Andersen's Innovative Thinkers

Baby it's cold outside

2012-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

We are so lucky to be having a new helper in our classroom. Miss Swanson from Maple Mountain High School. She will be coming into our classroom twice a week in the afternoons to help us with math and other assignments.

HOMEWORK QUESTION: What did Miss Swanson say her favorite color was ______________?

What did she say was her favorite school_____________________________?

Look for our country dolls coming home! WE have enjoyed having them up in our hallway and are sad to say good bye to them

We are beginning a new term so let's start fresh and get all our homework turned in and read read READ!

Christmas Around the World!

2011-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Mexico

We are learning so much about different countries. Thanks to all of you for your efforts from home and sharing with our class your wonderful experiences, ideas and traditions!

Let the Holidays Begin...

2011-11-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been CRAZY busy... We have had a Halloween parade, party fun and our trafalga reward party...Great times! We were also able to fit in lots of reading, math, science and social studies. We have been learning about our night sky and the different phases of the moon. We are also learning about different Native Americans and creating our own personal journal about the different groups of Native American Indians. We finished up our Unit on Place Value (but will spend the rest of the year revisiting and using it). Our class is improving on the reading skills, PLEASE remember to read at home, along with reading to your child, have them read to you and with you and afterwards you can ask them questions about what they read...TALK about YOUR READING. LAST month we began our 2nd Grade journals, these journals will include many wonderful thoughts and adventures about your child. Look for these treasures to come home at the end of the year.

Christmas Around the World...It's beginning. We are starting our first Country Report presentations this week, it will be so exciting to learn about all the wonderful cultures. We have been practicing for our 2nd grade program which will include a wonderful trip around the worlds as your child learns different Christmas songs from other countries. We also sent home a recipe page for you to fill out a good family traditional recipe (of any kind). We will collect these and then make a book for each student. Looking forward to an enjoyable family filled Thanksgiving break...ENJOY And for those of you who would like to brush up on your math over the holidays, I have included a couple of math links to the side that will give you all sorts of games and practice! Happy Times :)

Halloween Parade

Trafalga FUn

Laser Tag with Mrs. Smith

Brave Teachers

More Brave Teachers...

Crazy Fall Time

2011-10-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Happenings in Second Grade

Our "Rock" day. We did a ton of fun things with our rocks and did all the things good scientists do as we discovered and explored!

Mr. Harward handed out hundreds of pumpkins, I bet is arm was tired but we all LOVED them!!!!

We had math pumpkin rotations with our entire second grade! THANKS Mr. Harward!

We had a special visitor on Johnny Appleseed Day.

Mr. Andersen brought a big, friendly dog to show us...

Fall has come to our classroom

2011-09-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

Crazy Fun times in our classroom!!!!

Our awesome walk up Maple Canyon

Resting along the way!

We love the mountains!

But most of all we LOVE LUNCH! and taking a break! YEA!

We saw many rocks and formations along the way

We had many smiles and Grins!

Johnny Appleseed came to visit our classroom with some of his fury friends...We used our good science skills to make observations and predictions about apples and then dried, ate and enjoyed them. We learned that there are over 7500 different varieties of apples. That is definitely a WOW!

Remebering Those who serve

2011-09-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

We spent a wonderful day remembering those who have served us and still serve us in our towns, our communities and our COUNTRY. We read the book "September 12th, we knew everything would be alright". It was written by some First Graders in Missouri after 9-11. We worked with our buddies to write thank you notes to our local Police Dept. and our Firefighters. Some of our students had a neighbor or family member who serves in the Military and they chose to write a letter to them. Later that day we went out with Mrs. Sandberg's class where we Sang the Star Spangled Banner and Released red, white, and blue balloons in honor of those who sacrificed so much to make our country a great place to live and be safe! We appreciate Mrs. Reoach, Mrs. Nielson, and Mrs. Erickson for all the help in pulling our memorable day off!! We had a real spirit of Patriotism.

This week we will work on learning how to follow directions, adding facts to 10 and 9 and different math strategies that will include skills of number sense. Our spelling words are long vowel with e ending words and our vocabulary this week are; tryouts, squad, victory, and confidence. We will work on reading more fluently by reading with a buddy and together as a class.

Your students are great predictors and love to share their thinking!

Thanks for all you do from home!

Verbal Judo and Other Things

2011-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of fun stuff has been happening this past week! A lot of you have expressed an interest in knowing more about our Verbal Judo Class. We have a special guest who will be coming in to our class two more times. Mr. Hughes has been teaching the children how to bully proof themselves in a respectful manner. Students are learning how to react in a calm manner and how to feel strength while they are doing it. He is teaching our students how to be good citizens. His lessons have been valuable and I hope are being practiced at home. Ask your children to tell you as much as they can remember. He stays for 40 minutes for 4 different lessons, each child participates in a circle and as they answer questions they receive a belt and stripes on their belt for participation. They will be coming home with their belt sometime this week.

We have been learning about our COUNTRY'S symbols such as the Statue of Liberty, our Flag, The Nation's Capitol, The White house, The Washington Monument etc.

Our spelling words this week are: much, chin, bath, ship, shop, wish, both, thin (Challange Words) announced, whispered, recited, beautiful, tiptoed. We will read the story RUBY the Copy Cat. Ask your child what happens in the story FIRST NEXT THEN and LAST. Our Vocabulary words this week are: tiptoed, announced, murmered, modeled, whispered, recited, scribbled, coincidence, beautiful, and pleasant. Try to use these words in your conversations this coming week and see if your child knows what they mean.

We will be benchmarking for reading groups this Thursday and begin our centers NEXT week, Monday Septemeber 12th. If you have signed up to help with centers you can start coming next week!

Thanks for all you HELP and SUPPORT! I LOVE MY CLASS!!!

Our First Week of School

2011-08-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

What an exciting week! We kept very busy!we learned all the awesome procedures at our school and things are going fabulously! I love my class and feel it a privilege to be their teacher!

This week we started off by learning "verbal" Judo. Mr. Hughes will be visiting our class for the next couple of weeks teaching us how to stand up for ourselves in a respectful manner as well as how to be a good representative of our school, our families and our communities! We look forward to the many lessons we can learn from him!

This week our story is Ronald Morgan, a baseball story, our VOCABULARY words for the week are: slugger, worst, smacked,

We also learned about the meaning of "OPINION" and the "Commutative property of Addition". We are a very smart class full of willing minds!

We will also learn this week about our American Symbols such as the FLAG, Eagle, Stars & Stripes, Statue of Liberty, US capital building etc. If you have a chance to look at or discuss some of these things at home with your students have your child share it with me and I will give them a reward!

Remember to READ READ READ, that will be the majority of homework this year! My expectations are 100 minutes a week. The first week we will count as a practice week until we get in the swing of things. ALSO, remember that homework is due every Friday.

Remember to follow us on twitter @2ndgradetwits and email me at anytime. If you did not receive a magnet with our blog address, twitter and email please let me know. They were given out at Back to School Night.

Hip Hip Hooray...WE ARE IN SECOND GRADE!

2011-08-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for the upcoming school year! We are bound to have lots of fun and adventurous times!

I can't wait to learn all about you! ONE THING YOU CAN DO to help us get to know each other better is to send a photo of yourself (with your family included if you would like) to either my email address (listed at the side) or to the school by AUG. 18th. WE hope to have these up before you arrive!

BELOW are items that you may wish to donate to our classroom to help us get started:

GLUE STICK(always need tons of glue stick!)

HAND SOAP

KLEENEX

REWARD TREATS

small pencil sharpeners for our colored pencil tubs

ALSO...We LOVE Parent Volunteers in our classroom, please look for a sign up sheet at our Open House. The following are things we love parents to be a part of: Center time (Mon-Thur a.m.), Class Parties, Field trips, at home help, one-to-one help as needed.

Here are a few things about myself to help you get to know me better: I love teaching and can't wait for the year to begin. This summer has been full of family activities and lots of good times. I spent a week in beautiful Seattle, Washington where I went hiking, rode the ferry across the harbor, watched some fireworks and had lots of family laughter! I enjoy all sorts of music, we were able to go to Boise, Idaho to see Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (a very fun Bluegrass Band). I love traveling, especially with my family! I have three very busy sons who all play in a band together. My oldest son returned this year from Germany and attends BYU, my middle son is headed off to Utah State and my youngest son goes to Maple Mountain High School. We love watching movies together, playing games and eating lots of yummy goodies! I read several books this summer (I LOVE READING!) and can't wait to talk about them with you! My favorite foods are steak, chocolate and diet dr. pepper. I love working in my yard, mowing my lawn and growing vegetables and flowers! I love art! I had hopes one day of being an artist but felt that I could share this love better as a teacher! We will do lots of fun projects together!

What a Wonderful Year!

2011-05-01T21:43:00.001-07:00

Just a shout out to all the families involved in my classroom! We have had such a wonderful and successful year...This I credit to such good children and parent support! THANKS
I will surely miss them but know you are looking forward to your summer break. I am always hear for any help needed through out the years!

Our Class ROCKS!

2011-03-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

Lots of FUN with Rocks! Each of our students became geologists today and did many different scientific experiments with different kids of rocks. Measuring, weighing, testing smell and texture as well as observing them under a magnifying glass. THAT'S WHAT GOOD SCIENTISTS DO!

Our crazy November

2010-11-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

Needless to Say...WE HAVE A CLASS FULL OF TURKEYS!

We had a wonderful November. We have grown and learned so much, just in one month! We know all about shapes both flat and three dimensional and are becoming more proficient at time!
We had two days full of rotations learning about pilgrims and Native Americans and made a fact book about the different Native Americans.

We also began our Country Reports in preparation for our trip around the World in December! A big thanks to all our Moms and Dads who have helped us prepare and have come to share with our class!

We finished up another Unit Literacy Test and Vocabulary Test! We did GREAT! We will be taking a Shapes Test this week to show how much we know.

Most of all we have been Enjoying our teacher Mrs. Muir. She has brought so much "fun" into our classroom and we are excited to have her teach us for the next two weeks before she has to say goodbye! She is fabulous!

Look for more fun to come in December has we fly off to different countries and learn how they celebrate Christmas and Holidays!

October a Busy Month

2010-10-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

What we have learned this month...
Nouns, verbs, contractions, homophones, place value, missing addends and minusends, being a good friend, oragami, what we would do if we were president, voting, elections, Columbus, moon phases...WOW! and so much more, second grade ROCKS!
Lots of fun ways to learn it all! We had a great time at Farm Day! We learned about the important food groups farm safety, bees, wheat, animals and keeping clean and healthy!

We made fabulous pictures with our colorful creative leaves!

Thanks to the Harwards we had a great Pumpkin day full of math and science activities!

Remember SEP's Thursday October 28th

Fall is HERE!

2010-09-21T15:01:00.017-07:00

We are HAVING A BALL! OUR CLASS ROCKS! We have learned so much already and only 5 weeks of school!

We officially had our 20th day of school today, only 80 more to go until our 100th day. We counted by 2's to 20, made 20 leaves on apples and drew 20 things we would NOT like to find in an apple. We have been practicing our math facts with MANY different strategies; COUNTING ON, DOUBLES, DOUBLES plus 1, touch points and much more. There are so many different ways to do math.

We are reading a story this week about the famous photographer George Ancona. Our vocabulary words are photographer, camera, amusement, favorite, explored, artist, and imagination. Don't forget to study for our spelling test on Friday. Getting our spelling words down along with the sounds really helps us to become better readers!

We will continue to learn about our Country's famous symbols and places, we will study more about the Declaration of Independence and I will give a treat for all those who can memorize the preamble if that is something you also want to work on at home.

We have been learning lots of fun FALL songs during our second grade singing. I have enjoyed listening to their enthusiasm and voices!

REMEMBER that the most important part of our second grade homework is READING. Try to read 20 minutes at least 5 days a week.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email or call at anytime :)

Sounds, Sights and Smiles

2010-09-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Exploring with our Musical instruments
Making a literacy connection with our instruments
Playing addition War

We had a busy couple of weeks. We are up and Rolling in our Sensational Second Grade Class! We have already read three stories in our literacy place, with each other and by ourselves. We have been learning how to make predictions, notice what the author is trying to tell us and learning lots of NEW and exciting vocabulary words. Ask you child what coincidence and confidence mean? You will be amazed!

We have been practicing our Math facts and fact families to 10. Practice flash cards were sent home today which should help your child see the patterns of their addition facts. We worked with a 10 frame today in adding past 10.

WE learned about 9-11 and read a story written by first graders called. September 12th. We made amazing self portraits that will soon adorn our hallway and are learning our place in our world.

Thanks for all your wonderful donations to our Jazzy Jewelry Basket! It looked amazing and was a big hit at the auction.

REMEMBER to help your child read each night for about 20 minutes. That is the most important homework they could do! Thanks for all your support and your wonderful children. Each Day is an awesome adventure!!!

A Great Beginning

2010-08-30T16:20:00.001-07:00

(Note: pictures will be posted by Tuesday 8-31)

We had a fabulous week because we have a FABULOUS class!

We talked about "how NOT to make friends" and "How to be a good Friend" We did our first sample of writing that hung in the hallway. I was completely impressed but how much your children could do for a First of Year. WOW!

We had several exciting activities with our other second grade classes and enjoyed a morning with our 6th grade Buddies in Mrs. Hansen's class. We learned that no matter what we do or how we do it, IT is all important and we all make a difference in the world.

We have been studying our FACT families to 10 by practice, dice and several different games.

We named our fish: Bob, Blackie, Big Daddy, speedy

We even ended the week with our first spelling test, wooo, I'm already worn out just writing about all we did the first week. I bet your children were sleeping like logs this past weekend.

THIS week we will be starting a new story: Ronald Morgan goes to Bat, we will be bringing a picture by the end of the week to make trading cards. Our spelling words were sent home today along with your reading calendar and a math practice worksheet.

We read Max's Two Sticks this morning and all took turns with percussion instruments.
We learned what each word means in the Pledge of Allegiance and created some Tare-Art Flags which are hanging in our hall for you to enjoy.

News from the PTA: Remember the Fall Extravaganza that is just around the corner, we will be collecting items in our classroom for an auction basket. Look for ANOTHER note to come home. You can pre-order tickets starting today, send the money back in an envelope that has been provided.

WELCOME to OUR CLASS

2010-08-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have you and your family be apart of my class this year! I am looking forward to teaching second grade and all the adventures that we will share together.

Here are a few pics of my summer adventures. I look forward to hearing all about yours!

Hope you had a fabulous summer! Until the 24th!

Mrs. Andersen

SOCK PUPPETS

2010-04-03T19:13:00.001-07:00

Here are some great ideas for sock puppets. They can be as simple or extravagant as you would like. The face can be glued on, sewn on or drawn on with permanent marker. HAVE FUN! Can't wait to see what arrives at school in a couple of weeks! Remember to fill out your yellow puppet sheet.

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

2010-03-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

We are Busy... (Pictures displayed at bottom)

MATH: We finished up a math unit by making proportional mini me's and taking a test on percentages and decimals...all very practical math that students will USE daily in their lives. We are starting are Unit on Integers (counting numbers, their opposites and Zero) Will be adding, subtracting and multiplying positive and negative numbers.

SOCIAL STUDIES: WE had an awesome activity on the Black Death where we reenacted the Eyam Plague (a small town in England). We learned about where it came from, how it started, how it was carried, things they tried to do to protect themselves and what it looked like. We will continue on this week with Feudalism. '

SCIENCE: We will have 3 more lessons on Moon Phase before we test. Your students can bring home their science binders anytime to study. Please continue to check out the moon each night, whether in the sky or on the web. We had a beautiful 1st quarter last night...very visible! (Of course I was up late).

LITERACY: We will finish up our POETIC devices and begin writing more poetry. We are doing literacy circles right now and when finished up with those your student will pick a BOOK of their CHOICE to read and do a book project on it to share with the class.

What's happening this week...3rd Term almost over...

2010-03-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Having the winter time blues is very common, so as a result I challenged our class to earn 85 behavior points in 4 weeks...And to no surprise...They did! We had an awesome reward party where we all enjoyed each other. I have such a kind hearted group of kids!

What's happening this week...
Literacy:
We will continue with our poetic devices, last week we learned about onomatopoeia, we watched a scene from Meet me in St. Louis and Bugs Bunny. We learned all shorts of awesome "sound" words. We also revisited alliteration and added this to our poetic device squash book. I can't wait for the awesome poem book. We finished up with our information books with book projects and began our literacy circles. Ask your student what book they picked to read for their group. We will work on parts of speech, look for some worksheet practice on this coming home.

Math:
We will finish up with decimals and percentages and take an end of unit test this week. We will then move on to integers! FUN

Science:
We learned the different types of moon phases and why the moon looks white. Our moon phase unit will continue on for a few more weeks. Keep checking the sky and our blog for the different phases each night.

Social Studies:
We also finished up our Unit on Rome and our now moving on to the Middle Ages. We will do a drama reenactment of the plague. And learn about Castles and the Code of Chivalry.

DON'T FORGET SEP's THIS THURSDAY...REMEMBER, if any of you would like to meet with me earlier, I am available anytime before or after school this week. NO SCHOOL FRIDAY!

Already March - UPDATES

2010-03-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

Here's what's been happening this past month in our classroom
We are zipping right along in our math units. We just finished learning about ratios and finding unit rates. OUR class did well in this area. We are making mini me's for our proportion unit. We will have them up in the hall during SEP's.
We began our unit on decimals and percents.

We are finishing up our Unit on Rome, we have been enjoying Ben Hur and studying about the time line of Christ. We will soon head on in to the middle ages and the Renaissance.

We are done with Science Rotations and will spend the rest of the time in our own class on Moon Phases and Light. We will review Heat, Sound and Microorganisms. Right now we are spending the next several weeks observing our moon outside. Remember to fill out your moon phase chart each night. If you miss a night be sure to check out the link on this blog. Teach your family and all of you can go out and enjoy the moon together.

We will continue our study on poetic devices, write some more poetry and then make sock puppets to help us perform our poetry. (I am looking for parent volunteers to donate/sew edges of socks in preparation for our puppets. If you are interested please contact me).

We finished our guided reading unit on information books and will begin literature circles. This is where the students can pick a book they are interested in and read and discuss with that group. Students will lead and direct the discussion as they learn how to have their OWN authentic response using the skills we have been learning through out the year.

I LOVE YOU ALL and have appreciated the kindness and respect that has been displayed in my class this year! Thanks for raising such awesome kids!

2010-01-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some happenings in our classroom:
For Those of You who didn't get my email:
Thursday we are going to BYU to a Sports Hero Day Field trip. BYU has plenty of volunteers and athletes to run the day so we will not need Parent Helpers. WE will however need your student to be on time to school and if they did not sign up for a school lunch they will need BRING a sack lunch from Home that day.

Feb 8th will begin our first day of district keyboarding. It will go until April 23rd. They have a specialist teaching it and she is FABULOUS! Our class is schedule to go right at 9:00 a.m.-9:45 a.m. each morning for the entire term. PLEASE have your child to school on time each day, it will be very helpful in their success.

If I didn't have a chance to meet with you during SEP's I would love to reschedule. I am available ANY day before or after school, just let me know! I missed seeing many of you.

Academic Schedule this week:
Vocabulary test for the next 5 Units: A list was sent home today to aid your students in studying their end of Unit vocabulary words. There are 25 words, the will need to know the definition, antonym and synonym for each word.

We are continuing with our reading of the Lightning Thief, looks like we might finish up this week. We will do some book projects IN CLASS and then hopefully start the second book in the series.

Math: We finished our section on Multiplying fractions and learned how the invert and multiply rule works so that we can now divide fractions.

Social Studies: Your students made some awesome scrolls to record the different Greek philosophers they will be studying.

Science: Your students are learning about the earth's tilt and why we have seasons...amazing how many adults forget this...

I hope you all had a chance to enjoy our "something beautiful" pictures and stories in the hallway, if you didn't please come by and enjoy!

Welcome to a New Year...

2010-01-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Here's what's Happening in our Classroom... (and some pics from our amazing Christmas Party, THANKS TO ALL THE PARENTS who participated in our Christmas around the world and for the wonderful Gingerbread houses hand made by Mrs. Trapnell, the party was a hit)

First of all WELCOME BACK, it is always hard to get back in the swing of things after family fun and the Holiday Season, we will gradually get back into the swing of things.

THINGS TO BE AWARE OF:
Friday your students will need to be ready with their hand made instrument and the write up about it to share with the class, this will end our unit on Sound.

ALSO, on Friday morning we will be going to our annual 6th grade ice skating field trip at Peaks Ice Arena in Provo. Any parent who is willing to get on the ice is welcome to come, there isn't a charge. The Arena appreciates the adult supervision for safety reasons. You will just need to meet us there and drive yourself back. We should be leaving soon after the first bell and arriving at Peaks around 9:30 or so. Please email me if you are interested in attending and skating with the kids. IT IS REALLY FUN TO BE OUT THERE WITH THEM!!!

LITERACY:

We will continue with the Lightning thief and our spelling/vocab routines as usual. We will be adding some more 6 traits in our writing to help us improve on our stories.

SCIENCE:

WE finished up Science with Mr. Groneman and became experts on the Universe and Solar System. Mrs. Bird visited our class today and began our Seasons Unit. She will be teaching us for the next 7 weeks.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We are just about finished with our Unit on Greek culture and will move on to the Roman era. We will enjoy a day of Greek Olympics before moving on...

MATH:

Our class took an end process assessment on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers by creating Fraction Flower works of art. The are in the main hall around the corner of our classroom...The turned out amazing! What clever and wonderful artists I have in my classroom! Today we moved on to multiplying fractions. We wrote the steps to multiplying in our math journals and next we will discover why you invert and multiply when dividing fractions.

Two Weeks and Counting

2009-12-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

Baby Blanket the class made for Mrs. Wayment...What a wonderful student teacher!
Student commercials for their restaurants. Mrs. Wayment had each student do a persuasive writing assignment for a Menu. I was so impressed with their word choice and creativity!

We have had a busy two weeks! We were privileged to have such an awesome student teacher.

Literacy: We finished our Greek presentations and began our class book The lightning Thief. Students got together in groups and came up with a persuasive menu for a restaurant. We continue to practice our editing skills and parts of speech each day through daily oral language and writers workshop.

Math: We are finishing up our unit on adding and subtracting mixed numbers. Our test is more of a performance assessment and you will be amazed what your students can do! We are working on some beautiful compositions with Fraction Flowers. Your students have learned how to divide a circle in equal parts using several skills, we have talked about color schemes and composition. We will display them in the hall when they are completed.

Social Studies: We are on Day 6 in our Greek Unit. We learned about the Greek Alphabet and how the word alphabet comes from the Greek language. Alpha was the name of their letter a and beta was b.

Science: Our class will be finished with Mr. Groneman's Universe and Solar System Unit this Wednesday. They will be taking a end of unit test. Mrs. Wayment taught them about Sound while she was here, we will finish up with that after Christmas, your students will be making a musical instrument based on what they have learned and sharing them with the class on January 8th.

Once again, I am excited to be back with my class, they are fabulous and I love them!

Almost December

2009-11-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

The past few months have flown by and Christmas is coming Ho Ho Ho Ho!

Mrs. Wayment, our Fabulous student teacher, will be doing her solo teaching until Dec. 11th, I will still be here at school and working with students so if you have any questions or need help Please feel free to contact me!

Here are the things that your students have been doing this past month

Greek reports and presentations
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Solar System and Universe
Analyzing works of art, writing short stories and shadow puppet presentations
Organizing and practicing the writing process with Mrs. Wayment
New Vocabulary
Finish up book groups
Cooperating Activities

2009-11-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

Big Brother's ROCK!
Halloween Party, "Cookies, YUM!"
Max Hall

Lots of Fun Things a Happenin'

We had a short week due to SEP's and Teacher Development Day. We enjoyed a fabulous class party put on by our wonderful MOM's...THANKS MOMS!

Literacy: We are still working on our Shadow Puppet shows from our work of art. We have started new books in guided reading and are on Unit 10 with our spelling words. This weeks words are ed and ing endings. If you need a copy you can link to my UEN page to print off one. We are going to being a Unit on the writing process (taught by our amazing Student Teacher Mrs. Wayment) and learn more on imagery and begin learning about inference. BOOKS WE HAVE READ: An Ordinary Day, Peter and the Star Catchers.

Social Studies: Look for a Greek Mythological character coming home in this weeks homework. Your student will have a Parent note with it that explains expectations and directions on completing the assignment. There will also be attached, 3 colored copies to work out the expository writing assignment. Please read the Parent letter thoroughly and sign and return. (THANKS!) We will next study about the Minoans, Mycenaeans and the Dorians of Greek Society.

Science: Our Solar System reports should be all finished up by Wednesday and ready to present to the class. Mr. Groneman is now coming into our class for the next 5 or so weeks to teach us about the Solar System and our Universe...FUN!

Math: WOW...we have learned some amazing tricks to find the prime factorization of a number, next we will learn several ways to find the GCF and LCM (greatest common factor and least common multiple). Keep up on your multiplication tables! It will make math life much easier!

And once again, what amazing group of students we have, as well as an amazing group of parents. I enjoyed visiting with you all this past week. If you did NOT get a chance to come by please feel free to email or come by before or after school! As always, please email or call me at anytime with concerns or questions.

2009-10-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

By Cat
By Brady

WE enjoyed learning about Edward Munch and his famous artwork the "SCREAM". It has been the most infamous piece of work as it has been stolen the most and then recovered. Your students learned how to ask questions about art and look at the colors and lines to create mood. Then they were challenged to create their own work and write a short poem or story about their piece. Come enjoy them in our hall at SEP'S. What talented students I have!!!

Literacy: We continue to write and read. We have started new books in guided reading groups, we have a class of high readers. We have been writing about our personal scream pictures as well as interpreting other works of art and write stories about them. These stories will be turned into a shadow puppet show and performed for the class.

Science: We finished our unit on light and are now enjoying Mr. Groneman in our classroom while he teaches us about our solar system and the Universe.

Social Studies: We had our first introductory lesson to Greece. Look for some expository writing homework coming. Each student will be assigned a character or item from Greek mythology to research and then share with the class in preparation to read our shared reading, "The lightning Thief".

Math: Last week we finished unit 2 on decimals. We did do a little re-teaching and re-testing to make sure we are understanding the concepts. Allow your child at home to add, subtract, multiply decimals as much as possible. Have them divide costs at the store or multiply purchases so they can get some applicable practice. We will begin Unit 3 on factors, multiples, divisibility rules and prime factors. Lots to know in 6th grade math!

Once again, what an enjoyable class we have, I love them all! Let me know if you ever have any concerns, questions or needs. Thanks!

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

We are vast approaching the end of the first term. WE have been working hard and filling our brains with new knowledge.

Science: We finished our unit on Microorganisms and began a new unit on Heat and the three ways Heat is transferred. We will be doing our Insulating Cup experiment on Tuesday the 20th of October...So don't forget your cup!

Social Studies: Had a Busy Egyptian day where we mummified our stuffed animals, made Egyptian collars, did Egyptian wall art and made cartouches...We will soon be starting our Greek Unit. Look for an expository writing assignment to come home at the first of November.

Literacy: We have been writing like crazy and learning how to revise to make a better picture in our story. The nouns paint the picture and the verbs make the picture move! We learned how to use our higher level thinking skills to understand text, we have used these same skills to analyze and make a judgment on various pieces of art. We will write a creative short story about a selected piece of art and then perform it in the form of a shadow puppet show.

Math: We will be ending our unit on decimals. Your student should know how to add, subtract, order, compare, divide, multiply and write a decimal in scientific notation...WOW!
We will soon begin a unit on prime numbers and factoring.

October is here

2009-10-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

To kick off October we had a lesson on following directions, doing single-task and multi-task, tasks. Each student made an origami bat. We now have a very spooky classroom.
Our class had a contest to see who could pick up the most trash around the school...Way to go Colby Gillies for filling up his bag. Mr. Richards rewarded us with candy bars.
We finished up our unit on micro organisms and had a mold bread contest. Our Mr. Moldy Universe was Brady, our runners-up Dannie and Maizi.

Literacy:
We had an end of unit vocabulary test last Friday...we did great, we played all sorts of vocabulary games to prepare. Vocabulary helps us all to become better writers and readers and have a good conversation with anyone. We will take a Spelling test on Friday (unit 7). Many of our class has already shared some amazing stories during Author's Chair, we are learning how to figure out context clues in reading, make connections and write about our reading. This week we will learn how to better revise a story and had more exciting verbs and adjectives.

Math:
WOW...may I say again...WOW...our class did fabulous on our end of unit math test for algebraic expressions and orders of operations. SHOUT OUT! We are now beginning a unit on decimals, some will be review and some will be new.

Science:
We will take an end of unit test in science on Micro organisms and then move on to the 3 types of Heat Transfer. We will spend a couple of weeks on Heat. I am trying to help our students become better comprehensive science readers, this is one of the hardest parts of test taking. If there is anything at home you can do to help your student read about and talk about any kind of science that would be great...Practice always helps.

Social Studies:
We finished up our Early Civ. Unit and have begun learning about Egypt. We talked about the class system. Some of your students were in the upper class, some lower, and some were Pharaoh, I am sure that being Pharaoh and being in the upper class were more enjoyable as the rest of the classes had to share the greater part of their earnings(skittles) with the others. We are making Egyptian travel pamphlets and will soon have an Egyptian Day.

Once again...what a fantabulous class we have, we are going to start a jar were we fill it up with acts of kindness (it comes natural to my class-thanks to their awesome families and help from home).

Fall is Here

2009-09-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lots to learn... (And as the weather gets colder please send a jacket to school with your student, they will be going outside during lunch and recess).

Science:
We learned,researched and shared all sorts of microorganisms in the world around us, we looked at Pond Life through a Microscope and are doing weekly observations on our moldy bread and decomposing chambers....Things are really getting gross in here!

Math:
Your students will be finishing up their unit on Exponents, Orders of Operation and Algebraic Equations. Please let me know if any of your students are struggling. I am more than willing to help during lunch or before or after school. I feel good about their thinking at this point!

Literacy:
We learned about Monitoring for Meaning while reading and how to turn a hard word or paragraph in into something that "Clicks". We are enjoying are writing time and already will be sharing our first Authors Chair this week. Guided Reading is going along splendidly, ask your student about the book they are reading for their group. They are all fabulous books! Here are some suggested questions to ask about reading. Who are your favorite characters and why, what is the problem in the story, what is the setting like, do you like the book so far, what about the style of the Author do you like?

Social Studies:
We finished up our unit on the first civilizations, the summarians, assyrians, babylonians and Mesopotamia. Your student had to feel a ticket out to leave Mesopotamia and Enter Egypt. We are also included our special ed 6th graders in our social studies lessons, I am impressed with how your children know how to include others! Thanks for all you do as parents. For your support and all you teach your kids!

This weeks happenings September 14th

2009-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

No update last week, shorter week. Here's what's been happening and our goings on...
Let me just say how much I am enjoying teaching these awesome kids! They are hard working, kind and very respectful!

Literacy:
We are now on Unit 4 in Spelling and have learned 15 new vocabulary words. WE enjoyed playing charades with our vocabulary. We have been learning about metacognition for reading (thinking about your thinking while your reading) and alliteration for writing. We shared some awesome alliteration tongue twisters that we wrote for our 2nd grade buddies. This week will work on more ideas for writing.
NOTE: Our 2nd grade buddies rewarded us with a fun game of mingle. I was so impressed with how your children treated their buddies. It made my day!

Science:
We have curiously been awaiting our mold to grow on our bread experiments, and they are looking grossly awesome! We built our decomposing chambers to watch how microorganisms are not just harmful but also helpful in our environment. We will do research on "yucky" things this week and look under the microscope and into pond water.

Social Studies:
We just finished learning about Mesopotamia, how they began there first civilizations by using the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, building levees and using canals. Students made teaching posters through research and taught each other about City/States, Cuneiform writing and religious structure of the time. We will learn how to write on clay and make our own cuneiform.

Math:
WOW...we just finished up a half of unit on place, value, exponents and powers of 10. Your students did fabulous on the end assessment. We are moving on to Algebra so hold on tight. We will begin by finding missing treasures and then applying it to missing variables. We will also learn about inverse operations
and two step equations.

Crazy Days

2009-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

We had a fun and crazy week last week. Lunchworkers, Mrs. Andersen returning and getting used to our procedures, behaviors and routines. Things are coming along WELL!

This WEEK...

HOMEWORK
This is the first week of Homework, to get full points students must complete the front cover page, finish all homework attached, fill out reading chart (READ) and obtain a parent signature. All Homework is due FRIDAY MORNINGS!
If you go with a parent to the SIS Grade link, log in and look at your grades then bring back a signed note saying you did so, you will earn a reward!

Literacy
We will continue to finish up our hands poems and guided reading strategies. WE will learn about metacognition and how we think about our reading.

Math
We have been furiously learning about Place, Value, comparing numbers and rounding as well as Base and Exponents. Remember to keep your children astute on their multiplication facts! This is very helpful in 6th grade math!

Social Studies
We have been learning about the first civilizations...Hunter/Gatherer period and how we look at artifacts to study past cultures.

Science
We have been doing several activities to hone up on our inference skills. We will begin our Unit on Microorganisms...YUCKY fun stuff to come!

Last but not least we had an awesome assembly last Friday to kick off our Reading Rewards for this year. Students in my class our required to read 15o minutes per week so they will easily qualify for the reading rewards program each month! 5 or so bikes will be given away at the end of the year as well as several other prizes.

Management, Policies and Procedures...FUN!

2009-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Management Plan

Each Student will keep a small card at their desk to keep track of their individual behavior.

+ Reward points for on task and GREAT behavior

- Points for off task and disruptive behavior

As a 6^th grade we learn about positive and negative integers a negative integer will work against a positive integer, when the students have a total of 25 + points on a card they can turn it in for the following (this is a list that could change a little with current class suggestions):

Reward Purchases - 25 points

Use of rolling chair for the day
Bring a buddy to planning time/PE
Can of Soda
Treat from Treat basket
Computer use during SSR or Fast Finisher time
Play a game with Mrs. Christensen
Help in a younger grade class/Tutor
Move your desk anywhere for a Day
Bring (approved Music) to listen to for the Day
Choose and Plan PE activity
Bring something to set on your Desk for the Day
Draw a boarder on the White board
Big Baggie of Pretzels
Do everything with markers for the day

Policies and Procedures:

Here is a list of a few procedures for our class:

RESPECT kindness, and appreciation for all is expected. My grandmother used to say to me, “everybody is strange but thee and thou, and sometimes I think thou art”
6^th graders may use the restroom at anytime as long as it is not disruptive. They must leave a pass on the desk so I know where they are. In the case of an emergency…Just Go! No questions asked.
One person talks at a time, RAISE your hand, take your turn.
Drink breaks are fine as long as no one is in front of the room talking
Respect others’ points of view
Quick and Quiet line up – we get going much quicker
You must ask permission to go to the mudroom if something is needed
Keep all expensive electronics at home…we can’t always keep them safe
Don’t touch it if it is not yours!
Know the difference between and Question and a Comment
ANY question is a Great question; everyone should feel comfortable, most likely there is someone else in the room that would like to know the same thing!
Keep classroom library and classroom supplies tidy and treat them with respect!
Keep all personal items in backpacks and in mudroom
Keep mudroom tidy, all backpacks must be on shelves, hooks or floor below hooks, kept walkway and doorway clear.
School begins at 8:58 a.m., if you arrive early to school you must wait by the office library until, 8:30 a.m. or play outside.
If students choose to be inside between 8:30-8:58 a.m. they may work on their bell/morning work, read, fast finisher book, or unfinished work. Coming in and out can get very disruptive.
Try to be on time and hear as much as possible. WE start math first thing. The district attendance policy is 10 excused absences and then a note comes home. Please remember to excuse your absences with the office.
Come in quietly from lunch! Students will begin Daily literacy work and go right into SSR. Always have a book or two ready to read!

Classroom Community & Jobs

We have an opportunity in our class to all pitch in and help out. Each student will be assigned a specific job for a two week rotation. Jobs vary from Mudroom Janitors & Classroom Janitors to Secretary, Inspector, and Equipment Manager. These jobs help things to run more smoothly throughout the day and help students to take responsibility and appreciate the environment around them. But most of all, I appreciate their help!

Another Great Year to the Top!

2009-08-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have you and your family part of our classroom this year! Great things to come! Let's work together to get to the TOP! If you have any concerns or questions please know that I am always available and I look forward to a fabulous year!

Keep Posted...This blog will be updated weekly for classroom information, upcoming activities, events, and homework resources as well as student work and accomplishments.

My Awesome students

2009-05-25T22:03:00.001-07:00

I have so much talent in my classroom...My students constantly amaze me...stories, poetry, visual art and even native American Dancing. We enjoyed some cultural dancing from Ty last week. What a treat!

Our class surprised me with their very creative poems which are posted out in the hall and very artistic illuminations from the middle ages. I am going to miss their canter and their creativity!

5 more weeks...

2009-04-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're having fun...RIGHT!
5 more weeks of school and testing began...Our class felt very good about the first section of our Science test. We will take the 2nd Section on Monday. I will post the dates of all the tests on our upcoming events. Try to have your child there as much as possible!

Many of our class used their 25 points this week to bring a buddy to PE. We played dodge ball and those little buddies are sneaky! We had a great time!

We will finish up our Literacy Circles and our writing projects. We have been writing Medieval and Personification Stories in writers workshop. We will hone up on our editing, parts of speech and writing skills as we prepare to take the Language Arts tests. We will also begin review for math and refreshing our skills there as well.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to send a note, email or call...I have absolutely loved having your children this past year...Thanks for letting me teach them and Thanks for all your support!

Public Service Announcement

2009-03-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

Back on line

2009-03-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Crazy times as the Term ends. Here's whats happening next....

Working on Medieval stories in writer's workshop
Figuring out order pairs, function tables and graphing equations (with spaghetti and play dough)
Learning about Knights, Castles, Kings, Queens and Charlemagne
Assessing our knowledge of the Moon Phases (you say what...Waxing Gibbous?)
Beginning a Unit on Light
Starting Literacy Circles (we get to choose our book and group)
Learning 5 new vocabulary words...
Working on our positive behavior points!
Enjoying Miss Snow our awesome Student Teacher!

Maybe enjoying sunny weather...what SNOW! YUCK!

Lots of Crazy Stuff and still working hard!

2009-03-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Lots of exciting activities and events this past week. Students were rewarded for their fabulous reading with a Jazz Assembly and a "Fear Factor Assembly" were the teachers participated in being spray painted, kissing a pig, and being fed Jello by a blind folded student. (I was the lucky one to eat the Jello-took me all weekend to recover from the sugar high).

Jazz Assembly
Students enjoying our Jazz Assembly

Miss Snow (our student teacher)
Me & Amelia

Our Kissing Pig

Literacy: We finished taking our State Persuasive writing exam and I believe all did well! We are now down to crunch time and will hit it hard to get ready for year end testing. We are working on a book project to finish up the lightning thief and we will illustrate large characters from the book to adorn our hallways. This Friday we will take an end of unit test in for vocabulary. You can find the words on my uen page (follow the link to the right and then look under documents). Miss Snow taught us how to bury dead words and to use more exciting verbs and adjectives. We are in the process of creating a tongue twister alphabet book.

Science: Keep watching that moon. If you don't see a moon then let Mrs. Davis know by drawing the sky with clouds or how it looked. Remember the moon doesn't give off light if reflects the Sun's rays.

Math: We are moving right a long with integers, rational numbers and whole numbers. This week we are comparing negative and positive integers as well as adding and subtracting them. We have a ton of real world things to give comparisons.

Social Studies: We finished reading "the lightning thief", watching "Ben Hur" and are starting with our Medieval Unit. Miss Snow will give us our first lesson on Tuesday and then we will participate in a process drama next week to learn about how the plague started.

HAVE A ROCKN" WEEK!

This WEEK's NEWS...

2009-03-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

Yea! WE WON A JAZZ PLAYER...Our assembly will be Tuesday! and we are so excited. The sixth grade worked really hard on this! We read almost HALF the total minutes submitted for our school. Our Faculty FEAR FACTOR assembly will be on Friday in the late afternoon.

Here is what's happening this week...Monday morning...We enjoyed a nice, brisk walk over to the Jr. High for Orientation. Our students are looking forward to what is ahead for them. They were treated very well by the staff and students at Mapleton Jr. High.

We will take the persuasive writing exam Thursday morning, come rested and ready to write! Eat a good breakfast! We will spend Tuesday and Wednesday with last minute prep for our essays.

We took an end of unit assessment on Decimals, percentages and fractions, it was a little bit of a struggle so we will reteach and review Tuesday and then take a small assessment to make sure we all are understanding this concept. By Wednesday we hope to move on to integers(positive and negative numbers).

We have enjoyed watching Ben Hur in class and are still working on finishing up our Lightning Thief book. We should be done with both by the end of the week.

REMEMBER to look at the moon each night and record it for a month for Mrs. Davis. We will turn in our Moon charts on Feb. 27th. Moon Phases are fascinating and really help us keep track of our calendar month.

Your students are earning positive and negative points in class that can be turned in for rewards. Ask them about the fun things they can earn. We are hoping to spur on good behavior and reward them for their efforts. KEEP it UP!!!!

I LOVE YOU GUYS! Have a great week!

Wow Look at Us!

2009-02-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

To start here are some awesome pictures from last week! I am hoping that you make this blog a habit as we post activities, pictures, student work, what's going on and glass goals each week.

Our mini me pictures turned out fabulous! The students partnered up with each other to find measurements and then scale themselves down proportionally on a 18 inch piece of paper. It was amazing how much their personalities shined through on the page! WE are now learning about percentages in math and how we use them in the world around us.

We finished up Science with Mrs. Bird by taking an end of unit test on Sound and Seasons! Thanks Mrs. Bird for all you taught our class. Mrs. Davis will come in our class this week and start teaching us about Moon Phases and Light. Sixth Grade Science is the BOMB!

We will finish up with our Roman Unit and Next week start the Middle Ages with a drama activity on the plague.

We have been working so very hard on our persuasive writing techniques in preparation for the State Test that we will take next week. Our class has all written an essay on, "should we squish or not squish an ant". Your student will need to know how to write a well constructed essay using 6 Traits and persuasive tactics such as ethical, logical and emotional. We will watch a Pixar Short depicting some good persuasive tactics to get our brain juices going.

Hearts ,ICE and mini-me

2009-02-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

WE had a great day ice skating last Friday and immensely enjoyed our Valentine Party. A big shout out to Leslie S., Heather W. and Mickie M. for helping! The students had a hilarious time with "if you love me baby then smile". That is always a good party ice breaker. And speaking of ice breakers...we had no broken bones or cuts during our field trip to the Peaks ice Arena...However, Mrs. Andersen took a last minute spill when she was learning how to spin from the instructor. Way to Go Mrs. Andersen (I'm sure it looked very graceful!)

Math: Coming soon...pictures of our "mini-me" scale projects. We began our chapter on decimals, fractions and percentages by counting out conversation hearts and finding the fraction, decimal and percent of each color. This math is practical in our everyday lives!

Social Studies: We enjoyed learning about some of our famous Romans from Mrs. Bird's class presentations (THANKS!) and will soon begin learning about the time line of Christ while we watch Ben Hur.

Science: Mrs. Bird is having our class bring a handmade musical instrument to school by Friday Feb. 20th for a unit on SOUND. This should be a ton of fun!

Literacy: We enjoyed watching a "Pixar" short for writing. We talked about Essence of Text, writers craft and made connections and shared our opinions. This is what good readers and writers do. We are still enjoying The lightning Thief...the plot thickens as we take a Zebra to Las Vegas.

Goals for this week...We are working on using more exciting words in our writing and NOT visiting with our neighbors during instruction time or transitions~

LOVE YOU ALL!

Greek Olympics and Marathon Reading

2009-02-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last week was fun filled! Full of new things to be learned. We practiced with proportions and equal proportions. This week we will practice with scale and design our own floor plans. We will make a "mini me" as part of our final assessment on scale.

Your students have learned a ton of math so far!...We will take an assessment on the first 6 units to see what we need to reteach or enrich. I am pleased with their math skills and success this year!

Last Friday we held our Greek Olympics, had a buddy reading marathon to boost our Jazz Reading and then enjoyed a electronic game party!

Students competed in Grecko thumb wrestling, licorice Javelin throw, long "frog" jump and, paper plate discus throw. We had gold, silver and bronze medalists from each event. We look forward to our Field trip to the Peaks Ice Arena on Friday morning (we will be back for lunch) and then end our day with a Valentine party. You can find a class list for Valentines attached on my Uen page (follow the link on the side). Questions or comments feel free to call or email!

Another Week...

2009-02-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Here's what's Happening this week in our classroom

We are off to a great Start with JAZZ reading (We read over 25, 000 minutes). Make sure that all of your minutes are turned in each Monday with a Parent Signature! This will be the majority if not all of our Homework for the next several weeks! So...READ READ READ. To follow what is happening with the JAZZ click on the JAZZ picture. JUST FOR FUN...if your student would like to stay in at lunch time this week to READ I will be in there with them so that we can "pump" up our minutes!

Spelling this week, Unit 20, ending words "able", "ible", "ate". You can link to my Uen page to get a copy of the words. (the link is to the right in this blog).

Writer's Workshop...We began writing a personal persuasive essay. It has taken us several weeks to prepare but we will soon be able to decide the perplexing question, "SHOULD WE SQUISH THE ANT"!

Our class is working hard on learning how the seasons work and why we have seasons. Mrs. Bird has been doing a lot of awesome activities with the students. Ask them about it! You can also go on to my uen page and link to Mrs. Bird's Uen page and research about seasons.

MATH, MATH and More MATH...we are learning about Ratios and Unit Rate. This is very practical and real world math. I have been linking their understanding to Miles per hour, ounces per bag, jumping jacks per seconds etc. Anything you can do at home to help them with this would be great.

ONE LAST THING! Thanks for letting me teach all your wonderful children, REMEMBER they are the ones teaching me!

A Teacher's Rewards

2009-01-30T17:47:00.001-08:00

What can an educator say than...I am constantly learning from my creative and fun loving students. Today I told them that I learn more from them in a day then they could possibly learn from me. It may require a enormous amount of physical and emotional work to teach but the rewards are unmeasurable. Thanks, my wonderful students, for teaching me each day and helping me to be the kind of person I want to be! I love you guys!