September 17th through 21st

Keenoy Kardinal News                                                      9-21-18

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week.  Overall the Keenoy family is doing well and staying busy as always.  I needed to take a personal day on Wednesday this week.   I own a small section of property located about an hour south of St. Louis.  Unfortunately, a low water bridge collapsed near the property, and I’m currently working with the Missouri Department of Conservation to get it fixed.  Although I was able to get a couple hours of fishing fun in, it was a mostly working trip. 

This class is AMAZING for me each day, but on Wednesday we had a few bumps in the road with the substitute.  I’m confident that if I must be gone again, they will do a much better job during my absence.  Have a wonderful week and thank you very much for your support each day!

Kardinal of the Week

We scheduled a student per week to share information about themselves.  The Kardinal of the Week is asked to bring in pictures/items to display on our classroom bulletin board (located just outside our room).  They also write a brief paragraph about themselves to include in the newsletter. 

The first Kardinal of the Week was Joe H.

Hello, My name is Joe and I have three other people in my family.  I love to go to the lake with my family and cousins.  When we go, I enjoy tubing and going over big jumps.  Falling a lot into the water is fun.

Keenoy Kardinal of the Week is Jonathan D.

Hi.  My name is Jonathan, and I am ten years old.  I have seven people in my family.  I play soccer for SC, also known as Sporting Columbia.  My favorite movie is Jumanji.  I have two pets at home.  One is a dog named Remington and the other is called Benneli.

The next Kardinal of the Week is Kameron G.  Please bring any pictures or items that you would like to put on our bulletin board that is located outside of our classroom.

St. Louis Blues Comet Carnival Classroom Basket

The one item in our basket is very lonely!  We need your help with St. Louis Blues donations.  Please consider donating to our basket!  A more detailed informational letter will be sent home today with ideas for contributing.

Math

Unit 1

The end of the unit assessment was returned to students on Friday.  We discussed several problems as well as how the test was graded. This first math unit can be a bit of a challenge, but our classroom overall did a wonderful job!  If your child is not satisfied with their score, I’ve explained to students that our math curriculum spirals.  This means that students will continue to have experiences to improve with concepts from Unit 1.

Unit 2

*Our first few lessons focused on describing place-value relationships, exponents and powers of 10, and estimating.

*This unit will focus heavily on multiplication and division.  Knowing their basic facts fluently is essential for this unit.  Please encourage your child study these facts each day at home.  Each student should have a “focus number” that they are working on.

Writing

We did not make it as far as I planned this week in writing.  We will start drafting our personal narrative stories early next week.  Students have a lot of good ideas to choose from.

Reading

I will continue to read aloud, Jackie’s Wild Seattle, by Will Hobbs each day.  We will continue discussing/modeling:

*how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges

*compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story

*explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals

*compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g. problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts

I have really emphasized quality student reading responses this week.  A portion of their reading effort grade is based on this work. 

Social Studies

Students learned about the Native Americans in North America this week.  Next week students will learn about explorers.

Science

Students learned more details about the water cycle.  We made several connections with the cycle and the bridge project at my property.  Students also learned more about condensation, evaporation, water vapor, and transpiration.  Students will start learning about Earth and Space systems next week.

Word Study

We entered our third word study cycle this week.  Students identified long a patterns for the second week.  Last week students were exposed to words that make the long a sound that have: ey, ei, ea.  This week they were given words that make the long a sound that have: a consonant e, ai, and ay.  Last week’s spelling tests will come home today.

Upcoming Important Dates

Sept. 24 No School / Teacher Collaboration

Oct. 6 Pumpkin Fun Run

Oct. 12 Comet Carnival (5:00-8:00)

Have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy