Here are some more pictures from our trip to Madison!

Trip To Madison!

We had a great time visiting the Capitol and learning about our state government :)

Preparing for our Trip to Madison

We have spent the past week preparing for our trip to the state capitol building in Madison.  The students have learned a lot of facts and have many wonder questions they are hoping our tour guide will have answers to.

Here are some things you need to know about our trip...

1. We will be leaving school by 8:40am on Friday morning.  Students should be on time, so we can take attendance, use the bathroom, and board the bus!
2. Students can bring a camera, but they are responsible for it during the entire trip.
3. They must bring a bag lunch in a throw away container with a water bottle or juice box.  No sugary drinks, PLEASE!
4. Students should wear Wilson spirit wear or blue shirts, comfortable tennis shoes (no sandals), and a jacket or sweatshirt.
5. We will be returning to Wilson around 3:30pm.  

Look this weekend for pictures and quotes from our trip on the blog!

Curriculum Night

Come and see your child's classroom and have him/her teach you about some of our daily routines!

When: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 
Time: 5:30 to 6:00 or 6:00 to 6:30
Where: Room 303

I look forward to seeing you then.  If you have any questions, please ask.

Ms. Pichler

Writer's Workshop

Look at our writing in action. We are working on keeping our pencils moving during independent writing. Our stamina is building and our stories are becoming more detailed.

Expectations

We are continuing to build our classroom routines and expectations this week.  Your child was introduced to our classroom economy today and I can already see the excitement in the eyes of many of them.  Our classroom economy is a way to manage behavior that puts more onus on the child.  Each child earns money for his/her job along with bonus money, which is passed out to children who are meeting the classroom expectations.  This money is totaled at the end of each month and the students use that money to pay rent on their storage spaces for the year (their desks).  If students are behaving appropriately they will have more than enough money to pay rent or even purchase their storage spaces within a couple of months, so they don't have to pay rent each month.  At the end of each quarter, I also hold an auction where the students can spend any extra money that they have in their accounts.  However, students are fined for showing behaviors that are below the classroom expectations.  The students who are earning fines need to make sure that they are turning their behaviors around, so that they can earn bonus money to offset the fines.  Otherwise, the student may lose his or her storage space and have to use a cardboard box.

Your child is responsible for filling out his/her job application by Wednesday, so that I can hire them.  Then they will begin earning bonus money to be able to pay the rent.  I know this may seem confusing, but the students usually catch on pretty quickly.  Ms. Pichler

Routines

You will have noticed that several things are coming home with your child.  I am going to explain a couple of the homework assignments that your child will have throughout a year.  This way you will know exactly what to expect when they come home.

Weekly Review Packet...This is given out on a weekly basis and your child will have one week to complete it.  It normally will be passed out on Monday and will be due on Friday.  The problems in this packet should be review and your child should need little assistance.  There will always be a page on the back of the packet where your child will have one word problem that they need to solve and communicate their thinking for.  If any of these problems are a challenge for your child, please jot me a note, so that I can provide proper assistance.

Reading Journal...Your child will be expected to read for 20 to 30 minutes each night, fill in their log, and write a meaningful response in their journal.  They will be introduced to this tomorrow, so expect it to come home this weekend.

Writing Journal...Your child will be expected to write for 15 minutes in their writing journal at least 3 nights per week.  This will need to be a meaningful entry and we will talk about strategies in class for generating meaningful stories.  It is expected based on the common core standards that 4th and 5th graders are writing between 1 and 2 complete pages in 15 minutes.  This will be a goal that we will be working towards.

This will be the majority of your child's homework this year.  I will keep you updated on other assignments that come about.

Ms. Pichler

First Day

It was a fantastic first day of school in room 303.  The students were eager to learn and begin building our routines.  I feel like the day flew by and we didn't get through everything that I had planned.  We will continue building routines and doing some initial assessments the rest of the week.

Your child has an assignment notebook that will come home every night along with their homework folder.  I will explain homework as it comes up.  Tonight's assignments are pretty simple.  The students are responsible for getting the rights and responsibility verification form signed and for collecting materials to decorate their journals with.

I use the Wilson School Folder to send home with school communication.  This may not come home every night, but please send it back to school the next day if it does come home.

Please don't every hesitate to call or email me, if you have any questions.

Ms. Pichler