Thursday, February 3, 2011

What’s Going On In Our Classroom?: Weekly Update from Ms. Goldy 1/31-2/4

Hello from the Coti Sweets classroom! This is the first of many weekly updates from our classroom. This has been an exciting week! We had two birthdays (Shalom and Jerus), no snow days (that sure hasn't happened in a while!), and learned a lot of interesting things.
In Writing Workshop we're finishing our Powerpoint presentations on the Incas, and they are great! We've been learning all about Incan religion, art, music, and most recently, how their cities were designed. In Language Arts, we have been discussing "point of view" in narratives. As a writing prompt, we chose one person whose shoes we'd like to "walk in" for a day and why. We got some great responses---ask your child who they chose! To reinforce this concept, Ms. Coti and I wanted to create an experience that gave students different perspectives on the same event. On Thursday morning, we gave a special treat to only a few students (something that caused quite a stir among those who did not get the treat!). Afterward, the students responded to the prompt "How did you feel when about what happened today? How do you think your classmates felt? What was their point of view?" and discussed how each person had a different point of view that depended on their experience. And don't worry, everyone got the same treat in the end :-)
As we wrap up our literature circles, each group is creating a project to share with the class. We look forward to see the skits, dioramas, and activities that they have prepared! Keep an eye out for pictures of the presentations on our blog.That's all for now! Enjoy some pictures from this week and have a great weekend!
-Ms. Goldy

(top) Fa Sade, Daysa, and Charles rehearse their Lit Circle skit


(left) The class celebrates Jerus' birthday with some yummy cake!

(right) "Tuck Everlasting"'s Lit Circle brainstorms/begins their project

(bottom) Indoor recess makes some of us pretty goofy!


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Homework -- Week of January 31, 2011

Monday

Coti Math: Journal, Page 127
Wordly Wise: 16A
Lit. Circle Assignments


Tuesday

Coti Math: Journal, Pages 128 and 129 plus handout
Wordly Wise 16B
Lit. Circle Assignments
Point of View essay

Wednesday

Coti Math: Journal Pages 130 and 131
Wordly Wise 16 C and D
Lit. Circle Assignments
Social Studies, Unit 2, Lesson 3 -- finish the four reading checks.

Thursday

Coti Math: Journal, pages 132 and 133
Wordly Wise: 16E plus study for test
Lit. Circle Assignments
Point of View Essay

Friday

No homework (unless you need to do makeups)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Homework--Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wordly Wise 15 C and D

Finish writing first drafts of vocabulary word stories.

Math: Handout

Lit. Circle readings plus jobs

Put PJs on backwards!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Homework -- Monday, January 24, 2011

Wordly Wise: 15A
Write a story using at least 10 vocabulary words.

Coti Math: Pages 116 and 117, CMJ

Lit. Circles: Reading plus jobs

Field Trip on Wednesday. Bring permission slip if you haven't turned it in yet.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Homework -- Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Wordly Wise -- 14 A and B
Math -- Handout
Writing -- Choose one:

1. Write about the similarities and differences between the performances
by Eaton's students and the New York City Ballet of Balanchine's "Themes
and Variations."

2. What story did the first dance tell in today's performance at the Kennedy Center?

Monday, January 10, 2011

Homework -- Monday, January 10, 2011

Coti Math: Finish grading packets we started in class. Write your name in the upper right corner.

Reading: Five pages in reading handout plus two similies and two metaphors.

Read for 30 minutes.

DC-BAS tomorrow. We will take the reading portion of the test. Get a lot of rest and eat a good breakfast!

No Wordly Wise this week due to testing.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Happy New Year!

Dear Parents,

I wish you all a new year full of happy surprises and a lot of productivity. As usual, I am unable to connect to this site at school, and that presents some problems in getting homework up on the site in a timely manner. I apologize for this snafu and will make every attempt to get the homework, newsletter and pertinent messages online as soon as possible.

It was great to be back in the classroom and get back into a routine again. The holidays were wonderful with my son back from Japan, our other children home from college and my husband's birthday all rolled into the season, but I felt ready to return. Thank you so much for the class gift of a $150 gift card (Red Door) and the beautiful gifts from individual students and family. I will send personal thank-you notes soon!

We've started the new year where we left off. It's been a seamless reunion of our studies. The students are working on powerpoints of the Incans as they relate to Argentina, studying the early explorers of the Americas and learning how to research and site sources. A substitute teacher told me yesterday that he thought my students were sixth-graders because of their focused work on laptops and how invested they are in their studies. The students beamed with pride when I told them.

We will have a test on Unit 4 in math on Friday. We'll conclude (for now) our study of decimals and metric measurement and move into multiplication and long division.

The New York City Ballet is here this week with a program that brings the students into the wonderful world of dance and set construction. More than half the class is involved with a culminating performance at 10:30 on Friday. Please try to come!

Mr. Bergfalk is back in the saddle as school-wide science teacher. I'm planning a unit on Planet Earth to supplement the science program.

DC-BAS will be administered next week. I know our students are ready.

Here's to a great new year of teaching and learning!

Susan

Homework: Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Coti Math: Page 101, CMJ

Wordly Wise: 13B plus midterm test