January News

Personal

Wow, it has been sometime since I got to my blog. My apologies. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I was very busy with family which was exactly the way I wanted it. It was fun to come back and see all the students and get into a routine again.

My daughter had a new baby Thursday, January 14th. A little boy named Eli. I now have 9 grandchildren, 7 girls and 2 boys, and I love every minute of it.

Math

We have just finished up our unit on decimals, for now, and are working with division. Students who are still struggling with times facts really need to work on them. It is making the work we are doing much more difficult.

Language Arts

We have been reading short stories and articles about the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies, about Paul Revere, and about the causes of the American Revolution. The students have also been reading stories from our reading books about the American Revolution. They are learning a lot and seem to really enjoy it. We are soon starting to work knowing and practicing reading strategies. Each day the students will work on how to apply these strategies to their reading. We will them learn to use the strategies while reading novels. I will be introducing a survival unit and each student will read two exciting novels in class.

We are writing New Year's Resolutions, poetry, I Have a Dream, and are practicing for the Direct Writing Assessment the students will take the first week of March. This is a persuasive writing, with an assigned topic that will be given that day. It will be done totally electronically this year, so all the students really know how to type a five paragraph essay. We have a computer program called Utah Write that the students have been using as a practice guide in addition to classroom instruction.

Social Studies

We continued our reading topics into social studies and are studying about the original 13 colonies, their way of life, who founded them, why they were founded, and their struggle for freedom. We are now going to move into our studies of the Constitution.

Science/Biztown

Every day we are learning new things about running a business. Your student hopefully should know how to fill out a deposit slip, write a check, and record each of these in a check register. They have applied for jobs and will soon know specifically where each of them will work and the position they will hold. Our class will be running the following businesses: Qwest, Alphagraphics, Zions Bank, JA TV, JA City Restaurant, and Larry Miller Dealerships. Make sure you ask your child what they are learning. I think you will be impressed.

Volunteers

I want to thank all of the parents who volunteer in our class on a daily basis. It helps me so very much as well as assisting the students with their reading abilities. Thanks also for all of you who volunteered to go to JA Biztown with us on the 27th. It takes a lot of work and preparation but it very rewarding!

Misc.

School will be out on Monday January 18th for Martin Luther King Day, and Tuesday January 19th for Teacher Preparation Day. But, we will work extra hard on the days we are here:-)