Team 33 Tweet

What's Happening? 11/29/2013 - http://t.co/tj4E3SpfB6

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 29, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 29, 2013 at 05:01PM

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Happy Holidays

So sorry for the redundant posts.  I am trying out a new technology and promise to get it worked out. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! See you Monday!

Team 33 Tweet

What's Happening? 11/28/2013 - http://t.co/UIWyNvGdYI

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 28, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 28, 2013 at 05:02PM

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Team 33 Tweet

What's Happening? 11/27/2013 - http://t.co/cZmXCHGx8n

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 27, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 27, 2013 at 05:03PM

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Team 33 Tweet

What's Happening? 11/26/2013 - http://t.co/sf3IHkT5hW

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 26, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 26, 2013 at 05:02PM

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Tuesday, November 26

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!  I wish all of you the best break ever!  Of course, I will be worried the entire break, so I hope everyone also stays safe!  Today we took a moment to go around the room and discuss what we are most thankful for.  Top on the student's list were their family!  I am also thankful for you.  I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to work with your amazing children, and the support you have given all year long.  I am truly blessed and thankful!

I have several items I want to update you on, so I am going to make a list, and check it twice, and hope I don't leave anything out:

• Celebration:  As you know we have been working VERY HARD and understanding and meeting writing expectations.  Today was a TRUE celebration!  Every student in Team33 and TeamShoultz has successfully completed 1. Picking-apart-a-prompt, 2. Planning a writing, and (most impressively) 3. Creating a full page or more of writing.  I know this task was easier for some than others, but that we worked together as a team to help everyone be successful is STUPENDOUS!  Congratulations 4th Graders!

• FROZEN: Please do not go see Frozen this weekend!  We would like to all go see the movie together.  We have arranged for a special discounted showing on Wednesday, November 11, 7:00 at Canary Creek Cinemas.  The cost will be $4.25 a person.  We are still working on a discounted snack.  All friends and family are welcome! We would like to ensure that ALL 4th grade students are able to participate, so PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR. More information will be coming home after break.

• Snacks: I hate to ask because you already do so much, but if you are able to pick up a little extra when you go to the store over break, the students would be ever so thankful.  We are completely out of snacks and small Dixie Cups to serve them in.  The Dixie Cups are just the small paper cups and they do not need to be brand name.  Snack ideas are dry cereal, pretzels, graham crackers, raisins, animal crackers, etc.  Thank you so much for any assistance you are able to give. 

• NEWSLETTER: The December Needham Newsletter is now available.

• Helping the Homeless: Emma is doing her part this Christmas Season by collecting  socks with her Girls Scout Troop for the homeless.  They can be gently used or new.  They are collecting for adults only.  If you are able to help, please send the socks to class by Tuesday Dec. 5^th.  Thank you very much for your help. 

Team 33 Tweet

Check out our Read-In Photo Album. We had some serious fun while reading today! http://t.co/gH93Rgigue

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 26, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 26, 2013 at 03:22PM

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Team 33 Tweet

Another clip we mustache to the hall of fame. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/nCkF6UIwOW

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 26, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 26, 2013 at 02:56PM

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So excited for our Read-In tomorrow! #LoveReading @NeedhamEleSch @myfcs http://t.co/xkHkTou3Ui

So excited for our Read-In tomorrow! #LoveReading @NeedhamEleSch @myfcs pic.twitter.com/xkHkTou3Ui

— Needham Team 33 (@NeedhamTeam33) November 25, 2013

from Twitter https://twitter.com/NeedhamTeam33



November 25, 2013 at 05:24PM

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Monday, November 25

Wow! What a work day!  Today we focused on writing to a prompt.  We all pretended it was the real ISTEP Writing Session, just so we could get a feel for how we would do.  I saw a lot of progress, and I saw a lot of ways we can improve.  We will keep working on!

Tomorrow we will have a Read-In during Literacy Block.  I will provide the hot chocolate and popcorn, and the students are allowed to bring pillows, small blankets, and even stuffed animals.  What ever will make them comfortable as we spend the morning reading.

Note: Feedback and Data Binders were not sent home tonight because several students need more to to complete their test.  Results will go home Monday after Thanksgiving break.

Only those students who did not complete more than a page for last week's "I'll always Remember" prompt have homework.

Wednesday, November 20

We are really making progress with  identifying the main idea, supporting ideas, and details. In class we have been focusing on finding Main Ideas (P1), Supporting Ideas (P2) and Details (P3) in articles and writing prompts.  The students are are quickly working their way to being independent at this skill.  Tonight's homework is a great chance to practice.  We collaborated on the article Botanists.  They should practice with the article Land of Ice and Snow. Use Botanists as a model if you get stuck.

Monday, November 18

Model Planning Page

We worked our buns off today!  REALLY!  As always we had a lot of fun doing it.  Today we focused on planning a writing. We went step by step through the process.  I modeled each step and then guided the students as they planned their own writing.  They did a wonderful job!  As you can see we used a hamburger model for our planning.  Because of this, we laughed an joked about buns ALL DAY LONG! It was wonderful!

We also updated the literacy portion of the Feedback and Data Binder.  Be sure to check out the data!  We made lots of improvements in making inferences last week and our data shows it! If you want a sneak peak of what we are working on this week, check out our Week 15 Literacy Link.

Friday, November 15

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Today, we had planned on reviewing our opening and closing sentences for our ISTEP writing practice, and then writing our stories over the weekend.  After a quick review of the planning pages, we decided we need a lot more practice planning the story before we work on writing it. So I want to let you know, I let the kids off the hook this weekend.  I told them not to write there story over the weekend.  We will work on it more next week and they will be writing for homework next week.

Hope everyone has a grand weekend.

Thursday, November 14

Tonight is the READERS ARE LEADERS night at Needham Elementary. Come to hear community leaders read great books. Then stay for dinner from 5-7:30. Cookie dough orders will also be distributed during this time.

Tomorrow we will have the a week 14 assessment. It will cover the following learning objectives:

• Making inferences
• Picking apart a prompt and planning your writing
• Vocabulary (not spelling) of the Lesson 6-7 list.

For tonight's homework, students are supposed to finish their planning page. (They are not supposed to write the story.) Tomorrow we will review their planning page, and discuss good opening and closing sentences. They will get to write their story over the weekend and we will share them on Monday.

Wednesday, November 11

Today was a work day.  The students worked on unfinished business from last week.  They worked on our new Spelling and Vocabulary Packets. They worked on making Flashcard Foldables to help us study.  They worked on reading Young Hoosier Book Award books, and of course reading books at their lexile. While they were working so hard, I was finishing up individual writing conferences with each student.  It has been inspiring to sit with each child as they read their writing and have the opportunity to discuss their writing skills with them.  We have learned a lot from each other during the process.

Tomorrow will be another work day.  We will continue to focus on making inferences and writing to a prompt.  I am really excited about the improvement I am seeing in both areas.

Tomorrow is also Learning Continued and Readers are Leaders night.  If your student wants to stay for Learning Continued, I must have a signed permission slip.  Cookie dough orders can be picked up during Readers are Leaders night from 5-7:30.

Tuesday, November 12

Tomorrow will be Team 33's book fair buying day.  If you want your child to purchase books, please send their money in a sealed envelope with any specific directions you want them to follow.

Another proud member of the
Behavior Clip Hall of Fame!

This Thursday is our 2nd Learning continued session.  If your student wants to stay for Learning Continued and has not yet filled out the LEARNING CONTINUED form, please send it in right away.

The new word part list, LESSON 6-7 Vocabulary and Spelling,  is now posted. I am very impressed with how the students are doing with studying and understanding prefixes, suffixes, and root words.  There efforts are showing on the weekly assessments, and will show when it comes to high stakes testing.

We are realizing an area of weakness is making inferences.  We reviewed the Week 12 assessment today.  Most students did not do well on the reading portion, which was based on making inferences.  The good news is we can get better.  As I modeled how to find the clues in the text, I saw light bulbs flashing on in many students eyes.  We will keep working on making inferences along with writing to a prompt this week.

Monday, November 11

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who have served, and all those at home who sacrifice to make it happen.  We owe our lives to you!  Today students are working on a piece of text called Mere Moments: The story of Pearl Harbor.  Some of them completed the assignment in class, but all of them were told to take the assignment home and review it with their family for better understanding.  I hope this will allow the opportunity for a discussion about what exactly it is our service men and women do for us.  Find out more details about tonight's homework assignments by visiting our Homework page.

Please note, that do to a change in our schedule, students will be bringing home Feedback and Data Binders tomorrow. Today we did not have enough time to put them together, because we went to the high school to enjoy a wonderful performance of Skippyjon Jones.  Be sure to ask your student to share their experience.

Thursday, November 7

I am so impressed with the kids work on idioms!  Their projects turned out FANTASTIC!  We laughed for quite a while as we read through them this morning!  I was also very impressed with the kids who stayed for Learning Continued.  They really worked!  The focus was our Goal Packets, and they were meeting goals left and right! - Just realized that's another idiom :)

The other project the kids are working on in class is writing to a prompt as part of the ISTEP review.  They have had time to work on their writing in class, but tonight they should complete the first writing prompt in their packet.  We will be grading them tomorrow for correct grammar, complete sentences, and including all information from the prompt plus additional details. If there story includes dialog with correct usage of quotation marks, they get extra points! I can't wait to read all of their wonderful memories!

Tonight is the skating party.  I will be there with my two children who love to skate.  I hope to see everyone there.

Tomorrow is crazy sock and Needham spirit wear day.  We are showing that Needham students know it is CRAZY TO DO DRUGS!

One last thing:  PLEASE! Do not feel any obligation to buy; but if you have not yet bought fruit from a Franklin FFA member, you only have a few more days to get your order in.  I only send out the reminder because my family buys the fruit every year and it is some of the best fruit you can get at a very reasonable price and it comes in just in time for the holidays. If you know a Franklin FFA member, place your order soon.  If you do not know a Franklin FFA member, my son would be happy to place your order for you. Here is the Price List and you can just email me if you would like to order.  Orders need to be in and paid for by November 10.  The fruit will be delivered before Christmas break.

Wednesday, November 6

First thing in the morning I was a doubting Thomas.  I really didn't think we could get everything in. But we all dirtied out hands and got to work. It was a race against the clock. But, after all was said and done, the kids took it upon themselves to make it a productive day.  Indoor recess was also a blessing in disguise because we had a lot of fun watching Kid Snippets. In the end we all made short work of the day.

As you can tell, our focus for today was idioms.  They can be tricky business so it might be a good reinforcement to talk about these idioms and more.  Students are also completing an idiom fold able tonight for homework. They should understand what to do, but I will stay close to email tonight just in case.

Tomorrow students are asked to bring a can of food for Red Ribbon Week.  This is to represent that "Drugs Can Lead to Bad Nutrition."

Tuesday, November 5

It was GREAT to be back with the team today.  I really did miss them yesterday!  We started by going over our new Learning Objectives, and Weekly Overview then we went right into center time.  It was very productive. Thanks to a wonderful parent volunteer, Mrs. Hawkins, we were even able to get many of our secret cards on the lexile wall.  Be sure to ask your student where they placed their secret lexile card.

Tonight is a special program that you won't want to miss!  It is the 4-H project fair!  Come to Scott Hall on the fairgrounds tonight between 6-7 to see many wonderful projects that you could be involved in as a 4-H member.  While you are there you can even register for the Needham/Webb 4-H club, or many other clubs that meet your interest.  I truly hope to see many of you tonight so you can learn about this worthwhile program.

Tomorrow is Favorite Team Jersey day as we TEAM UP AGAINST DRUGS.  Of course I will be wearing my TEAM 33 jersey!

Friday, November 1

HAPPY NOVEMBER! (For all of you who caught my error last month - it really is November now! Here is the NEEDHAM NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER to prove it!)

I want to start by thanking all of our wonderful "Mummies" who helped us have a "Howling" good time at the Fall party.  Whether you sent in goodies or came to celebrate with us, we appreciate you!

Besides all the party goodies, two important pieces of information went home today:

1. Pictures - I think they all turned out GREAT! If for any reason you don't think so, picture retakes will be Tuesday, November 12. If you would like your child to have his/her picture retaken (even if you didn't order the first time around) this is your chance! You will need to return the original photos.

2. Learning Continued - Many of you are already familiar with the benefits of this program from last year.  An extra hour of academics really does make a difference in a child's success.  I would like to encourage ALL students to participate.  Please read the linked form for more information.

Next week we will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week. We are celebrating by having dress up days each day: 

• 4^th,  Monday:  Red Ribbon Week –Wear Sneakers “Don’t Let Drugs SNEAK Up On You!”
• 5^th,  Tuesday:  Red Ribbon Week – Hat Day “HAT’s Off To Those That Put A CAP On Drugs By Being Drug Free!”
• 6^th, Wednesday:  Red Ribbon Week – Favorite Team Gear (jersey or shirt) “TEAM Up Against Drugs!”
• 7^th,  Thursday: Red Ribbon Week – Bring a canned food “Drugs CAN Lead To Bad Nutrition!”
• 8^th, Friday:  Red Ribbon Week – Crazy socks & Needham Spirit Wear “Needham Students Know You’re CRAZY To Try Drugs!”

Just a quick reminder, I will be out of the classroom on Monday, November 4.  I will not be able to access email until I return on Tuesday morning.  If you need to get a message to your child during the day, it is important you call the office at 738-5780. The students will be taking the Week 12 assessment on Monday while I am gone and should study their Flashcard Foldable or Word packet or the weekend.