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!