Mallen's Monday Memo December 7, 2015

Monday Memo

December 7, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

Last week was sure a fast week with no school on Monday, late start Tuesday, early out Wednesday and dress rehearsal on Thursday. Within that, we had a few extra music practices to prepare for the concert, so we didn’t get very far on what I had planned for last week. So, this week we will be doing a lot of last week’s work. Thanks for attending the Christmas concert! The students did a great job!!

 

We will be finishing up on our Cendrillon story this week. We will also begin a new story that we will finish next week entitled Heat Wave. This story is also one of our “amazing” stories about the effects of a heat wave on a farm. We will be working on the following skills with this story:  Fantasy/Realism, the comparing/contrasting, and reading a diagram,  as well as vocabulary and comprehension. We will be finishing this story next week. Our grammar skills with this story are on using past tense verbs. The spelling list will be sent home with Wednesday, with the spelling test next Tuesday.

 

We are working on our second module in Math. This module has us working on conversions using the metric system. We also do a daily review and a multiplication sheet each day. Keep working on those important facts each night.

 

Social Studies is what we will be working on this week! We will be working on the Southeastern Region of the United States. As always, if you have any artifacts or brochures from that area, please feel free to send it with your child and they can share it with us!

 

Just a reminder that on Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that!

 

As it is Christmas, the giving time of year, I would like to do a few things. First, I would love for the students to “Pay it Forward” and do something nice for someone. Maybe shovel someone’s sidewalk, deliver cookies to an elderly neighbor, read a story to an elderly neighbor, visit the care center and talk with some of our new friends… the list is endless. If they do that, I am going to have them share what they have done with the class. I love hearing of the awesome things they do!!  Hopefully that will inspire them to do even more!! If possible, can you also send $2.00 with the students? I would like to do a cheer fund ornament from the class. Thank-you for all of that!!

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns!

 

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Monday Memo

November 30, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great holiday!! We had a busy two days last week! We went to the care center and made holiday placemats with them and then played cards. We worked on a variety of Thanksgiving activities! On Tuesday, we took our Science test. The results were sent home with your child. Clown faces were put on the kids during art class on Monday. This week will be about preparing for the Christmas program on Thursday. Reminder that it is at 7:00 at the high school, on Thursday.

 

We are continuing on our “That’s Amazing” theme in reading this week. Our story this week is another version of the classic Cinderella tale. This version is entitled “Cendrillon”. I will be reading a lot of versions of Cinderella throughout this week. We will also be working on the following skills:  Vocabulary, Comprehension, using a Venn Diagram, working with the suffix –able, and fantasy and realism. Our grammar skills this week are over the use of main and helping verbs. As always, we will continue to work on a daily SRA. Our spelling list for the week is attached to this memo.

 

We are working on our second module in Math. This module has us working on conversions using the metric system. We also do a daily review and a multiplication sheet each day. Keep working on those important facts each night.

 

Social Studies is what we will be starting on this week! We will be working on the Southeastern Region of the United States. As always, if you have any artifacts or brochures from that area, please feel free to send it with your child and they can share it with us!

 

Just a reminder that on Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that!

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns!

 

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Monday Memo

November 9, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week went by quickly! We were busy with our MAP testing last week. It took a lot of our math time up and with the early out, it didn’t give us a lot of time for our math lessons. This week we had Counselor Johnson today and our library teacher Mrs. Streigel, tomorrow. She is doing a great job of teaching different things on the computer! 

 

We will be reviewing reading skills this week through the reading the following stories:  Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride and Duke Ellington. We will be working on comprehension and vocabulary with these stories and we will be reviewing previously learned skills throughout the week. Our grammar lessons are reviewing nouns, singular nouns, plural nouns, common nouns, proper nouns, and possessive pronouns. Our spelling list is attached to this list. We will also be writing a personal narrative this week, taking this writing piece through the edited and publishing process.

 

We didn’t get very far in math last week. We had our early out, and we worked on the MAP tests two days. So, this week we will be continuing our focus on problem solving subtraction problems, both one and two step problems. Again, keep working with your children on their multiplication facts! There are some students who are doing a great job and others that need to keep practicing them. Once they have them, they will have them!!

 

We took our social studies test on Friday, and I sent the results home with them. We will be starting Science again, working on the body systems. This chapter just talks the basic about each of our body’s systems and the main organ in each.

 

Just a reminder that on Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that!

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns!

 

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo November 2, 2015

Monday Memo

November 2, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! What a busy week we had last week! We didn’t get through our Social Studies chapter  so our test will be this week, with a study guide coming home with them Tuesday and the test being on Wednesday.  Last week we went to the care center on Monday with our computers and made door signs through the use of the software, Inspiration. We also paraded our Halloween costumes there on Friday. We paired up with the first graders and did a computer activity with them. We printed that out for them as well as for our care center friends. We had an anti-bullying assembly on Monday. We were treated to some 6^th graders putting on three Reader’s Theatre plays for us!! We had our Halloween party on Friday and thank our room parents: Norma Gonzalez, Jon Swenson, and Holly Dirksen for the wonderful party they put on for the kids! We also finished our Oct. 30^th RC book and quizzed on that. The students received their new books on Friday. Thanks for having them read for 20 minutes a night!!

 

We will be starting a story this week, entitled A Very Important Day. This is a great story about a few families celebrating the day that they became American citizens! We will be working on the following skills this week:  Vocabulary, Comprehension, Multiple Meaning Words, Journal Writing, and Newspaper article writing. Our grammar skill this week is working on possessive singular and plural nouns. Our spelling words for this week are attached to this memo. We continue working on SRA each day as well. They are great for all reading skills the students need.

 

We are getting closer to the end of our first module in math. We will continue working this week on subtracting and regrouping numbers. We also will continue to work on our daily reviews and our daily multiplication page. Thanks, again, for having your child work on those each night! We are starting to do weekly timed tests for multiplication, so working on them is going to start paying off for them!

 

We didn’t get to this last week but we will this week:  On Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that! Finally, a normal week for us to work on these! As I said above, I will send home the study guide Tuesday, with the test being on Friday.

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns!

 

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo October 26, 2015

Monday Memo

October 26, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! This is a busy week for us! It is our Anti-Bullying Week! Many activities are planned. I will include a few. You will also be receiving and have received some information about some of the plans. Today, the students are going over to the care center with their laptop computers. The idea is for each class to do a service project. For our project, they are going to do an activity with a resident. The site is called wordel and the kids will be making a wordel with them and we will bring them back to be printed and laminated. We will then present them with them at a later date. I thought the residents might get a kick out of working on the computer. We are also pairing with a first grade class this week and we will do the same activity for the first graders. It should be fun being a role model for them!

 

Our RC book The Jacket is due on Friday. I will be giving them another book on Friday  that will be due on November 15^th. Thanks for having them read each night and watching that they are truly reading, not just looking around… Many have already passed this book and are reading another and that is fantastic!!

 

We will be starting a story this week, entitled Boss of the Plains. This is a great story about how the Stetson hat was made and the story behind that.  We will be working on the following skills this week:  Comprehension, Vocabulary, Writing a business letter, Making inferences, and some compare/contrast. Our grammar this week will be over plural nouns. Our spelling words have the  ir and ar sounds in them and are attached to this memo. We also do a daily SRA that you see come home each day. As I said at conferences, you want to see 80% on them. If they have a 90% or better, they get a sticker on their chart.

 

We will be continuing to work with standard algorithms in Math this week. We will be adding and subtracting numbers. We will also be doing our daily reviews and a fact sheet each day. Thanks for working with your children on knowing those facts as they will really appreciate that when we get to that unit!!

 

We are going to be  finishing up on the second chapter over the Northeastern Region of the United States in Social Studies this week.  We will be talking about the Iroquois Indian tribe that made their home in this region. We didn’t get to this last week but we will this week:  On Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that!

 

We also get to watch a Reader’s Theatre put on by a 6^th grade class, on Tuesday! We have our service project at the care center on Monday. We are going to be with the first graders for half an hour on Tuesday. The students are to wear the color orange on Wednesday. Thursday is our Random Acts of Kindness day (refer to letter sent by Counselor Johnson). We will be parading to the care center with our costumes on, on Friday at 1:40 and then we will come back here for the 2:00 parade. Our party will be from 2:15-3:00. Thank you in advance to our room parents for the Halloween Party and for their time and talent!! The room parents for this party are:  Jon Swenson, Holly Dirksen and Norma Gonzalez is sending treats and drinks.

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns! I look forward to meeting with you at our conference time!!

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo October 19, 2015

Monday Memo

October 19, 2015

 

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a busy week last week! We had Counselor Johnson on Monday. She talked to the kids about bullying and they decorated sacks for Fareway with rules about bullying. Some 4-H students came to talk to the kids about 4-H. They gave a great presentation and sent some literature about 4-H home with the kids. We finished Bound for Oregon this week and the students got a new book, The Jacket, by Andrew Clement. Again, for those that need help reading it, thanks for reading a page to them, they read a page… Andrew Clement is a great writer of fiction stories and this story has a great lesson in it! For some of the kids, they will have this book read in no time and can go to the library and check out a book. This book is due to be tested by October 30^th. I will be giving them a new book that day, which will be due on Nov. 15^th.

 

We will be starting a story this week, entitled Tanya’s Reunion. This is a great story that touches on the generations of a family and the effect that they have on Tanya’s life. We will be working on the following skills this week:  Comprehension, Vocabulary, Words with root/spect in them, Making inferences, and some compare/contrast. Our grammar this week will be over singular and plural nouns. Our spelling words have the short oo and long oo sounds in them and are attached to this memo. We also do a daily SRA that you see come home each day. As I said at conferences, you want to see 80% on them. If they  have a 90% or better, they get a sticker on their chart.

 

We will be continuing to work with standard algorithms in Math this week. We will be adding and subtracting numbers. We will also be doing our daily reviews and a fact sheet each day. Thanks for working with your children on knowing those facts as they will really appreciate that when we get to that unit!!

 

We are finishing up on the Northeastern Region of the United States in Social Studies this week.  I will be sending home a study guide over this chapter tonight, with the test being on tomorrow. Thanks for your help with your child studying for this test! On Mondays, the students will be bringing home DOGS (Daily Oral Geography) that will be due on Friday. They can use any resource to answer the few geography questions. Those that hand it in on time, have their names on it, and get it perfect, will be in a drawing for a prize each Friday. Thanks for looking for that and helping with that!

 

Reminder that we have an early out on Wednesday!

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns! I look forward to meeting with you at our conference time!!

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org

Mallen's Monday Memo (Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015) and Monday, October 12, 2015

Monday Memo

October 5, 2015 and October 12, 2015

(Tuesday, October 6, 2015)

 

Dear Parents,

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a busy week last week! We tested over our Science unit and I kept the results to share with you during conferences. We completed our review week over our first theme and finished our Mysteries genre activities. This is a strange week. No school today as we prepare for conferences. We have an early dismissal on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 for our conferences and no school on Friday. We will try to get as much in as we can during these few days.

 

We will be starting a new theme with our reading entitled “American Stories”. This is a fun theme that I try to integrate the genre of historical fiction. The students’ RC books are entitled Bound for Oregon, which is a wonderful historical fiction book. I am reading the odd chapters to them and they are to read an even chapter each night. I will be reading chapter 7 today and they are to read chapter 8 tonight…

Our first story is about a family that is from Mexico and migrates to Iowa in the summers to help with farm work. The story is about how he learns to speak some English. I have heard that the town this story takes place in is Hampton, but I have nothing to verify that. Anyway, we will be working on the following skills throughout this story:  Vocabulary, Comprehension, Drawing Conclusions, and Contractions. Our grammar skills will be over proper nouns. Our spelling words have the ou and schwa o sounds and are stapled to this memo. We will also be writing a personal narrative throughout these two weeks.

 

We will be working with standard algorithms in Math this week. We will be adding and subtracting numbers. We will also be doing our daily reviews and a fact sheet each day. Thanks for working with your children on knowing those facts as they will really appreciate that when we get to that unit!!

 

We are starting on the Northeastern Region of the United States in Social Studies this week! We tested over our plant unit on Friday, and I kept the results to show you at conferences. If you or your family has ever visited the Northeastern Region and have some artifacts, brochures, pictures, etc… of this region, we would love for your child to share them!

 

In the next two weeks, we will be having our Healthiest Walk on Oct. 7^th. We also get to have our librarian come and work with the kids on some computer skills!!

 

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions/concerns! I look forward to meeting with you at our conference time!!

Have a great week!

Chris Mallen

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

Email:  chris.mallen@bkcsd.org