Wednesday, March 23

Today flew by!  We began the morning by greeting many new chicks to our school!  We are now up to 45 hatched chicks! 

Next we were able to watch the Spelling Bee.  Congrats to Macy for being our finalist and Lahari for being our runner up! That is quite an accomplishment!  

Later we reviewed math concepts in Block 2 and began working on any test corrections that needed done.  Block 1 will review and make corrections tomorrow.  

Tomorrow is the last day before Spring Break.  Please note that there are no after school programs such as Study Buddies or Youth Connections. 

If you want to do some more chick watching tonight, here is the updated link: http://youtu.be/rCxFvOP3YlM

Tuesday, March 22

THEY'RE ALIVE!!

We had 5 eggs hatch in our room today. (One was right after school so the kids might think it is 4.) They are adorable!!  I do want to appologize for the trouble with the live feed links, but I finally got it figured out.  You will see a live Youtube feed of the eggs if you follow this link:

http://youtu.be/SWpwH1aamGc

There is one live chick in the incubator.  The rest have been moved to an up-sized home for more moving room.  There are several that are very close to hatching, so I would expect anyone watching tonight will be in for a treat! 

In other news, we are very excited about tomorrow, and not just because of more chicks hatching!  Tomorrow is our Needham Spelling Bee. It will begin at 8:30 in the gym.  We are all super proud of our TEAM33 representatives: Brooke, Tristen, Jada, and our alternate,  Emily. Family and friends are more than welcome to join us for the spelling bee. 

Monday, March 21

Spring has arrived!  

Now we are just waiting on the arrival of our chicks!  We believe one is very close to hatching!  If you want to check up on our chicks, check out our live stream which should be up until about midnight tonight.  I will start a new stream in the morning.  We are hoping to catch the hatch! Our Hangout on Air stream is available at the following link: https://plus.google.com/events/ct6ikc2sg09fg07ei1fvptkub68

We will begin our Unit 8 Math assessment tomorrow.  Tonight's homework is to review the study guide. 

Thursday, March 17th

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Today I felt very lucky to be with my classes!  The students are amazing!!

Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day!  It is Character Day so we all get to dress up as our favorite book character.  The only rule it that the costume can not impede learning.

Tomorrow is also the last day of Book Fair.  Students will be able to purchase during lunch.

Tomorrow we will also have some visitors.  Each 4th grade class will be getting 12 fertilized eggs in an incubator.  We are hoping that we will have 12 baby chicks by Spring Break.

After all that is the Spring Carnival! What a day!!  I can't wait!

Wednesday, March 16

Did you know that Parallelograms are just rectangles in disguise?  Today Mr. Daily showed us how to turn the parallelograms back into rectangles.  We even brought some home to show you.  Thanks to him can even show you how to find the area of a parallelogram!

This is just a friendly reminder that you might want to set out your clothes tonight so you are ready for tomorrow.  Make sure you include some GREEN! Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day!

Tuesday, March 15

Just a couple of quick reminders for today:

• Report cards are coming home tonight. 
• Book Fair purchasing begins tomorrow.
• Spring Carnival is this Friday.

See everyone tomorrow!

Monday, March 14

LIFE ON THE FARM IS FANTASTIC!

Today we were able to learn from several Johnson County Farmers.  They brought visuals, demonstrations, snacks, and even live animals!  We learned a lot about by products, production, soil and water conservation, and the care and life cycle of many different farm animals.  If you would like to have an engaging conversation with your child about their school day, ask them what they learned at the Agriculture Day field trip.  Just make sure you have enough time to really listen, because they are going to have lots to tell you!

Report Cards go home tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 9

Big THANK YOU goes to Mr. Daily for today's exciting lessons on static electricity.  All the activities were educational and engaging, but then what he did with our atom models was just plain cool!  He is going to make some lucky classroom very happy one day!

HOMEROOM: Please note, there was a schedule change.  The Character Day has been moved to March 18th.  So Next Friday, students will have the opportunity to dress up as their favorite book character.  It could be someone from The Tale of Desperaux, or any other character from a favorite book of theirs.

Next week we will also be browsing the book fair on Monday, and Wednesday is our day to purchase.

Tuesday, March 8

    What a great week we are having!  We are moving right along in our study of electricity! Today we made a model of an atom! If you would like to engage your student in a conversation about their day, ask them what an atom has to do with electricity.   I bet they can easily tell you, but if they have any trouble, let them refer to their science notebooks.  They are bringing them home tonight to complete their homework: 1. Finish Vocab page 2. Review Electricity notes.  Please just make sure that when their homework is done, and they have thoroughly impressed you with their depth of knowledge, their Science Notebook needs to go right back in their backpack! We will need it tomorrow for Mr. Daily's lesson on Static Electricity!


UPDATES: There is a lot going on this Month!  Make sure you stay informed with the Needham Newsletter and the TEAM33 Calendar.

• Tomorrow is the end of the grading period.  Report cards will go home on Monday. (Please note: There will be no Science grade for the 3rd 9 weeks.) 
• Thurday will be the Needham DI Fundraiser.  Be sure to grab a friend or family member and register today for this fun even. You can register online at http://www.theartofkira.com/  Just click on classes for adults or kids to see our link. 
• Friday is Character Day to celebrate our school reading of The Tale of Desperaux.  Students are allowed to be creative with their costume as long as it does not hinder their education. 
• We have a Farm Day Field trip on Monday.  Permission slips were sent home today.  Please return them as soon as possible! 

Friday, March 4

We rocked the ISTEP!! All the students worked so hard this week.  Their effort is VERY APPRECIATED!  Today our motto was "Work Hard - Play Hard," and that is what we did!  We played all different kinds of board games together.  It was a blast, but don't assume we weren't learning!  We learned how to create strategies, read directions, solve disputes, and be a good sport.  It was great! Bubba even joined us for the celebration of our hard work.

Just a few updates:

- Next week we will continue our study of Electricity.

 -Thursday 3/10 will be the Neehdam DI Fundraiser.  Register today because you won't want to miss it! Click here for the flyer!

 -We are still selling bracelets to support Athena Strong!  Bracelets are $2.00. Money can be sent in with your child.
Check out more great pictures of our PLAY HARD day in today's Picture Gallery

Tuesday, March 2

Today was an electrifying day!

We began today with a study of electricity and learned that there are 2 types of electricity: Static Electricity and Current Electricity.  

This week we are focusing on Current Electricity.  Student worked together to create 4 different circuits.  For each circuit, they had to show it working and not working.  They also explained why each circuit worked and why it didn't work. It was interesting that sometimes it was harder to make the circuit not work.  Either way, we learned a lot about electricity during our investigations.  If you would like to have a conversation with your student about their school day, first congratulate them on another successful day of ISTEPing, then ask them what they learned from their circuit investigation.