Mallen's Monday Memo February 3, 2014

Monday Memo (

February 3, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Last week we didn’t get to everything we wanted with our late start, but we did get our social studies test in and the results were handed back with the students on Wednesday. They did a great job on the tests!! I still have a couple students that need to pass their RC book entitled The Secret School. I have given the students a new book which is a biography of either Helen Keller, Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman. These are all people that have overcome obstacles in their life and are perfect for a problem solvers theme. The books need to be read by February 17^th since the 15^th is on a Friday. Jacobson Elementary has a great plan for the month of February. It is the Winter Olympics, so we are going to have a reading incentive entitled “Going for the Gold”. The students are to have read and passed two RC book quizzes, by the end of February in order to receive the Bronze award. If they pass 3 RC quizzes they will receive the Silver award. If they pass 4 quizzes they will receive the Gold award. We will be having some activities with the third graders throughout the month of February. We will also have an assembly on Friday. We all look forward to a fun month of activities to celebrate the Olympics and reading!! So, their biography will be one of the books they need to have read and the 17^th I will be giving them another book to have read. After they have read and passed those quizzes, they can go to the library and read books of their choice if they want to go for the silver and gold. There will be prizes so we hope that is a good incentive for them. You won’t have to sign anything verifying if they have read such and such minutes, beyond the daily planner where you sign it if they read 15 minutes a night. We will be able to get onto the reading counts quizzes and verify how many quizzes they passed in the month of February.

 

We are taking our reading test today over the “My Name is Maria Isabel” story. Starting tomorrow, we will be reading a story entitled “Marvin and the Great North Woods”. It is a story about a boy who has a problem knowing what to do when he has to spend time at a lumber camp a long ways from home. We will be working on the following skills with this story:  Comprehension, vocabulary, and note taking. Our grammar skills this week are over irregular verbs and our spelling test will be next Monday.

 

In Math, we tested today and will be starting on Chapter 7 tomorrow. We will be working on the following skills in math:  Using Patterns to Divide Mentally, Estimating Quotients, Dividing with remainders, and two digit quotients. We will continue working on our daily reviews and our problem solving packets.

 

We are still on our Southwestern Region unit in Social Studies. We will be spending the week talking about the economics and natural resources found in this region.

 

The kids enjoyed the online typing computer program. Unfortunately the computer lab will be in use the next three and half weeks for Map Testing. When that is completed (we do it in two weeks), we will resume going every other day with Successmaker and the typing program.

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

Congratulations to the first and second place winners of the KC Spelling Bee Contest, who both came from our class!! In second place was Madison Roberts and the fourth grade winner was Cooper Sifert!! Great job everyone for participating!!

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Monday Memo (Tuesday)

January 28, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! This cold weather has been crazy!! I know the kids are tired of inside recess! I guess it is winter in Iowa and we just have to expect anything!

 

In reading this week, we are beginning a new unit entitled “Problem Solvers”. This unit is filled with stories about people who had problems and how they went about solving them. It also is the perfect time to start talking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other famous African Americans and how they handled their life struggles. We will also read about Helen Keller and how she overcame her struggles as well. Our first story is entitled My Name is Maria Isabel. We will be working on comprehension, vocabulary, and predicting outcomes as our skills with this story this week. We will also talk about symbolism this week. Our test over this story will be on Monday. We will be working on irregular verbs during our grammar time. Our spelling list is attached to this memo and our test will be next Monday. The students book The Secret School is due on Friday to be tested. I will be giving them another book Friday, and they are to have that book read by February 17^th. As always, if they finish the book and pass the test before the two weeks are over, they can get a library book and test over that.

 

In Math, we missed a lot of what was planned last week. So, this week we will be working on some problem solving with 3D x 2D numbers. We will also be doing our diagnostic checkpoint and both of our book chapter test and our chapter test. We are also continuing on our problem solving packets and our daily reviews.

 

With the late starts, early out and no school, we didn’t get to our study guide over chapter one. I am sending the study guide home with the students today, with the test tomorrow. We will be continue with chapter two which introduces us to a Native American tribe (The Hopi), that originated in the Southwestern Region. We will also be comparing this region of the United States to the herders in the Gobi Desert. The influence of the Spanish in this region will be covered this week and we will be discussing how to read time lines.

 

The kids enjoyed the online typing computer program. Unfortunately the computer lab will be in use the next three and half weeks for Map Testing. When that is completed (we do it in two weeks), we will resume going every other day with Successmaker and the typing program.

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids! Just a reminder that the Knights of Columbus are holding a spelling bee on Wednesday at 4:00. The students can get their entry forms and spelling lists from me. Parents are welcome to come and watch their children.

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo January 20, 2014

Monday Memo

January 20, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Our third quarter has officially begun! Time truly does fly!

 

In reading this week, we are going to be working on writing a personal narrative. We will spend the week going through the process of writing, rough draft, edited copy, and final copy. This will be a project that they will be putting in their portfolios for conferences. We will also be working on our SRA kits this week.

 

In Math, if everything goes well, we will probably be able to start testing over Chapter 6 by the end of the week. This week we will be multiplying money, writing to explain, and working on some problem solving. We have been doing some daily problem solving activities also that are based on measurement problems. The problems ask for a lot of conversion for example from cups to pints to quarts to gallons… We are also doing our daily reviews and so you can see we are pretty busy during our math time!!

 

We  are working on the Southwestern Region of the United States. I will be sending home a study guide on Thursday with the test on Friday. This week we will be doing some prometheon board activities over this region.

 

We have started an online keyboarding program. This is exciting for the kids!! I think they have enjoyed it. Next year, keyboarding will be one of their classes, but if we can get them started in 4^th grade, it really helps them be prepared. We are alternating the keyboarding program with the Successmaker program during our computer time.

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo January 14, 2013

Monday Memo

January 13, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great holiday vacation and a great weekend!! We sent in money for the Cheer fund. I thank-you for your donation and for the donation to the food pantry! I thank our room mothers, Mrs. Bonin, Mrs. Meints and Mrs. Roberts, for putting on such a great Christmas party for the kids!! They had a great time and I appreciate the time and effort put into having the party!

 

In reading this week, we are starting to finish our unit entitled “Amazing Adventures”. We will be reading a couple of smaller selections this week and doing a lot of reviewing over the skills from this unit. Next week, we will be doing a personal narrative writing project. If it is possible, could you please send a picture of some event your students could write about. An example would be if they broke their leg and you have a picture of them in the cast, or if they went on a vacation and you have a picture from that… They are going to be writing about this time, so it has to be something they have a story about. If you haven’t a picture, that is fine, they will just draw one. Thank-you for your help with this! On December 15^th, the students tested over their RC book. I then had them get a book from the library of their choice to read and for Christmas I gave them a book. I told them that I wanted both books read and ready to be tested on, by January 15^th. I knew they would have Christmas break and as it turned out they also had a snow day, so they should be done with both books by Wednesday. I will be giving them another book that day, which will be due the end of January. Just a reminder that they are to read 2 books a month. Going over that, helps their comprehension grade. So keep up the reading. Most of the kids have tested over one of their books, but just need to test over one more by Wednesday. I do have a few that still need to test over both.

 

In Math we have started a new chapter. This chapter is again focusing on multiplication. We will be using arrays to multiply larger numbers, learning how to make organized lists, multiplying greater numbers, and choosing a computation method. If the students know their multiplication facts, and most of them do, they will do great on this chapter!! We are also doing a daily problem solving activity and working on their daily reviews. All of these things will help them tremendously on their Iowa Assessments!!

 

I sent home the Science test results over the body systems, on Thursday. They did a great job!! We are now moving to Social Studies. We will be doing the Southwestern Region of the United States. If you have been to that region and have any artifacts that you are willing to share with the class, please feel free to send them with your child.

 

Just a reminder that with the snow, the students are required to wear their snowpants and boots. It is also so cold that it makes recess a lot more comfortable for them with all of that on!

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo January 6, 2014

Monday Memo

January 6, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a holiday vacation!!

 

In reading this week, we are starting a new story entitled Heat Wave.We will be working on the following skills this week:  Comprehension, vocabulary, using a venn diagram, discussing fairy tales and the difference between realism and fantasy. Our grammar lessons will be over using main verbs and helping verbs as well as identifying verbs. Our spelling words for the week are attached to this memo.

 

In Math we will be multiplying 3 digit times 2 digit numbers. Now I think the students realize why it was such a big deal to learn those multiplication facts!! It makes this process so much easier. The students will also talk about how to choose a computation method. We will also be multiplying money amounts this week. It will be a busy week in math, when you add our daily reviews and fact sheets!! Again, knowing those multiplication facts is really helping them now, so I thank-you for taking the time to make sure they learned them!! We are down to only 3 people that haven’t passed our 100 point 5 minute multiplication quiz at 100%! That is awesome!!

 

We have been talking about the systems of the body. We have covered the skeletal, muscular, circulatory and respiratory systems. This week we will spend time on the nervous and digestive systems and we will continue reviewing about the above systems.

 

I am just sending home this as a reminder:

 

As I mentioned in my last memo, I have a few projects in mind for the class this December. We have been talking about being good citizens. With that, I would like to do the following:  Our school is going to be sending home bags of food to people who may not have any on the weekends, after school, holiday time… If you are able, I would love for our class to help with this project. If you can send some taxable type of items such as toilet paper, soap, shampoo, the list goes on, that you could have your child bring by December 15^th, I will put all in a box and give it as a donation from our class towards going home in those food bags. I appreciate your time and effort in doing that. I would also like to ask that if you are able, if you could send $2.00 with your child, I would match what the kids bring and we will use that money towards the cheer fund. If you could send that money by the 15^th of December also, I will get it to the Cheer Fund. Thank-you for that.

 

Just a reminder that with the snow, the students are required to wear their snowpants and boots. It is also so cold that it makes recess a lot more comfortable for them with all of that on!

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo December 9, 2013

Monday Memo

December 9, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! The students had a great time bowling last week! This week we will be spending some time preparing for Thursday night’s Christmas concert. We will also have a dress rehearsal on Wednesday afternoon. We are also so very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Belmond Rehabilitation Center on Friday at 2:00. We are going to read them Christmas stories. We look forward to our visits with our new friends!

 

In reading this week, we are starting a new story entitled Cendrillion. We will be working on the following skills this week:  Comprehension, vocabulary, using a venn diagram, discussing fairy tales and the difference between realism and fantasy. Our grammar lessons will be over using main verbs and helping verbs as well as identifying verbs. Our spelling words for the week are attached to this memo.

 

In Math we will be multiplying 3 digit times 2 digit numbers. Now I think the students realize why it was such a big deal to learn those multiplication facts!! It makes this process so much easier. The students will also talk about how to choose a computation method. We will also be multiplying money amounts this week. It will be a busy week in math, when you add our daily reviews and fact sheets!! Again, knowing those multiplication facts is really helping them now, so I thank-you for taking the time to make sure they learned them!! We are down to only 3 people that haven’t passed our 100 point 5 minute multiplication quiz at 100%! That is awesome!!

 

We have been talking about the systems of the body. We have covered the skeletal, muscular, circulatory and respiratory systems. This week we will spend time on the nervous and digestive systems and we will continue reviewing about the above systems.

 

I am just sending home this as a reminder:

 

As I mentioned in my last memo, I have a few projects in mind for the class this December. We have been talking about being good citizens. With that, I would like to do the following:  Our school is going to be sending home bags of food to people who may not have any on the weekends, after school, holiday time… If you are able, I would love for our class to help with this project. If you can send some taxable type of items such as toilet paper, soap, shampoo, the list goes on, that you could have your child bring by December 15^th, I will put all in a box and give it as a donation from our class towards going home in those food bags. I appreciate your time and effort in doing that. I would also like to ask that if you are able, if you could send $2.00 with your child, I would match what the kids bring and we will use that money towards the cheer fund. If you could send that money by the 15^th of December also, I will get it to the Cheer Fund. Thank-you for that.

 

Just a reminder that with the snow, the students are required to wear their snowpants and boots. It is also so cold that it makes recess a lot more comfortable for them with all of that on!

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo December 2, 2013

Monday Memo

December 2, 2013

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving break!! It is always nice to spend time with family and friends! We enjoyed our time at the Belmond Care Center and loved the geography Jingo that we played!! The kids did a great job with their new friends and we rewarded with such nice prizes and a treat when they left. We appreciate all the care center does for us throughout the year!! Thank-you also for the props for the play we put on, last Tuesday! They were the directors, stars, and prop people for the play. Some of them learned that when you promise your team to bring something and then you don’t, you let them down. Always a good lesson to learn…

 

In reading this week, we are starting a new unit entitled “Amazing Stories”.  Our first story is from the wonderful author of Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg. It is entitled The Stranger. We are working on the following skills this week:  Comprehension, Vocabulary, Noting Details, Structural Analysis:  Compound Words and we will be reading some Autumn poems. Our grammar lessons this week are over action verbs and our spelling words, which are attached to this memo, are compound words. We also have the SRA kits this week.

 

In Math we will be starting on Chapter 5. We are finally in multiplication. All of that hard work learning their multiplication facts, we start to pay off!!. Speaking of that, we are down to everyone but 2 people (who are almost there), having received 100 percent on their multiplication timed tests and being members of the “Never Again Club”!!!  Our new chapter this week will have us working on multiplying multiples of 10,1,000 or 10,000, estimating products, doing some mental multiplication problems, and being introduced to using arrays to multiply.

 

We tested over our plant adaptation chapter last week. The results were sent home with your child. It was a short chapter. Our next chapter introduces the students to the different systems of the body. We will start this week by working on the skeletal, muscular,circulatory and respiratory systems.

 

As I mentioned in my last memo, I have a few projects in mind for the class this December. We have been talking about being good citizens. With that, I would like to do the following:  Our school is going to be sending home bags of food to people who may not have any on the weekends, after school, holiday time… If you are able, I would love for our class to help with this project. If you can send some taxable type of items such as toilet paper, soap, shampoo, the list goes on, that you could have your child bring by December 15^th, I will put all in a box and give it as a donation from our class towards going home in those food bags. I appreciate your time and effort in doing that. I would also like to ask that if you are able, if you could send $2.00 with your child, I would match what the kids bring and we will use that money towards the cheer fund. If you could send that money by the 15^th of December also, I will get it to the Cheer Fund. Thank-you for that.

 

Just a reminder that with the snow, the students are required to wear their snowpants and boots. It is also so cold that it makes recess a lot more comfortable for them with all of that on!

 

 I appreciate that you sign the planners verifying that they read at least 15 minutes a night! That is one of the best things we can do for the kids!

 

 

I hope everyone has a great week! As always, please feel free to call me with questions/concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org