Sunday, January 25, 2015

January 19-23

        Another busy week this week.  We finished up our Indian project and the books turned out great!  A lot of the students were able to finish and record themselves reading their books.  Those that finished have their books on this blog.  Not all groups were able to record but quite a few were.  They did a nice job and the books will be going to WDA to share with 1st and 2nd graders next week!
       We had some extra helpers on Monday for National Day of Service and Martin Luther King Day.  These PHS students were helpful and enjoyed seeing our students for the day.  We had a fire drill, a storm drill and Friday was group picture day!  So, on top of normal school we had a lot going on.
       This next week we will be kicking off our next project.  We are excited about this project and we hope the students get excited as well.  Look for more info coming home soon.  We will need some help and would love some creative people to come and help us out!
      Thanks to everyone who sent in items for the compost columns we appreciate your help!  Reminder that January reading calendars are due next week.  They can be turned in anytime as soon as they have 20 days recorded.
    Have a great week!
























Sunday, January 18, 2015

One Almost Full Week Down!

   Well, we almost had a full week.  Two hour delays are great for sleeping in and being safe but they are crazy once we get to school.  This week was very busy and with two delays a little crazy!  We had our second RIS Spirit Assembly Thursday and that was a lot of fun!  Some pictures are attached from the assembly.  We are trying to get our Native American project finished and the books the students have created are very good. We are just finishing up editing and then the students are recording the books into Garage Band to share with our first grade friends at WDA.  As soon as we get this finished we will kick off our next project.  We hope that happens this coming week.
     We have been working hard at getting back into the swing of school since winter break.  Achieve 3000 continues to be a school wide weekly assignment.  Our students have improved a great deal with getting this done early in the week which helps them a great deal.  Students need to be filling out their January reading calendar as it is their responsibility to have at least 20 days filled in with 30 mins each time.
     Students are working on decimals in math and are continuing to practice their facts.  In science students are beginning to work on their compost columns.  We appreciate all of you who have sent items in for this project.
      Have a great week!























Monday, January 5, 2015

Happy New Year!

    We hope this finds all of you well rested and ready for a new year!  2015 is sure starting out cold!  Be sure to bundle those kids up before they head out in the mornings as we are in for some COLD days.  We had a fun end to 2014 with lots of neat extra things.  The first was a visit from a former RIS/PHS grad who is now in the Marines.  Jarrod Ellis came and spoke to the students about his experiences in school and in training for the Marines.  It was wonderful and the students had great questions for him.  With all of your help we were able to give a family of 9 a wonderful Christmas.  The students were all amazed at what we can do when we work together.  The family was very grateful and the mother had tears in her eyes when we packed her car with the items we had collected.  Thanks for your help with that project.  We were able to watch our fellow 5th graders in their Christmas program. (Our team has a program in the spring)  We also had a fun day on Friday and had some yummy treats!  Thanks for all of the wonderful goodies!
    We are excited to finish up our Native American project and the books are looking very good!  We can't wait to see them all finished and get them recorded.  Our friends at WDA will be happy to get these wonderful books.
    We are going to be starting a unit on compost in science and we are in need of 2 liter bottles (empty), twigs, leaves, soil, banana and apple peels  We need these for next week if you are able to send them in just put them in a Ziplock baggie and bring them to Ms. VanDerWeele.
    Reading calendars for December are due no later than Friday, December 9.  As we get back into school Achieve 3000 is still a weekly requirement as is reading nightly.  Thanks for all of your help.