supporting details lesson

September 11, 2015

A fun week was had!

In Social Studies, we have been learning about the First Americans and Early Colonization. We've also been discussing civics-rules, and guidelines, liberties-freedoms, Maine studies, and a bit of government. We had collaborative discussions 1:1, small group, and large group; coming together to build upon and express ideas clearly.  On Friday, we formed our Classroom Constitution, which supports us with guidelines for the most effective ways we can work and support each other throughout the school year.

Math class work has included basic fact timed tests, XtraMath, IXL-Place Value, Short Word form, and Expanded form with Exponents.

This week in English/Language Arts ( Literacy), the students continued their work with idioms, determining main ideas and supporting details, as well as progress toward showing command of their mechanics in writing.

On Thursday, after a class read aloud and discussion about the picture book, The Three Questions, students were broken up into groups to put a paragraph in the proper order-main idea first, followed by supporting details.

Small group reading groups highlighted main idea, details to support and follow-up comprehension.

Pics and short video show the activity and results below.

Upcoming events/calendar:

9/14 - NWEA Testing begins

9/14 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Practice

9/15 - Gr. 4/5 Soccer Practice

9/15 - Open House 6pm-7pm

10/9 - Workshop Day

10/13 - School Photo Day

10/27 - Mahoosuc Performance "Tinpanic Steel Band"

Healthy Snack Schedule for the next 15 weeks.

9/14 Emily Cummings

9/21 Chelsea Duclos

9/28 Jakob Hooper

10/5 Riley Jerome

10/12 Reid Johnston

10/19 Travis Kneeland

10/26 Bode Leach

11/2 Evan Leach

11/9 Selena Ojeda

11/16 Forest Pelletier

11/30 Cameron Remington

12/7 Eli Shifrin

12/14 Keenan Sparks

1/4 Autumn Thompson

1/11 Jayden Thurston

Learning Stations are the way to go!

Learning and Growing

Tables and cubbies! Students are participating in a read-aloud play highlighting idioms. 

9/4/15 Greetings to all from Mrs. Conrad!

New year, New happenings!

It has been a fun and fabulous first week in our classroom! I am so pleased with the way the kids are coming together as a class and getting our routines and expectations down! Totally impressive!!

We have changes in schedule for this year. Our normal daily schedule looks like this:
8:10-8:50 Science/Social Studies
8:55-9:35 MON- THURS “Specials” (Exception: Friday-9:40-10:20)
9:35-10:00 Snack/Recess
10- 11:30 LITERACY/LA
11:35-12:35 Lunch/Recess
12:35-1:00 SSR
1-2:15- MATH

Specials: 
Monday-Library 
Tues & Friday-Phys. Ed 
Wed-Music 
Thurs-Art 

 Academic Accomplishments: 

• Students are doing a terrific job using their planners. They have come back to class each morning with HW filled out and signed by a parent. My students have also been very responsible with passing in HW. YAY, for us!!! 
•  DRA Testing is complete. 
• Reading Notebooks have been started in class. Our Class Read Aloud- Kneeknock Rise, by Natalie Babbit 
• On Friday, we started using our laptops to write a story. Students have shared their story with me and the creating..., editing…., revising process is in place for their first adventure story of the year. 
• Language and Literary elements: Fantastic, groovy, and super-exciting vocabulary for discussion and writing. Idioms-meanings and application Theme, characters, and setting of story Proper nouns -Spelling words-classmate names 

Points of interest and Things to consider:
In past years, our class has been participating in bringing in a healthy snack for the class each week. What that means is that a schedule is set up and each student is assigned a week to bring in a healthy snack for the class to share. Fresh fruit (bags of apples, oranges, etc) cheese sticks, granola bars (no nut products), etc.

The student would bring in the snack at the beginning of the week. Once it is gone, it’s gone. The student would not need to send in additional for that week.

I will start the schedule next week, so I will bring in the first snack on Tuesday.

More information will be coming home via newsletter and my class blog: http://kathy5conrad.blogspot.com/

Have an awesome Labor Day weekend! Mrs. Conrad