August 21 through August 25

Keenoy’s Pups News                                    August 25th, 2017

Dear Families,

     Our first full week was very successful.  We accomplished a lot during this time, including voting for a class name and designing Keenoy Cash.  As you can see, we will now call ourselves Keenoy’s Pups.  Great ChoiceJ

     Congratulations to Luke E., Lilly M. and Hattie H. for representing our class on the Comet Council Squad.  Each student who presented did a terrific job.   Elections will be held again next trimester, and three new classmates will be elected.  Those that were not elected this round, should definitely apply again.J

Keenoy Cash
Students were allowed to design their own Keenoy Cash as a fun incentive for positive behavior.  I like to celebrate student’s positive choices by giving individuals or tables this cash.  After a week or two the Keenoy Cash banker collects the money and figures out a class total.  This allows us to work towards class goals/celebrations. Also, the table with the highest total for that week or two can also earn a special goodie.

Math
*This week students completed an assessment of their computation skills in the areas of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing larger numbers.  This is baseline data that is collected and graphed.  This information guides my instruction and helps student track progress during the year. 

*Students were also able to identify which basic multiplication facts that they need to study.  Students are given 30 seconds to solve twelve basic fact problems.  We started with the 1’s and worked are way up to the 12’s.  If students are not able to correctly solve the twelve problems (from that number string) then I am asking them to study at home.  They will have a chance to “graduate” from that number when they can solve all 12 problems in 30 seconds.    Knowing these basic facts fluently will greatly help their success with large digit multiplication and division problems later in the year. 

*Units Taught This Year……….
            Area and Volume-Unit 1
            Whole Number Place Value and Operations-Unit 2
            Fraction Concepts, Addition, and Subtraction-Unit 3
            Decimal Concepts: Coordinate Grids-Unit 4
            Operations with Fractions-Unit 5
            Investigations in Measurement: Decimal Multiplication and Division-Unit 6
            Multiplication of Mixed Numbers, Geometry, Graphs-Unit 7

*Although we started Topic 1 (Area and Volume), we will spend much more time focusing on this Unit next week.

Reading
I feel like I have a classroom full of readers.  We are continuing to establish our routines and expectations for reading workshop and reading notebook work.  I do not want to bog students down with a lot of written (book report) work while reading.  That being said, I do expect that students practice using the comprehension skill being taught that day.  They will do this by sharing a couple of “thinking spots” in their reading notebook while they read.  In addition to their 20-30 min. of reading, the notebook work will also become a nightly homework expectation starting next week.

Writing
Next week, we will begin our first writing unit.  This unit will be focused on narrative writing.  We will spend several weeks creating detailed stories about life moments.  Students will begin the unit with a “Pre-assessment” of narrative writing. This will enable me to see the skill set students are bringing to the classroom as well as the areas that need particular focus.

Friday Folders:  Be sure to sign and have your child return the green work/study habits on Monday.  I write comments in the folder every other week, and I love when parents take the time to comment back. 

Upcoming Important Dates
August 29th                  PTA Fundraiser Kick-Off
September 4th              Labor Day-No School
September 7th              Fall Picture Day-Forms sent home today!
September 12th            PTA Fundraiser Ends
September 25th            Teacher Collaboration Day-No School
September 26th            Paxton “Get the Scoop Night”
September 30th            Pumpkin Fun Run


Have a wonderful week!                       
Dan Keenoy







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