Mallen's Monday Memo, August 29, 2011

Monday Memo

August 29, 2011

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! We made it through our first week of school!  Everyone is starting to do better with remembering to listen when I talk, focusing, using your time… I appreciate that you are making sure the kids finish their homework, if they have any. Reading every night for 15 minutes is also something I am so appreciative of you making sure your child does. Thanks for referring to my first memo for any questions you may have about the classroom…

This week in reading we are reading about a man who lived part of his life in Japan and part in the United States and how he felt that home was in both places. The story is called Grandfather’s Journey. We will be working on a variety of skills with this story, this week. Comprehension, vocabulary, word webbing, and writing a haiku poem are a few of the skills we will work on this week. We will also be working on subjects and predicates as well as reviewing the kinds of sentences, which we worked on last week, during our grammar skills time. Our spelling words this week have the long 0 and i vowel sound and the short o and I vowel sound. The words are attached to this list. For centers, we will be doing a vocabulary story, with words from our story, keyboarding with our Fusion Computers, doing a review activity that we call our language bucket, working on comprehending with poems, and doing Successmaker in the computer lab. We are busy during reading!!

For Math, we are working on place value and the value of numbers. This week we are working on problem solving with those concepts. We also do a daily review sheet, we do what we call a math bucket, and we do our math lesson and spiral review. It seems like a lot but they have a lot of time allotted to working on their math, and if they use the time wisely, there is plenty of time to play some math menu games. We have learned Ten Toss so far this year.

We had fun doing a classification game on the promethean board and we also did a game where we identified the location of the 7 continents. We are also doing daily oral geography and daily oral science. We are starting our science and social studies class with these problem solving activities. It is a fun way to get started. Right now we are talking about bacteria and decomposers with our daily oral science. It is kind of gross, but interesting. For Social Studies, we are working on our handbook in our textbook that review the use of globes, maps, … We also have some fun promethean board activities that relate to our topic of the day. We do a variety of activities each day with Science and Social Studies. We read, write, do hands-on and we try to finish with some type of game on the pb.

Keep having the students read a chapter of Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing each night. We will have be testing over that story at the end of the week. I will then give the students their own book from the realistic fiction genre to read independently and test over. Thanks for signing the planner each night that the students have read for at least 15 minutes!

As always, any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me!

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

Phone:  Home:   444-3093  School:  444-4300 ext. 336

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

Mallen's Informational Monday Memo Aug. 22, 2011

Welcome Back To School

Informational Monday Memo #1

August 22, 2011

Dear Parents,

            I hope everyone had a great summer! It went so fast and that just amazes me!  Every Monday you will receive a Monday Memo which will tell you about the goals and objectives of that week. It will also tell you of any assessments your children will need to study for and things of that nature. I also attach the week’s spelling list to the Monday Memo. This first memo is to let you know a bit about myself and about how I “run” my classroom. I feel that communication is vital between the parents and teacher and I would like to begin by encouraging you to let me know any concerns/questions you have by emailing me or calling me at any time. I like to be proactive on situations, so don’t let it fester, just give me a call/email and we will figure out something. I have my numbers and email address listed in the memo. I have also attached a roster of the students for you. I am also going to use your email address to give you any information, concerns, questions… that I have for you. I also have a blog on our school website. That address is also at the bottom of this memo.

ABOUT ME

           

            This is my 29^th year of teaching. I have taught in three districts, Shelby-Tennant, Kanawha, and Belmond-Klemme. I have taught K-12 Special Education, 5^th grade, 3^rd grade, and 4^th grade. I graduated in 1983 from the University of Northern Iowa. My husband, Dan, works at 3M Corporation in St. Paul, MN. He comes home weekends. I have three children.  Mackenzie is 25 and works for Verizon Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida. Kelsey is 22 and lives in Iowa City and is an ICU nurse at the University of Iowa Hospitals. Keaton is a senior at Belmond-Klemme High School. We have two dogs, Kinnick and Nile. Our favorite pastimes are attending Keaton’s events and attending the Iowa Hawkeye football games.

HOMEWORK

            I try to allow enough time during the day for the students to get their work done. If they don’t finish it, they are to finish it as homework. If it isn’t finished, they will finish it during their recess. My major goal for the students to have for their homework is to read 15 minutes or more each night. Each student will have a planner. We will fill it out each day. They will circle any homework they have that night. I ask that you put your initials at the bottom of each day. Please only initial it if they have read for 15 minutes that day. If it isn’t signed, I will assume they didn’t read and I will have them read for 15 minutes during recess. I appreciate your help with that! The first book they have is in a plastic baggie. For the first book, we are all reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Once the book is done, (We will be doing a few of the chapters together), they will take an RC book quiz. If they get 70% or better, they will receive a punch on a punch card I have on a bulletin board for them. They will receive a prize when the punch card is filled. They also have a card in their plastic bag, where they will check off each book they pass. Just a reminder that they have three chances to pass the quiz. Once they pass the first quiz, they will be picking out their own books, however, I am doing different genres each month that I will be having them read at least one book of their choice, in each genre.  I also want them to have their multiplication facts memorized as soon as possible. We will be doing daily multiplication sheets but mostly I will need to have them work on their facts, through multiplication cards, computer games…, at least 10 minutes a night, if they need to. Having them memorized will make 4^th grade math so much easier for them. Again, thanks for your help with that as well!!

BOOK ORDERS

            I send book orders home with the students each month. I send a variety of orders home with them so that they have a variety of books to choose from. Please send a separate check for each book order you may decide to order from. Please don’t feel obligated! I will try to make the due dates about 10 days from the day they get them. I am attaching the first book orders of the year. Let’s have them due on September 9^th.

BEGINNING OF THE DAY

            The students have a variety of ways that they can start their day before school starts. They have the choice of eating breakfast in the lunchroom, going to the library and reading a book, using the computer lab to do CCC and going to the gym for the walking program. I have a chart in my classroom for the students to put a sticker for each time they get 70% or better on CCC, either math or reading. If they come early, they could go to the lab and do a lesson in math or reading and still have time in the walking program. We start school at 8:10 now, so there won’t be as much time as in the past. With that, at 8:10 there will also be the morning announcements. We will begin our day as soon as the announcements are over. I have attached a copy of my schedule to this memo as well.

STUDENT TEACHER:

Kay Stayle

            We are so fortunate to have a student teacher with us for the next 8 weeks. She will start by observing my class and observing my methods and as the weeks progress, she will be more and more responsible for the teaching. She will be writing the Monday Memos when she is in charge of the classroom and that will be your sign that she is taking over. I look forward to having her here! She has provided us with some information about herself:

I have two children Stacy who is 23, resides in Clear Lake and Tyler who is 19 lives at home. They both work at Bennigan’s in Clear Lake.

I live in Meservey. I love to garden, camp, fish, sports of all kinds, love the outdoors and to hang with my kids, grandma and my dad.

I am a senior at Buena Vista University. I am student teaching in Belmond, Sheffield and Mason City and will graduate in Feb. 2012.

I teach Head Start in Mason City at Hoover Elementary.

I am a 1981 graduate from Mason City High School and moved to the Meservey Thornton area in 1982.

BIRTHDAYS

            Birthdays are a pretty special day in the kid’s life. If you wish to send treats, please feel free, however, don’t feel obligated. Just refer to the Jacobson Elementary handbook for any questions about treats.

CLASS LIST

Jesse Brown

Leslie Carlos

Shelbi E. Clayton

Austin Dean

Jaydon Gansen

Wyatt Heideman

Zachery Heiden

Kaytlynn Lee

Jose L. Martinez

Kassidy Miller

Gisselle Murillo

Kaden Nickell

Chance Nielsen

Jacob Noah

Emma Schroeder

Kelsey Smith

Cameron Steenhard

Dawson Summers

Mary Thompson

Trevor Usher

Elizabeth Vestweber-Boots

SCHEDULE

MONDAY-FRIDAY

8:10-10:15:  Reading (8:10-9:00: Journal, Spelling, DOL, Grammar Lesson)

                                      (9:00-9:30: Whole Group Lesson)

                                      (9:30-10:15: Guided reading groups and Centers)

10:15-10:35:  Recess

10:35-11:35:  Math

11:35-12:00: Study Time

12:00-12:25: Lunch

12:25-12:50: Recess

12:50-1:00: Break

1:00-1:30:  Blue Days:  Art

                     Green Days: Spanish

1:30-2:00: Blue Days: Music

                    Green Days:  PE

2:00-3:00:  Blue Days:  Science

                     Green Days:  Social Studies

3:00-3:20:  Tues.-Library

                     MWTHF:  Read Aloud/Dear Time

3:20:  Dismissal

WAYS OF COMMUNICATION

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

Phone:  Home:  641-444-3093     School:  641-444-4300 ext 336

Blog:  http://MallensMemo-blogspot.com

I am so excited for this new school year!! There are so many learning opportunities for us in fourth grade. We will be learning about the ITITAROD race in Alaska in our first reading story. We will also be learning place value and the value of numbers in math. Social Studies will have us begin by learning about geographical terms and then the regions of the United States. In Science, we will be learning about how animals are classified. Hey-that is just the first week of school!!! Lots more learning ahead!! I look forward to a great year!!

Chris Mallen