Mallen's Monday Memo March 14, 2011

Monday Memo

March 14, 2011

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week we finished our social studies chapter over the southeast region of the United States. We enjoyed our monthly visit to the care center on Friday. We read stories to them and made a leprechaun with them. They are always so good to us with their treats and hospitality.

 This week during reading we are reading two different excerpts from two different books. We are reading from Stormy, Misty’s Foal and Sacajawea. We will be working on a variety of skills this week including comprehension and vocabulary and we will be working on main idea and homophones. We will be reviewing our pronouns during our grammar time. They are to “memorize” the subject pronouns:  I, you, he, she, it, we, and they and the object pronouns:  me, you, him, her, it, us, them. We have discussed the possessive pronouns as well and will spend this week reviewing all of the above. Our spelling words this week are also review words from this unit “Heroes”. We will also be doing some reading from the story Misty of Chincoteague. They will be working on a variety of skills along with this really interesting story! Vocabulary and comprehension will be a huge part of this!

In math this week, we are continuing with our division unit. We are dividing with remainders and with zero in the quotient, this week. We will also working on dividing with money. Knowing their facts has made this process that much easier!

Water is our new unit in Science this week. We will talk about how water affects all aspects of life… We will be continuing on our Southeastern Region of the United States unit this week. We will be looking at how people make a living in that region and a lot about the history of that region. Again, that fits in so perfectly with our “Heroes” unit in reading!

The students will be having another review of 30 words from the past few stories, this week for their spelling list. The list is attached to this memo. The students really do an awesome job on their spelling tests. We just need to work on transferring that spelling to their daily work. It just all takes lots of practice and that is why we write so much!

Thank-you for returning the conference slips! I look forward to meeting with you next week. I won’t have a Monday Memo next week, since I will be visiting with you!!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call or an email!

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

Phone:  444-3093 (Home)  444-4300 ext 336 (School)

Email:  chris.mallen@bemond-klemme.k12.ia.us

Mallen's Monday Memo March 7, 2011

Monday Memo

March 7, 2011

Dear Parents,

                I hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week went by very quickly. We were able to test on our science unit on Friday. We finished our chapter on multiplication in math. The reading incentive assembly on Wednesday went very well. Our class won with the most RC points during the month of February. Our two winners for the month were Keaton Wilson and Koty Kuhlers. They each won a hackeysack ball. I am so proud of the reading that most of them are consistently doing!! I appreciate you signing the planner verifying that they are reading 20 minutes a night. It is one of the best things we can do for the students. The more they practice reading, the more fluent they become and the more fun reading becomes as they are able to be taken to so many places through a book!! It is a terrific life-long skill!!

                In math, we are starting on our division unit. Yes, the dreaded long division is a part of this unit. Since they have their math facts memorized, I know this unit will go just fine. In their buckets, they have been introduced to the concept of long division, so I think it won’t be as difficult of a concept as it can be. As with reading, practicing on these kinds of problems, just makes it easier for them to do! We will be doing a lot of practicingJ We will also keep working on our daily math “buckets”. They are a great way to keep practicing those hodge podge of math skills that they will see on their ITBS test.

                This week during reading, we are going to be reading about Lou Gehrig and how he is a hero to many. Last week we read about Gloria Estefan and learned many reasons why she was a hero. We will be working on comprehension skills and vocabulary development, as well as fact and opinion, syllables, word histories, and possessive pronouns. Our spelling words have the VCV pattern in them and the list is attached to this memo. We will be reading about Mark McGwire, Marian Jones, and Roberto Clemente during our guided reading time. Our centers will also involve vocabulary, typing skills, Successmaker, a vocabulary game and working with syllables.

                Our new unit in Science won’t begin until Friday. We will start working on water for Science for our next unit. We will finish with our first part of the Southeast Region this week, hoping to test on Thursday over this region. A study guide will be sent home with the students on Wednesday, if all goes well. This region has been great to go along with our reading!

                I sent a permission slip home with the students last Thursday for a field trip on March 29^th. It is going to be an awesome trip to the Civic Center in Des Moines to see a production of the play Freedom Train. The major problem is that we HAVE to leave by 8:00 and so we NEED the students here by 7:50 that morning. We know the buses don’t always get here by that time, so we appreciate you making special arrangements to get them there that morning by 7:50!! It should be a great experience and we HAVE to leave at 8:00 because the production starts at 10:00. Thanks for your help!! The permission slips are due by March 15^th.

                We will be going to the care center for an hour on Friday. While there, we are going to read to our new friends and we will have a color activity for St. Patrick’s Day to share with them. I love the interaction the kids have with their friends. It is absolutely wonderful to see. Every single kid knows that their job is to try to make their friends smile. They know that for some of the residents, they are the only visitors they have had in awhile. These kids are awesome!!

                As always, if you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to give me a call or email me!

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

Phone:  444-3093 (Home)  444-4300 Ext. 336 (School)

Email:  chris.mallen@belmond-klemme.k12.ia.us