A Little of This...A Little of That.

It has been far too long since the last time I have blogged. I can truly say that I have missed it and missed simply being able to update our progress throughout this year. It's about time!

Here is the new October Newsletter for the Dolphin Team. We are looking into our Language Arts curriculum and studying the 8 Parts of Speech, 5 Parts of a Sentences, Phrases, and Clauses. We will also be starting one of my FAVORITE novels later this month and reading Peter and the Starcatchers. Students always love this novel; especially after reading Peter Pan to begin with! For Social Studies we will begin our exploration into Ancient Civilizations and Mesopotamia.

*Speaking of beginning Peter and the Starcatchers...Here's a glimpse of the Dolphins completing Venn Diagrams with the novel by J.M. Barrie and the Play with Cathy Rigby. Check it out on Amazon

Bragging Just a Bit....
After spending countless hours on Pinterest (by far one of my most favorite sites!!), I found a very inspiring way to create my Accelerated Reader Board for this year. Since all my students have varying goals, it was important for me to keep track of their progress, not necessarily their current point total. Here's my adapted version... **Have to say....I'm pretty impressed with myself! :) **

Finally here is our updated BOOK DRIVE totals. Our drive ended at the end of September. This was our first annual book drive that we can up with for the September 11th Act of Service. We set our team goal at 200 Books. We ended up with over 1100!!! We could not be more impressed with our school, community, and students who donated these wonderful books. I can not wait to donate them and get books to those in needs! I will post pics as the books are donated. Well...Having a wonderful week! Everyone have an amazing Friday ;)

August-September Classroom Newsletter

Good Evening!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I certainly did :)
Saturday morning was awesome at Appalachian State University in Hickory meeting with some wonderful classmates in Successful Schools for Young Adolescents. We discussed the early founders of the Middle School Movement and how their impact has continued into the middle schools we are seeing currently. Then I attended a great bridal shower for a fantastic friend. She is getting married in October in Ohio (Go Buckeyes!) and we could not be any happier for her and her soon-to-be husband.
Today was full on getting materials, lesson plans, and minor changes ready for a wonderful week with my Dolphins. I am pumped to dive deeper into Vocabulary, Wordly Wise, 8 Parts of Speech, Geography, and even Peter Pan this week!
Here is the monthly newsletter I am anticipating on sending home monthly. This is intended to keep parents and students up-to-date on the content, material, reminders, etc. that we are working on for that month.
August-September 2012 are together because of the short time in August this year! Enjoy :)