Donorschoose #FirstMillion

Today they are matching all donations! I can fully fund my project for $163!

I have my $50 ready to go!

Please pass this to friends who like to help out the schools!

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/lets-plant-the-seeds-for-lifelong-learn/3016433/?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=directlink&utm_campaign=project&utm_term=teacher_1946404&rf=directlink-dc-2018-01-project-teacher_1946404&challengeid=309252

February Break Opportunity

February Break  Coob has a Stem Camp!

I got this link from Dr. Grizzle's TWEET!

Learn more about STEM Camp Cobb @ https://stemcampcobb.weebly.com/ 

Snow days and Ice again! What to expect the next couple weeks.

Days Away from School: Oh My! 

Hope this doesn't become a habit this winter! Goodness, we've been through the wringer: Irma, Ice Storm, College Championship/traffic, and now another snow storm that closed schools from Texas to North Carolina! Craziness!

Just a Yankee, FYI for you:

 I hope all of our families fared well these past couple of cold days. I made it home safely Tuesday, but made sure to fill my tank up first. I am not sure how many of you are from the north and used to this cold, but I wanted to warn you that your gas can freeze. On days like we have had this week, or days they warn us about these temperatures, it's always a good idea to have more than half a tank.  I learned the hard way, that leaving liquids like 12 packs of pop or laundry detergent is not a good idea! Oh, my poor little Neon! It sure did teach me a lot for those 6 years I had her! LOL! imagine my surprise when I went to empty my trunk, a few days after getting groceries, globs of unscented Cheer laundry detergent mixed with slushy diet coke all over.  I can't say I was very "Cheer"ful cleaning up that mess!

What does that mean for our up-coming days and lessons in F10?

We are going to have to back up to Tuesday and start from scratch. 

Writing- 

We are working on writing our opinions, and friendly letters. We have Pen-pals in Florida and South Dakota. I am pretty excited to have the kids writing with a purpose. Occasionally, they will be writing their new friends and I'm hoping to include their opinions in those letters, sometimes. We are talking about stating an Opinion and giving 3 reasons for that opinion. This genre of writing is good because the can use facts and emotions. Before the Holiday Break, we were working on facts like in a research project that we did together. This area of fact vs opinion is very tricky, for many of the kids still. They can argue their opinion about what is fun, tastes good, smells good, and any other topic that we all have our own point of view, but to write "how to" pieces or "characteristics of a mammal" and they start to put feelings into it. Having the kids writing to loved ones is a great way to help out at home. 

Reading- 

I know some of the kids are worried about the AR party for the 2nd Quarter.  I am pretty sure that it will be rescheduled, the PTA and Mr Estelle have been working hard to get it ready, so I doubt that they'll let the planning go to waste.  The kids are doing very well on AR I have many classmates who did AR last year and are collecting their 100 point bracelets.  Others who just started this year are getting close to their 25 point and 50 point bracelets. Can't wait to see how high many of the kids end up this year! I am not expecting to have many kids get 2 100s last week or this week, we just haven't gotten into our new routine all that well yet! 

According to our DRAs and other assessments in December, everyone is improving in their reading skills. I am so excited to see the kids enjoying books and looking for topics that are just right for them. This is the age where you see them swinging towards what may be personal interests, as opposed to when they were younger and they did things just because they had to. I love watching them develop their personalities. 

Math-

Here is where the "rubber meets the road!" Soon (last week of Jan.),  you will be seeing the kids bring home 3-digit addition and 3-digit subtraction homework. The strategies do not change, we just do the same steps more than before. I really need the kids to show their work on paper. IF you are running out of lined paper, please let me know, I ask the kids often if they need more, but some never do!  I have videos on youtube that you can watch or work with me on. Please feel free to ask me questions, this is not how we learned math and if you don't ask, it can get frustrating when you try to help the kids at home. If you subscribe to my channel then whenever I upload a new video it will notify you. Thanks, Leah for subscribing, I often forget that option. 

4 2-digit addends expanded form

4 2-digit addends base10

Supplies-

1. I will be passing out the 3rd box of crayons to the kids next week, for those of you who sent them in like requested. 

2. I am unsure if the supply boxes we are using this year are not as good as they have been in the past, or if the kids are just much rougher on their supplies, but I have had 4 kids break them. If you see that I write a note in the agenda asking for supplies, don't be surprised.  

3. I made everyone a sweatshirt. Please have the kids bring either that shirt or a sweater to keep in their reading bags. The county controls the air and heat, and we often go from warm and toasty to chilly and shivers, thus the sweatshirts. 

4. Please be sure to have pencils, crayons, colored pencils or other stuff at home to work on homework. They are not supposed to be bringing the classroom supplies home until our last couple of days in May!

Other stuff-

1. We have a field trip on Feb 2nd. This is a trip that parents are not allowed on, so says the Cobb Safety Village. An officer or firefighter will be coming to talk to the kids on the 25th. I have to hand the permission slips to him that day. I will be sending the forms home with homework tomorrow (I hope). Ms Cox has be the head teacher on this trip, so I am telling you about it as I hear it. The kids Have to Have them by the 25th!!!  Then the firefighter gives the kids homework that I have to turn in on the 2nd.  More info will be coming next week about lunch. 

2. Mid-term check lists are going home Feb 9th. With all of the days missed so far, I will be playing catch-up fit some of the requirements. Please remember that even though the mid-term progress reports resemble the report card, they are just a snap-shot of where the kids are at with half the information taught. 

3. I will be at a church training the 25th-29th of January. Mrs. Slaughter is scheduled to stand in for me. The days will be run as normal and she is very good about keeping things up and moving. This is my last planned absence this year. I will still be available via text, but she really does a great job, and I have no worries. 

4. We will reschedule the weekly assessments for this week. I will add some (4 or 6) new words to the spelling list that went home last Friday, and give new math problems for next week. The next weekly assessments will take place Wednesday, Feb 1. I want them to get the spelling patterns and work with the words for a few consistent days before the assessments. 

5. Friendship Day- (Valentine's Day)- I will let you know what we are allowed to do for Friendship Day when the admin gives us our parameters. 

readbrightly.com

This site has lots of great tips for parents working with kids on reading. I especially like the "Yes!" Brain, mindset. We work on having positive attitudes about our work when we are successful and when we come to road blocks. Instead of saying "Yes! I beat you", we are tying to encourage the kids to say, "Yes! My plan was successful!"  We also teach the kids to say "How can I fix this? Let's try again, and make a new plan." instead of saying, "I'm dumb and never get things right!" 

Check this site out by following the link.


www.readbrightly.com

Let’s Plant the Seeds for Lifelong Learning!

Hi all,

So many of you have asked me how my class is doing this year. Thank you! I've created a classroom project request on DonorsChoose.org to give you a glimpse into what we're tackling right now, so we’ll have the supplies in the spring:

Let’s Plant The Seeds For Lifelong Learning! 

The first seven days are key to my project's success. If you know of someone who can help us financially, please let them know about donorschoose.com. You may be surprised that  any amount helps! If you donate, you'll receive updates and photos of this project in action and my students' sincere gratitude. If you are unable to donate, you can still go back to the link and see the photos and get updates!  I can almost hear the chorus of thank-yous from my kids already!

Hope all is well,
Molly G-werner

P.S. If you know anyone who might be interested in supporting public schools, please feel pass this message along and they can choose from thousands of other projects to support. Even helping someone else, helps all of us. Children all over this nation will one day be our leaders, let’s start supporting them now! 

Cobb Library teams up with Cobb School District

Cobb County Schools has officially partnered with Cobb County Public Library, sharing their online resources with our students (Library PASS).  As of now, all CCSD students have access to the CCPL’s databases. 

To access Library PASS:   Cobb Digital Library/MackinVia > Databases >  Cobb County Public Library System > Open Now > Elementary School > Choose from Language Arts/Reading/Literature, Science/Math/Technology or Social Studies/History > Choose from a list of live links (see below) > Some links will ask for the student’s library card number and pin (The library card number is the student’s CCSD student number and the pin is their birth month and day.  Example:  The birthdate July 10^th  would be input  0710.  Then click Login.)

Students may also access the CCPL databases by keying in the following URL on the internet:  www.cobbcat.org/librarypass  

Language Arts and Literature

§  Bookflix

§  Mango Languages

§  National Geographic Kids

§  Novelist K-8 Plus

§  OverDrive

§  TumbleBookLibrary (Preschool to 3rd Grade)

§  TumbleBookCloud (4th Grade to High School)

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STEM

§  eBook K-8 Collection

§  Explora for Elementary

§  Galileo Kids (K-5)

§  LearningExpress Library

§  National Geographic Kids

§  Kids Page (NewsBank)

§  OverDrive

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Social Studies and History

§  eBook K-8 Collection

§  Explora for Elementary

§  Galileo Kids (K-5)

§  LearningExpress Library

§  National Geographic Kids

§  Kids Page (NewsBank)

§  OverDrive

Welcome to our new classmate.

Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Grandpas, and Aunties,

We are excited to welcome Onalee to our classroom! We now have 17 friends in all 9 girls and 8 boys! I hope that she gets to know your sweet children and has lots of friends soon!

New Year = New Schedule!!

Parents our new schedule will show up in binders tomorrow. Easier to read on a computer!! This is what they look like:

7:15-7:50               Students arrive/AR Quizzes/Morning Work/Restroom

7:50-8:00            Morning Announcements/Pledges/Finish Morning Work

8:00-8:20            Writing Focus  Lesson             

8:20-8:40            Independent Writing

8:40-8:50               Share Writing                   

8:50-8:55            Restroom Break/Clean up/Get ready for Literacy Stations

8:55-9:10                Mini Lesson

9:10-9:30             Daily 4 Literacy Stations (Round 1)         

9:30-9:50           Daily 4 Literacy Stations (Round 2)

9:50-10:10           Daily 4 Literacy Stations (Round 3)

10:10-10:30        Daily 4 Literacy Stations (Round 4)

10:30-11:05        Mini-Lesson: Science/Social Studies/Recess?

11:10-11:30                Lunch

11:35-12:00             Math Mini-Lesson

12:00-1:05           Daily 4 Math Stations (15 minutes each group)

1:10-1:55                  Specials--Kids Split up between the other 5 classrooms:

                               Cox- Mikayla, Adrianne, Tristan, Blakely

                               Mosley- Janiyah, Laila, Onalee

                               Smith- Camila, Justin, Jamar

                               Turner- Caleigh, Cayden, Roman

                               Wilds- Elliott, Jaiden, Aaliyah, Nehemiah

1:55-2:15                 Pack Up / Dear Time / Restroom

2:15-2:45                Students Dismissed