Hi everyone! I miss you all sooooo much! I have loved getting emails from some of you! Please feel free to email me by hovering over the More tab and clicking "Contact Me Here!" I have been enjoying subbing in my old school districts. I have gotten to see many of my old students, and tons of my teacher friends. Being here feels like being back home. <3 I am hoping that your third quarter is going well! Keep working hard towards those AM and AR goals. I know you will rock it out! Today, Gracie had a couple of firsts. She had her first face plant into the cement (poor baby!), and sat on an ATV for the first time! She loves cars, trucks, motorcycles, trains and airplanes - pretty much anything that makes an engine sound! Her favorite cartoon is Blaze, which is pretty much a cool monster truck show - lol. Here is the video of her first time hearing and feeling an engine close up! (you will notice that her nose is scraped up from her face plant - boooo) SO what books are you reading right now, and why should I read it? Comment below!! I got this from a student today, and it was all I could do to hold it together. I haven't even told them my news yet, My students are so grateful - BUT I am MORE grateful.
I am grateful for parents like you who have supported me, been patient with me, communicated with me, and encouraged me. You have been a blessing and a comfort, and I thank you. I am grateful for a staff of special people who I have worked with since the start of last school year. They are fun, passionate, LOVE your students and put up with me. ;) For that, I am thankful. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to get to know your child. Each of these kiddos is unique, and they put a smile on my face every day. I have had the pleasure of teaching them, encouraging them, supporting them, loving them, expecting much from them, and even kicking them in the patootie every now and then. I am INCREDIBLY blessed. These kids make every day that I leave Gracie at daycare worth it. I am so very thankful - Your kiddos are worth it, and that's why this is so difficult. My husband has accepted a coaching job at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau. He has already headed that way (things move fast in the coaching world). After much prayer and agonizing, we decided that keeping our family together is our top priority, so I have submitted my resignation as your "Awesome" teacher. I have 2 more beautiful weeks to soak up every ounce of your kids, and make them believe that they are incredible, talented, kind people who can make a difference in this world. I hope that what I have poured into them this year will be lasting, because they truly are a bright light here on earth. My last day will be Feb 5th, and I am breaking the news to your student today. I don't have details about my replacement, but we have some incredibly talented people who can fill my shoes immediately. Please let me know your questions as they come up. All of my love, Mrs. Blake Mrs. Lane is one of our favorite teacher's in the 4th grade hall. Just hear how Senna and Kaitlyn gush! Our last reading project of the year is underway, and kids are getting excited! Each student will be responsible to completing a Book Recommendation Poster. I handed out the rubrics for these before break, and we talked about the expectations. I handed out another rubric this week, and students chose which book (that they read this quarter) that they would like to recommend. Below is the rubric itself as well as a picture of some completed posters from another class as an example. This can be completed any time between now and next Friday. Students who are on track with their AM and AR goals have already started working on these during RTI this week while I DIBLES test. I will be making posters available to those who have finished their written work, poster sketch plans, and are ready to move on to the creative part!
Holiday Christmas Party Friday from 1-2pm:
Bring a gift for the gift exchange! (This is OPTIONAL - $5.oo maximum!) Bring $1 donation for Mrs. Meyer's (our 4th grade aid) Gift Bring a snack! (no drink - except for water!) Students have been rotating to other classrooms to get some individualized multiplication instruction this week! Based on the last assessment, we grouped students with similar needs and abilities, and are giving them support and challenges based on their needs. Our math page has great resources, lesson videos, and games to help students with various multi-digit multiplication strategies. Also, basic fact practice links can be found there as well. i am very pleased to see most students growing weekly in their mastered facts! This will help greatly come division time! On Friday, students should be at 40% of both their AM and AR goals. Remember, the actual requirement is 10 points this quarter, but students still have the goals that they set for themselves in the system - so TOPS reports will reflect these goals. Each night, student should be reading at least 20 min of AR and working on an AM practice. This will help greatly in staying on track to meet those learning goals! We also started something new this week: Literacy Stations/Centers. Students will use reading and language arts times throughout the week to complete these independent and partner stations. They will focus on spelling practice, word work, the reading lesson skills, close reading, and writing. This week they are required to complete 4 stations: spelling sort, AR 360 on fact and Opinion, Use Your Senses Writing, and one of the following: Fact and Opinion on Hollywood Horses, and Close Reading on Caribou. They also can complete a center on homophone and spelling cursive practice. Once these stations are compete, students will have extra AR time to work towards their goals! I will be working with small groups and individuals at these times. I will leave you with this - in honor of cheeseburger day in the cafeteria <3 Accelerated Reading Expectations: We do not have an official reading log that lists a certain nightly reading expectation. Instead, we have our AR log to write down the reading that we do, and I remind students daily, on the way out of the door, to have their book and READ, READ, READ! Your student does not get AR reading time daily in class, so they definitely need to be reading at home! I suggest 20-30 minutes a night (or more if your student is an avid reader). Most students will quiz weekly. (Students working on super large novels may only test monthly!) They will not be permitted to quiz at home - only at school!
AR Goals: I think I was bale to mention to most of you that the goals will be changing a little bit this quarter, and we are all pretty jazzed about it! As far as the percent of goal grades are concerned - EVERYONE'S goal is 10 points! However, students have still elected to keep the goals that they set for the quarter, so TOPS reports, AR Folders and class goal charts will reflect the goals they have set. After students reach the 10pt mark, they will have earned the privilege of reading with a partner or literature circle (book club). The focus this quarter will be on COMPREHENSION. So, students are working to get their comprehension as close to 92% as possible!! Accelerated Math Expectations: AM is great program that gives students extra practice opportunity on math objectives that are expected to be mastered in their fourth grade year. Students ALWAYS have a practice to work on, which should be kept in the clear plastic sleeve labeled "AM" in their binder. I suggest finishing at least 1 page of AM a night. They do not have to finish their entire practice, but if they are jazzed about it and don't have a bunch of other work to do, have at it! Practices CAN be scored at home, but in order to print the TOPS report, you will have to click to find it! Also, it will not print a new practice (I don't think!), but I can take care of that in class if the student asks me to. We do have AM work time three times a week or so, but again, it will take some work at home to meet goals (especially for those students who chose not to use class time wisely). AM Goals: Am goals will continue the same as they did last quarter. The TOPS report for AM is different than AR and does not have those visual bars reflecting goal progress. However, at the bottom right of all AM TOPS there is a summary of objectives earned, objectives goal, and objectives ready to test. As students complete practices, their mastery of specific objectives is communicated to the AM system. If a student does well enough on their practice, an objective may then be test ready. When a student earns 5 objectives to test on, I generate a test for them, and they complete that here in school. This is how objectives are earned towards goals. SO - finish those practices to earn tests! :D AM and AR Party: The party this quarter will be a celebration of all the hard work students put in. Students will not need to earn this reward by meeting their goal - we fully expect all students to meet their 10 pt goal and keep their comprehension above 85%. ALL students will be included in this celebration!
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AuthorHello! I am Mrs. Blake, and this is my second year teaching 4th grade at Brandon Elementary. I have 6 years of teaching experience, and a Masters in Education from Southwest Baptist University. My husband, Coach Blake, is a football coach for University of Sioux Falls. I love to watch his team play, as well as watch my students play sports, dance, do martial arts, sing, play an instrument - pretty much anything that they do! I have a daughter named, Grace, who will be 1 year old on October 28th, and she is THE BEST! Archives
January 2016
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