Welcome to our class blog…

Hello! Here are the notes for the week! 

1. A permission slip was sent home with each student today for our first field trip of the year! We will be visiting This is the Place State Park on Thursday, October 2nd. Busses will be leaving at 8:30 SHARP! So make sure your student is here and ready to go by 8:20! Permission slips need to be returned by September 16th. If you would like to be a chaperone for the field trip please indicate so on the form. We are able to take two adults on the bus. I will let the first two parents who return their permission slips ride the bus. Again, anyone can go, but only two people can ride the bus. 

2. Spelling Groups start this week! Groups are listed below in a totally random order! The word sort assignments for the week are listed on the homework tab under the Words Their Way tab. 
 
Orange Group:         Blue Group:      Green Group:     Purple Group:      Red Group: 
1. Alivia                      1. PJ                    1. Marlee             1. Trista                  1. Chase
2. Jaime                    2. Ashton            2. Taylor             2.  Joseph               2. Timothy
3. Rylei                      3. Matthew        3. Brianna           3. Cyris                  3. Shelby 
4. Tyler                     4. Phillip             4. Brandon          4.  Kianna             4. Aidan
5. Amyrlin                5. Kaily                5. Jacoby             5. Cameron
6. Adam                                                 6. Jack

3. Homework for the week is normal. Students need to complete a word sort each night, math fluency twice per week, and read 20 minutes each night! This week students should also be working on the monthly project. New this week, students should read and respond to the following article.They can respond via email, a written response, or submitted through thin client into their folder on the server. They were taught how to do this today in class! Thin Client is the preferred method of submission, but I will not be picky this time! The response should be at least three paragraphs and give a specific opinion on the topic using reasons and examples from the text! Again, we practiced this in class today so they should be prepared to complete this independently! 

4. Help Wanted: Your kids are TOO SMART , and I need to give them the fifth and sixth grade high frequency words. If you have time this week I would love to have help giving and scoring these tests. You can show up whenever you would like to and stay as long as you can…….any help would be appreciated! The lists are each 200 words long and it can take 15-20 minutes to give and grade each test (that’s why I need help)! 

That’s it! Thanks for all you do! I am amazed daily by your students. They are incredibly intelligent, as well as funny and kind! I absolutely LOVE coming to work each day with this amazing group of kids!!! 

As always, let me know if you have comments, concerns, questions, complaints, or criticisms. 
Thanks, ♥ Mrs. Chidester

Hi….hope you all enjoyed the fabulous LONG weekend! Here are the notes for the week!

1. Math test on Thursday! We will be taking the chapter 2 math test on Thursday so be prepared! The test covers adding and subtracting, more rounding, story problems, subtraction rules, and the addition properties. 

2. Homework this week: Regular homework schedule! This means spelling! We are doing a whole group spelling sort this week as a review of a concept most students are missing in their writing (adding -s to words that end in y), as well as a practice for homework expectations and in class spelling expectations. Here is the sort…….. green sort 9. You can also find in on the “homework” tab under “words their way homework”! Next week we will begin differentiated spelling groups. NO math homework this week other than fluency, and being prepared for the test! 

3. Monthly Project: It is time for our September project. The details and due dates are listed on the “homework” tab under “monthly projects.” Students will be researching a Native American tribe with ties to Utah. Students will select one of the 7 tribes to study and  create a PowerPoint presentation on. The research side will be done at home, however, we will be making the final powerpoint project here in class. This will allow me to teach technology skills at the same time. All research needs to be completed by September 17! Students may use the research tabs on the blog, books from the library, or other materials as deemed safe by their parents! Please be aware that random internet searches can have negative results (especially google images), so be careful and responsible while researching. 

4. Use of  Thin Client at home. Did you know that students can log into the schools server from home? This is the coolest thing ever! This means that students can search safely using the schools filters, save to the class folder, access documents started at school, and use programs installed on the school’s server!  I will even be teaching your students how to access all this wonderful technology so you don’t have to! All you have to do is follow the instructions listed on the quest homepage http://questac.org/?page_id=414 to install the Thin Client software. Students login and passwords are the same ones they use to login to the computers at school! Check this out, because we WILL BE using it in class and it would be very beneficial for you to have it at home as well! 

Sorry for the SUPER LONG email, but thanks for reading! If you have questions, concerns, comments, or complaints, LET ME KNOW!!  Enjoy your week! 

♥Mrs. Chidester 

Hello- Just a few notes for FRIDAY and the long WEEKEND!! 

DON’T FORGET TO SUBMIT YOUR HOMEWORK FORM TONIGHT FOR FULL CREDIT!!!!! 

1. Tomorrow (FRIDAY) is short day and dress down! Bring a dollar or can of food to dress down and see you at 1:00! 

2. We have completed a BOAT LOAD of testing and WOW! I can totally why your kids are in the advanced class. RAZ Kids has been updated according to the A-Z leveling system given in class! I LOVED listening to each child read and ended up moving most kids up at least 2 levels, so WAY TO GO!!! Those changes have been updated on RAZ kids, so log in and be challenged! Spelling tests are graded(all most) and a few kiddos will be given the fifth grade list because they passed off most of the fourth grade list. I sent home a sticky note with your students star reading and math scores earlier this week. IF by chance you never saw that note, email me and I will get those scores to you! Next week we will be starting official centers with leveled spelling and comprehension groups. We will be reading fiction novels for our first book club book in centers, but will move to non-ficiton next. 

3. No school on MONDAY for LABOR DAY! So enjoy your long weekend! Please BE SAFE if you are traveling, and HAVE FUN!!!!

♥ Mrs. Chidester 

Hell0-
Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Here are the notes and upcoming activities for the week! 

1. Homework: Same as last week! We will not start spelling until next week so I can finish grading all the spelling tests and group kids appropriately! Remember to read 20 minutes at least 5 times this week, and complete a math fluency activity at least twice during the week! No math worksheet this week, instead all students need to log into MobyMax and complete the math placement test. We went over this in class and they should be able to find and complete it fairly easily! 

2. Our first installment of RAMS News was produced last week and is ready for the school to view beginning this week! I have posted it on our blog under the RAMS News tab so you can see how hard your students worked to produce our first RAMS News. From now on students will work in groups of 2-5 kids to produce the video for the school each week! I am excited to see what they come up with each week, so take a minute (or 15) and watch our RAMS News program! 

3. There is not a monthly project right now. I was going to assign a multiplication project, however, students have shown that they are competent with multiplication so I will giving them a different project instead. Look for details coming next week! 

4. FRIDAY is EARLY OUT and DOLLAR DRESS DOWN! Please pick kids up at 1:00. If you are available, I would LOVE some volunteers to come in on FRIDAY from 11:15-12:00 to help with our first class store! It works best if I have 3-4 helpers to run the store while I teach. If you can help, come on in about 11:15! 

Thanks, and have a WONDERFUL week! 
♥ Mrs. Chidester

The math worksheet found here Rounding Homeowrk…..and yes, I know that the answers are included, but your students promised not to look at them until after they completed the work…….is due by FRIDAY morning. Feel free to turn it in early! The homework form (submitted electronically) and located under the homework tab is due by Thursday night. This form replaces the planner used in previous years. Yes….there are two forms to submit this week. Also, for those who cannot print at home, I passed out the math worksheet to everyone in class. If you are not able to print at home, please let me know as soon as possible so I can make sure your student gets any work printed for them long before the due date. If not I will assume that you ALL are good to go and this will be the last homework I will print! 

Thanks!! 
♥ Mrs. Chidester