Weekly News -Update - Final Post of my Career

• Best wishes to the class of 2014! You will always hold a special place in my heart. My last and thirteenth class. My good luck number. May thirteen always hold a special place in your heart as it does mine. Congratulations for the awards you received this year. May your middle school years be a wonderful experience for all of you. Remember to get involved, work hard and give your best effort. I look forward to reading about all your future accomplishments.
• Happy Summer to my amazing class and their supportive families! I wish you all a happy and safe summer. Remember to complete your Reading and math packets.

As always thank you for your continued support from the home front. It is truly appreciated more than you could ever know. Signing off................

• I almost forgot to post this week. It has been a fun-filled week for the students and parents alike. On Thursday we took our annual field trip to Battleship Cove. Thank you to the Chaperone's for taking time out of the busy schedules to spend the day with is. It was truly appreciated. Our students had a blast and they were well behaved the whole day.
• On Tuesday students visited martin Middle School. The principal spoke to the boys and girls and then they went on a tour of the school with members of the student counsel. It was an informative visit and the boys and girls were very well behaved on their tour.
• Great job to the school chorus and Mr.  Temple for putting on an amazing concert. It is always so entertaining to see the kids perform. We always have many students with amazing talents. Please spread the word about supporting elementary school music programs.
• Our fifth grade awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 24th at 9:45. At this time students will be given awards and they will also be given their Progress Reports. Please try to make it and see your children be recognized for their achievements.
• On Monday I will be sending home a Math and Reading summer packet. They materials in the packet will be for students to practice skills learned this year. It will allow them to practice skills so that they don't regress over the summer. 
• One last comment is a bittersweet one. At the end of this school year I will be retiring after 35 years of teaching in East Providence. I have been at Kent Heights for the last 25 years and it has truly been my pleasure to work with so many wonderful families over the years. It is my second time working with several of you. I have been blessed with a wonderful class this year and that is why it is so bittersweet. It makes it very hard to end my career and at the same time I couldn't have asked for a better class. I will miss your hugs and smiling faces.

As always thank you so much for your continued support from the home front!

Weekly News - Update

• It is hard to believe it is already June 5th. It's even harder to believe my 35 year teaching career is about to come to a close. I have been fortunate to work with such a dedicated group of teachers for many years here at Kent Heights. Thank you to all my colleagues for always been amazing co-workers and friends. I have also worked with many dedicated students and families over the years. My last year has been so rewarding with my wonderful class and supportive parents. Thank you all.
• All our end of year assessments have been completed and scores have been recorded. I will tell you the boys and girls are extremely happy they are over. Everyone work diligently and gave their best effort. 
• This week in Literacy students have read many chapters in Hatchet. We have had interesting group discussions about the topics about survival covered in the book. Students have also completed comprehension pages related to the book. Students have also worked on power point presentations and ability level comprehension packets during the literacy block. While one group of students works on the computer the rest of the students are reading individually or in a small group.
• This week in Math students have continued to work on strategies to solve multiplication of fractions. Next week we will begin a week of division of fractions. Our final  module for the year will teach students the concept of volume.
• Our final in class project was introduced this week. Students are assigned a state book and they are to create a brochure. Information should include facts about the state as well as interesting and historical information. This is another favorite project. All students are loving this project. I have seen many creative brochures so far.
• We will be going on a field trip to Battleship Cove on June 19, 2014. A form will be coming home asking for chaperones. We can only take so many parents on the bus. But if you are willing to follow the bus we may take more chaperones. Please fill out the form and return it to school as soon as possible. Also sign and fill out the permission slip. Thank you.

As always thank you for you support from the home front. Enjoy the weekend

Weekly News - Update

• I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We are back and heading into the home stretch. Just want to pass along dates to remember. Our annual field trip to Battleship Cove will be on Thursday, June 19th. The bus will leave school at approximately 9:45 and return around 1:30. If you would like to chaperon this trip please send me a note, call me at school, or send me an email. We can fit several parents on the bus and the others can carpool.
• Our end of the year Easy CBM's for math have been completed. Mostly everyone has gone up from red to yellow, red to green and all the yellows moved up to green. Job well done boys and girls. Your parents will be very proud of you. I know I am.
• Next week I will give the DAZE reading test to finish up the reading end of year testing. I will post comments in next weeks blog.
• Our math coach Mrs. Marchand came in and gave the fifth grade students a diagnostic math test to help with  rti placement in the middle school. They will be scored the same way easy math cbm's are scored (red, yellow green). All 5th grade students in the district will be give the same 30 math questions.

As always thank you for your support. Enjoy the weekend!

Weekly News - Update

• I can't believe it is memorial Day Weekend. Please take the time to thank or think about our Veteran's for all they have done for our country.
• Tomorrow I will be at Evergreen Nursing Home for a Hope and Faith Fundraiser. Please bring a canned good and come by and visit. I will be there between 11:30 and 3:00pm. I would love to see you all there.
• In Social Studies this week we continued with the Liberty's Kids videos. Students watched The Midnight Ride, Liberty or Death, United We stand and The Second Continental Congress. Ask your children to tell you all about the series.
• In Reading/Writing we continued reading Hatchet. We are about a third of the way through the book. Students are learning what it would be like to survive in the Canadian wilderness. They have learned what it would be like to gather their own food and what it would would happen if they came across a bear. Today they put themselves in the bears place as he came across a human. They had to write a paragraph from the bears perspective  by telling someone what it was like encountering a human. The students are thoroughly enjoying this book.
• Power Point Projects are moving right along. Everyone has creating at least two slides. Some groups are moving ahead as they have completed research for more slides. Once a group has researched information for two slides they can begin to create those slides.
• Students have begun taking the Dibels End of Year Reading assessments. I will continue to test for the next two weeks. They will also be taking the Easy CBM math assessments on the computer. This test will be given next week.

As always thank you for your support from the home front. I am truly blessed and thankful for such a wonderful and dedicated group of parents.

Weekly News - Update

• This was a very busy week in room 19. We started the week off by finishing the Gates McGinitie comprehension subtest. This reading test will be one tool used to place students in reading programs at the middle school.
• In math students are practicing multiplying and dividing fractions. This week they learned about order of operations through the acronym GEMS (groupings, exponents, multiplication/division, and subtraction/addition). Ask them to tell you about it.
• In reading we are continuing to read Hatchet. Both boys and girls are loving the adventure. Please ask them to share this lively adventure with you. Along with the story students are completing a variety of comprehension activities. In Reader's Workshop students are reading ability level passages, leveled books and Science topic leveled books. These books can be read individually, with a partner or in a small group. They are loving the non-fiction topics.
• In Social Studies this week students watched Liberty's Kids, This is a series of videos about most of the topics covered in our Social Studies curriculum. Our first video taught students about The Boston Tea Party and the Battle at Lexington and Concord. Students learned many facts that were listed in the Social Studies Books and they enjoyed it!
•  Power Point projects are moving right long. Most groups have completed several slides. Other's are researching their topics. Students get on the computer two to three times a week to develop power point presentations that they will use to teach their classmates about current Social Studies, Science or Health concepts. Please ask them questions about their research and slides.
• Dibels End of Year testing will begin soon. You can help your child do well on this test by having them read for one minute several times a day. This will help to increase their reading fluency. By the end of the year your child should be reading 130 word per minute. Once they finish reading please ask them to retell you what they have read. Ask them to tell you three or more facts in sequential order. Your child should begin by saying this story is about or the main idea is. Thank you for your help in this area.

As always thank you for you support from the home front!

Weekly News - Update

• This week the fifth graders began taking the Gates MacGinitie assessment. This test is one that is given to all fifth grade and it assesses reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. It is one tool uses to place fifth graders in the middle school and to also inform middle school teachers of any reading difficulties a student may have. On Thursday they took the Vocabulary subtest and they will take the Comprehension subtest next week.
• Students were given their final Social Studies/Science project. They will be working with a partner (or on their own) to create a power point presentation. Students are to work in class, but their are allowed to research information at home using their thumb drives.
• In Math students are continuing to work on multiplication and division of fraction. Our focus has been to practice using tape diagrams. Please ask your children to show you how to use a tape diagram. They can use the following problem 2/3 of 24.
• In Literacy we have begun reading a new trade book. It is called Hatchet and it is about a boy, his hatchet and his survival skills in the Canadian wilderness. Ask your children to tell you about the story. Students will use their Reading Response journals to respond to a variety of questions/activities involving this story. In writing they are finishing an essay on "What is one thing I can do to change the world" and beginning a writer's choice story. This story can be about any writing topic they have learned this year.

Happy Mother's Day to a wonderfully, supportive group of Mom's. Thank you for all you do for your children. I truly appreciate your help from home. Have a wonderful day.