Thursday, September 27

Another soggy day of indoor recess and today proved not so great. Some children did well as always, however, some chose to make some bad choices. Hopefully, after our discussion and wonderful afternoon, that will not happen again. In Math, we continued our work with place and value. In Reader's Workshop, we worked on our Ohio Studies Weekly and vocabulary. Ask your child what gargantuan means and how the President might use it. In Word Study, we "drew" our words. Students had to look up what 5 of their words meant and draw a picture showing the words. We finished our day in the computer lab with Mrs. Parker-Jones. Today was the correct day! We worked with Google Apps and learned about document sharing. Ask your children to show you what we learned today. It is ok if they want to create a document and share it with me to show you.
I'm out tomorrow with a sick kid so you're on your own. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, September 26

What a soggy day, which unfortunately, meant indoor recess. Boo... Anyway, in Math, we took the MAP assessment. This assesses students using a computer program on math skills. It tailors the assessment to how well they perform. As they do well, the degree of difficulty increases. It is given solely for the purpose of another look at their mathematic ability. I am able to see where their strengths and weaknesses are in different math strands (number sense, geometry, etc...) so that I can better help them in Math. After lunch, we listened to the candidates for student council give their speeches and then voted for our class representative. In Reading, we worked more with non-fiction and cause/effect situations, inferencing and comparing and contrasting. In Writer's Workshop, we completed Mad Libs to practice parts of speech and in Word Study we looked around the room and in books for words that fit this week's generalization. We finished our day with Guidance a la Mrs. Vidic.

Tuesday, September 25

Today was a productive learning day. In Math, we played place and value musical chairs, played base 10 exchange, worked with base 10 stamps to identify numbers and had some edible math too! In Reading, we read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to learn and discuss cause and effect. We sorted our words in word study and found the generalization that the letter y, sometimes makes a long vowel sound. We had some extra time before heading to the computer lab so we were able to free write in our Writer's Notebooks. Then we headed down to the computer lab to find that I had the wrong day! So, we marched back to the room and read some more from our read aloud, Loser. Since we had some extra time :) kids were able to share from their Writer's Notebooks and from their recent travels and we played Homeworkopoly. (I'll let you know about the computer lab on THURSDAY, which is the day we are supposed to be there!)

Monday, September 24

Today, we accomplished quite a lot in a short period of time. In Math, we worked more with the place and value of numbers. In Reading, we worked on vocabulary with regards to perspective and making sure the definition fits the circumstance. We also continued our work with non fiction text in reading groups--some worked on comparing and contrasting while others worked with cause and effect. In Writing, we played around with sentences. We finished the day off with a lesson in the library with Mrs. Dorris about using the online catalog searches.

It's Friday, Friday, Friday.... September 21

Hi all! It must be a full moon because today was a little bit crazy! We were loud and goofy but actually got stuff accomplished so I shouldn't complain. Anyway, in Math, we began our unit on whole numbers with discussing the place and value of numbers through millions. This was a little tricky for some so maybe some extra practice over the weekend might be useful. In Reading, we met in our groups and discussed the features of non-fiction text and how they help us and what we find most useful. We wrote in our Writer's Notebooks about things we wonder. What does your child wonder about? You'd be surprised how deep some got. Where is Ohio? We looked at Ohio and it's place in the world, country, etc...as well as the specific geographic features of Ohio.
Have a good weekend,
Mrs. L

Thursday, September 20

Hi all! Great day yet again. In Math, we worked on a math menu which had us playing games, practicing transformations and even trying something a little more challenging-frieze patterns. While they were working independently, I was able to pull small groups and individuals who needed some extra practice. Tomorrow, we're moving on to place and value of whole numbers. In Reader's Workshop, we read some non-fiction articles in Time for Kids and wrote responses to one of the articles that "spoke" to us. In Writer's Workshop, we finished our descriptive paragraphs and wrote freely without boundaries in our newly decorated Writer's notebooks. We finished the Bouncing Ball experiment in Science and talked about the scientific process and collecting and analyzing data.
Enjoy your evening!
Mrs. L

Wednesday, September 19

Ahoy matey! Today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day! Sooo, we HAD to do something for this fun occasion! In Reader's Workshop, one of our activities was to read and understand vocabulary pirates use and then write like a pirate. In Math, we applied our understanding of transformations using our handprints and then writing what kind of transformation we showed and how we know. In Writer's Workshop, we finally decorated our Writer's Notebooks! We also wrote our first academic goal of the year. Ask your child what their goal is and how you can help them to be successful!
Aye!
The Cap'n

Tuesday, September 18

Unfortunately, I was out this afternoon because of a doctor appointment for my daughter so you'll have to ask your kiddo what happened while I was out. I know what I left for the substitute but not sure what all they got to. In Math this morning, we worked with reflections, translations and rotations. We discussed and modeled these ideas and then practiced these skills by playing Tetris, Blokus and using pentominoes. There are a few free Tetris websites out there but I told them I'd let you know the one we were able to gain access to so they could play at home if they wanted:  http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gback/tetris/index.html. Tomorrow is late start so school begins at 11:00.
After while Crocodile!
Mrs. L

Monday, September 17

Today was a little different than usual as I had a meeting to plan with my team, Mrs. Dorr and Mrs. Parker-Jones so I was out of the classroom for about 1 and 1/2 hours this afternoon. However, the kids were in great hands and it seemed like they never even missed me. In Math, we reviewed one thing I noticed needed one more practice from looking over the assessments. After that, we moved on and worked with symmetry and reflections. We will finish with these transformations by week's end and will then be moving onto place and value of whole numbers. In Reading, we are still working with non-fiction text, which is the majority of what we read as adults. We responded to non-fiction, read an article about the history of chocolate (yum) and did some comparing with this article. In Writing, I changed my plans up a bit because I saw so much interest and creativity during math with creating reflections and symmetrical shapes that I decided to use that and have them write descriptive paragraphs about what they created. We had robots, aliens and even just some circles and rectangles. Today is Constitution Day so in Social Studies, we talked about the constitution: what it is, how it came to be and interpreted the preamble. We used a book, We, the Kids and watched a couple School House Rocks videos and I think they have a pretty good grasp about our constitution. Overall, it was a very productive day.
Have a great evening of conversation!
Mrs. L

TGIFriday, September 14

We were very noisy the last two days...Mr. Potato Head lost an ear today... Hopefully, next week we will get back on track. We took our assessment in Math today because after yesterday, I realized they knew what they needed to know and I didn't want to give them busy work when most didn't need the extra practice. I have already graded some of them and overall are doing very well. The mistakes that have been made are not due to misunderstanding but format of the assessment or not paying attention to details. No worries, we will review and visit these geometry skills throughout the year. We have been working on responding to all different types of literature during Reader's Workshop, Read Aloud and homework, so we read each others' blogs and responded to them today. Unfortunately, this didn't first work as planned. I had to remind them that this is school and that they need to respond as readers, not necessarily as friends. We are working on it and I'm confident that as the year progresses, things will come more naturally. I am, however, extremely impressed that kids are reading and writing blogs after school! This is what I've been wanting--authentic reading, writing and interest in learning! in Science, we did an experiment with the bounce of tennis balls when dropped at different heights. With this, we looked at dependent and independent variables, the scientific process/method, working together and collecting data. We also took a sensory walk in the drizzling rain :) to gain inspiration for our writers notebooks.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. L

Thursday, September 13

Uh-oh...Mr. Potato Head lost his ice cream treat...ask your child why he lost something instead of gaining. In Math, we worked in groups to apply what we've been learning about polygons. While students were independently working and playing games, I was able to pull some kiddos over for extra practice/help. They did a great job with this! In Reading, we worked with responding to our read aloud, Loser, played Boggle and one group I worked with invented a secret code! Xf ibe gvo! In Writing, we talked about writing with and without boundaries. We started an inquiry project in Science to help teach us the scientific process, safety and procedures.
Hopefully, see you tonight!
Mrs. L

Wednesday, September 12

Happy day! We are being very productive in all areas. In Math, we continued with geometry by classifying quadrangles by their attributes and reviewing polygons. We are headed for an assessment early next week. In Reading, we are continuing to look at nonfiction text as well as focusing on vocabulary and responding to different texts. In Writing, I'm sure you heard, that we have created our blogs. Visit kid blog.or/MrsLambrightsClass. There, students can update and comment on blogs. Feel free to peruse all student blogs. We also began guidance today which will continue every other week throughout the year.
Hopefully, see you tomorrow at curriculum night!
Mrs. Lambright

Monday, September 10

Today was a great day, as always! In Math, we continued our work on angles and measuring and identifying angles. We continued our work with non-fiction text during Reader's Workshop. In Writing, we had the laptops out and created our individual blogs. Visit kidblog.org/MrsLambrightsClass to access these blogs, however, nothing has been published yet. Check back at the end of the week to read their blogs. The day went quick but we seem to have gotten a lot accomplished!
Enjoy your evening,
Mrs. Lambright

TGIFriday, September 7

Thank goodness it's Friday! Today, we continued our geometry work with angles but introduced a protractor and learned how to use it to measure angles. We continued reading Loser by Jerry Spinelli in Read Aloud which focuses on compassion for a fellow student who isn't exactly like every other student. Love it! Reader's Workshop was a little crazy as kiddos were all doing different things trying to catch up from this week's workboard activities. We are going to begin writing our individual blogs next week so today we found some blogs written by kids and read them to get some ideas as to what blogs are and how they look. They then wrote ideas for their blogs and I can't wait to read them. We will begin writing them next week so be on the lookout for information about where you can find your child's blog. In Social Studies, students are creating their own island maps to show their knowledge of map skills. We used our foot or hand as a template for our island. We love taking off our shoes!
Have a glorious weekend! Go Bucks!
Heather Lambright

Thursday, September 6

I feel like today was actually a normal day! In Math, we continued our work with geometry using geoboards and yarn. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work board work and some students had guided reading. We finished our Important Paragraphs in writing which you can check out at curriculum night next week. Finally, in Social Studies, we practiced and reviewed maps and map skills.
Have a great evening!
Mrs. L

Wednesday, September 5

Today was a very technological day. We spent a good portion of the day in the computer lab today. We first learned about the computers and how to use them appropriately and safely as well as set up our personal accounts. Each student has access to many things at home through HCSD. Their username is their ID number or lunch code. They set up their passwords today and should share them with you only. I will show you some things at Curriculum Night next week that they can do using these logins. The second portion of our computer lab time was spent typing up our important paragraphs. Students are quickly learning very good life skills with typing, editing, fonts, SAVING, etc. We also read a book, Everybody Needs a Rock and then went on a walk to get our own rocks. We then began to set a goal for the beginning of the year. All in all, a great day. By the way, I was a little premature with talking about Homeworkopoly yesterday--we didn't get to it but we did today!
Have a relaxing evening!
Mrs. L

Tuesday, September 4

What a soggy day! Needless to say, we had indoor recess today. :( In Math, we started with our first unit, geometry. It is really more of a refresher from last year although it didn't really seem that way today... We began Guided Reading groups today! We discussed why we read and talked about decoding and different strategies to use when we come to a word we don't know. Ask your kiddo about the Chunky Monkey! In Writer's Workshop, we went to the computer lab to type our Important Paragraphs. Some students need some extra practice with typing... We learned about globes and our world today but what you'll probably hear about most is that we played Homeworkopoly.
Have a great evening,
Heather Lambright