Thursday's Homework

Hello!

Well it looks like it is going to rain tomorrow. Today was awfully rough; most likely due to the holiday tomrrow. I am a little worried about the Halloween behavior and the rain. If you have volunteered to help with the party, please, please, please make sure you come in! The more the merrier and the easier it will be to keep the little gobblins and monsters in check! If the rain continues, the parade will be modified to circle the school....

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Wednesday's Homework

Hello!

Math: Study Links, Page 55
Language Arts: Antonyms and Synonyms
Reminder: Reciprocal Teaching worksheet on the Frankenstein story are due tomorrow, October 30th.Please complete the "Halloween Party" form and return it to me by tomorrow morning. I have already purchased plates, cups and napkins for Friday's festivities. I have also purchased several small pumpkins in case your child is unable to procure one before Friday. Please do not send any candy with your child on Friday or in the weeks to come; I would prefer it if your child enjoyed their Halloween candy at home!

There will be no homework on Thursday evening! Enjoy the rare evening off!

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Tuesday's Homework

Hello! Halloween is almost here and I think I am going crazy! Please keep your child away from the candy. Step away from the candy...


Math: Study Links, Page 51 (I mixed up Monday and Tuesday's homework, Opps!)
Language Arts: Vivid Vocabulary Worksheet - Find as many words as you can with the suffixes -y, -ly, and -ily.

We will be having a Halloween party of some sort on Friday. Please email me with your ideas! I would like to show a movie in the morning and do some sort of holiday art activity. Suggestions and volunteers are more than welcome.

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Monday's Homework

Hello!

• Math: Study Links, Page 53
• Language Arts: Spelling Sort (Sort the words into adjectives and adverbs.)
• Words: fluently, squeaky, squirmy, politely, seriously, readily
• Bonus words: generously, briefly, hastily, eagerly
  
• Other: Reciprocal Teaching with the article Frankenstein's Monster. In class, the students complete one of the four roles (clarify, question, summarize, and predict) in a cooperative Reciprocal Teaching group. As an assessment of the students' progress, I am asking that students complete each of the four roles independently. Due Thursday, October 30, 2008

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Homework

Math: Study for the math test on Friday. The students completed a study guide this afternoon that they can use to help them study for the test.
Language Arts: Vocabulary Story (Optional)

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Homework:

Math: Study Links page 41

Language Arts: Antonyms and Synonyms

Gardening:

Today, we had the pleasure of joining Kate in the garden. The students harvested lettuce and cherry tomatoes and made a salad for everyone to enjoy. Kate also delighted the students with a taste of pumpkin bread. When I mentioned that I loved to cook, she gave me two pumpkins so that I can make some more bread for the class. Thank you, Kate!

Cheers,

Miss Klein

Monday and Tuesday All in One

Hello!

Opps, I forgot to post the homework last night. Sorry about that! I should get 40 lashes with a wet noodle (just joking, of course.)

Monday's Homework:

Math: Study Links page 41
Language Arts: Word Hunt with the prefixes pre- (before), fore- (before), post- (after), and after- (after.) This weeks key words are:

1. Preposition
2. Prehistoric
3. Forethought
4. Afterword
5. Postdate
6. Prefix
   

Tuesday's Homework:

Math: Practice Set 15 (Students are learning to multiply decimals)
Social Studies: Native American Project due October 27, 2008 . Students will be given time in class to do research on their tribes as well as access to multiple books and resources. This is the culminating project for social studies this quarter.

Substitutes:

Please talk with your child about their behavior today. I had a half-day substitute today so that I could finish the reading assessments. In the words of one of the students, the class was "wretched" today. The students wrote letters home explaining their behavior. Please sign the letter and return it with your child tomorrow.

Upcoming events:

District Writing Test (Memoir) on Thursday, October 23rd
District Math Test on Friday, October 24th
Social Studies Projects due on Monday, October 27th
Halloween Party (?) and Parade on Friday, October 31st
Parent Conferences will begin the week of November 3rd. I will send a sheet reminding you of your scheduled appointment or requesting you to sign up for an appointment this week.

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Hello!

Homework:

Language Arts: Vivid Vocabulary Story using the six key words. Students will be asked to write sentences on Fridays as a way of evaluating that word learning.
Math: Stacy (Study Links) page 39 and study for the Math Quiz on Friday (students should have brought home an annotated study guide and/or their vocabulary word rings).

Assorted News Items:

• The BAM Buck Store will open this Friday after lunch. Thank you to Anne (Rebecca's mother) for volunteering to help run the store!
  
• Students will get a chance to vote on Miss Klein's Halloween costume on Friday. I will post the results of the vote on my blog over the weekend.
  
• We will finally finish the Native American unit early next week and begin learning about the explorers. Students will be placed into new table groups for this next unit. I will allow them to choose appropriate groups, within reason.
  

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Hello!

Homework:

Language Arts: List the synonyms and antonyms of the words listed below. Then draw a picture to illustrate each of the six words (you may want to use words to annotate your pictures.) Here are the six key vocabulary words we are working on this week:

1. informal
2. infrequent
3. unknown
4. dishonest
5. discourage
6. mischief

Math: Stacy (Study Links) page 37

Star Athletic Students:

Congratulations to the following students for volunteering to run a mile today (9 laps of the field): Jaime, Lila, Loren, Rebecca, Angel R., Chiharu, Harper, Jazmyn, Dray, Diamond, and Marcell. They will each receive a BAM Buck for their efforts tomorrow.

Friday Math Quiz:

We will be having a math quiz on Friday. The following areas will be covered on the quiz:

1. Partial sums algorithm
2. Trade-first subtraction algorithm
3. Adding and subtracting decimals (especially in combination with whole numbers, such as 8 - 2.3 = n)
4. Place value from one hundred million through thousandths
5. Expanded notation
6. Key vocabulary terms: Maximum, minimum, mean, mode, median, and range
7. Prime factorization

Cheers, Miss Klein

P.S. I still have a cold, but I am hanging in there. I will survive! Thank you to Sarah for the tea this morning.

Word Wizards

Greetings!

Today we were all sad to say goodbye to Ilya. He is returning to England to finish the school year. Sarah Williams (Thank you!) made some delicious cupcakes to say "goodbye" and many of the students made cards.

Language Arts: Today the students sorted a list of words by the following prefixes: un- (not), in- (not), dis- (not / undo), and mis- (bad / badly). They then made a list of the sorted words on the "Vivid Vocabulary" worksheet. Tonight the students will list as many additional words with the above prefixes as they can think of. (Students should not use a dictionary or thesaurus; that would be cheating!!!!)

Math: Practice Sheet 12

Word Wizards:

Every week, the students will add six new language arts vocabulary words to their word rings. In an effort to get the word learning to go beyond rote memorization (transferring the words from the short to long term memory), students will be asked to look for the six new words beyond the classroom. They will be given points for each time they find the word in text or they use the words in their daily conversation and writing. Unfortunately, I left the words in the classroom this afternoon. The students should have highlighted their words on the "Vivid Vocabulary" worksheet. The first two words were: Informal and infrequent. I will post the rest in the morning.

Cheers,

Miss Klein

PS. I seem to have come down with a cold, but I have made a promise not to miss a day of school. I will do my best to hang in there!

Multicultural Potluck

Shalom!

I had the pleasure of attending the multicultural potluck this evening. Friday is my day to catch up on laundry and sleep. I wasn't planning on attending, but Loren and Gavin convinced me to stick around. After a long walk down to the corner of Cedar and San Pablo with Miss Hamilton, I was recharged after a long day of work.

It was a great event! I love the BAM families and their dedication to the school. I have never had the pleasure of working with such a dedicated and enthusiastic PTA. There was so much food and cheer, it was amazing! I got to chat with Shira, Loren, Gavin, Honey, Chiharu, and their families.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful school. I am so happy to be at BAM and I hope to stick around for years to come!

Cheers,
Miss Klein

PS. I sent Reading Logs home with the students today so that students can record their reading on Monday. Have a great three day weekend!

Thursday's Homework

Greetings!

Today was a little rough. During mathematics, we tried to play a game with the Everyday Math Grab-It Gauges, but it proved too difficult for the students to focus on. After the failed attempt at the game, it was hard to reign the students back in. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Tonight's homework:

• Language Arts: List the synonyms and antonyms for six of the words from the vocabulary list. Then draw a picture for each word.
• Math: Practice Set 8
• Reading and Homework Logs are due tomorrow (please make sure to get everything signed.)
  

Cheers,

Miss Klein

Reminder, there will be no school for students on Monday, October 13th. I will pass out the Homework and Reading Logs tomorrow (Friday) for next week.

Students who have completed all of their homework this week will receive a BAM Buck on Friday; this includes the Reading Log. I may choose to pay additional BAM Bucks for work well done, like neat Reading Logs, but I will decide in the morning...

Hello!

I absolutely love the fall, but I can't wait for the weather to cool down...

Vivid Vocabulary

Hello!

Today was a great day! We have started writing groups and we are getting ready to start Reciprocal Teaching groups next week! Yeah! I am really happy with the progress the students have been making...

Tonight's homework is to write a "Spelling Story" with eight of the words we are working on this week. (Spelling is a misnomer, we are really working of learning new vocabulary words.) The words this week fall into four distinct groups:

Un- words: Unopened, unread, unheated, unattached, unplanned, and unglued
Re- words: Repackage, reinstall, reconsider, reaction, reform, and reassure
Dis- words: Discontinue, distrust, disorder, disengage, disease, and disclose
Mis- words: Misfortune, mislead, misconduct, misplace, misstep, and mistake

Cheers,
Miss Klein

(If the students use more than eight of the vocabulary words, they will get a BAM Buck.)

Walk to School Day!

Hello!

Tomorrow is International Walk to School Day! Please try your best to walk to school, if it is possible. I have been wracking my brain to try to figure out the best way for me to get to school tomorrow... I live a good 8 miles from campus and I pick a student up on my way in. Tomorrow, I will park way down below Martin Luther King and walk the rest of the way to school. That is the best solution I could come up with. Please feel free to email me if you have a better idea.

Tonight's homework:
Math: Stacy (Study Links) page 33 and Practice Worksheet 11
As always, read 20 minutes and record your summary on the pink Reading Log.

Cheers,
Miss Klein

P.S. (Just for students...) If you walk to school and can convince your parents to write you a short, signed note, I will gladly give you a BAM Buck.

Monday's Homework

Happy Monday!

Tonight's homework is:
Language Arts: Context clues worksheet
Math: Place Value Addition

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Friday News

Opps! I forgot to post again...

Last night's homework was one page from the mathematics Study Links
book, also known as Stacy. In addition, students turn in their green
Reading Folders with their pink Reading Logs every Friday. (I did not
receive eight out of 26 folders today. Yikes!)

The students got to experiment with a multi-object organic still life this
afternoon. We used artist charcoal which tends to make quite a mess.
I have applied for a grant to buy additional art supplies, including charcoal
pencils, which are definitely less messy and easier to work with. In the
interim, please feel free to send a smock with your child for Fridays, if you are worried about their clothing. If I receive the BPEF grant, this year will culminate in the students painting a still life on a stretched canvas. Cross your fingers!

Today the students got to go to the BAM Bucks Store. They were quite
happy with their purchases. Thank you for your donations and checks; I
plan to do some shopping this weekend and add some new and exciting
items to our store.

We will begin the formal writing workshop program on Monday. Yeah!
The students will work on their memoirs in small, ability-leveled groups.
Mr. Weis and I will also begin to work on higher-level spelling skills next
week, focusing on word solving strategies (root words, suffixes, and
prefixes.)

Here comes the rain! Stay dry and
have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,
Miss Klein

Wednesday Homework

Hello!

Picture day was crazy! Any little thing that throws off our daily schedule totally
disrupts the flow of the classroom. I have made a promise to the students not
to ever be sick this year because I can't imagine leaving them with a substitute...
Let's hope I can keep that promise!!!

Language Arts: Context clues worksheet. Again, students will receive extra credit
for identifying the type of context clues in each sentence. (I will publish a list of
the context clues the students have identified, as a class, on the internet, when I get a chance.)

Cheers,
Miss Klein

PS. Happy October! I think I will solicit student suggestions for my Halloween
costume this year. Please feel free to send me some ideas and/or help me to put
something wonderful together.