Hi Everyone,

In this week's class we read the story " It's Our Word, Too " about two kids that both tried to make a difference in their communities. One collected and refurbished old BMX bikes and then donated them to less fortunate boys; the other was about a girl who worked with her family and friends to make sandwiches for homeless people living in her city.

In science the kids retook last weeks science test with MUCH better results. The majority of the kids scored over 95%! Needless to say, I was very pleased with their progress. In addition to taking the test we read about animal traits and the different categories animals are divided into

( mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish ) as well as characteristics of each group.

On Thursday we had a little extra time left in class , so we made balloon bats for Halloween.

October 16

Hi everyone,
This week we re-read the story " John Henry" and did the work in the workbook. For a little extra bonus I played a song about John Henry by Bruce Springsteen. I'm pretty sure most of the kids didn't like the song....In science we learned about pollination for plants, and the different parts of a plant for reproduction. On Wednesday the kids had a science test and on Thursday they took a reading test.

Iris really disliked the song I played in class. I was pretty sure the stundents wouldn't like it very much, but I was surprised when she asked if he was actually singing in English.

Kevin did well on his science test.

Kelley needs to be more careful when she takes tests. She missed an entire page of questions on her science test this week.

Ellen always does very well in class. She's did especially well this week.

We missed Andy on Thursday. I hope he's feeling better.

Edward seemed to be the only student who enjoyed listening to the song about John Henry.

Raymond has a very creative mind when he writes short stories. I think with a little effort he could become an excellent writer! His stories are always very interesting and entertaining.

Perry did great in class this week. He's gotten much better at not asking silly questions in class, and has been paying attention much more.

October 9th

This week we read the stories " The Gold Coin " and "John Henry ". After reading " The Gold Coin" we did the work in the workbook. " John Henry " was a little more difficult to read, so we read it once on Thursday and we'll probably read it one more time next week. It's written with a lot of very colorful speech which the students had a little trouble understanding. We reviewed vocabulary on Tuesday and had a test on Wednesday. Unfortunately most of the kids did very bad on the test so they had to take it again. I was very impressed though, and they all did much better the second time.

Ellen is a very good reader but she never seems interested in reading in class. I wish she could volunteer a little more to read.

Perry has been doing great in class. His sentences are very good. He's still working a little slow though on the rest of his work.

Kevin and Iris did an excellent job on their test the first day we took it. Kevin got a 100% and Iris would have had a 100% if she wrote her letters a little more clearly. ( Her L and I look the same )

Jessica is still careless when she writes. She continues to spell words wrong even though the words she's writing are in the book or on the tests.

Raymond's doing great in class. He did well on his vocabulary test, and he continues to improve his reading skills.

Andy did very bad on the vocabulary test the first time he took it, however the second time he got a 100%. Great job, Andy!

Kelley is a very good reader. She's always eager to volunteer to read!

This week we learned about storms in reading class. We read a story in the reading books that discussed tornadoes and the scientists that study them. For a follow up activity we watched a National Geographic documentary on storms ( blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, etc...) and the destruction they cause. In science we learned about plants again. This week we learned that there are two types of plants flowering and non flowering plants, and we learned about the ways that each one reproduces. We also did more writing this week with another free writing activity. I'm still surprised how much everyone loves to write....

Perry has been doing well. He's still a little too slow finishing his work. I hope he can try a little harder to finish his work on time.

Andy wrote an excellent story about his future self coming back into the past and meeting his younger self. I was really impressed with how well he did!

Ellen is doing well. She continues to make progress...Way to go , Ellen!

Raymond was very interested in learning about tornadoes this week. He had alot of questions and was eager to learn all he could.

Jessica is doing good. I still wish she could try harder to not make spelling mistakes. If she could pay a little more attention when writing, she would do much better.

Kelley is also doing great. She's starting to talk more and also did very well on her story this week.

Kevin did well this week. He's getting very good at writing!

Iris has been very attentive this week. She's been very focused and able to finish her work very well.