Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes (or more!)
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Due Friday)*
     *We are beginning a unit on addition and subtraction.  This week's homework has two pages of simple (no regrouping) addition and subtraction, along with a place value review.  Keep an eye out for more difficult addition & subtraction practice - we will be working with numbers up to four digits in length.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Sincerely,

Mr. B

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read for 20 minutes with a good book
- Sign and return Science Test!  (Food Chains and Animal Adaptations)
- Math Review Packet*
    *There is a typo on the first page of the math homework.  The 4th multiple choice question has no correct answers!  Answer D was supposed to be 4,880.  Feel free to skip the question, or, create your own answer to the problem.

We will be taking our 1st Quarter Math Test tomorrow morning.  Please get plenty of sleep and eat a nice, healthy breakfast before school!

Tomorrow we will have a Fall Party from 1:10 - 2:00 in Room 303.  Parents, please feel free to stop by if your schedule allows for it!

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes
- NO READING LOG THIS WEEK (enjoy the break!)
- Math Review Packet*
     *1st Quarter Math Test on Friday (reviews graphing, place value and rounding)

Good luck!

- Mr. B

Monday, October 24, 2011

Homework + Assembly!

This afternoon we were lucky enough to be invited to watch a Virginia Opera Assembly at BES.  A trio of actors/singers/musicians performed The Wizard of Opera, a play incorporating many different styles of Opera into the plot of the Wizard of Oz.  As an audience, I thought we were extremely well-behaved and respectful of our talented guests!  It was a great show - ask your child all about it! 

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book!
- NO READING LOG THIS WEEK (enjoy the break!)
- Math Review Packet*
     *Parents, this week we will be taking a "cumulative" 1st Quarter Math Test.  This means that everything we've studied from the beginning of the year until now is fair game.  So far, we've had units on Graphing (bar graph, picture graph, line plot) and Place Value (reading & writing different number forms up to 999,999; comparing numbers up to 9,999; rounding/estimating numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1000...up to 9,999).  The review packet is intended to be just that - a review of all that we have covered.

Good luck!

- Mr. B

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book
- Reading Log
- Math Packet
- Rounding Quiz Tomorrow!*
     *Parents, I sent home some practice rounding problems today.  Some students finished, some did not.  There were a (very) few problems with decimals included in the numbers (for a challenge, and to expose students to the idea that they exist).  I instructed the class to disregard/cross out the decimals, as we have not studied this yet and the decimals are too small to matter for our purpose - once they did, the problems became solvable again.
- Finish Rounding Review Problems (see above)

Good luck!

- Mr. B

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes
- Reading Log (Due Fri.)
- Math Packet (Due Fri.)*
     *We will be having a short rounding quiz on Friday.  Practice problems (rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000) will be sent home tomorrow.

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a great book
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Due Friday)

Enjoy!

- Mr. B

Monday, October 17, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read for 20 minutes with a good book
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Due Friday)

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Homework + Leaf T-Shirts!

Hello!

A BIG THANK YOU to our wonderful parent volunteers today!  Our annual Fall Leaf T-Shirts were a huge success despite Mother Nature's best efforts to slow us down.  T-shirts will dry overnight and go home in Ziploc bags tomorrow.  Please wash shirts before wearing them!

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a great book!
- Reading Log (Due tomorrow)
- Math Packet (Due tomorrow)
- Science Review (Due tomorrow)*
     *Tomorrow we will have a test on Food Chains and Animal Adaptations!  I sent home a "words to know" vocabulary list (located in Science/S.S. binder).  We also started making study cards (note cards) with a vocab. word on one side and a picture on the opposite side.  This is not homework, though some students showed interest in taking the cards home to make more.

Stay dry!

- Mr. B

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book.
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Due Friday)
- Science Review (Due Friday)

 
REMINDER:  Tomorrow we will be making our leaf-print t-shirts!  Please remember to send in a t-shirt (dark color, 100% cotton) if you have not already done so.  We have found a place outside that is safe from the rain, so we're all set for tomorrow.  Thanks for your support!

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book!
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Due Friday)
- Science Review (Due Friday)*
     *We will be having a Food Chains and Adaptations Test in Science on Friday, November 14th.  There is a lot of vocabulary for this unit (see below) and we have been working hard to use and understand these words each day.  Students will be expected to draw and label a complete food chain (beginning with the sun's energy and ending with a decomposer that starts the cycle over again).  The list below will go home (along with Science binders) tomorrow.

Food Chains and Adaptations:  Words to Know
consumer - a living thing that eats other living things (does not make own food)
producer - a living thing that makes its own food
decomposer - a living thing that helps break down dead plants and animals
herbivore - an animal that eats only plants
carnivore - an animal that eats only meat
omnivore - an animal that eats both plants and meat
predator - an animal that hunts other animals for food
prey - an animal that is hunted by other animals for food
aquatic - water
terrestrial - land
adaptation - a special characteristic (physical or behavioral) that helps an animal survive
camouflage - blending in with the surroundings in order to survive
hibernation - sleeping during the winter
mimicry - looking, sounding or tasting like another animal in order to survive
migration - traveling to another place in order to survive (for better weather, food, water, etc.)
instinct - something that is known from birth (e.g., a spider knows how to spin a web, sea turtles know where to crawl to get to the ocean, etc.)
learned behavior - something that must be taught/learned after birth (e.g., a mother wolf teaching her pups how to hunt, a school teacher showing students how to multiply numbers, etc.)

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes
- Reading Log
- Math:  Place Value Story (packet)

- Extra Credit:  Leaf Bug!

Tomorrow we will have a quiz on place value (up to the hundred thousands place) and comparing numbers (greater than, less than, equal to).  There will be no rounding problems on the quiz.

Have fun!

- Mr. B

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book (Reading Log Due Friday)
- Math Packet (Place Value Story, etc.) Due Friday

- EXTRA CREDIT (optional):  Leaf Bug (Make-a-Camouflage HW)
     *This is an optional assignment that I handed out to interested students today.  The goal is to take a leaf from outside and turn it into a camouflaged bug!  Be creative & have fun!  We'll share our leaf bug designs on Friday.

 
- Please remember to bring in leaves and cotton t-shirts for our upcoming Fall Leaf T-Shirt designs!  We will be making them Thursday, October 13th (weather permitting).  If it's too much trouble to bring in the t-shirt by this Friday, don't worry, as long as we have it by the 13th!

Good luck!

- Mr. B

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Homework

Tonight's Homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math:  Place Value Packet (Due Friday)
     *There will be a Math Quiz on Friday on Place Value (up to the hundred thousands place) and Comparing Numbers (>, <, =).

Please sign and return Maps & Globes test if you haven't done so.

Good luck!

- Mr. B

Monday, October 3, 2011

Homework

Tonight's homework:

- Read 20 minutes with a good book!
- Reading Log (Due Friday)
- Math:  Place Value Packet (Due Friday)
- Please sign & return the Maps & Globes test if you haven't already.

Have fun!

- Mr. B