Week of November 15

 Upcoming Week November 15-19

Thank you to everyone for agreeing to switch to the blog. The blog is also quicker and I can post things instead of waiting until the newsletter to post. We are on the last week before our Thanksgiving break begins. Remember, we will be on break for an entire week. We will return to school on November 29th in preparation for our Winter Break. 

This week we completed Chapter 6 in math and environmental changes in science. We are still working on SC regions in social studies and will be focusing on main idea, theme, summarizing, and viewpoint in reading. In Chapter 7 in math, we will focus on place value and rounding. Neither of these are new because we have been working on them on our Math 4 Today. I had them to bring their blue math notebooks home this week because we will start testing on our Math 4 Todays on Monday. The Math 4 Today weekly quiz will be listed on the upcoming dates so you will know which week or weeks we are doing. Since we have a long break, we will probably do 2 this coming week, weeks 9 and 10. 

Math Chapter 7 Family Newsletter link

Math Chapter 7 Study Guide link

Also, the Superhero bags will start when we return from Thanksgiving break. I didn't think it was a good idea to start and then have to stop next week. I've learned that I cannot send them home over breaks. That puts an extra amount of stress with having to keep up with the hero and notebook while trying to enjoy family. I have allowed them to go home over breaks though. This is mainly when a student asks me because they have something special going on, have discussed it with their parent, and is really enthusiastic about this opportunity so provisions can be made. Currently, I have 7 bags, one with an injured superhero who lost his arm in a dog fight. 😏 The superheroes we have are Wonder Woman, Batman, Hulk, Aqua Man, Starfire, Hawkeye (missing an arm), and Poison Ivy. If you would like to donate one to the class, that would be awesome!! We can send more home. I have listed the criteria of the assignment again, in case you missed it last time:

 

1.     Must have a minimum of TWO journal entries.

                a.     One of these entries should be from your point of view. Tell what you did with your                 superhero. Did you read him/her a story, take her to your soccer practice or a movie? Write                 about whatever you want to share with the class. Sign your name to your entry.

                b.     You also need at least one entry from your superhero’s point of view. Put yourself in             his/her place, an adventurous young superhero experiencing all the wonders of Columbia for             the first time through the superhero’s eyes, and in the superhero’s voice tell us about something         you did together. Sign your superhero’s name to his/her entry. 

2.  Take at least one picture of you and the superhero together. Glue it into the journal or e-mail it to me (drojas@richland2.org) of what you and your superhero did.  

They will be scored on at least 3-5 complete sentences, correct capitalization, spelling, grammar, picture, punctuality, and responsibility (how well they took care of the superhero and notebook).

 

Test Redo Reminders

1. One retake per subject, per 9 weeks.

2.Must complete the form below.

3. Form Request must be submitted by Tuesday (Folders go home on Fridays, so request for that particular week’s grade must be completed by Tuesday.)

4. The assignment must be sent back in by Tuesday as well. (If Jane wants to take a retest on a math test sent home on No 5, she must submit the redo form by Tuesday, the 9^th. The assignment she is redoing must be sent back in by the 9^th as well. I hope that makes it a bit more clear.)

Redo Form Request Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vspHMn5Y8qdyrc36QxrsgGJ6FyNywzXEIu80G6pqqNc/edit?usp=sharing

Also, we can now see pictures of different activities. The ones below are fromPajama Day, Boosterthon, and from those students who completed the Pumpkin Decorating Contest for Mrs. Medlock in the media center. By the way, I am still adding pictures from the Boosterthon FunRun. The ones I've assed so far are just from my phone. I have about 3 or 4 more different sets I have to add from emails you all have sent.  I should be finished by tomorrow. Make sure to look on the right hand side of our blog to add your email to follow our blog and to see important upcoming dates. Last but not least, if you are not following the school communigator, please do. I try to post what they have posted but sometimes I miss it. The link for the school blog, The Communigator is http://thecommunigator.blogspot.com/

Pajama Day

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Fun Run

First Week Finished!!!

Well, we have week one down in the books. Woohoo!!! We accomplished so much in these 3 days. We worked on carousel, the muscle - the brain, the time capsule, learned about each other, started our notebooks, and explored our classroom and the school. We also created our classroom rules together. I feel them having ownership in the rules is important and they will be more aware of them. Today's blog is a longer than my normal posts, so I apologize beforehand, but I have a lot to share.

We are an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) school. They will be learning different strategies throughout the school year, especially organizational strategies. This week we worked on our notebooks and getting them prepared for note taking. We also worked on what a "Successful Student" needs and began the process of WICOR buddies. You will hear a lot of AVID and WICOR dialogue through the year. 

Quite a few of us are also focusing on "Growth Mindset versus a Fixed Mindset". Growth Mindset is never giving and being persistent even through your failures because that's how we learn. Failure doesn't mean you can't learn, it means you just don't have it "YET"!  (F.A.I.L. - First Attempt in Learning) I like ClassDojo because they have a lot of videos to help with Growth Mindset. I have even given the kids name tags that have different Growth Mindset quotes on them. In the video we watched this week about the brain, they learned that the brain is a muscle and we saw and discuss what happens to muscles when we don't work them out. It also focused on how having challenging work is good exercise for your brain.  The discussion questions for this episode are below.

Last but not least, please make sure you go over mask guidelines that you have set with your child before coming to school. Some of them have masks and they don't wear them. If you would like, you can send me an email to drojas@richland2.org and let me know your preference.

Thank you for taking the time to be informed!! There are also pictures below from our "Get to Know Our Classmate Carousel" activity. I tried to get everyone in at least 1 picture. That was extremely difficult, especially since they rotated in a circle. Once again, I apologize for being so long winded and I thank you for being so supportive. Have a great weekend!!

Mrs.  Rojas

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Episode 1: 

Take-home questions We’re watching a video series about how students can develop a growth mindset! Watch it at: www.classdojo.com/BigIdeas, and ask your child these questions tonight.

1. What was the biggest challenge you faced today? (Ask your child, and then have them ask the question back!)

 2. How can you and I think about these challenges in a new way? 

3. What can we do differently tomorrow if we face similar challenges?

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Next Week's Sneak Peek:

Math: Multiplication Strategies

Reading: Affixes (Prefixes and Suffixes)

Science: Water Habitats

Social Studies: Oceans and Continents

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Birthday Celebrations 

July

10 - Londyn

11 - Serenity

16 - Emmery

21 - Hailey

25 - Rylah

27 - Emily

August 

1 - Lathen

2 - Jackson

15 - Sidney

27 - Spencer

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Upcoming School Events:

August:

24 - Reading MAP test

25 - Math MAP test

September:

3 - College Color Days

6 - Labor Day Holiday

10 - Pizza Lunch for Summer Celebration

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Summer Reading Celebration!

If your student received a reading medal from the Richland Library summer reading program, please send it to school in a zip lock bag labeled with your child's name and teacher. 

If you do not have the Richland Library reading medal, you may send something in from another reading program.  We will celebrate these readers with pizza during their lunch on Friday, September 10. Students will have medals returned on September 10.

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GETTING TO KNOW OUR CLASSMATES CAROUSEL ACTIVITY