PEMDAS

Today in math we learned how to use parentheses in math.  To help us keep track of the Order of Operations we talked about PEMDAS.  Ask your kids what PEMDAS stands for?  There will be homework in math today about parentheses.  This can be challenging for students, ask them to slow down and take their time. 

Keep practicing those spelling words.

Remember our Valentine's Day party will take place on Friday instead of Thursday. 

Multiplication Facts

Today we worked on our Trimester 2 Math test.  Most students finished.  The ones that didn't will be working to finish it tomorrow.  During our math time we will be moving on with Unit 7.  Remember Unit 7 is primarily about multiplication and division facts.  The best way to get better at those facts is to practice.  Flash cards make practice easy.  Flash cards are inexpensive, but they are also easy to make at home.  Practicing against a sibling or parent can make it fun.

Remember the Valentines Day party will be on Friday afternoon.  A list of student names is coming home today and can also be found under the class tab at the top of the page.  

What Is Normal???

It seems like we haven't had a normal week since before Winter Break.  Then I ask myself if any day in an elementary school can be "normal"?  I was planning on having a normal week, or at least start to the week but the late start threw that off.  The kids did handle it really well, as they always do.

Tomorrow in Math we will be taking our Trimester 2 Math Test.  This test is what provides me with the data to give each student their Math score on the report card.  It is important they they perform well.  We spent last Friday and today reviewing so I expect to see some great scores.

We will be celebrating Valentines Day on Friday afternoon.  Your student may bring a Valentine for each person in the class.  I do ask that if they bring 1 that they bring enough for everyone.  We will be decorating some bags here at school so they don't need to worry about a bag or box or anything to collect them in.  I have updated the class list that is under the Mr. Brim's Class 2012-2013 tab at the top.  Tuesday your student will bring home a paper copy also.

I look forward to a great week!

Happy Friday!!!!

No homework besides the reading over the weekend.  I hope everyone has a nice, relaxing weekend.  Next week will be a much more normal schedule.  We will starting a new story and continuing Unit 7 in Math.  We will also take a Trimester 2 Math Test next week. 

Happy Friday!!!

Iowa Assessments Finished!!!!

For most students the Iowa Assessments are finished.  We have a couple students who have some tests to finish up.  I think everyone will be finished by the end of the day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will also be taking our spelling tests.  Remember the spelling words can be found by clicking on the Spelling City link and then going to the Unit and Week we are currently on.  The kids should know this.  This week we are on Unit 4 Week 3.  Next week will be Unit 4 Week 4.  There are many games and options for practice. 

The homework for tonight in math does not need to be returned to school.  It will be a good game to play on occasion to practice math facts. 

Last Day of Testing Tomorrow

If your student has been here each day this week then they will take their last two Iowa Assessments tomorrow.  The kids have done a great job of staying focused and I think most of them have taken it as a challenge and really worked their hardest to do their best. 

There is homework in math tonight.  The homework talks about factors and products.  A product is the answer to a multiplication problem and factors are the two numbers that are multiplied together. 

Keep studying the spelling words.  Some students forgot there was a list for this week that was transferred over from last week.  We played Sparkle today and it was obvious that we are not ready for the test yet. 

Boots

Yesterday we had several students at school without boots.  Today was much better as I reminded them yesterday.  Student need to have boots on when they are outside even if they are staying on the blacktop when it is this wet and when there is snow on the ground.  If you student doesn't have boots please get them some.  If you need help getting boots we do have a few pairs here are school.  Just have your student talk to me and I will get them a pair. 

The reading portion of the Iowa Assessments went well this morning.  Wednesday we will be taking two 30 minute math tests.  Thursday we will finish up with Written Language and Computation.  Everyone was here today which makes it much easier to the take the tests.  Make-ups can be a huge pain so thank you for having your child here.  Remember plenty of rest and a good breakfast can make a huge difference along with some words of encouragement on their way out the door in the morning.  They love to hear that they have your support. 

The only homework tonight is the reading minutes and to study spelling.  We had most kids come back today with their folders signed and reading minutes recorded.  Thank you for your help and support with this. 

Check out the new video in the Video Links.  We watched it this morning to motivate us for our tests. 

Iowa Assessments

We started our Iowa Assessment tests today.  Today we took the Vocabulary, Capitalization, Punctuation, and Spelling tests.  Make sure your child is getting plenty of rest and eating a good breakfast.  Thank you to the parents that sent notes for their kids.  That really meant a lot to them.  I wish you could have been here to see their smiles as they read the things you had to say to them.  Keep encouraging them throughout the week.

Unit 7 in Math as begun.  Coming home today you should get a Unit 7 Family Letter.  I would advise keeping this to help as questions come up with the homework throughout the unit.  This unit will be about multiplication and division.  If you could help your child make flash cards or purchase them a set to practice at home that would be very beneficial.  The more they practice at home the better they will be.

This week in reading we will not be reading a story or taking a test.  We will however be working on some comprehension skills and grammar skills.  There will also be a spelling test at the end of the week.  Please encourage your child to read each and every night.  When they do help them record the minutes they read on their assignment sheets and sign the bottom to verify that they read and did their homework.  We currently have only a little over half of the class that brings recorded and verified minutes back each day.  Some days it is only about 5 out of our 21 students.

I look forward to getting back into daily blogs as my basketball season has come to a close and I will have a little more time on my hands.

Let's make it a great week for learning!  

Routine

We are back into our routine full swing now.  Tomorrow will be a spelling test and a reading test over the story Wings.  Ask your child about Wings, and study the spelling words with them. 

There is math homework tonight.  It is about angles, but a protractor is no needed.  If it would help your student a simple protractor could be made at home.  Take a piece of paper and trace around a glass on it to make a perfect circle.  Then cut out the circle.  Fold the circle in half twice.  Mark on the edge where the folds are and those marks can be labeled as 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.  You can eyeball marks between each mark for 45 degrees less or more. 

Angles

We have started learning about angles and how to measure them.  Today I introduced measuring angles with a protractor.  Below are a couple videos about what we learned today in math and what we will be learning in the next couple days.  These videos might help on homework later in the week or next week. 

Using a Protractor 1

Using a Protractor 2

Acute, Obtuse, and Right Angles

I hope everyone is having a good week.  Make sure your student is getting their assignment sheet signed each evening and returned to school each day.  Also, have them record their reading minutes.  Right now we have about half the class that does this on a consistent basis.  

Happy Wednesday!!!

Brrrrrrr

We are off to another great week.  We are moving along very quickly in geometry and I am surprised how well the students are learning the new stuff.

There is no homework besides the 15 minutes of reading tonight.  I did give them workbooks to take home and work on some extra work if they would like. 

Finally Friday! :)

After two whole weeks off for Christmas I wondered if we would ever get to the end of this week.  :)  It has been a very busy and full week. 

We took our Volcanoes test today and most of the kids did a great job.  The kids also all did a good job on the spelling test.

In math we talked about triangles.  There is homework over the weekend to draw triangles and measure them.  Most of the kids could really use some practice with their measuring skills.  Take a few minutes to help them with this and make sure that they are doing it correctly. 

I hope everyone has a great, relaxing weekend.  Happy Friday!

Busy, Busy Day

Wow!!! We had a busy day!

This morning we did our volcano experiment.  Below there is video of some of the things that went on during the experiment.  I will also include a link to the page with directions for doing the experiment at home in the LINKS section. 

This morning we also had the opportunity to visit the high school and watch the Show Choir perform.  It was exciting as we saw some high school kids and other people that we knew. 

After lunch we went to the Kendell Young Library to check out books.  We will be doing this on the first Thursday of the first full week each month.  Students must have a library card to check out books.  They should know after today if they don't have a library card.  They will need a parent to take them to the library to get their library card.  Hopefully everyone will be able to do this.  I also took some pictures at the library and will post those on the blog.

Volcano Experiment

Halfway through...

We are halfway through our first full week of the year 2013.  Did you know that the last time the year didn't have a repeating digit was 1987? 

There is homework in math tonight over some of the things that we have learned so far in unit 6.  The kids are doing a great job learning about geometry. 

Tomorrow and we will be doing science experiments to go along with our reading story about volcanoes.  Friday will be the test over the story and the spelling test over words that have wr, kn, mb, and gn. 

Tomorrow we will also be taking our first class visit to the Kendall Young Library.  This is going to become a monthly occurrence.  Students will be allowed to check out books if they have a library card.  If they don't they will need to go to the library sometime with a parent to fill out the proper paper work. 

Great Start to the New Year!

We are off to a great start to the New Year here at Sunset.  It seems like it has been forever since we have had a normal scheduled week so it has been nice to get back into the routine that we follow.

This week in reading we are reading a story about volcanoes and learning about volcanoes.  This is by far my favorite week of the year.  Thursday or Friday we will be making a volcano and the kids will also be doing an expirament of their own.  Look for pictures and possibly videos later this week. 

In math we have started my favorite unit of the year also.  Unit 6 is about Geometry.  We have been learning some basic geometry terms.  There is homework tonight in math.

Remember to have your child read and to help them record their minutes and to verify the minutes by signing their assignment sheet each day. 

Hallie's Animal Video

Cydney's Animal Video

Marissa K's Leopard Project

Back to School

With the added two days due to the weather at the beginning of break it sure made it seem like a long break.  For me it was very relaxing and filled with time spent with family and friends. This two day week will be a nice way to easy back into school and for us to make up some of the things that we didn't get to do before the break.

Tomorrow we will be reviewing for a Math test that we will also be taking tomorrow.  We spent time reviewing today and the kids showed that they are mostly ready for the test.  If I didn't think they were ready I would push it back.  Tomorrow we will also be watching a movie that the kids earned before break.  The movie was supposed to be watched the Friday afternoon before we left.  Since we were not here we will be watching it tomorrow.  The kids earned it so they deserve to get to watch it. 

Let's take advantage of the new year to start recording reading minutes every night and to sign assignment sheets each and every night. Studies show that student who are held accountable for reading and recording their reading time at home will improve more than students who are not required to record their minutes.  I hope everyone had a great, enjoyable break and is ready to begin the new year.

Winter is Coming!

Sounds like there will be snow tonight.  Listen to the radio, look online, or check twitter for updates about school closing. 

There is a double-sided math worksheet for homework tonight.  Keep going on those reading minutes. 

3 more days until break!!

Just 3 more days of school until winter break.  It is hard to believe that we are almost half done with the school year already!!

We will be finishing Unit 5 in math this week and taking a test on Thursday.

This week we are not reading a new story in reading.  We are taking the week to review and work on our animal research papers.  The kids are doing a great job researching and writing about their animals. 

Friday afternoon a movie will be shown.  The kids had their choice to buy a ticket for the movie today or not.  Some did and some chose not to buy a ticket because they would like to go to the reading room Friday afternoon instead of watch the movie.  It is great that we have kids so interested in reading. 

Remember to keep recording and signing off on the reading minutes. 

MAP Test

Friday afternoon our class will be taking the Winter Reading MAP test.  This is something that has never been done before at Sunset.  Usually students take the MAP test at the beginning and end of the year.  We thought it would be a good idea to check our students in the area of reading to see what kind of progress they have made so far this year.  I met with each student and helped them map our their MAP scores from the end of 2nd grade and the beginning of 3rd grade.  We are hoping that each student will improve 5 or more points from their highest of the two previous scores.  The students will know by the end of the day how they did. (If they finish the test.)  Ask them how they did.  I expect that we will have a lot of students who have met their goal. 

Remember to keep reading and recording the minutes on the Weekly Assignment Sheet.  They must also have a parent signature on that sheet each day to verify that they did read what they say they did. 

There will be no homework over the weekend other than to read. 

Have a great weekend!!!

12/12/12

The next time we see a repeating date will be January 1st of 2101 or 2111.  Depending on how technical you want to be about it.  I probably won't be around but it is interesting to think that some of the students might be.

There is math homework tonight.  We started talking about decimals today.  The flat is worth ONE, a long is worth a TENTH, and a cube is worth a HUNDREDTH.  Below are a couple slides from our lesson today that might help explain a little better.

Happy Birthday to Cydney today.  Thanks for the yummy treats!