Blog #13

November 23-24, 2015

PJ Spirit Day!  Thank you Mrs. Russick for letting us have it today!

Bennett is all dressed for PJ Day!

Paul, Aiko and Olivia enjoy the new playground!

Tristan and Jesse display their PrinciPal certificates from
Mrs. Russick!

Congratulations to Nadia for earning an XtraMath certificate!

Please click on any brown bolded caption for more pics!

Maya and Nadia add more example
sof Kindness, our PrinciPal topic,
after watching a short video clip.

Eleanor and Julia play
"What are you doing? to show different
acts of kindness. 

     In our Crew, we continued to focus on Kindness, passing it forward and acts of kindness. Groups worked together to create  precepts about kindness.

     

Our Crew took part in "Mingle,
Mingle, Mingle to share what
we are grateful for.

     This week we watched the Scholastic Book Fair videos to introduce us to many books at the book fair that begins next week!  We will visit on Monday, November 30th!

Aiko and Piper measure objects around
the room that are about one foot. 

     Students continued to write an independent personal narrative story using a checklist and rubric. They are also peer editing each other's stories.  Students continued to work hard on Edutyping. 

Mary Jane, Liam and Kaiden work
collaboratively to categorize
different measurement terms.

     Mrs. Malloy's math class is focusing on math facts and learning about algebra. Ms. Sakai's class continued to work on measurement. 

     In Social Studies, students are learning about geography. 

     

Finn and Liam on a Brain Break
called Shadowing. 

Tyndall and Nadia help Piper
celebrate her birthday.

Julia uses the Mindfulness jar.

Matthew shares about his trip
to New York with the crew/

   

     

Thank you for reading our two day blog!

Special Notes and Friendly Reminders for Parents

   

1.  Thursday bags are due by Monday (or the first day of the week.)

2.  Please turn in the Reading Log (totaled) by Monday, November 30.   This week your child only needs to read 80 minutes total and 4 days of reading.  If your child misplaces his/her reading log, s/he can write the information on a piece of paper. 

3.  Important Math Fact information:  There are no math fact packets or XtraMath due this week.


4.  We visit the book fair on Monday, Nov. 30th.  Your child is welcome to bring money to spend at the fair or s/he can fill out a Wish List.

5.   As the end of the trimester approaches, please check in with your child about his/her homework. Asking your child to show you his/her completed homework will help make the next day at school start on a positive note.  Thank you!


6.  All of the Rookies will attend an Art Museum field trip on Wednesday, Dec. 2nd.  If you would like to chaperone, we have one more spot available.  We will leave about 12:15 pm and return by 2:30 pm.  After this trip, your child can decide if s/he would like to become a "Junior Art Docent."  Information will be in next week's Thursday bag. 

7.  Sooper Yooper books-another book order form was in the "Tuesday" bag if students want to purchase one or both of the books by Mark Newman, the speaker coming to visit in Dec.  He will autograph the books for your child during his visit. Orders are due by Thursday, Dec. 3rd.

8.  Winter wear:  Please make sure to label hats, gloves, boots and especially snow pants with your child's name on them.  This will help us return to your child if they're misplaced. Please also send an extra pair of shoes for your child to change into at school, as boots stay in our coatroom, or s/he can wear his/her phy. ed. shoes. 

Important Dates

Monday, November 30-Thurs. bag and reading log due,  class visiting book fair-may bring money

(Book Fair hours: 8-12 and 1-5 in the MP room.)

Tuesday, December 1: (Book Fair hours: 8-12 and 3-4:30 in the MP room.)

Wednesday, December 2nd;   Rookie Art Museum field trip (12:15-2:30 pm)

(Book Fair hours: 8-12 and 1-7 in the MP room.)


Thursday, December 3rd; 

(Book Fair hours: 8-12 and 3-4:30 in the MP room.)


Friday, December 4th;  No School-Record keeping and planning day for teachers 

Monday, December 7th-Thurs. bag, reading log and fact practice or Xtramath due

Tuesday, December 8: Mark Newman, Sooper Yooper author visiting

Wednesday, December 9th;   Vets:Junior Art Docent field trip

Thursday, December 10th;  Progress reports coming home in Thursday bags


Friday, December 11th;  

I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful Crew that I have the privilege to spend time with every day! I am also thankful to the wonderful families!  If you celebrate Thanksgiving, may you have a special one!  Enjoy the long weekend!

Thank you,

Deb

Blog #12

November 17-20, 2015

Tristan and Jesse took notes during our Crew meeting
about acts of Kindness. They attended PrinciPals with
Mrs. Russick and shared about the meeting with our Crew.

Mrs. Stepanski and Mrs. Russick lead
the ribbon cutting ceremony for the
new Atwater Playground! Thank you to
all of the contributors to the playground!

Please click on any brown captions
for more pictures.

Noah, Eleanor and Bennett
add onto to their note catcher
after we watched a short video
about "passing on kindness."

     In Crew this week, we discussed being kind, the PrinciPal topic and Ms. Sakai read a book.  We also spent time using "I statements", along with responding to them.

      In Reading Workshop, students continued to read JR books and build reading stamina.  In Writing Workshop, students worked independently on personal narratives using checklists and rubrics.

Students are standing toe to toe
or heel to heel to make an average
 class shoe size.  Then students estimated
and measured items in the room
with that shoe size.

     In Math in Mrs. Malloy's class, students continued with Math Workshop.  In Ms. Sakai's class, students took an assessment. They also brainstormed and wrote on a note catcher words about measurement. Later, they read information from the Student Reference Book (nonfiction reading) and added more notes to their note catcher.

IXL now has some free science and
social studies activities.  Students used
animal classification ones to help
review for their science assessment. 

Bennett and Cole in the
Capitol building. 

     In Science, students continued to review for an assessment, watched a video about food chains and took the assessment.

Lauryn, Kaiden and Julia shake
a jar with important food items in it.

     In Social Studies, we took a field trip to Madison!  Students worked on some fun pencil and paper packets if they chose. Once in Madison, we met up with the rest of the chaperones and students had a little free time.  A knowledgeable guide gave us a tour of the beautiful Capitol building before we headed to lunch at the museum.  An enthusiastic guide led us through Native American exhibits, including a game and opportunities to touch different items.  Then, students had a little time to shop at the museum before heading home. I am very sorry that we returned late to school and I appreciate your understanding. It was a fantastic day and the students represented Atwater well!  Thank you to all of the wonderful chaperones for joining us: Mrs. Aldana, Mrs. Brown, Ms. Desai, Mrs. DeWeerdet, Ms. Ferosie, Miss Gardner, Mr. Loomis, Mr. Schroeder, Mr. Schwebel, Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Talley and Mrs. Travanty!

   

Rose and her buddy display their
Thankful turkey project.

Finn leads us in Mindfulness.

Thank you for reading our blog!

Special Notes and Friendly Reminders for Parents

   

1.  Thursday bags are due by Monday (or the first day of the week.)

2.  Please turn in the Reading Log (totaled) by Monday, November 23rd.   If your child misplaces his/her reading log, s/he can take another one or write the information on a piece of paper. 

3.  Important Math Fact information:  All Rookies and Vets should be enrolled in XtraMath.  Rookies and Vets: You have chosen to complete Xtramath 3 times or complete a packet of math facts. These are due every Monday.

4.   PJ Day:  Mrs. Russick has agreed to let the students that took a field trip to Madison last Friday have PJ Day this Tuesday, Nov. 24th. 

5.  Word Masters-An informational packet about Word Masters for all interested students went home last week.  Students must complete the attached crossword puzzle by November 23rd in order to participate in the event.  Students may bring their crossword puzzle or play a practice computer game during Guided Study.

Word Master Quizlet for Rookies: https://quizlet.com/99563992/2015-16-atw-lb-3rd-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

Word Master Quizlet for Vets: https://quizlet.com/99885124/2015-16-atw-lb-4th-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

6.  Sooper Yooper books-another book order form was in the Thursday bag if students want to purchase one or both of the books by Mark Newman, the speaker coming to visit in Dec.  He will autograph the books for your child during his visit. Orders are due by Dec. 4th.

7.  Winter wear:  Please make sure to label hats, gloves, boots and especially snow pants with your child's name on them.  This will help us return to your child if they're misplaced. Please also send an extra pair of shoes for your child to change into at school, as boots stay in our coatroom, or s/he can wear their phy. ed. shoes. 

Important Dates

Monday, November 23-Word Masters crossword puzzle due, Thurs. bag, reading log and Xtramath 3X's or fact packet due

Tuesday, Nov. 24th:  PJ Spirit Day

Wednesday, Nov. 25-Friday-Nov. 27th-No School

Monday, Nov. 30th-Thursday, Dec. 3rd-Atwater Book Fair

Friday, December 4th-No School-Record Keeping and Planning day for teachers

It was time to pull out the winter boots today! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Deb

Blog #11

November 9-13, 2015

Thank you to Lauryn's aunt, a Veteran,
who joined us at the Veteran's Day assembly!
Thank you also to Jesse's mom, who also served,
along with the other Veteran'shonored last week!
Jan Zehren, the organizer, Mike Roberts, the main speaker
(Mac 3/4 teacher LB),
Zhi's piano teacher, and many Shorewood
students helped make the assembly so memorable!

Congratulations to Parth and Zhi for earning XtraMath
certificates.

Mary Jane and Julia help Tyndall celebrate her birthday!
Tyndall brought delicious s'more mix!

      ***Please click on any bolded or underlined captions for more pictures.***

Piper is playing,
"What are you doing?"

      We continued to work on having a Growth Mindset during Crew this week!  Here is a quote that we discussed last week "Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort?" If so, she says, "You may be outscored but you will never lost." Carol Dweck

Lauryn, Kaiden, Matthew and Piper
study for the science assessment.
We also talked about figuring out which
memory strategy worked best for them and
apply that to studying for science.
Students also watched a Magic School Busv
ideo on food chains. 

     Instead of thinking, "I'm not good at this, " we can think, "What am I missing?"  We tried this mindset when we looked at different objects and then tried to right them down from memory.  Students discussed strategies and then tried again.  

     In Writing Workshop, students completed word processing their Wisconsin facts. They reviewed different parts of a personal narrative story and are writing one independently using a checklist and rubric. I read Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe as a mentor text.  Students also continued to work on EduTyping. 

Nadia, Andrina and Tristan play
"Name that Number" game. 

Students problem solve minutes and
hours to help them with the
Open Response questions.

     In Math in Mrs. Malloy's class, students reviewed addition and subtraction algorithms and worked on measuring. In Ms. Sakai's class, students took an assessment and preassessment for the next unit.   

Milwaukee Admiral Game!

Mary Jane wearing her hockey jersey!

     We had a fun time at the Milwaukee Admiral Game vs. the Lake Erie Monsters!  Students were very excited during the game. Thank you to Mrs. Aldana for helping to chaperone the trip!  We discussed in Crew, after our return, how the players and even the audience could have shown more sportsmanship.

Cole wearing a hockey jersey
to the game!

     

Liam, our third hockey player,
in our Crew shows his jersey!

Liam and Finn eat lunch in the classroom so the cafe could be setup for the Veteran's assembly!

Tyndall leads us in Mindfulness.

Brain Break-Go Noodle!

Special Notes and Friendly Reminders for Parents

On Monday, November 16th, teachers from Lake Bluff and Atwater are meeting for Expeditionary Learning training, a staff meeting and a potluck taco bar.  Should be fun!

   
1.  Thursday bags are due by Tuesday (or the first day of the next week.)

2.  Please turn in the Reading Log (totaled) by Tuesday, November 17th.

3.  Important Math Fact information:  All Rookies and Vets should be enrolled in XtraMath.  Rookies and Vets: You have chosen to complete Xtramath 3 times or complete a packet of math facts. These are due every Monday.

4.   Science Assessment-Thursday, Nov. 19th-Students have large study envelopes with a study guide and study materials in it. They should study at home and bring envelope to school each day as they will have time to study in class.  

5.  PrinciPals is Thursday, Nov. 19th (note went home in Thurs. bag if your child is attending)

6.  Geography Hunt and Spelling Bee-Notes were in Thursday bag explaining both of these Advanced Learning Opportunities.  Some students have signed up already and may still sign up through next week. 

7.  Word Masters-An informational packet about Word Masters for all interested students went home last week.  Students must complete the attached crossword puzzle by November 23rd in order to participate in the event.  Students nay bring their crossword puzzle or play a practice computer game during Guided Study.

Word Master Quizlet for Rookies: https://quizlet.com/99563992/2015-16-atw-lb-3rd-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

Word Master Quizlet for Vets: https://quizlet.com/99885124/2015-16-atw-lb-4th-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

8.  Sooper Yooper books-another book order form was in the Thursday bag if students want to purchase one or both of the books by Mark Newman, the speaker coming to visit in Dec.  He will autograph the books for your child during his visit. Orders are due by Dec. 4th.

9. Madison trip: Friday, Nov. 20th-Please bring a disposable bag lunch and drink.  I will send out a separate email about this exciting trip!

10.  Band lessons are on Tues. and Orchestra lessons are on Thurs. Please be sure your child has his/her instrument and music for lessons so s/he can participate in lessons. 


Important Dates


Monday, November 16th-No School-Inservice Day for teachers

Tuesday, Nov. 9th-Reading log (totaled) due, Xtra Math 3X's or fact packet due, Thurs. bag due

Thurs, November 11th-BOB check-in, science assessment, PrinciPals

Friday, November 20th-New date for Madison field trip-Please bring a disposable bag lunch and drink





Monday, November 23-Word Masters crossword puzzle due

Wednesday, Nov. 25-Friday-Nov. 27th-No School


Monday, Nov. 30th-Thursday, Dec. 3rd-Atwater Book Fair

Friday, December 4th-No School-Record Keeping and Planning day for teachers

It was a beautiful day to walk in Harrington Beach State Park!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!



Deb

Blog #10

November 2-6, 2015

"We are crew, not passengers" bulletin board by Mrs. Malloy's and Ms. Sakai's Crews.  Thank you to Mr. Rinka
for creating the boat!

Here is Mr. and Mrs. Rinka with their daughter, Madison.
We enjoyed their visit this week!

Congratulations to Liam and Nadia for earning Xtramath
certificates!

Our staff celebrated Mr. Anton's 60th Birthday on Friday!
You may have noticed our Packer attire. (I've known
Mr. Anton since I started at Atwater and I am so grateful
that I've been able to work with him!)

(Please click on any bold or brown caption for more pics!)

     It was a pleasure to see so many of you at Open House! If you weren't able to come last Wednesday, your child can show you his/her classroom and work at another time. Please email me.

     In Crew, we are learning about Growth Mindset.  This is a belief that our abilities can be developed through hard work and we can train our brains to think differently.

After a "Snowball fight," our crew
 found partners to share and learn
more about each other. 

Maya shares an action to share about
her weekend during one of our greetings.

Zhi leads us in Bippity Boppity Boo
as part of Crew.

Noah, Eleanor and Bennett research
Wisconsin facts. 

Tyndall and Tristan word process
their personal narrative stories.

     In Reading Workshop, students read different types of nonfiction texts about Wisconsin, including the Wisconsin Trails magazines. Students wrote interesting facts about Wisconsin, cited the sources and started to word process them.  The facts are for a 3-D art project with Mrs. Hayes.

     In Writing Workshop, students peer edited personal narratives and revised their stories. Students also wrote note cards about what Crew means to them.

Aiko shares one of her Math
Menu activities. 

     In Math. in Mrs. Malloy's class, students are learning about factors and multiples of numbers.  Different symbols for multiplication and division were introduced.  In Ms. Sakai's math class, students continued problem solving, along with learning addition and subtraction algorithms.

Lauryn, Tyndall and Jesse are study-
ing for their Social Studies assess-
ment in our class. 

 
      In Social Studies, students reviewed for the assessment and took the government assessment.

      Students also drew a picture of themselves and asked peers to critique it before they drew a final portrait of themselves for our Crew board.

Julia, Maya and their buddy create
a welcome card. 

Cole, Finn and their buddy make a
welcome card for
HarborChaseresidents.

     Students brainstormed different phrases to welcome people to a new home. Then, they met with their kindergarten buddies to write welcome cards for new residents to HarborChase Assisted Living Center.

   

Noah does "Tapping In" during
Mindfulness.

Thank you for reading our blog!


Special Notes and Friendly Reminders for Parents
   
1.  Thursday bags are due by Monday (or the first day of the next week.)

2.  Please turn in the Reading Log (totaled) by Monday, November 9th.

3.  Important Math Fact information:  All Rookies and Vets should be enrolled in XtraMath.  Rookies and Vets: You have chosen to complete Xtramath 3 times or complete a packet of math facts. These are due every Monday.

4.   On Wednesday, November 11th (9:30-2:0 pm), we are taking a trip to the Bradley Center in Milwaukee to see an Admirals Hockey Game and participate in some STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) activities.  Your child needs a disposable bag lunch and drink for this trip. 

5.  Rookies:  All Rookies received a permission slip to the Milwaukee Art Museum.  The Rookies and I (along with Mrs. Malloy's Rookies) will attend this first trip together.  After, if you are interested, you may become a Junior Art Docent.  There will be information about this before you decide. Permission slip is due on Friday, November 13th.

6.  Vet Junior Art Docents:  Your permission slip are also due on Friday, November 13th.

7.  Word Masters-An informational packet about Word Masters for all interested students went home last week.  Students must complete the attached crossword puzzle by November 23rd in order to participate in the event.  Students nay bring their crossword puzzle or play a practice computer game during Guided Study.

Word Master Quizlet for Rookies: https://quizlet.com/99563992/2015-16-atw-lb-3rd-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

Word Master Quizlet for Vets: https://quizlet.com/99885124/2015-16-atw-lb-4th-grade-words-meet-1-flash-cards/

8.  Veteran's Assembly:  I sent a separate email for this.  Students may wear red, white and blue on Tuesday, November 10th for the assembly at 1:45 pm. We are collecting a Dollar for Honor through Monday, Nov. 9th. 


Important Dates

Monday, Nov. 9th-Reading log (totaled) due, Xtra Math 3X's or fact packet due

Tuesday, November 10th-Veteran's Assembly at 1:45 pm in the cafe.  Students may wear red, white and blue

Wednesday, November 11th-Field Trip to the Bradley Center (9:30-2:00 pm)-Please bring a disposable bag lunch and drink

Friday, November 13th-Rookies and Vets (Jun. Art Docents)-Milwaukee Art Museum permission slip due





Monday, November 16th-No School-Inservice Day for teachers

Thursday, November 19th-Battle of the Books Check-in

Friday, November 20th-New date for Madison field trip-Please bring a disposable bag lunch and drink





Monday, November 23-Word Masters crossword puzzle due

Wednesday, Nov. 25-Friday-Nov. 27th-No School


Monday, Nov. 30th-Thursday, Dec. 3rd-Atwater Book Fair

Friday, December 4th-No School-Record Keeping and Planning day for teachers

Port Washington's Winter Farmer's Market opened this weekend-I'm so happy about that!  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deb