Last Week

Well, it's here.  The last week of school!  I can't believe it.  This has been one of the fastest school years I have experienced since I started teaching.  It's insane!  I just want to take a moment to tell you all how much I have LOVED being your daughter's teacher this year.  I love each and everyone of them like they were my own children.  I will miss you all so much this year, and I pray and hope that you stay in contact with me throughout your daughter's educational career.  I also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so supportive this year.  I wouldn't have been able to do half of what we did without you all!  I appreciate each of you!

The CRCT scores were the best I have had in my teaching career.  In fact, when I saw them, I started crying.  I am so unbelievably proud of all the hard work your daughters did.  They exceeded my expectations.  Because they all passed, I am going to have a pool party in my neighborhood.  It will be Wednesday, June 5th from 1-3.  It will be in my neighborhood pool.  I will provide drinks and snacks.  This is not a school sponsored event.  I require that an adult stay the entire time.  If you are friends with another parent in the class, and you trust them with your daughter, then they can be the chaperone.  No child can be left at the pool and picked up at the end.  Please RSVP to 678)262-8150 by June 3rd.  I hope to see you all there!

Graduation is Thursday morning at 8:30.  It will last until approximately 10:00.  At that time, we will ask you all to line the halls of the round building to watch the 5th grade walk.  When the walk is over, we encourage you to take your daughter home with you.  It is an early release day, so they would only miss about an hour anyway.  It will make dismissal easier if you take them right after the walk.  Please have your daughter wear their Sunday best.  NO JEANS ALLOWED! 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is also an early release day.  We will dismiss at 12:10.  If you need your daughter to go home a different way than normal, please write me a note.  They cannot bring their back packs tomorrow or Thursday.  Tomorrow is also field day.  They may wear school appropriate shorts.  They cannot shorter than 2 inches above the knee.  They will wear the shirts we decorated.  They can bring them home after field day tomorrow.

The girls have been such a fun part of helping my plan my wedding.  I get married June 1st.  I will update this blog after with pictures for the girls to see.  :)

Please send back the envelope with two stamps and addressed by Thursday, or you will have to come pick up your daughter's report card from school.

Have a wonderful summer and good luck in middle school!!

Happy birthday to all of these Sunset Sweethearts over the summer!

Winding down the year

Three weeks left!!  Technically, 14 days.  :)  These next few weeks are going to be packed with a lot of fun activities. 
1. Starting Monday, there are going to be 10 balloons on the ceiling.  Each balloon will contain a fun activity for the day.  We will pop the balloon each morning and do whatever is inside.  Some of the things will be: picnic lunch outside, no shoes for the day, going by a nickname the whole day, ect.
2. We started a behavior system called Sundaeland.  They each have a game board.  Each day that they have good behavior and work hard, they get to color a piece of their board.  Along the way, they earn parts of an ice cream sundae.  Whatever they earn by the Wednesday of the last week of school, they will get to enjoy.  They can earn anything from just a spoon, to ice cream with sprinkles, cherries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.
3. They are working really hard on their career and $1,000,000 projects.  Those will continue for the next two weeks. 
4. Field day is Wednesday, May 22nd.  Please get a clean, white t-shirt to school by May 10th (next Friday).  We are going to make class shirts for that day.
5. 5th grade graduation is Thursday, May 23rd in the cafeteria.  I will get you more information as soon as we have it.  It will be in the morning.
6. Our field trip to East Cobb is next Wednesday.  It's always a fun day for the girls to see what they will be experiencing next year. 

I'm attaching a video of some fun the girls had at recess the other day.  Enjoy!!

Breanna celebrated her birthday this week!  Happy birthday sweet girl!

Have a great weekend! 

Testing is DONE!!!!!!!

What a week!!!  I can't believe it, but CRCT is done.  I cannot begin to express how proud I am of the girls, and how hard they worked.  Everyone was here and on time, they had a positive attitude, worked hard, and use their testing strategies.  They have earned a pizza party Tuesday!   I can't wait for scores to come in and see how great they did!!

There are only 19 days of school left.  That is less than four weeks.  We are going to be working on two final projects the rest of the year.  The first is a project titled "If I Had A Million Dollars".  They will have to "buy" items such as a house, car, furniture, ect.  They will use the Internet and pick real products.  They will have to calculate tax and any coupons they find.  The second project is a career project.  They get to pick one career, research everything about it from education required, to pay.  They will turn their research into a paper and present it to the class.  Both of these will be due the Friday before the last day of school.  That day is May 17th.  I will send home more information about it next week.

Tonight the PTA is hosting an 80s themed dance.  It's $6 for your family, unless you are a PTA member.  If you are a member, it's free.  They will be selling refreshments. 

Next Thursday and Friday, the chorus will be performing their play "The Jungle Book".  About half of our class is in it, so plan on coming and see their hard work.  It's super cute!  Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for kids.

Noelle and TaKevia celebrated their birthdays this week!  Happy birthday ladies!!

Have a great weekend!  Get plenty of rest after all your hard work this week!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back!  I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break!  There are only 24 days left of this school year.  As the year winds down, it make me sad to think that I am about to lose my girls.  I have loved every moment with them!!

Next week is the CRCT.  This is what we have been working for all year.  The test begins promptly at 8:15 each day.  If your daughter is tardy, she will not be allowed in the room and will have to make the test up.  It is extremely important that they are here and on time every day.  Please make sure that your daughter eats a healthy breakfast and get plenty of sleep.  The schedule for the test is as follows: Monday: reading, Tuesday: ELA, Wednesday: math, Thursday: science, and Friday: social studies.  I will not be testing my girls.  Mrs. Palmer will be in here, and I will be in her room.  That's standard protocol for testing.  The girls are aware of this, and I expect them to perform their best whether I am there are not.  I have promised the girls that if they are all here and work hard, we will have a pizza party the Monday after testing.  There will be no homework next week as I want the girls to go home and relax after testing each day.

Next Friday, there is a PTA dance at school.  It is 80s themed.  Get out your acid washed jeans and scrunchies, and join us for a night of dancing and fun after testing.

I know this is short and sweet, but I wanted to make sure that you all knew what was going on next week.

I wanted to wish Jada a very happy birthday!  She celebrated during Spring Break!

Have a great weekend!

  

Happy Spring Break

I cannot believe Spring Break is here!  Where has the time gone???  Remember, there is no school next week, April 8-12.  Enjoy your week off, and be prepared for some hard core test prep when we come back!

The past few weeks have been a little different for us.  We have put all of our time and energy into CRCT prep.  The test begins one week after we get back from Spring Break.  We have been reviewing everything we have learned this year to help us get ready.  The same will be true when we get back from break.  The girls will be bringing home their test coach books over the break.  They are responsible for completing ALL lessons in the math book, and lessons 9 and 11 in the reading book.  These will be checked the Monday after break, and will count as a math and reading test grade.  If they work for 30 minutes a day, there is no reason why they can't get it done.  I tried to get as many of the lessons done at school so they wouldn't have a lot of homework over the break.  These are very useful and important tools to help prepare for the test, so please make sure they work in the book daily.  I am not sending home a reading log, but I would like for your daughters to read a little everyday as well. 

I will have my last tutoring session the Monday we get back, April 15th.  The girls are allowed to bring a special treat for the group if they would like.  Thank you so much for allowing your daughters to stay for the tutoring.  I think it was great extra work for us.

I am so proud of all the hard work your daughters put into their cell projects.  I was blown away by how awesome they were.  If they were not made with food, I am going to keep them and display them in the library.  Keep up the great work!

Have a fun and safe break!  See you in a week!!

Sorry for the Delay

Good Monday morning!  Sorry I haven't updated in a while.  The past two Fridays have been a little crazy in here.  There is a serious issue going on in our room that needs to be discussed.  I'm not sure if it's Spring fever setting in or what, but the behavior in this classroom has gotten out of control.  All year, this class has been extremely respectful to me and, for the most part, each other.  Lately though, that has changed drastically.  There has been a lot of bickering, name calling, and talking about each other behind backs.  They have been getting in trouble with adults that they have NEVER got in trouble with before.  The part that is the most hurtful, is they have been even starting to act disrespectful towards me.  The county literacy coach did a model lesson in our room Wednesday.  I was not in the room.  She asked them numerous times to clear their areas off and they completely ignored her.  She finally had to get another teacher to help her.  That is NOT acceptable.  Due to this behavior, we are having a "silent" day today.  The girls will have their normal work to do, but they will not be able to speak unless they have a question to ask.  I hate having to go to this extreme, but I'm hoping this will be the motivation they need to get back in order.  We only have 10 days before Spring Break, and 15 days before the CRCT.  We DO NOT have time for this nonsense. 

In math and reading, we have been working exclusively in our CRCT coach books to begin test prep.  My goal is to have all but 5 lessons in both math and reading done by Spring Break so that they can finish the books out over the break, but also have time to relax and enjoy themselves.  These books are wonderful resources because they go over everything we have learned in class, and show them how questions and reading passages will be laid out on the test.  In reading, we finished the novel Bread and Roses, Too.  We began our next novel, Tuck Everlasting.  There is a movie associated with this book, and if behavior can get back on track, we will watch it and do a movie/book comparison paper.  In science, we began our cells unit.  Due to the CRCT rotation we are doing Tuesday-Thursday afternoons, the majority of this unit is self-taught.  They were assigned 3 projects last week that are due Friday, April 5.  They are an integrated squares packet, a 3-d cell model, and a webquest.  They have had time in class to work on these, but it will require work at home.  Since the due date is the Friday before Spring Break, late projects will not be accepted.  These count for 50% of their final science grade, so please make sure to check in with your daughters and see if they are staying on top of their work.

Tomorrow night is family science night here at Brumby.  It is free to attend, and there will be fun stations your kids can rotate through to do different hands on science experiments.  I hope to see you all there.

We have a new partner in education.....Jets Pizza.  If you haven't had their pizzas yet, they are delicious.  Thursday is Brumby night at Jets.  15% of the proceeds go directly to Brumby.

Tomorrow at 9 am, is our 3rd quarter Brag Day.  I sent home invitations if your daughter is receiving an award.  I hope to see you there to celebrate your daughter's hard work. 

Have a great week!

Ponytails Only

Today was "Segregation Day".  I thought all week how I was going to separate the girls.  I had thought about doing girls who wear leggings vs girls who don't.  However, on my way to school, I realized it was a jean day.  Ponytails popped into my head.  The girls who came in today wearing their hair in ponytails had to sit in one corner of the room, were only allowed to write on crumpled up paper I had put there, and could only write with the few crayons I threw on the table.  I also brought in Little Debby Easter Cakes.  They did not get the cakes.  Although, after specials, I gave them one.  :)  The girls were not happy with me.  During our math review, I didn't let any of the ponytail girls come to the smartboard to work out the problems.  When we read from our novel, I didn't let any of them read out loud.  We are going to discuss how this made them feel.  I can't wait to hear what they have to say.  This is always a fun lesson for the girls, because it allows them to truly feel what life was like during this time period of our country.

This week we did a lot of CRCT review.  We only have 25 school days until the test.  Because of that, a lot of our focus is going to go to test prep.  Starting Monday, we will do 3 rotations a week where the girls will get to do content and test prep with all the different fifth grade teachers.  I think the exposure to different teaching styles will really help the girls get prepared.  The rotations will be Tuesday-Thursday from 1:10-1:55.

The fifth grade took their formal writing exam Wednesday.  I was very happy with how hard they worked.  Scores should be in the first week in May.

Next Friday, we are having an in house field trip.  There will be performers coming in and reenacting the Diary of Anne Frank.  I am very excited for this.  It is a free program.  I am really looking forward to the girls experiencing it.

Genia celebrated her birthday Tuesday.  Kaylah celebrates her tomorrow.  Happy birthday sweet girls!!

Have a great weekend!!



Tutoring Starts

Good Monday morning!!  Friday was Read All Day in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, and we were crazy busy so I didn't get a chance to update the blog.  I hope everyone had a great weekend! 

CRCT tutoring begins today.  Please remember that if your daughter is staying and you are going to pick her up, you need to be here right at 3:45, or she will be sent to ASP.  Thank you for your cooperation with this, and I also really appreciate you allowing your daughter to stay after school.  I am hoping this tutoring will be beneficial. 

Last week was benchmark testing.  It was the last benchmark we will take this year since the CRCT is next quarter.  I was happy with the way the girls performed on this.  It also helped me see that we definitely need to go back and review our fraction work.  :)

This Wednesday is the fifth grade writing exam.  We have been working really hard on our writing skills, and I am anxious to see how they apply what they have learned this year.  The test starts right at 8:15, so please make sure your daughter is present and on time Wednesday.  The results of this test should be in in the beginning of May.

With testing last week, our schedule was a little off.  We got to read out of our novel Bread and Roses Too almost every day, and we got to review our writing skills.  This week we will get back on an almost normal schedule.  We received CRCT coach books, so we will begin working out of those two times a week.  They cover math and reading/language arts skills.  In math, we will be working on algebra skills, such as solving for the unknown variable.  In social studies, we will continue our work on the Civil Rights unit.  We will be doing segregation day Thursday.  Make sure to ask your girls about it.  It is always such a fun experience for them. 

Last week Leitisha and Debora celebrated birthdays on the same day.  Happy birthday girls!!! 

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!  We had a great, although short, week here.  I hope everyone enjoyed their 4 day weekend.  That is the last break until Spring Break, which is 30 short school days away!  Another crazy factoid, the CRCT is 35 school days away!  Where has this year gone?!?

Speaking of CRCT, I sent home a note about a free tutoring opportunity I am starting a week from Monday.  Thank you to those of you who have sent them in already.  I will be tutoring every Monday, starting March 4, until the test.  It will be from 2:45-3:45.  We will be reviewing everything we have learned this year, and work on some test taking skills.  You have to pick your daughter up by 3:45, or I will have to place her in ASP.  Unfortunately, I will put your child in ASP right at 3:45 because I have a small group I meet with every Monday night.  I look forward to this extra time I can have to help everyone exceed on the test!!

This week, we finished up our work with decimals in math.  We will begin some algebra work the week after next.  We finished Number the Stars today.  We will start Bread and Roses, Too next week.  We started our Civil Rights unit this week.  That will carry over into next week.  We will also be doing writing review, and working on certain skills we are still struggling with, such as depth of development and transitional words.

We have benchmark testing next week.  The past two quarters, we have spread them out over two weeks.  This quarter we are going to knock them out in one week, so we will be testing each morning for two hours.  The following week, on March 7th, we will have our formal writing test.  Although they do not have to pass this test to move onto middle school, it is imperative they do well.  Middle schools use this grade as a factor of which class your daughters will be placed in. 

Next Friday is Read All Day day in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  If your daughter has some Dr. Seuss books at home that we could use for some fun activities, I would greatly appreciate it if they can bring them in.

The girls have been earning letters every time they receive a compliment outside of our classroom.  Their goal was to spell out Sunset Sweethearts.  They finally did it!  Today they got pizza and we watched "Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer" this afternoon.  I'm so proud of them!

Our Marla has a birthday tomorrow!  Happy birthday sweet girl!!

Have a great weekend! 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from the Sunset Sweethearts!!  Thank you so much for all my sweet presents!  I love being your daughters' teacher!

Just a reminder, there is no school tomorrow or Monday.  I will see you back on Tuesday, February 19.  That day is spring picture day.  Your daughter does not have to wear her uniform.  Even if she isn't getting pictures taken, please let her wear a cute outfit.  We are getting our class portrait that day as well. 

This week, we continued our work on multiplying and dividing decimals.  We will continue work on that next week.  In reading, we are reading the novel Number the Stars.  We should finish it next week.  It is such a great book!  We will start Bread and Roses Too next.  In social studies we finished our unit on World War II and the Cold War.  The girls received another integrated squares packet today.  That is their homework over the break.  It is due Tuesday.  We will begin our unit on Civil Rights next week. 

Today, while the girls were at specials, something really cool happened.  President Obama is visiting Georgia today, and while I was outside, AIR FORCE ONE flew right over me!  It was a really cool thing to see in person!

Have a wonderful weekend!  See you Tuesday!!!

Jekyll Island 2013

I can't believe our trip is over!  We had an amazing time!!  This trip never ceases to amaze me.  The girls were so well behaved, we learned a lot, and we bonded even more.  I want to thank all of you again for helping make this trip possible.  Here is a little rundown of the trip.

Monday: We arrived at lunch time.  The kids got their debriefing, and we were ready for classes.  For my group, our first class was orienteering.  They learned how to use a compass and count their paces.  Next, we had beach ecology.  We learned about different animals that live on the beach.  It was really chilly, but absolutely beautiful.  After dinner, we took a night walk on the beach, then took a shark class. 

Tuesday: We went to the marsh for our first class.  The girls had fun putting marsh mud on their faces.  It was like having a facial.  They also had fun falling in the mud too.  After marsh, we did a dock class.  We got to do "belly fishing".  They laid on their stomachs and put their nets in the water.  They caught shrimp, oysters, and algae.  After lunch, we had herpetology.  In this class, we learned about reptiles and amphibians.  We got to pet snakes and turtles.  Next, we went to the north end of the island.  The beach there is covered in petrified trees.  It is absolutely breathtaking.  After dinner, we learned all about marine mammals, then had a fifth grade bonfire.  We made s'mores. 

Wednesday: After breakfast, we went to the maritime forest.  The girls got to climb a 200 year old live oak tree.  For our final class, we got to explore the beach again, by ourselves.

It was a wonderful trip, and I am so glad I got to experience it with your girls. 

If you would like copies of the pictures from the trip, please bring me a blank disc or flash drive.  Thanks!

Just a reminder, there is a four day weekend next week.  We will not have school Friday, February 15, or Monday, February 18. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
 

Ellis Island, Talent Show, and Jekyll Island

Hi everyone!!!  It's been an extremely busy week here at Brumby.  First off, I want to brag on the girls.  I was sick Tuesday and Wednesday with a stomach bug.  The girls were wonderful with the sub.  Especially Wednesday, when we had two 45 minute duck and cover tornado drills.  Thank you so much my lovelies! 

This week I introduced a little bit of our new math unit. We are moving on to decimal multiplication and division.  That will continue the week after Jekyll.  We finished our latest novel, Esperanza Rising.  We started our new novel, Number the Stars.  Its the story of a Danish family who helps their Jewish friends escape the Nazis.  It is a wonderful story!  In social studies we will continue our study of World War II.  The day after we return from Jekyll Island, we will be watching a movie called "The Boy In the Striped Pajamas".  It is rated PG13.  I am sending home a permission slip today.  Your daughter can bring it Monday morning if she is going to Jekyll, or Thursday if she is not.  If I don't get a permission slip back, she will not be able to watch it, even if you don't mind her watching PG13 movies. 

Today was our 2nd annual Ellis Island Day.  The kids did a great job with their costumes, and this hands on type learning is super beneficial for them.  Thank you to all the parents who came to volunteer today.  I will have some photos for you after the Jekyll trip.

We leave for Jekyll MONDAY!!!!! I'm so excited we were able to raise the money to go.  This trip is a once in a lifetime experience for each and every student, and I cannot wait to spend 3 glorious days at the beach with my girls learning all the cool science curriculum we will be learning.  I will be taking my camera with me, so if you want a copy of my pictures, send in a blank disc after the trip, and I will get them copied for you.  I will remind you again after the trip.  Please remember to be here NO LATER than 5am Monday.  Please make sure that your daughter does not bring any electronics other than a camera and phone.  They will not be able to bring them with us.  Finally, remember, no money will be allowed either.  This is going to be a great trip.  The weather is going to be PERFECT!

Finally, the talent show is tonight.  As head of the talent show committee, I can tell you that this year's show is going to be great!  It cost $2 for students and $3 for adults.  The show is from 6:30-8:00.  Pizza and refreshments will be sold.  I hope to see you all there!

Have a great weekend and see you BRIGHT AND EARLY Monday! 

Three Day Weekend!

Hello everyone!  I hope you all had a great week!  I'm sorry I never got to upload the pictures from last week.  The picture uploader on here is still not working.  :( 

I want to thank everyone who made it to Brag Day on Wednesday.  I also love celebrating your daughters' hard work.  Congratulations to everyone who received an award.  Keep up the hard work.

This week we learned all about multiplying fractions by fractions, and fractions by whole numbers.  We also learned how to model these types of problems.  Next week we are learning our last fraction concept, which is division.  We are having a HUGE fraction test next Friday covering everything we have learned about fractions this year.  Make sure they are studying nightly.  They made a fraction book before winter break that they update every time we learn a new concept, so they need to be using that as a reference.  This week in spelling, a lot of people did not do so hot.  As a result, I am starting a new rule.  If your daughter fails her spelling test on Friday, she has to write her words 10 times each over the weekend.  I need you to sign her words, so you know that she had to do them.  Some people who usually do well in spelling are starting to slip, so I want to nip this in the bud.  Thanks for your help with this.  We are finished with our unit on electricity and magnets.  We are starting our unit on World War II.  This is a long unit.  We will probably work on this for about 4 weeks.  We have a lot of material to cover with it.  It is a very moving unit though.  We spend time talking about the Holocaust and Anne Frank. 

I sent home a letter this week about a Jekyll Island meeting we will be having next Thursday, January 24th at 6:30 pm.  We have received a small extension on the money, but we need it all ASAP!  Please plan to attend, especially if you have not paid.  We have a VERY SMALL number of scholarships available, so please attend even if you think you cannot pay for the trip.  I am hoping to see each of you there!

Next Thursday is also our second practice writing test of the year.  The focus will be on informational writing.  The formal assessment is in March, so this practice is extremely important.  Make sure your daughter gets plenty of sleep the night before. 

Just a reminder, there is no school Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day.  Enjoy this three day weekend with your family!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, and WELCOME BACK!!

It was so good to see all my lovely girls this week!  I missed them so much over the break!  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We welcomed two new members to the Sunset Sweethearts this week!  Welcome Kaylah and Shay-Shay!  We are so happy you are a part of our family!  We love our big class!

This was a short week for us.  We got a lot accomplished though.  We started working on adding and subtracting mixed numbers, with regrouping, in math.  Next week we are going to continue that, and start working on multiplying fractions.We started our new novel, Esperanza Rising.  It is really good!  In spelling, we studied sort 17.  We will study sort 18 next week.  We started our new science unit on electricity and magnets.  I assigned an integrated project today that is due next Friday, when we take our assessment.  Please ask your daughters to see the project page.  You have to sign it before she turns it in on Friday. 

There is still no final work on Jekyll Island.  I will let you know as soon as we know.  It does not look good though.  :(

Our second nine weeks brag day is next Wednesday morning at 9am. If you daughter is receiving an award, I sent home an invitation with the report cards.  I hope you can attend!  I'm so proud of how hard everyone worked this past quarter. 

We had one birthday over the break!  Happy birthday Yemi!!!  Sharna' celebrated her birthday today, and Zakiyah celebrates hers Sunday.  Have great days girls!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

For some reason the picture uploaded isn't working.  Keep an eye out for two new pictures.  :)