Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear 4S,
Mrs. Boyd and I would like to thank you all very much for our generous gifts!  I know Mrs. Boyd loves Charming Charlie and will have a hard time deciding what to get!  As for me, I can't wait to go shopping at, Jeans and a Cute Top Shop over break!  Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated and we absolutely love coming to school every day to spend our time teaching and learning with you!

We hope you have a joyus, relaxing, exciting Winter Break with family and friends...after all, that's what the season is all about: cherishing your loved ones and reflecting on the wonderful things we have in life. 

We are thankful to have such a wonderful group of children to teach, and we look forward to seeing each and every one of you next year! :)

Many thanks,
Mrs. Boyd and Mrs. Schroeder

Winter Program is Tonight!

Dear Parents,

Tonight, December 17, is the Winter Concert! All classroom doors will be open at 6:45pm. All students are required to go to their homeroom before their performance time. The early grades go first followed by 4^th, 5^th, and chorus.  After we sing, the children will return to our classroom where parent(s) will pick them up after the show.

This Weeks Blog by Tommy Muff and Joey Masterson

 

Reading = in reading we doing national geographic articles and putting together graphic organizers and working on interacting with our text. Also in reading we do book reports every month this time the genre is historical fiction books.  We’re doing an Animoto book report!

                Gym = in gym we are playing hokey. Every Tuesday, and Thursdays we jump rope for a minute and see how many jumps we can do. Our goal is fifty in a row with partners. Also we are playing broom ball hokey. Broom ball hokey is just like hokey but with a real broom that you use for sweeping the floor.

                Social studies = in social studies we are learning about the Northeast regions we are also using THIEVES, (T= title, H= headings, I= introduction, E= every first sentence, V= vocabulary and visuals, E= end of section questions, S= summary sentence.) With that lesson

                Computer= in the computer lab we are doing an animoto. In animoto we are making book trailers for our book reports. Also we are working on our typing skills. And our math skills, using fast math.

                Science= in science we are reading lesson five in our science books to learn about animal adaptations to help them survive.

                Math= in math we just switched classes and are learning about area models (length and width) with multiplication

                Read aloud= in read aloud the book that we are reading is Someone Named Eva. The book is about a Check girl who gets captured by Nazis who take her away to a camp where they make all the girls German.

                 Other activities= other activities that we are doing is the gratitude chain, a gratitude chain is where we write something that we are thankful for on each link. Then, every day we pull off a link and read what we are thankful for. The whole class goes and does it. Also Tommy is star of the week, he put together a poster board of pictures, and then, on Friday he will share the poster to the whole class and explain what he is doing in the pictures.

 

                We hope you enjoyed Tommy and Joey M’s blog!        

Veteran's Day Pictures

reader's theater pics

Thank you and After Thanksgiving...

Hi 4S,
Thank you so very much for my birthday treats!  How thoughtful of you all!  You helped to make my day so special!

Here's what is coming up after Thanksgiving Break...

Reading:  No flexible grouping until after Winter Break.  We will continue to work on reading strategies such as: main idea/details, text features, summaries, fact/opinion, inferencing, etc..  with National Geographic For Kids and short passages. We will also have some fun with Reader's Theaters to work on fluency, expression, and oral reading.  After Winter Break we will continue with our flexible grouping.

After Thanksgiving Break, the children will work for at least two weeks on their Animoto book reports.  Make sure you ask your child about this fun way to present their book via technology!

Math:  Flexible Grouping.  We will focus on Area and Perimeter for the three weeks before Winter Break.

Writing:  Parts of speech.  After winter break we will start our Persuasive Writing Unit.

Science:  We will wrap up chapter one with Animal Adaptations.

Social Studies:  We will finish studying the Northeast Region and will assess before Winter Break.  After Winter Break, we will start our Government Unit!

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Break!  I am so thankful for having such a great class this year!  You make me smile every single day!  I look forward to seeing all of you in a week!

Mrs. Schroeder

Michael and Lexi's Blog

By Michael and Alexis

 

                In math we are doing this thing called Math switch. So we are learning about all different things for switch you could have Mr. Jewel Mrs. Fraser or Mrs. Schroeder. I’d like to tell what we are doing we are doing Factors Multiples and Arrays. They are very fun like multiples are easy but fun factors are fun but a little hard.

 

In P.E. We are doing bowling and we are playing with other classes what we are doing with other classes is we are doing running and that is all we are doing with other classes. Well back to bowling. Like I said early is we are doing bowling. If you get a strike you get to get a paper bowling pin. And at the end of gym we get to clean up some people get to help Mrs.Shirly with the mates and other people get to take the bowling pins and put them in the bucket. And others get to take the bowling balls in to the bucket. And know we started doing tumbling and turkeys. Turkeys is where you get three strikes in a row.

 

In social studies we are doing a report on the American Revolution war also like the liberty bell. It is very complicated you have to do research, then you have to get graded. Then you have to make a power point. Social studies is really fun!

 

In science we are learning about cells. Cells are very interesting Animal cells have a nucleus and the ability to move. Plant cells do not have the ability to move. We are also learning about different cells like true bacteria and a lot more.

Halloween Pictures

Thank you... and conferences

Thank you again to the parent volunteers who made our Halloween Party so special!  We truly appreciate all your time and efforts in making it a fun, safe, memorable, and exciting day for the children! The rain didn't stop our fun!


Also, parent/teacher conferences are this Monday, November 4^th and Wednesday, November 6^th.  Reminder notes went home with your child (if you signed up for a conference) earlier this week. 

Please contact me if you are unsure of your conference time or if you need to re-schedule.

I look forward to seeing most of you next week!

Enjoy your weekend,

Mrs. Schroeder

***Halloween party pics to come!J

Halloween Activities

Here is a copy of the letter that was sent home last week, in case you need it again!

MADISON ELEMENTARY

HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES

OCTOBER 31, 2013

 

The Halloween parade will start at 1:45 PM on Thursday, October 31.  The afternoon kindergarten class will lead the parade and grades 1 through 5 will follow.  Parties will begin immediately following the parade.  (The morning kindergarten parade will be at 10:15 a.m. with the parties following at 10:30 a.m.  If participating in Halloween activities, morning kindergarten students should come to school wearing their costume.)

 

If weather permits, the parade will be outdoors.  Children should be dressed for the possible cold outdoor temperatures.  During the parade, each class will stop to line up along the sidewalks and watch the parade so that the kids have the opportunity to, not only parade, but watch the rest of the school parade as well.

 

If weather is poor, we will parade throughout the school.  The gym and multi-purpose room will be reserved for parents and family members to view the parade.  If inclement weather requires us to parade indoors, the parade will begin with the PM kindergarten class.  Each class will sit in the hallway outside their class and watch the parade.  As the parade passes each class, that class will stand and join the parade.  Parents who wish to view the indoor parade are required to enter Door 3 or 4 and sign in at the table.  Everyone must sign in.  No one will be allowed on school grounds unless he/she has properly signed in.   All parents and family are welcome to watch the parade in the gym, not outside classrooms or in hallways. 

 

Please keep the costumes simple.  With 400 students in school, we ask that children be able to put their costumes on by themselves.

 

All participating students must follow the following costume guidelines:

·         All costumes should be non-violent.  Please eliminate all weapons.  TOY KNIVES, AXES, GUNS, BLOOD ETC. are not allowed.

·         Sharp objects should not be part of the costume.

·         Costumes should not demean or poke fun at any group of people because of their race,

ethnicity or gender. They should be respectful of all people.

·         Students should not wear masks or include hand held props in costumes.

·         Parents that choose to dress in costume may do so without hiding their identity.

 

Students may bring their costume to school in the morning.  They may put them on after the lunch/recess hour.   Madison will keep a regular school schedule during the morning hours.

 

If you do not want your child to participate in the Halloween activities, please notify your child’s teacher and the office. We will have normal school activities throughout the AM and lunch hour.  Students not in attendance in the morning will miss valuable instructional time.

 

We look forward to a safe and fun Halloween!  Thank you for your support in making Halloween festivities safe and fun for all.  As always, if you have questions, please call, email, or stop in to see me.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Tim Callahan, Principal

Madison Elementary         

                                                                                               

What's going on in 4S!

Math

-We are still in the middle of our switch for math. This week we are starting multiplication. Our main learning target/goal is to multiply two digit numbers by two digit numbers by November 15th. So, for example, 46 X 68.

Social Studies

-We are finally done with our dough islands! Last week the children put their island on a map according to latitude and longitude lines. They came up with a capital city name, located highest and lowest levels of elevation, and drew the coordinates on their island. Their islands are complete now with elevation levels and at least five different landforms. The pictures are on the blog as well, so be sure to take a look at their excellent results!

-We are working hard on our Revolutionary War Projects! The children started working on their power point presentations today. Tomorrow we will add pictures from the internet and finish out the power point typing this week. All that is left is finishing the speech and presenting it along with their power point presentation and writing their final paper. This was a huge project and the children have been working extremely hard on it. You should be so proud of the excellent work they are doing!

Science

-We are starting Lesson 3 this week: How Are Plants Classified. The children did a great job on their Lesson 1 and 2 quiz last Friday!

Writing

-The children are publishing their interview papers using the computer lab and the laptops in the classroom!  After interviewing, writing a five paragraph rough draft, editing with three different partners, we are finally ready to print!  The final product will be graded and given to the student the paper is about.  I can’t wait to read their finished, final products.  Upcoming writing will be in social studies for their Revolutionary War Paper.  After that, we work on Persuasive, Narrative and Poetry at the end of the year.

 

Reading

-This is the last week of the reading switch!  The kids have done an excellent job with the “switch!”  It has been so neat to work with children from Mr. Jewell’s class and Mrs. Fraser’s class too!  This switch focused on QAR questions (right there-literal, putting it together-literal, and author and me-inferential questions) and Keeping Track of their Thinking.  For the next few weeks we will focus on reading and comprehending nonfiction text.  Some of the areas of focus are:  summarizing, main idea/details, vocabulary, inferencing, cause and effect, predicting, and breaking apart nonfiction text into text features such as headings, captions and table of contents. We will work on these nonfiction skills throughout the entire year as well.  The start of the next switch date is to be determined still.

-Genre Study Book Report-This month we are reading mystery novels.  My class is putting together a puzzle project.  Because this project is a little more involved, I set the due date for Friday, November 8^th which allows them an extra week to work.

PTA Directory

Oops!  There was a mix-up!

***I put the directories in the children's mailboxes last Friday, not the children.  My apologies for the mix up.***

Please check your PTA School Directory that may have gone home with your child last Friday, October 18^th.  There is a membership card stapled to the front of it stating the name of the person/family it belongs to.  If you have the wrong one, please return the PTA card and the directory with your child ASAP so they can return it to the right person.

My apologies for the mistake.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me.

Catherine.schroeder@cusd200.org

Kate Schroeder

Cory and Frances’ Blog Post

                     Cory and Frances’ Blog Post      

    In writing we have started editing our interview papers by switching papers with partners and having them edit it.

 For reading we have been doing the switch for a while.

For social studies we have been researching the Revolutionary War, its events, places, things and people. It’s going very well.

In science we are learning about the Kingdoms of Life.

 Math- we have started the switch! We are moving on to lesson 2: factors/multiplication. It is very fun and exciting.

Cheesie Mack Is Not a Genius or Anything   by Steve Cotler is our new read aloud book.

 Don’t forget the Book Fair is next week: Tuesday the 15^th – Friday 18^th.

Also, Columbus Day is on Monday so there is no school.

Landform pictures