VBSD Teacher Space

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I have spent my time sleeping in, potty training my new puppy, going to a math workshop, and traveling a little bit. I’m so excited to get to know my class for next year. I know it’s going to be a great year. I will definitely miss my kids from last year. Hopefully they will all come back to visit!

I hope all of you kiddos are reading this summer and I hope you are getting lost in great books! Send me some suggestions of any new books you have read that you love!!

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Our class did an amazing job on the Realistic Fiction stories. They worked so hard, and the ending product was wonderful!

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This month, we are studying realistic fiction in Reading and Writing. Students are each reading their own realistic fiction book taht they enjoy. As a class, we are reading “The Great Gilly Hopkins.” In writing, students are learning how to write realistic fiction stories. We are learning that in most realsitic fiction stories, the main character wants something, has several problems they face to get what they want, and then something changes for there to be a solution. The kids are doing an AWESOME job writing these stories. I can’t wait to see the end product!

Our party will be on February 13, 2009. If you would like to volunteer to bring something, please let me know. All parents are welcome to attend.

Please be sure that your child is bringing home their reading log and agenda every night! They should have a “Homework Folder” where you can find their agenda that will have all of their homework listed. Every child is expected to: Read at least 20 minutes (with someone), study spelling words, and study multiplication cards. They should also be writing in any work that they did not finish in class.

I cannot stress enough, the importance of reading every night. Research shows that a child who reads at home, performs FAR better throughout their school years than a child who does not. Also, I tell the students all the time, it is crucial that they know their multiplication facts by heart before they leave 4th grade. I taught 5th grade for the past 2 years, and if a child does not know their math facts, they will struggle until they learn them. It is not in the 5th grade curiculum for them to learn their basic facts.?They should know them by then.?Students are given time to read and study multiplcation facts at school, but it needs to be done at home as well.

Students usually will not have much more homework than these basic things that I have just talked about. They only time that they will, is if they do not finish something else during class time. If you have any questions, please let me know.

8:00-8:40 Word Study (Rise & Shine is on Mondays and Fridays from 8:00-8:15)

8:40-9:45 Pull-Out (Art, Technology, Library, P.E., Music)

9:45-11:00 Reading Workshop

11:00-11:45 Writing Workshop

11:45-12:45 Lunch/Recess

12:45-2:00 Math

2:00 Science/Social Studies

Our district gave us an inservice day to teach us and let us work on putting together our Teacher website. On this page, you will find more information about what we are learning and working on in class. I will try as hard as I can to keep everything up to date. You will also find pictures from class projects. If you have any questions, you can send me feedback on the website. Hopefully this will be one more convenient way to keep in touch with everyone!