Thursday, December 20, 2012

Hi Staff,


Please add this to your blogs, newsletters!


Thanks

A message from Mr. Hill:

The cold weather is fast approaching. We ask parents to dress their youngster as warmly as possible prior to their leaving for school. Even though some children ride the bus to school, they still will be spending a considerable amount of time outdoors on the playground, particularly during the noon hour. Our school district policy states that when it is not raining or when the temperature is 10 degrees or above, pupils are not permitted into the building until the usual time of 8:25 AM (unless they are having breakfast) and 12:45 PM for 4K so be sure to dress your youngster for our Wisconsin winters. On rainy days or when the temperature is below 10 degrees, pupils are permitted to enter the building at 8:15 AM and will spend the noon hour indoors. A red flag will be placed on the doors indicating early entrance due to inclement weather. Please be sure your child has a hat and a pair of mittens. PLEASE LABEL THEIR ITEMS SO IT’S EASIER TO RETURN IF THEY ARE LOST.


PILSUNG!

Joseph Hill Principal

General Mitchell Elementary

414-604-4511

hillj@wawm.k12.wi.us
January 2, 2013-January 4, 2013 Our academic focus will be:
 
Reading: We will continue to ask and answer questions to show the understanding of a text.
 
Writing: We will begin to work with persuasive writing.
 
Math: Multiplication strategies including two-digit multiplication.
 
Inquiry: Continue to research chosen countries for culture unit.
 
Mr. Hill has asked that you take a few minutes and respond to a technoloy survey on the following link:
  • Now that the winter weather is here please remember to send your child with appropriate clothing for the weather. Jackets, snowpants, boots, mittens/gloves, and scarves will help keep your child comfortable when playing outside. All students are expected to go out for recess unless there are severe weather conditions. We do not have extra winter clothing at school that can be lent to your child. Also remember to send along their shoes. Winter snow boots are not comfortable or appropriate for the classroom. 
  •  I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone of you a very happy holiday season! Please enjoy the extra time you have with your child over the break. I ask that you continue to have them read and practice math facts over the break. Then when they return we can hit the ground running.
                                                                      Thank you.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Our academic focus next week will be:

Reading: Ask questions to gain information from a text.

Writing: Use sequencing words to organize our work.

Math: Multiplication strategies.

Inquiry: Explore books about different cultures to build background knowledge.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Room 104's academic focus for the week of December 10, 2012:

Reading: Learn to ask questions while reading to help build comprehension.

Math: Continue to find, describe, and apply rules tht define patterns. Work on learning/mastering multiplication facts.

Writing: Write a story with a strong beginning, middle, and ending that flow smoothly.

Inquiry: Choose a culture to research. Have fun learning about holidays in different cultures.

Room 104 will be hosting the weekly FISH Meeting in the multipurpose room next Friday, December 14th. Everyone is welcome to join us. The meeting starts at 8:45am.

Winter Concert: Thursday, December 13, 2012. Students should be at Nathan Hale High School by 6:00pm. The concert begins at 6:30pm. We hope to see you there!

Friday, November 30, 2012

During the week of December 3, 2012 our focus will be:

Reading: Activate and build background knowledge by understanding that what we learn depends on what we already know or don't know about a topic. Recognize that thinking about what we already know will help us to understand new information. Understand that some of our background knowledge may be incorrect and that reading can clear up misunderstandings and actually change our thinking.

Writing: We will continue to work on developing and organizing our writing.

Math: Solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Students will find, describe and apply rules that define patterns and build fundamental ideas of algebra.

Inquiry: We will be starting a new mini-inquiry unit on cultures. Each student will choose a country to reserch and share information with the class about its culture. This should be a fun and educaional project to do over th holiday season! If anyone would like to be a guest speaker and come in and share information about your culture we would love to have you do so. Please contact Mrs. Germain and set up a time to come in and talk to the class.  Thank you.

Looking Ahead:
  • Chorus Concert: December 11, 2012
  • Winter Concert: December 13th - Have your child to Nathan Hale H.S. by 6:15pm. The concert begins at 6:30pm.

Monday, November 26, 2012

I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving Break!

Our academic focuses this week are:

Reading: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text.

Writing: Produce writing i which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

Math: Represent and solve problems involving multiplication.

Inquiry: As we finish our government unit the students will be assembling their group posters and presenting them to the class.

Looking Ahead:
  • Chorus Concert: December 11, 2012
  • Winter Fine Arts Concert: December 13, 2012 (details to follow)

Thursday, November 15, 2012

In room 104 next week we will focus on the following topics:

Reading: Students will continue to work on merging their own thinking with new learning.

Writing: Self and peer editing of written work.

Math: Finish District Assessment, review past concepts, and learn multiplication facts.

Social  Studies Inquiry: Students will work on finishing up government reports and projects.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!



Friday, November 9, 2012

For the week of 11/12/12 we will be focusing on:

Reading: React to new information and merge our thinking with it.

Math: Learn to multiply and understand the properties of multiplication. Review past concepts.

Writing: Work on writing friendly letters.

Inquiry: Do focused research on group questions regarding government unit.

Note: Please remember to send healthy snacks - no junk food please. Thank you.

Monday, November 5, 2012


WKCE Math testing continues Monday-Wednesday this week!

Please make sure your child has a healthy breakfast and plenty of rest.

Reading: This week we will focus on asking and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text.

Math: Our math focus will be on WKCE testing. We will also work on problem solving skills.

Writing: Participate in collaborative discussions.


Inquiry: Our focus will be on our government unit. We will be gathering information from print and digital sources and take brief notes.  


Please take a minute and go to this website to take a family survey regarding our school website. Thank you!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W5WTXMX

Sunday, October 28, 2012

WKCE Testing: Mon., Oct. 29, Tues., Oct. 30, & Wed. Oct. 31


Remember to have your child get plenty of rest and eat a healthy breakfast to provide them with the energy needed to do their best on these important tests.

Reading: This week reading will focus on test taking skills. In addition, students will learn how to take notes by reading with a question in mind. This strategy is needed to help students gather information with focus and purpose. 

Math: Our focus for math will be on test taking skills. In addition, students will be introduced to multiplication through work with arrays.

Writing: Our focus will be on writing friendly letters.

Inquiry: Our focus will be to research to build and present knowledge on governement topics.

THANK YOU: I would like to thank Mrs. Morris for organizing treats for the Halloween party last Wednesday. Thank you also to everyone who contributed treats. I heard that a great time was had by all!

I would like to take this time to thank everyone for their well wishes regarding my husband's recent surgery. The surgery went well. However, the doctors had to do more reconstructive work on his spine than originally anticipated. Therefore, I will be out the week of October 29th to care for him at home. I plan to return to school the week of November 5th. The students will remain in the very capable hands of Mrs. Kaminski until I return. Thank you.

Friday, October 19, 2012


WKCE TESTING
WKCE Testing is fast approaching. Please, make sure your student gets a good night of rest and a healthy breakfast during our testing period. We are hoping for great testing results and need your help!

WKCE Schedule - 3rd Grade:
Wednesday, October 31- 10:30 Reading (40 min)
Thursday, November 1- 10:15 Reading (40 min)
Monday, November 5- 10:00 Reading (40 min)
Tuesday, November 6- 10:30 Math (25 min)
Wednesday, November 7- 10:30 Math (30 min)
Thursday, November 8- 10:15 Math (30 min)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Dear Parents,

I wanted to let you know that my husband is having major surgery on Wednesday, October 17th. I will be absent Oct. 17-18th. I  hope to return on Friday, Oct. 18th unless something arises. I will be out Oct. 22-24th to care for him at home. I plan to return on Monday, Oct. 29th. I have worked with the sub office to assure that we have consistent coverage for my absences. I appreciate your understanding during this stressful time.

Due to the short week next week our spelling test will be given on Wednesday (10/24) instead of Thursday.

Our reading and writing focus for next week will be the same as this week. However, math will focus on money concepts. (Counting, writing, adding and subtracting with money.)

Thank you,
Mrs. Germain

Monday, October 15, 2012

Reading: This week we will focus on monitoring while reading t increase comprehension. Students will learn to stop, think, and react while reading. They will use post-its for think sheets to keep tract of thoughts that they want to remember from the text. In addition, we will continue to review what to do when meaning breaks down.

Math: Our math focus will be on using place value understanding and properties of operation to perform multi-digit math. This will include: rounding to the nearest 10 and 100; addition and subtraction regrouping; even and odd numbers; and greater than/less than or equal to symbols. In problem solving we will practice locating "clue words" to help decide whether it is an addition or subtraction problem, solving the problem accurately, and clearly explaining our thinking.

Writing: Student will continue to work on adding ore details to their writing, concentrating on topic sentence and paragraph structure. One important project in the future will be writing a friendly letter. Please remember to have your child practice spelling words each night.

Mitchell Golden Awards: We are proud to announce that room 104 has won two of the Golden Awards at Mitchell. The first was in Art. The students received this award for having the best behavior out of all classrooms and working hard. The second award we received for the week of October 1st was in SEL (Social and Emotional Learning - guidance). Our students won this award for being supportive of each other and working hrd in SEL that week.

Conferences: It was a pleasure meeting everyone and discussing your child's progress on conference night last Thursday. I am still in the process of completing a few telephone and after school conferences. As always feel free to call or email me with any questions/concerns you may have regarding your child. Thank you for your time and coopertin in helping to educte your child. :)

Looking Ahead:
  • There will be no school for students on October 25th and 26th.
  • PTA Halloween Dance October 24th

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Important Reminder: There is a student in our classroom who is allergic to peanuts. Please don't send any snacks to school that contain peanut butter or peanuts in them. Thank you for helping to keep all of our students safe.


Parents and Guardians of SPARC students: There will be no SPARC program on Thursday, October 11th due to conferences. There also will be no SPARC program on Thursday, October 18th since there is no school for students that day due to Staff Development Day. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

Thursday, October 4, 2012


                                                                                    

Thank you Mitchell PTA for organizing the awesome “Mitchell in Motion” fundraiser. We had a great time!!

 

Reading: We continue to monitor for comprehension. Our focus will be to notice when the reader strays away when reading and strategies to help the reader stay focused. In addition, we will notice when meaning breaks down due to lack of understanding and to stop and repair it before reading on.

 

Math: We will continue to work on place value strategies to aid with addition and subtraction skills, and rounding numbers.

 

Writing: Next week I will be conferencing with the students individually to go over their District Writing Assessments. Students will write goals for their writing during this conference.

 

Inquiry: Our focus is on government. The students will continue to explore information and write questions related to government.

 

Looking Ahead:

October 11thParent-Teacher conferences and picture make-up day

 

October 24th – PTA Halloween Dance

 

October 25th and 26th – No School

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Reading: We will be focusing on monitoring for comprehension and listening to our inner voice. In addition, we will be focusing on reading for accuracy. This includes asking ourselves questions like, "Does this make sense?" and "Does this sound right?"

Math: We will continue to work with multi-digit addition and subtraction as well as work with place value concepts.

Writing: The District Writing Assessment has been completed. We will works on the six-trait writing skills focusing on the idea trait. Specifically adding details to our stories.

Inquiry: Students are exploring resources on local government. We are in the process of creating questions to begin our reserach on.

Coming Up:
  • October 4th - Incrediroll from 4:00pm-6:00pm
  • October 11th - 1st Quarter Parent-Teacher Conferences
  • October 21st - PTA Dance from 6:00pm-8:00pm
  • October 25th and 26th - NO SCHOOL

Thursday, September 20, 2012


                                                                                    
September 21, 2012
 
Dear Families:                                                                                                   

   In literacy this coming week I will read aloud The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. This is a wonderful story that third grade students love. We will have large group discussions focusing on the main idea in each chapter. Students will continue to practice monitoring comprehension by listening to their inner conversation and paying attention to their thinking as they read.

   The students will continue to meet with their assigned teachers from our 2/3 team for guided reading. All teachers will continue to get to know the new students to our classrooms and establish routines as we meet with each guided reading group. The skills covered will be determined by the need of each small group.

   In math, our second and third grade team will begin to meet with our needs based small groups. The children may be switching teachers as we do for guided reading. All groups will continue to focus on our student’s abilities and needs with the number operation standard. We will continue next week to work with addition and subtraction strategies at different levels.

   Our writing next week will focus on taking the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District writing assessment. Students will be assessed on their ability to use the six trait writing skills. Future lessons and assignments for individual students will be created using the results of this assessment.

   Mr. Hill would like to ask that parents please send a separate note or make a phone call to the office to inform us of any upcoming absences your child may be having. Thank you.

   PTA Reminder: Please return Mitchell In Motion permission slips even if you don't have any pledges so that your child can participate in this fun activity.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Germain J germj@wawm.k12.wi.us