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. 

Thursday, October 31

Happy Halloween!

Team 33 did not let the rain stop them today!  We were rockin' in the classroom!  We finished the centers for the week. We reviewed the homework skills. We read at our Lexile, and we we worked on our goals.  GREAT DAY!

Tomorrow we will NOT have the week 12 assessment.  The students were asking for some clarification on a few learning objectives and I wanted to review a few more skills, so we decided to wait on the assessment until Monday.  That works well because I will not be in the classroom on Monday, so and the students already know how to take their assessment on Examview.  It will also give a few extra days for studying, which never hurts. 

Tomorrow is our classroom Fall Party from 1:30 - 2:00.  Of course, everyone is invited.  Hope to see you there. If you are able to come, I would like to encourage you to bring your smartphone.  We have created a digital bulletin board that we are very proud of.  All you will need to interact with it is a QR Code Reader.  If you do not already have a QR code reader on your phone, I would like to recommend i-nigma.  The link will take you to the Apple version, but it is also available for Droid, Blackberry and Windows phones; and it is free.  The fun you will have with the interactive bulletin board will be priceless.

Wednesday, October 30

You mustache good behavior to be a top dog!

Today was another incredible day in Team33.  We learned a lot and had fun too.  The Daily Journal interview went very well also.  Be sure to ask your child all the tools we talked about in the interview.

If you haven't already heard, Franklin has moved Trick-or-Treating to Friday to match our Fall party!  Well they actually did it due to weather concerns, but we won't tell anyone that ;)