Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A day of spelunking at Kartchner Caverns!

Our Kartchner field trip was amazing! We got to ride in a fancy coach bus since it took us an hour and a half to get there. While there we were able to go inside the caverns and see the phenomenal speleothems. Kubla Kahn was the talk of the trip. We had a perfect day!
 







Friday, November 20, 2009

A Spelunking we will go!

Kartchner is today!  Make sure you're in the classroom by 7:10.  We leave at 7:30.

You will need:

  • Ronnie's Rascals shirt
  • sack lunch with your name
  • snack and a water bottle
  • a positive attitude for learning

See you in a few, it's going to be a great day!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Give your brain a workout!

Tests this week: Wednesday-Social Studies- read chapter 4, study page 75 and your memory masters

                             Thursday-Spelling and Chapter 4 Math


1.  What are the formations inside of caves called?

2.  Describe how Kartchner Caverns was formed.

3.  How many different groups of Native Americans are in Arizona? (hint:  not how many tribes)

4.  What was the name of the Navajo homes?

5.  What multiplication method do you like best, why? (FOIL, partial products, regular, lattice)

November News

Here are a few updates and things to be aware of for the future...........

A big congratulations to Thomas Gansheimer and Savannah Narcaroti for representing our class at the Painted Sky Spelling Bee.  You both were phenomenal and we are so proud of you!

We take off to Kartchner Caverns on Friday!  This will be such a special time for the kiddos.  Each student will need a sack lunch, sneakers, and their Ronnie's Rascals shirt.  We will be leaving at 7:30.  All students should be in the classroom by 7:15.  We will return to Painted Sky around 3:00 p.m.  Look for the specifics and reminders to come home with your child this week.   Happy spelunking!

Book orders are due this week.  I've extended the due date to this Friday, the 20th.  The reason I extended it is because if you order online you will recieve a coupon for a free book ($5 or less) for your next order.  You can either order online at:   http://clubs.scholastic.com/parentordering/servlet/ParentHome;jsessionid=0001qc0Cec8e-sxPZPB61F_iZZw:10i3mfrao:10l2jo08a?refresh=1
or you're welcome to send your order in with your child and I will send in the class order. 

Grades are online.  Please be sure to sign in and check your student's progress since we are at the half way point.  Some students are missing work so it is marked as a zero in the gradebook until it is turned in.  This brings their grades down and that might be why some are lower than you might have expected.  Remember, students are welcome to redo papers that scored an F and I will average the two grades. 

Ticket to Read has been a huge success!!  The kiddos are loving it and it is a great resource to use at home.  Everyone has received the letter, usernames and passwords in order to participate.  I encourage everyone to do so!  This can count as your 30 minutes!

Please be sure to check the volunteer calendars that are online and the ones I sent home last month to see when you're scheduled.  If you would like to be added please let me know.  We'd love to have you!

If you're thinking of donating tax credit money to our class, it's not too late!  You can donate at any point in the year.  We use tax credit money for field trips and guest speakers, such as Mad Science.  I'm working on a field trip to Tubac in the spring to the one room school house.  This is such an experience and I'm hoping it works out.  If you or someone you know would like to donate to our class just let me know and I'll send home the form.  If you're a Raytheon employee, Raytheon will match whatever it is you donate to our class so the kiddos benefit twice!  It's a win win for everyone!

The fall has been a good one and our class is starting to become a unit.  I'm thankful for each one of them!  

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Harvest Party!

We had a "Spook"tacular time!


Our Harvest Party was a success!  Thank you to Michel Knox and Janey Russell for planning it for us.  Also, thank you to Bob Knox, Mary Gansheimer, Rosa Dailey, and Tania Haymore for volunteering that day.