Reindeer Names

Here are some pictures of our class preparing for and debuting our Reader's Theater, Reindeer Names.

Happy Holidays!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year! See you next year!

Don't forget about this great math activity!

What?

• A math challenge game board for students to complete during the Winter Break, using the online games and books at GregTangMath.com.
• Students who complete the challenge can be entered into a prize drawing by their parent or teacher.
Prizes?

• 6 individual students will win one of Greg Tang’s signed books and aKakooma Puzzle Book. Click here to enter!
• All students who complete the challenge earn a certificate of achievement which can be printed by clicking here.
• Teachers and parents can provide their own prizes for students who complete the challenge.

Who?

• Kids in grades K-5 and above can participate in the challenge.
• Any teacher or parent can fill out the form for the prize drawing.

When?

• Starting now and ending after Winter break on Tuesday, January 6, 2015.
• Entry form due by January 8, 2015
• Prize winners announced on January, 9 2015

How?

• Click the tab on the left of this page to print the game board.
• After the game board is completed, click the “Enter to Win” tab to submit student names for the drawing.
• See the instructions at the right for more detailed information.

Why?

• Students learn and practice math skills while at school and away from the classroom!
• Students can win prizes!
• It is FUN!

Questions?

• If everyone would benefit from the answer, please post the question in the comments area below.
• Have an independent question? Email: info@gregtangmath.com

Reader's Theater Performance is Tomorrow!

Our class has been working hard all week on our reader's theater, Reindeer Names.  Students have memorized their lines, created props, and brainstormed costume ideas.  We will be debuting our production on Friday, December 19th for Mrs. Ux's class!  Please be sure to wear BROWN if you are a reindeer and RED / GREEN if you are an elf.  Those of you that have other special costume pieces, please don't forget to bring them in tomorrow.

Winter Break Math Fun!

What?

• A math challenge game board for students to complete during the Winter Break, using the online games and books at GregTangMath.com.
• Students who complete the challenge can be entered into a prize drawing by their parent or teacher.
Prizes?

• 6 individual students will win one of Greg Tang’s signed books and aKakooma Puzzle Book. Click here to enter!
• All students who complete the challenge earn a certificate of achievement which can be printed by clicking here.
• Teachers and parents can provide their own prizes for students who complete the challenge.

Who?

• Kids in grades K-5 and above can participate in the challenge.
• Any teacher or parent can fill out the form for the prize drawing.

When?

• Starting now and ending after Winter break on Tuesday, January 6, 2015.
• Entry form due by January 8, 2015
• Prize winners announced on January, 9 2015

How?

• Click the tab on the left of this page to print the game board.
• After the game board is completed, click the “Enter to Win” tab to submit student names for the drawing.
• See the instructions at the right for more detailed information.

Why?

• Students learn and practice math skills while at school and away from the classroom!
• Students can win prizes!
• It is FUN!

Questions?

• If everyone would benefit from the answer, please post the question in the comments area below.
• Have an independent question? Email: info@gregtangmath.com

Family Math Talk = HUGE SUCCESS

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF THE STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES THAT ATTENDED ATTENDED FAMILY MATH TALK!

The night was a huge success and the turnout was overwhelming!  I hope that everyone had fun explaining their thinking and challenging their understanding and left with a better understanding of Math in Focus.  Below are some pictures from the event.  With all of the positive feedback that I received, I am hoping to host another event in a few months.  Thanks again for all those who came for a fun night of math talk!

Math is...

In preparation for Family Math Talk, students made posters explaining what math is.  All of the responses were outstanding.  See below for some of the ideas that students came up with.

Math is...
thinking
learning
challenging
talking
working together
noisy
solutions
numbers
words
answers
explaining
showing
questioning
wondering
solving
comparing
noticing
symbols
patterns
pictures
drawing

Family Math Talk is TONIGHT!

REMINDER: Family Math Talk is tonight from 5:30 to 7:00! I hope to see everyone there!

Hour of Code!

Our school is participating in Hour of Code.  This amazing program allows students from all over the country to exploring computer science and coding!  Today, our class got a taste of the program in computer lab, but students can feel free to learn more at home, too.  Simply visit code.org to get started!  You can also download the following apps for more fun: hopscotch, Koable, and Lighbot.  Happy coding!

COLD ALERT!

The cold weather has arrived! Please be sure to send your child to school with hats, gloves, boots, snow pants etc. each day.  Only those with snow pants, snow boots, and gloves are allowed to play in the snow.  Uggs and other similar boots do NOT count as snow boots, regardless of whether or not they were sprayed with water resistant spray.  Thank you!

Moby Max

Our class is part of an amazing trial for Moby Max! This site selects math, reading, and vocabulary games appropriate for each specific child based on a placement test that they took.  We currently have two tablets in our classroom that students can use throughout the day to work on targeted skills specific to them!  This program can also be used on computers and even at home!  All you have to do is visit mobymax.com, click sign in, type Hooksett for the school, select Hooksett Memorial, then enter your username and password (username is full first name and last name with no space for example: johnsmith and the password is your lunch code).  Stay tuned for lots of cool Moby Max contests!

3L Family Math Talk Night: Monday, December 15th 5:30 to 7:00

 Please join us on Monday, December 15 from 5:30 to 7:00 for Family Math Talk Night!  All students from 3L and their families are encouraged to attend a fun filled night of math! Students will visit a variety of stations around the room to solve math problems with their families, but the fun doesn't stop there!  Students will be responsible for modeling the math talk that we use in class each day in order to challenge their family's thinking and solve problems in a variety of different ways.  Parents will be able to experience the Math in Focus program first hand from the eyes of the student as their kids take on the role of the teacher.  Hot chocolate and other snacks will be available for your enjoyment.  You don't want to miss this event! 

The event will take place in our classroom, room W-13. 

Save a turkey, eat more...

What a fun day we had in class! First, we read a reader's theater about five plump turkeys trying to escape.  Then, we used a graphic organizer to brainstorm how we could help the turkeys and created our sentences.  Finally, we created a turkey craft with signs reading "Save a turkey, eat more _______".  Here are some of the things our class came up with: save a turkey, eat more: sushi, ice cream, chicken, salad, pizza, sweets, octopus and so many other creative things!

SQUIRM!

Our Squirm performance is tomorrow at 2:15!  If you plan to come watch your child perform, please arrive by 2:00.  Also, be sure that your child wears black to school.  Finally, students can leave after the show with their families, but they must first return to our classroom with their parents to be signed out.  

Chapter Four Math Assessment

Our chapter four math assessment, subtraction up to 10,000, is quickly approaching.  Please see below for the chapter wrap up!

Grocery Flyers

Please send in grocery flyers with your child on Monday. We will be using them to complete a Thanksgiving activity.  Thank you!

A few very important reminders...

*Please be sure that your child wears ALL BLACK on Tuesday, November 25 for our Squirm performance.

*Please send in a shoe box for our upcoming art projects.  If you have extras to send in, they are greatly appreciated!

REMINDER: No School Tuesday!

Just a friendly reminder that there will be no school on Tuesday, November 11th as we honor Veteran's Day.

WOW!

Every single student in our class was a spelling champion today! Wow! Way to go! Keep up the good work everyone!

Thank you!

A big thank you to all of the families that met with me for parent-teacher conferences yesterday.  I greatly enjoyed talking with all of you.  If you were not able to make your scheduled conference time or did not set up a time to meet due to scheduling issues, please contact me to set up a time to get together within the next few weeks.  Thank you.

Pumpkin Estimation!

On Friday, October 31, as part of our Fall Festival we completed lots of estimation activities! First we estimated how many objects were in a series of paper bags.  Students had to estimate how many leaves, erasers, pieces of candy corn, etc. were in a bag and then found the difference between their estimates and the actual.  Next, we guessed how many seeds were in a pumpkin! Each group got a pile of seeds to count and then we added them all together.  What a great afternoon of fun and math!

REMINDER: Parent Conferences

Parent conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 4.  Please try to arrive a few minutes prior to your scheduled conference time.

There will be note paper in the hallway so that you can leave a note for your child.  I will be sure to put the notes on their desks first thing on Wednesday morning so they can start their day with a smile!

Conferences are 15 minutes in length.  Also, don't forget to take your child's seed project and fundraiser order home with you.

I am looking forward to meeting with everyone.

Descriptive Writing - Pumpkins!

Today used our sense of smell, sight, and touch to explore pumpkins and recorded our observations.  We then turned our observations into sentences using a graphic organizer.  Finally, we created a paragraph with a main idea idea, four descriptive details, and a closing sentence.  We had a great time while also working on the writing process!  

Third Math in Focus Test Prep

On Friday, October 31 students will be taking their third Math in Focus Test Prep,  Addition up to 10,000. In class, students have solved problems in the concrete stage, using manipulatives, pictorial stage, by drawing pictures, and abstract stage, with mathematical algorithms / symbols.  Please see below for the chapter wrap up of information covered during this chapter. 

Manipulatives!

In class, we are using manipulatives, such as base ten blocks, to find the sum of whole numbers to 10,000.  See below for some pictures of our class hard at work! 

Seed Projects!

All of our seed projects came out fantastic! A round of applause to everyone for a job well done!  I can't believe the variety of seeds collected by our students.  Way to go!

ESL

Today Miss Hutchinson, the ESL teacher here at Hooksett Memorial School visited our classroom!  She introduced herself so that we can all give her a friendly greeting by name in the hallway.  She then showed us flags from different countries, and we had a great time trying to guess where they were from!  Finally, we listened to a story in Spanish! Miss Hutchinson asked us to retell the story to her.  We quickly realized how it feels to be an ESL student!  We wrapped up by listening to the story My Name Is Yoon.  It was a fantastic and fun lesson!