We started Project Give Back!

Hello families of room 205s! I hope everyone has had a great week. By now, you have received your child's IEP. Thank you to all the parents who have signed the original copy and returned it to school. Just a reminder to please sign the original copy and return it to school with your child next week. One copy is for you to keep at home for your records and the other copy will be kept at school. Thank you!

Project Give Back - Michelle Witlin, our Project Give Back teacher, came in this past Wednesday and introduced the student's to this wonderful program. She showed the students the Project Give Back website which gives an excellent overview of the program with testimonials from both teachers and students (www.projectgiveback.com). The students were given their own Project Give Back folder that they will use throughout the year. She assigned one sheet for homework that is due next Wednesday. Students are asked to choose one charity that is near and dear to them that they will do a project on later on in the year. The Project Give Back website lists many charities as well as their phone numbers. Michelle suggested the student's speak with their families about choosing a charity. We will have Project Give Back every Wednesday afternoon throughout the school year. It promises to be a very enriching and fulfilling program for our students.

Book Reports - The Paper Bag Book Report and the Time Capsule Book Report are due this Monday October 21, 2013. Students will be asked to present their book reports to the class on this day. Please have your child practice their presentation at home this weekend so they are enthusiastic and confident when presenting. Your help is greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to seeing all the hard work and effort students have put into their paper bags and time capsules!

Magazine Art - Displayed in our hallway are the magazine artwork masterpieces our students completed this week! The students were asked to find a picture from a magazine that appealed to them and cut out a square shaped piece of it. The task was to extend the magazine picture and create a scene that revolved around this picture through the use of sketching. Enjoy the pictures!

Math Unit - We have been working on Unit 1, Patterning, for the past few weeks. Since it's a short unit, we will be completing the last chapters next week and then reviewing the work. The Unit 1 math test for grades 4 and 5 will be on Thursday October 24, 2013. Our next unit will be Geometry (Unit 3).

MATH CONGRESS

Wacky Walter

Walter and his parents are a little unusual. If he does an acceptable job of doing his chores, he gets paid $3.33 for that day. If he does an outstanding job, he gets $3 more. During one 10 day period, Walter received $42.30 for his work. How many days did Walter earn the extra money? Use pictures, numbers and words to solve this problem. Show all your work!

These are students in our class very hard at work trying to solve this challenging problem!

 

Responsibility - We began talking about the 6 Learning Skills found on the report card this week and what these look like in class. We brainstormed ideas for RESPONSIBILITY and what they think being responsible means. We created a graphic organizer outlining how they can demonstrate responsibility at school. The students had some excellent and mature ideas. We then decided on one goal to focus on for the week as a class. The goal is "I LISTEN AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS THE FIRST TIME THEY ARE GIVEN". This goal is posted clearly in our classroom and I make several references to it throughout the day. 

Next week, we will decide on another goal to work on and it will fall under the category of ORGANIZATION. I think goal setting is very important among the students as it sets them up for success and gives them something concrete to strive for.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs. Stacey Mendelson