December 17, 2021

  Announcements

Thank you all for a wonderful first half of the year! I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday break. 

Weekly Journals were not completed this week. They will resume in January. 

A reminder that Tuesday is our Polar Express Day! Students may wear their pajamas and bring a blanket on this day. Thank you to the families who signed up to help make this day special!

We have had a Kindness theme this month at Paxton Keeley. Every student in the school made a loop in our kindness chain that is hanging in the building. Students have been giving out compliment cards to other students they see doing kind things. We took a brain/mask break to be the I in Kind. 

In the Classroom

Our Health unit is divided into mini sections that will be taught at various points in the year. We have completed two of these sections this month. Students learned about the systems of the body and how to keep them healthy. We learned about ways to keep our lungs and heart healthy by researching in small groups and creating posters to teach the class. We also studied disease prevention and communicable vs. non-communicable. We will begin our Force unit in science when we return from break.

This math unit focused on Geometry and Measurement. Students were able to use a variety of measuring tools to find the length of objects to the nearest half inch. We also spent a great deal of time learning about perimeter and area. Students played an Everyday Math game called Rugs and Fences to practice these concepts. 

Unit 4 in our Reading and Writing curriculum was about point of view. We read many folktales, fractured fairytales, and fables to study this concept. Students practiced making mental images, finding the major plot elements, and distinguishing between literal and non-literal language. In writing, students used a fable as an inspiration to create a journal entry from a different character's point of view. These turned out so well! I will be sharing them at our conference.

Upcoming Events

Polar Express Day-December 21

Winter Break-December 22-January 3

School Resumes-January 4

2nd Covid Shot-January 5

No School, MLK Jr. Day-January 17

Early Release at 12:50-January 25

November 19, 2021

 Announcements

Our class is in need of black, dry-erase markers. It does not matter if they are thin or thick. Thank you in advance!

This week, we had another round of Tinker Tuesday! Students loved using their problem-solving skills and creativity. 

We had a blast on our first field trip of the year! We went to the Missouri Theatre to see the Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Students heard from our new Superintendent, Brian Yearwood, as well as Devon Moore who is the Elementary Assistant Superintendent. We learned about each section in the orchestra, and then listened to Peter and the Wolf. 

On Friday, students did a Makerspace Challenge to create a circuit card. While it was frustrating at times, they were so excited when their lightbulb worked!

In the Classroom

We have been studying Government in Social Studies. We learned all about the 3 branches and how they keep our country running. Students learned about local and state government symbols, like the Capitol building in Jefferson City. We also learned about the U.S. and Missouri Constitution. Students even wrote a constitution for our classroom! We took a break from Government last Thursday to discuss Veteran's Day. After reading the book, The Wall by Eve Bunting, students reflected on the book by walking around our room and completing task cards. 

We finished Unit 3 in math this week. Students are learning many multiplication strategies, in particular how to use helper facts to solve unknown facts. We will continue building our toolkit for multiplication facts. We will begin Unit 4 after Thanksgiving Break. This unit focuses on measurement and geometry.

I recently wrote a grant to purchase more graphic novels for our classroom. After receiving the grant last month, I was able to get so many wonderful titles to add to our library! Students first did observations about this genre of book. We discussed what we noticed as well as compared and contrasted them to other texts. We compiled a class Padlet to share our findings. Students learned the terms to describe the parts of a graphic novel such as panel and gutter. 

In writing this week, students continued working on their biography pieces. They began by choosing a person that interested them, and then took notes from a variety of sources. They organized their notes in paragraphs or sections, and finally put it all together in a writing piece.

Upcoming Events

Picture Retake Day-November 23

Thanksgiving Break-November 24-26