Thursday, March 27

Wow! Your children should sleep well tonight!  Dr. Seuss Day with the Head Start students was a BLAST!  But the students also realized that the responsibility of watching over a preschooler can be exhausting.  Please talk to your child about their experience with community service today.  I think you will get an ear full.

Today we also finished The Magician's Nephew.  For those of you that don't already know, this book is the prequel to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It is an amazing the fairy tale filled with adventure and it explains how the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe came to be. After finishing the book we watched a short amount of the YouTube movie series.  Of course we didn't expect it to be anywhere near as good as the book, but the kids really didn't care for it.  We did find out that the Disney version of the movie comes out in 2016.  We have higher hopes for it, but still don't expect it to be near as good as the movie.

Well, now Spring Break begins!  Everyone is excited and deserves the break!  I hope everyone gets well rested and enjoys their time off.  If you have a few minutes here and there, Miss Shoultz sent home a Math Bonus Packet to keep your skills fresh.  Spring break is also a great time for reading a good book.  While in the car, on a plane or even on a train READING IS THE ROAD TO A BETTER LIFE!

Tuesday, March 25

We had loads of fun "Wandering Indiana" today!  The students seem very excited about our new project.  If you have not yet read and signed the project explanation, please do that tonight and return it tomorrow. Over break, students should continue researching and decide the site they would like to present on.  Several resources can be found on the Wander Indiana Page of our Team33 Website.


Tomorrow is the Needham Spelling Bee.  We are excited to have the following students representing our class:
Kayla Heiny 

Emma Walthour

Lauren Holcroft

Cole Feyerabend - Alt

We will also be having our Compass Learning Olympic Celebration tomorrow. Stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter to see who wins the gold! A big thanks to Mrs. Roeser and Paitlyn for providing the olympic snacks for all the participants!

Wednesday, March 19

Today's learning was brought to us by Miss Black.  We all agree she did a great job reinforcing how to make inferences or draw conclusions.  We also started our study of Dr. Seuss books to get ready for Dr. Seuss day with the Head Start visitors next Thursday.  The books may not be in our lexile, but they sure are a lot of fun to read!

Grades have been updated, and many students have been doing grade checks today.  If you see something that does not look accurate, please contact me immediately.  Otherwise these will be the grades on the report card that comes home on Friday. 

Tuesday, March 18

WOW!! Your children have blown me away!!!  They really are rocking the ISTEP!  For the past two days during the testing sessions I have seen confidence, effort, and evidence of every child's educational growth.  They really are taking the ISTEP seriously and because of that, they will be taken seriously as they grow into independent adults.  Please give your child a hug and tell them congratulations on a job well done during the past two days of testing!!

Some things you should know:

This week's ExamView test will only be over the Lesson 13 word parts list.  Students should know the definition and how to spell each word and/or word part.  That is the Week 30 test and will be their first grade of the 4th grading period.

Although the Reading, Language and Social studies grade book is pretty close to being done, I still have a few additions/changes before it will be finalized for the 3rd grading period.  I will be working on that tonight. Please take a moment at some point tomorrow to log in with your child and check their grade.  If you see anything you have questions over, please send me an email so I can look into it. This Friday report cards will come home.

This Friday is also the Spring Carnival.  Be sure to come for dinner and a great time!

Next week we will be having a Dr. Seuss day!  Students are encouraged but not required to dress up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character.  They might be asking you for creative help with their costume, but should not be asking you for financial help.  It's just for fun, their will be no costume contest.

Friday, March 14

Today was a fun day at Needham.  The team boarded a bus at 9:30 and headed to the Artcraft as a reward for our Top Dog behavior.  We returned and it was time for a quick picnic lunch in the gym.  Then we ran outside to stretch our legs for a few minutes. When we came back in we had just enough time for a quick game of ISTEP Jeopardy before going to specials.  (ISTEP Jeopardy is a lot of fun and would be a great family game this weekend.) After specials we came back to the room and rocked out to "What Does the Student Say?" as we packed our things for home.

Next week will be just as much fun!  On Monday and Tuesday we will get to show our educational growth on the ISTEP.  Be sure students get lots of rest, eat right, and take some time to just relax this weekend. They are ready to ROCK THE ISTEP!

Wednesday, March 12

Yep!  That's right! It's hump day! And what a great hump day it is!  We were very productive today.  Centers ran smooth, students came prepared, and -with Miss Black's help - we were even able to publish 8 new episodes of An Interveiw with History.   Be sure to check them out on the website http:/goo.gl/FX5ak.  While you are there, don't forget to take a look at the Homework page. Tonight's home is two ISTEP practice booklets - one for Math and one for Literacy.

Tuesday, March 11

What a weird Tuesday.  Today our schedule was a lot different because we switched special times with 3rd grade to accommodate their ISTEP testing. With Math Block first thing, Specials in the morning, and Literacy in the afternoon, we felt like we were in a fairy tale.  Speaking of fairy tales, we began studying them today.  The students did a great job showing what they already know and we all learned a few new things about fairy tales.  If you would like to engage your student in a conversation about their school day ask them to name the elements of a fairy tale.

We also introduced a new reading contest today.  It is themed around  March Madness.  Each class has a basketball team to root for. Team 33 drew North Carolina.  Go Tar Heels!  We earn points in a a couple of ways.  Every time North Carolina advances, we earn a basketball.  We can also earn basketballs with reading stamina.  For every 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading in the classroom, we get a basketball.  We can also earn a basketball if everyone reads at home for 30 minutes every night at least 4 days a week.  Please check the purple folder for the reading record sheet and help our class win the March Madness tournament by setting aside 30 min for your child to read at night and initialing their record sheet.  All record sheets have to be returned to school on Friday to count for the contest.

Friday, March 7

This great week ended on a spectacular note! We had our ISTEP Pep Rally!  We are ready to ROCK THE ISTEP!  Watch this school made video to see just what the students have to say about it!

Tuesday, March 4

Tonight's homework is to complete the reflection page in the Feedback and Data Binders.  There is some important data in there to go over: The Unit 7 Math test and an updated Reading Counts report along with the Week 27 Assessment which was based on ISTEP.  The Week 27 assessment was the actual English Language Arts portion of the 2013 ISTEP+ test for 4th grade last year.  Their grade on the assessment should be a pretty close indicator of how they will do on this portion of this years test.  I was very impressed with many students, but a few students were disappointed in their scores.  The great news is, there is still time before ISTEP testing to improve! We went completely over the assessment in class today, and I modeled the correct answers and reasoning. If your student is not completely satisfied with their score, they can fix their answers and turn it back in.  I will look it over and increase their score up to 4 points, which could equate to two letter grades.  The end goal is that they know how to do it correctly for the ISTEP test.

Reading, Language, and Social Studies grades have also been updated in the grade book. You can have your student do a grade check to go along with the data review in the Feedback and Data Binder.

Monday, March 3

Welcome to a blustery March!  I guess the good news is that it came in like a lion, so hopefully it will go out like a lamb! Today the lion interrupted some of our class time, so there was a little rearranging of the schedule.  We reviewed schedule changes in class and updated our Literacy Link for this week.  The students are bringing home their updated Literacy Link Week 28 schedules.

They are not bringing home their feedback and data binders tonight.  With the shortened time, we would not have been able to review last weeks assessment, and because it focuses on ISTEP format, I want to spend time on it.  We will be reviewing the assessments tomorrow, and they will come home in their Feedback and Data Binders, along with their Unit 7 Math test.  Please be ready to review these two important pieces of data tomorrow.

For tonight's homework (and the rest of the week) be sure to check the updated Homework page.

This week is ISTEP Theme week. Here is how you can participate



Monday (March 3rd):

I—I can Do Incredible on the ISTEP+! Come to school with your clothes inside -out and be ready to share or write a story about an incredible thing you have done!

Tuesday (March 4th):

S—Sportsmanship in testing on theISTEP+! Wear the jersey or shirt of your favorite team!

Wednesday (March 5th):
T—Tip your hat to the ISTEP+ takers! Hat Day!

Thursday (March 6th):
E—Extra Effort on the ISTEP+! Extra cool mixed-matched socks!

Friday (March 7th):

P—Pop into school everyday next week for the ISTEP+! Needham Spirit Day: Everyone wears a Needham shirt or purple and at lunch every student re-ceives a Needham Purple Popsicle.