Thank you to all parents who donated, served, set-up, and cleaned-up for our breakfast celebration today!  We had so much fun!  

Wishing you all of the Hope, Wonder, and Joy that the Season can bring!

Have a safe break, enjoy your time with family, and I will see you all next year! 

*Major incentives for students who read 1 or more chapter books over break and get an 80% or higher on their A.R. test!*

From Ms. Sasha (our fabulous Yoga instructor!):  Directions for making calming jars:

The kids wanted me to share these instructions with you guys.  If you want the jar to separate faster then cut the glue amount in half.  I think it’s a good idea so the young kids don’t have to wait too long to see the results of their calm minds.  Have a great holiday!!

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instructables.com%2Fid%2FDIY-Calming-Glitter-Jars%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cmeghan.saxon%40stjohns.k12.fl.us%7C20574df82fc54e6e38b008d66524e18e%7Cb3b3d057fc124f3f92f472be6e844351%7C0%7C0%7C636807606458065354&sdata=hQiTKyGq9cJP6YlwY2DjfL12zc72gIyAPt7EuxC7F%2FE%3D&reserved=0 

Money, Money, Money, Money……..MONEY!!

Practicing our interview skills with partners this week in writing!

Thank you to Mr. Chaconas for being our Mystery Reader today!  We enjoyed hearing Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus (a true story!) by Chris Pehal and Rock Star Santa by Gayle C. Krause.  What a great mix of the TRUE meaning of Christmas – family and giving, as well as HAVING FUN this holiday season!

SANTA FACE PUZZLE CHALLENGE:  Your child created a Santa face using the following triangles below.  The only rule is that the smaller triangles must stay WITHIN the larger triangle (there is no cutting or folding).  You may add eyes, a mouth, and color your hat once you figured out where the pieces fit.  

We ended up with some pretty interesting Santa faces!  I sent home a blank sheet with triangles for families to try at home! Your child knows the correct answer! Good luck!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Miss Holly is too Jolly by Dan Gutman and Horrible Harry and the Holidaze by Suzy Kline; dissecting vocabulary, -or , -ist, -er suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: Non-fiction stories, interviewing

Math:  money and time

Social Studies:  Maps

Students of the week:

Kolton and Amelie

Thanks for being conscientious and prepared this week!

Important Dates:

• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/19:  Polar Express Day!  Wear your school appropriate pajamas to school!  No slippers!
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00 – (Let me know if you can volunteer to help cook or serve!), class book exchange immediately following
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Please start humming the  Twelve Days of Christmas…Now read this! 🙂

  On the last week before break my teacher gave to me… permission to dress festive all week!

  Monday: Holiday Jewelry

  Tuesday: Holiday Socks

  Wednesday: PAJAMA DAY FOR POLAR EXPRESS!

  Thursday: Holiday Headwear

  Friday: National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, so we should join in, right?

Old Town Trolley Tours has partnered with INK! (Investing in Kids), a non-profit supporting St. Johns County public schools for the first annual Holiday Tree Contest!  Students and teachers from each school decorated their designated trees at Old Town Trolley Headquarters in St. Augustine with their favorite themes.  R.B. Hunt decorated their tree as a lighthouse.  Voting can be done daily on any and all devices beginning December 4th through 10:00 a.m. on December 20th.

The winning school will be announced on December 20th at 12pm.The school’s tree with the most votes will win $1,000 so please vote for the R. B. Hunt tree daily!  The link to vote is below:

trolleytours.com/holidaytreecampaign

• *Math homework will only be sent home Monday – Wednesday next week.  No reading log will go home… I will expect students to continue reading daily throughout break! ;)*

 

August 9, 2016

Hard at work!  I have enjoyed observing student strategies in sorting and adding money this week!  

We enjoyed celebrating Ms. Jarocki  today!  Congratulations!  We know she will make an exceptional teacher!  Thank you for working so hard with children in our classroom!  We love you!

Happy birthday to Cash!  8 is great!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Winter According to Humphrey by Betty Birney; describing the connection between scientific ideas or concepts in a text, -or and -ist suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: letters and editing with partners

Math:  MONEY!

Social Studies:  Character Counts pillar – Responsibilty… Congratulations SOLEIL!

Science:  People in Science:  Dr. Mei-Yin Chou

Students of the week:

Tati and Aiden

Thanks for being considerate of others and organized this week!

Important Dates:

• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

Old Town Trolley Tours has partnered with INK! (Investing in Kids), a non-profit supporting St. Johns County public schools for the first annual Holiday Tree Contest!  Students and teachers from each school decorated their designated trees at Old Town Trolley Headquarters in St. Augustine with their favorite themes.  R.B. Hunt decorated their tree as a lighthouse.  Voting can be done daily on any and all devices beginning December 4th through 10:00 a.m. on December 20th.

The winning school will be announced on December 20th at 12pm.The school’s tree with the most votes will win $1,000 so please vote for the R. B. Hunt tree daily!  The link to vote is below:

trolleytours.com/holidaytreecampaign

• Thank you to everyone who donated to our fabulous tree and to Ms. Chaconas for putting everything together!  It looks amazing!  Hopefully we will have a winner or two from our class! 🙂

 

 

Congratulations to Abby for making it into the MILLION WORD CLUB!  We are proud of you, hey, we are proud of you!

 

We had a lot of birthdays this week –  all girls with names that start with “A”!  Happy 8th birthday to Anastasia, Abby, and Amelie!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Totally Disgusting by Bill Wallace; how images/diagrams support text, -er and -est suffixes and spelling patterns

Writing: fictional stories

Math:  triple digit addition and subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  Map Skills

Science:  Changing Matter

Students of the week:

Kaia and Dimitrios

Thanks for being hard-working and honest!

Important Dates:

• 12/1:  Childrens Author – Harvey E. Oyer at Lewis Flagler Auditorium at 11:00.
• 12/3:  Festival tree due
• 12/4:  SAC meeting – 3:10
• 12/7:  Ms. Jarocki’s last day! 🙁
• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/18:  wrapped book due for book exchange
• 12/19:  items due for class breakfast
• 12/21:  Class breakfast party – 9:15 – 10:00
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Please label water bottles, coats, hats, etc.  We have a lot of items that have gone missing!
• Don’t forget the special guest speaker at Flagler College this Saturday from 11:00-2:00.  It’s a great FREE event for kids!
• HARVEY E. OYER III
  Harvey E. Oyer III is a fifth generation Floridian and is descended from one of the earliest pioneer families in South Florida. He is the great-great grandson of Captain Hannibal Dillingham Pierce and his wife Margretta Moore Pierce, who in 1872 became one of the first non-Native American families to settle in Southeast Florida. Oyer is the great-grand nephew of Charlie Pierce, the subject of this book series. Many of the stories contained in this book series have been passed down through five generations of his family. Oyer has won numerous awards for his Adventures of Charlie Pierce children’s book series.
  MEET & GREET
  CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
  Lecture, Meet & Greet and Book Signing,
  11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, Lewis Auditorium
  Reading, Activities and Chick-Fil-A Lunch,
  12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, Markland House & Solarium*
  FREE, Children Friendly
  *Reservation required by
  emailing [email protected] or calling 904-826-8572

 

We were BLOWN away by the country research presentations!  From Powerpoints, to tri-pods, to artifacts, to videos, to TONS of native food, we LEARNED so much about this big, beautiful world we live in!  Bravo!

 

 

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am so grateful for each child in my class and a job I love coming to every day.  Be safe, read like crazy, and I’ll see you Monday! 🙂

Country Research Project Presentations!  Soleil presented on Nicaragua (where her family lived for 13 years!) and Tati presented on India (which she has visited!) We learned so much!  Great job, girls!

 

Thank you to Mr. McClarnon for being our mystery reader today!  We enjoyed the history behind “The Camping Trip that Changed America” by Barb Rosenstock!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, LUCA!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen; comparing/contrasting stories, -le spelling patterns

Writing: fictional stories

Math:  Chapter 5 Math Test; triple digit addition and subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  Native Americans

Science:  Changing Matter

Students of the week:

N/A

Short week ahead!

Important Dates:

• 11/16:  Interims sent home
• 11/19:  Country research project due
• 11/21-23:  Thanksgiving Break
• 12/3:  Festival tree due
• 12/4:  SAC meeting – 3:10
• 12/7:  Ms. Jarocki’s last day! 🙁
• 12/8:  St. Augustine Christmas Parade
• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Country Research Projects will be presented November 19 and 20!

We learned A LOT about saving energy today with CAPTAIN WATTAGE!

“Conjunction, Junction, WHAT’S YOUR FUNCTION!”  Excellent performance by Murray Middle School!

MATTER HATS!

Happy 8th Birthday, Liam!

‘

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Thanksgiving on a Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne; figuring out the meaning of unfamiliar words

Writing: fictional stories

Math:  double-digit subtraction with re-grouping; relationship between addition and subtraction

Social Studies:  Explorers

Science:  Wrap-Up on Matter

Students of the week:

Emma and Liam

Thank you for being KIND and HARD-WORKING this week!

Important Dates:

• 11/12:  Veterans Day – Student/Teacher holiday
• 11/15:  PTAO meeting – 8:35 am
• 11/16:  Interims sent home; Frank McClarnon – mystery reader
• 11/19:  Country research project due
• 11/21-23:  Thanksgiving Break
• 12/4:  SAC meeting – 3:10
• 12/7:  Ms. Jarocki’s last day! 🙁
• 12/8:  St. Augustine Christmas Parade
• 12/11:  Class Pictures
• 12/15:  Breakfast with Santa
• 12/17 – 21:  Holiday Shop
• 12/21:  2nd quarter ends; early release
• 12/24-1/4:  Winter Break

Reminders:

• Country Research Projects will be presented November 19 and 20.  If you are going out of town before then, please let me know so we can arrange another time your child can present! 🙂
• Don’t forget to send in your Pennies for the Panhandle!

OWL Pellet Dissection!  Thanks to a generous donation from the Charalambous family, each student was able to dissect, investigate, and identify bones in their own owl pellet!  We had so much fun discovering what animal was inside! 

Om!  Thanks to Ms. Sasha for another fabulous Yoga lesson!  This week we were in a haunted house!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  Can you believe it is November?!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  White Fur Flying by Patricia Maclachlan ; MAIN purpose; review of alphabetical order

Writing: character descriptions

Math:  double-digit subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  Explorers

Science:  Changing Matter

Students of the week:

Amelie and Aiden

Thank you for being PRO-ACTIVE and ACADEMIC RISK-TAKERS this week!

Important Dates:

• 11/5:  Picture re-takes
• 11/6:  Field trip to Amphitheater to see Schoolhouse Rocks!  Wear R.B. Hunt shirt (if available) and comfortable shoes!
• 11/12:  Veterans Day – Student/Teacher holiday
• 11/15:  PTAO meeting – 8:35 am
• 11/16:  Interims sent home
• 11/19:  Country research project due
• 11/21-23:  Thanksgiving Break

Reminders:

• Country Research Projects will be presented November 19 and 20.  If you are going out of town before then, please let me know so we can arrange another time your child can present! 🙂

Colonial Presentation was a lot of fun… but we are grateful to live in 2018!  Ha!

We enjoyed seeing everyone dressed as a storybook character!  Hope to see you tonight at the Fall Festival from 5:00-7:00!

Thank you to Ms. Eva for being our first Mystery Reader!  We enjoyed listening to the book “I’m bored!” by Michael Ian Black.  Such a great lesson!  Life is way too amazing to ever be BORED!

What LEARNING and GROWING went on in room 217 this week:

Academics

ELA:  Class Novel:  Snot Stew by Bill Wallace;  describing connections between historical events; alphabetical order

Writing: ELABORATION

Math:  double-digit addition with re-grouping, began subtraction with re-grouping

Social Studies:  REVIEW

Science:  The important contributions of chemist Dr. Mario Molina

Students of the week:

Cash and Soleil

Thank you for being trustworthy and showing MAJOR effort this week!

Important Dates:

• 10/31:  Send in Halloween snacks
• 11/1:  Class book fair visit – 1:00-1:30
• 11/5:  Picture re-takes
• 11/6:  Field trip to Amphitheater to see Schoolhouse Rocks!
• 11/12:  Veterans Day – Student/Teacher holiday
• 11/15:  PTAO meeting – 8:35 am
• 11/16:  Interims sent home
• 11/19:  Country research project due
• 11/21-23:  Thanksgiving Break

Reminders:

• Cool and helpful information on our brains and how we talk to ourselves and our children!  I had the opportunity to hear Carol Dweck speak in Atlanta 6 years ago and it changed the way I taught!

• The Power of Belief – Mindset and Success – Students watched and discussed this powerful Ted Talk in class this week.  I encourage you to watch the link below and talk about mindset with your child at home.   Link to TED Talk:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc

• Research completed by Dr. Carol Dweck states that the way our students think impacts their attitude toward learning and how they perform in our classrooms.

  • 90 percent of students who are praised for effort instead of abilities ask for new challenging tasks and persevere in solving them. 
  • Students who are praised for effort view challenges as a way of learning, and embrace them.
  • Students praised for abilities reject the opportunity for a challenge in fear they will not be able to perform as expected. These students are also more likely to lie about their performance when they do not feel they have succeeded on a task.
  • Students who are praised for being smart (abilities) are less likely to take risks in their learning and if they do not perform well or things do not come easily. They shut down because they no longer feel smart.
  • Students praised for hard work (effort) may find it hard to understand why another student would not want to challenge him- or herself and learn. (Read more about Dr. Dweck’s studies at Brainpickings.org)