Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Update 10-12-16

Parents,

Homework.   Lasts night's Math homework took longer and was a little more difficult for students than I anticipated. My goal is usually to assign homework that should be able to be completed in about 20 minutes. I worked on putting the assignment together over the weekend and based on my working through it and the lesson length estimation given by Learn Zillion, I didn't expect it to take as long as it did with some students.  I'm sorry about that. I told the students who worked it through to completion that I was proud of their excellent extra effort and gave everyone who did it an extra class dojo point for "persistence."  Thank you to the parents who communicated with me (very nicely I might add) about having difficulty with the assignment and for those who helped your child last night get through the assignment.  I'll try to improve this assignment for next year's class. Again, sorry about any frustration or difficulty it might have caused.

Social Studies test - Review Social Studies test score here:



HOMEWORK:

Math:  AM Practice

Science: none

Reading: Read Ch. 6 of Lemonade War (This can count as your child's independent reading tonight.
  • AR Goal for Friday = 88% of AR goal for quarter
Social Studies: None.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Update 10-11-16

Parents,

Science - We are starting a new unit on plant and animal life cycles.  When will be studying the life cycles of pea plants and fruit flies among other living things..

Social Studies test - Students completed a Social Studies test over Geography today.  Students and parents can view the results here:


Students who earned a standard score of "2" or less will need to retake the test at school.  These students should retake the practice test at home to prepare.

HOMEWORK:

Math:  http://learnzillion.com  video #3 and enter Quick Code: EE4KV9Z

Science: none

Reading: None
  • AR Goal for Friday = 88% of AR goal for quarter
Social Studies: Take a Moodle practice test - link above.

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Updates - 10-5-16

Parents,

Social Studies.  Students are learning about ancestral heritage in Social Studies right now.  Students can earn an extra Class Dojo point if they bring in a list of countries in their family heritage.

Science.  We are starting a new unit in Science about Life Cycles of Plants and Animals.  The last day for anyone who wants to retest over the Nature of Science unit is Friday.

Book fair.  Students who bring money to school tomorrow can buy books at the book fair during school.  (It will also be open to families after school as well).

Reminders:
  • Literacy Night - Thursday 6-8
  • October 6 - JoJo's Dine out Night
HOMEWORK:

Math:  AM Practice

Science: none

Reading: None.
  • AR Goal for Friday = 77% of AR goal for quarter
Social Studies: None

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Team MIndcrafters Daily Update 10-4-16

Parents,

Spelling.  Students take a practice Spelling every Wednesday.  They should be practicing these word throughout the week so they are ready for the test.

Reminders:
  • Book fair - purchase
  • Literacy Night - Thursday 6-8 (see attached document)
  • October 6 - JoJo's Dine out Night
HOMEWORK:

Math:  Learn Zillion Video # 14 (Quick code: J4KD6GN) - complete worksheet (both sides)

Science: none

Reading: None.
  • AR Goal for Friday = 77% of AR goal for quarter
Social Studies: None

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:

Friday, September 30, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Updates - 9-30-16

Hi parents,

TGIF!  

A couple quick things to share.  Students took the Science test today and did really well overall. If you go to the link below you can see their results.


I allow students to retake the test twice to try to raise their grade.  Students may also want to challenge themselves to earn a "Test Ace" badge by trying to earn 100%.  Retakes cannot be done at home - they must be done at school.  Students who earn less than a "3" will be expected to retake the test.

Birthday treats.  We have had a ton of birthdays in the past couple weeks.  Just a couple reminders about these.  Mrs. Dressel and I really appreciate it when birthday treats are kept as simple as possible.  We try to celebrate birthdays during a block of time for set aside for silent reading so we want to have it be the smallest distraction possible.  Prepackaged treats are recommended since we have a student that has a peanut allergy, and it just makes for the easiest and fastest distribution and least mess.  We also do not have kitchen type items in our classrooms like napkins, plates, spatulas, etc... so be sure you send anything like that along with the treat.  Drinks that need to be poured are another thing we would highly discourage.  (Juice boxes or bags are fine.)  Keep in mind that we have carpets, wobbly desks, and 25 accident prone children - the likelihood for spills is about 50-50.  Cleaning spills involves making a call to Mr. Norm to get his mini carpet steamer.  And of course, watching the carpet steamer is way more exciting that silent reading. :)

Have a great weekend!

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Updates - a bit more

Star Math.  Your child should be coming home with paper showing their last two Star Math test results.  At the bottom you'll see two scores which represent your child's PR (percentile rank) Math score.  A PR of 85 means your child performed better than 85% of other 4th graders nationally at this same point in the year.  The kids are all working to earn a PR (Personal Record) on their PR (Percentile Rank).  Those who did earned a special badge for this achievement today.  Effort plays a bit part on this test which is why I included their answer sheet along with it so you could see their included work.

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Team Mindcrafters Daily Update - 9-28-16

Parents,

Learn Zillion.  In Math we will often have homework assignments which use Learn Zillion videos as a resource. Please remind your child that they are expected to watch the video along with completing the assignment.  Several students will have lost a Class Dojo point today because they completed the worksheet incorrectly because they did not do this.  Relatedly, if your child for some reason cannot watch the video to complete the assignment (ie. due to internet problems or computers not working properly, please just send in a note along with the assignment.  I can have them finish it in study hall that day.

Reminders:
HOMEWORK:

Math:  AM Practice

Science: Test is Friday of Ch. 1 Nature of Science

The link for the practice test is here:

Moodle Login information
un: 2025XXX
pw:aw+lunch code number

Reading: None.
  • AR Goal for Friday = 66% of AR goal for quarter
Social Studies: None

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

On the web:
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