Archive for January, 2008
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Monday News: Mrs. Albright taught a great lesson today on the wonders of our OPPOSABLE THUMBS! We used tape to figure out how hard life would be without them. We talked about Richard Wright and the Library card and figured out different adjectives to describe this author. These adjectives are called “character traits” and we’ll talk more about them this week. We read to our book buddies at the end of the day.
Tuesday News: We learned more about the words “hinder” and “hindrance” today. Try to use each at home this week. We learned more about identifying “character traits” in the books we read. We also learned about muscles from our YMCA teachers. A great day!
Wednesday News: We had a glorious 2 hour delay this morning, but sadly, very little snow! 
We finished up our NWEA testing in the afternoon, took a spelling test, enjoyed our knitting circle with Mrs. Cantrell and ended up the day writing about “free things” being the BEST things. We’ll publish these pieces of writing in the Fairview Wild Cat Tales book, due out this spring. We’ll work on these pieces of writing next week!
p.s. We’re up to 110 Random Acts of Kindness. 
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Tuesday Notes: We had a busy afternoon, dissecting owl pellets with Mrs. Albright, celebrating Dr. King’s birthday in the gym, and then learning more about healthy eating with our YMCA teachers. Our choir kids sang beautifully at the convocation. Red folders went home today.
Wednesday Notes: Professor Lewison came to school and we worked in our sketch books, responding to the book, Martin’s Big Words. We wrote in our notebooks this afternoon, had DEAR and worked on our lit. log artwork. The YMCA came at 2 and we had team stations. We are doing well learning more about the food groups and a balanced diet. We ended the day with a COLD, but sunny walk around the block. Once around the block is 1/2 a mile. Or 0.5 of a mile if you want to be fancy and use decimals!
Friday Notes: We all took math tests today. In the afternoon, we made INFERENCES about a book called Richard Wright and the Library Card. The Flip Flop Girl literature group met and had a great talk about the ending of that chapter book. We took the math portion of the NWEA test. At the end of the day, we wrote about the article in Time For Kids that interested us the most. A busy and productive day!
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Monday, January 14th, 2008
Monday Notes: Both 3rd and 4th graders are studying decimals right now in math. We read a book called Martin’s Big Words today, using a website on the computer. We also discussed the Person of the Year article in Time For Kids. We have two new class pets!
Wednesday Notes: Yesterday, Professor Menosky visited and read a book to us about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was written by his sister, Christine. Today we worked hard on our essays on the topic, “Variety Is the Spice of Life.” We will enter our essays into the Bloomington Human Rights Commission Annual essay contest.
Thursday Notes: This day felt like a whirlwind! We are still studying decimals in math. Mrs. Kamstra came in and taught a second steps lesson on strategies for keeping calm in stressful situations. We all were excellent at breathing in through our noses and out through our mouths! We studied skeletons and figured out the ways the bones should fit together. After lunch, we read from the “I Have a Dream” speech. After art class, we headed to computer lab and completed some webwork. We ended the day by writing in our reflection journals about our personal best parts of the day. Well done, 201!
p.s. We have recorded 22 random acts of kindness so far!
Dwarf Hamsters Do’s and Don’ts!
Political Cartoons: LABELS
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mr. Bones Activity
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Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Thursday Notes: Today went by quickly! We got a lot done. After math classes, we had Second Steps. We talked about thinking about our behavior and not acting ON IMPULSE! We worked on our American Indian research letters and I think everyone is nearly done! After lunch, we worked in our sketch books and talked more about the important main ideas in the biography of Malcolm X. We had literature circle time and ended up the day in computer lab. I enjoy busy days like this one!
Tuesday Notes: Ms. Heise taught the class a great dance today. It was fun to watch all of you in the music room. In the afternoon, we learned more about the skeletal system. We put together paper skeletons and read about bones on a web page. I really enjoyed working with the “Say What” Literature Circle members. I also loved listening to your conversations about the Malcolm X biography. Well done, 201!
Monday Notes: It was great to see everyone today. We have a new student teacher, Ms. Albright, who will work in our classroom on Mondays this semester. We took notes during the Positive Behavior Support meetings this afternoon. We talked more about the biography of Malcolm X that we read together in December. We helped our book buddies with their goals for 2008.
Weekly Web Work
Martin Luther King Web Pages
Balloon Hat
Political Cartoons: IRONY
The Skeletal System
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