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!