Tomorrow is Friday

Hello,


A math test on adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions will be given tomorrow.


We will finish writing our personal or fictional narratives.  These will be our last graded pieces for the second semester. 


We will continue to read Chains, our read aloud by Laurie Halse Anderson.


We will be visited by our DARE officer for the last forty minutes of the day.


Most students will go to band in the afternoon.  The few not in band will begin the crystal growing kit that one of our students has brought in.


Pat will be here in the morning to continue reading comprehension assessments.


The second trimester will end at 3:10. 


Conference signup slips will go home on Monday.


Thank you for reading.


Mr. Shea

I joined the BEA

Hello,


I joined the teacher's union today.  I respect what they do and have done for many teachers.  I went to my first meeting tonight and it was refreshing to hear teachers speak passionately.  We had some great dialogue and I am happy to be a new member. 


We took our  DAZE reading test today.  This is a test that measures reading accuracy.  I haven't corrected them, but the kids said that they seemed much more difficult. 


We also took our astronomy quiz today.  No surprises.  Exactly what I had told them that they were responsible to learn and I was responsible to teach.  We'll see how well we upheld our responsibilities.


We had a first year Bowdoin student observe us for the first three hours of the day.  The young man is taking a class about the issues in public education today.  Oh, I have some issues.  Seriously though, I am always happy to see people in our classroom get a first hand look at what goes down here.  I think that he was most surprised at the number of kids that leave the class at all times of the day.  I'm still shocked at how fast that first recess happens. 


Ask your child if they chose to do a personal narrative or fictional narrative for their end of semester writing piece.  They will have another two days to work on these pieces, and although they don't need to have it finished, I will evaluate their progress based on our curriculum parameters that I handed out to them on Monday. 


I'm off to see 12 Years a Slave at the Tontine Mall.  Oh man, I'm late.


Mr. Shea

Sorry, late for dinner

Hello,


Gotta go.  Astronomy test tomorrow.  Clay vessels, phys ed., writing, math, astronomy review... that's about it today.


Have a good night.


Mr. Shea

Grades close on Friday

Hello,


Grades close on Friday.  That makes this week a bit of a "worksheet week."  It makes me groan too.  We have a lot of assessments that need to be completed in reading, writing and math.  Your child will get more instruction on test taking skills and strategies.  None of the test questions should come as a surprise.  I copied off the writing requirements straight from our school curriculum guide to let students know what I will be looking for.  In Astronomy, the study guide will contain all of the need to know info.  In reading, they will have to answer some comprehension questions on a few passages, and they will take round two of the DAZE DIBELS test, which is more about reading accuracy.  The spelling assessment will be another Sitton test of thirty core words.  Not overly fun, but we do what we have to do.


I was surprised by the two days off.  I hope you enjoyed the week plus.  I wish we could jump back into the swing of things, but with all of these assessments, we'll slowly get there. 


In math, we are turning to multiplication of fractions.  Those still learning facts are at a huge disadvantage here.  I can't say that I didn't warn them.


Students continued their study of almanac use in library class today.  We ended the day with chorus.  Tomorrow we have Arts are Elementary and Phys. Ed.  Don't forget sneakers!


Have a good night.


Mr. Shea

Staff meeting

Hello,


We were joined by our superintendent at today's staff meeting.  We got some good news regarding the practice Smarter Balanced test that is upcoming.  They have contacted the testing company and they are allowing us to take three to four hours of tests, rather than the original six to seven.  The superintendent talked to us about being more vocal with our local politicians if we really want to affect change. 


Our class watched a couple of five minute clips on the life cycles of stars.  It took an entire hour because of all of the questions.  It is a pleasure to teach this class. 


Tomorrow, we'll have a quick quiz on the planets.  They need to know their order from the sun and their order according to size. 


The final drafts of our latest writing assignments should get finished tomorrow.  I'm seeing some impressive revising from most. 


If we have no school on Friday, we will exchange valentines after vacation.  It looks like this storm might thread the needle and start late tomorrow and end early enough on Friday.  Let's hope.


If we do get snow tomorrow afternoon, be aware that all after school activities may be cancelled, which would include homework club.


Have a good night.


Mr. Shea

Not another snow day

The forecast doesn't look good.  We'll see, I guess.


Topics for the day: More letter writing, astrology, Trail of Tears, Phys Ed, adding mixed fractions, and our read aloud is doing a good job of giving us some details of the American Revolution from an African-American slave perspective. 


Discuss with your child.


I'm sorry, but it is once again after seven thirty and I need to leave.


Thanks,


Mr. Shea

5-2-1-0 week

Hello,


We had a 5-2-1-0 assembly this morning.  It was mainly an anti-bullying talk with some karate demonstrations thrown in.  Ask your child what they thought. 


The assembly went a little long, and unfortunately, math was cancelled.


Pat came in and did some review with the kids on dictionary work, as well as synonyms, antonyms and homophones.  She does a great job of working with each child for about five minutes and getting a sense of their knowledge base and where they need to go from there.  I realize that some dictionary work is quickly growing outdated, but finding words is still an important skill, especially when thinking about all the times they will need to use an index. 


The class did some book astronomy research this afternoon and we started a new writing project that will emphasize drafting and revising. 


My plan for Valentine's Day is to have an ordinary day except for a forty minute block in the afternoon.  At that time they may exchange valentines.  We will be writing class compliments and maybe do some light academic stuff, but it won't be a party.  No need for ice cream or cookies.  Thanks for your understanding. 


Thanks to everyone who came out and helped make the stargazing night a success.  A special thanks to the moon and Jupiter, which seemed especially bright. 


We have a staff meeting on Wednesday regarding the upcoming Smarter Balanced testing that our school has volunteered for.  I'll let you know if I find out any new information.  I appreciate your support.


Thanks,


Mr. Shea

Star gazing Friday night

Hello,


My planned blog for this evening has been put on hold. 


Stargazing tomorrow night at Crystal Spring Farms in Brunswick from 7-8:00.


We went over a few constellations today.  More tomorrow.  We also started in on an ebook written especially for Ibooks from the NSTA called Solar System.  It is fantastic.  If you have a tablet, even the free excerpt is great.


I hope to see some of you out tomorrow night. 


Thanks for your support,


Mr. Shea

I predict a snow day

Hello,


The forecast looks bad.  Even if we have no snow on the ground by morning, if the forecast is for a good six inches, then I think they will call it.  That would really cut into this week's instructional time. 


It's past 7:00 so I'm going to be brief.  We wrote dialogue in literacy.  Pat worked with kids on characters and setting.  In math, kids had trouble drawing a picture to represent one half plus two thirds.  Phys. Ed and Arts are Elementary ended the day. 


A note went home tonight from our superintendent explaining the upcoming testing.  Please read it. 


All boys at homework club tonight.  C'mon girls. 


Thanks for reading.


Mr. Shea

In the stars

Hello,


We have an easy week as far as instruction is concerned.  We had two specials today (library and chorus) and have two more tomorrow (phys ed and Arts are Elementary).  With the addition of the DARE program on Friday afternoons, that becomes a two special day as well.  I heard whispers of Wednesday snow, and that would completely blow our schedule.  Say it ain't snow.


We did get to a few things today.  In math we have worked on equivalent fractions, but since we started adding fractions, we haven't been simplifying very well, so we spent another day on that.  Tomorrow we'll try to put it all together: Adding unsimplified fractions, mixed fractions, and improper fractions.  We need to move on this!


Fifth grade star gazing night is this Friday the seventh at Crystal Spring Farm on Pleasant Hill Road.  It is scheduled from 7 - 8 pm.  A note went home on Friday with the details.  I introduced some constellation stuff today, because I'd like to have everyone be a little "expert" on something, but we didn't really get into it like we will tomorrow.  Wait, maybe not until Wednesday. 


We did some creative excuse writing this morning.  They are very good at blaming you for their mistakes. 


Finally, it was pay day!  I owed them quite a bit.  I hadn't even given them their Christmas bonuses.  Now that I'm paid up, I have a few kids able to buy their desks.  Hard work pays off.  They will be reaping even more benefits as the year goes on.


Have a good night.  I need to finish my self-evaluation.  AUGH!  (I'd rather grade others.)


Mr. Shea