Mr. Pereira's Classroom

 

6-3-13

Hello,

This weeks spelling reflects our final science unit called Sink and Float. We will continue to reinforce the years focus skills in LA, creative writing, expository writing, as well as continue our animal and habitat research project.

We have started my favorite unit! Endangered Animals and Habitat Research. In the final six weeks we will be doing comprehensive research on nine animals in four habitats. We look forward to sharing this information with you in the form of a play. The date of this performance will be on June 19 at 9:30.  

Field Day is on Wednesday June 12th.  Raindate June 19th. Mrs. Rzonca is looking for 2 parents to help out. Email me if you are interested in helping out. Still need helpers! 

5-25-13

Hello,

Homework Packet will look a little different this week. See homework section on the side for pacing.

We have completed the L.A. curriculum book so in order to maintain routine and focus we came up with a list of words related to our next theme, endangered animals. The list is more difficult and will not count toward their final spelling grade. We will keep this routine until the last week of school.

We will test Unit 11 in math tomorrow. I needed an extra day for review and catching up from Friday.  Unit 12 is a review of the year

We have started my favorite unit! Endangered Animals and Habitat Research. In the final six weeks we will be doing comprehensive research on nine animals in four habitats. We look forward to sharing this information with you in the form of a play. The date of this performance will be on

Field Day is on Wednesday June 12th.  Raindate June 19th. Mrs. Rzonca is looking for 2 parents to help out. Email me if you are interested in helping out. First come, first serve.

5-20-13

Hello,

Busy week here in room 303. We will be working all week on our Special Person essays. We will be practicing our song and readings. I look forward to having everyone in. I am still looking for pictures of our special people. I prefer that the special person are in the picture together and if possible, just the two of them. I need these pictures no later than Wednesday so I can complete a slideshow for Friday's program in the classroom.

We have started my favorite unit! Endangered Animals and Habitat Research. In the final six weeks we will be doing comprehensive research on nine animals in four habitats. We look forward to sharing this information with you in the form of a play. The date of this performance will be on

Field Day is on Wednesday June 12th.  Raindate June 19th. Mrs. Rzonca is looking for 2 parents to help out. Email me if you are interested in helping out. First come, first serve.

Joe

Hello,

I was fun to see all of the kids pay tribute to the moms on Friday. They were great! I know my mom loved it!

Thanks for the teacher appreciation book, breakfast, lunch and other little goodies I recieved last week from many of you! What a great group of people we work with! I appreciate you too!

Should be a pretty normal week with homework, spelling list, focus skills, etc.

I tried to get everyone on Xtramath today in the classroom. Please try to continue this routine each night if possible.

Special Person's Day- Please return the Special Person's info ASAP so I can get moving on this project. THANKS.

Joe

Happy Earth Day!
 
Today was a great success! Thanks for your support! There are a few rosy cheeks from the sun and wind. I am sure the kids will be quite tired, I know I am!
For homework, please have them work in their Earth Day Journals for 15 to 30 minutes. Please make sure that the supplies come back to school including all of the work complete or incomplete.
Extra credit homework, build a fairy house and send me a picture.
Out of extra precaution, check for ticks, drink a little extra water. Always good practice.
For those that need a reminder about the things we did today, here it is;
Packed up our supplies for the day
Headed outside- morning work, snakes, clouds, Earth Day Journal
Song
Spelling on the blacktop/chalk (spelling pretest tomorrow)
Met with Mr. K. discussing animals in our forest- water, food, habitat, shelter- Which animal did you have?
Stepping Stones relay with Mrs. Miley
Lunch- picnic
Recess-
Coin count relay with Mrs. Miley
Fairy House Book
Earth Day Jounal
Personification

Hike to ampitheater
SSR, NatGeo- FriendsBook
PM snack
Art class- clay impressions, fairy houses
Worms N Dirt cupcakes
Thanks again to Mrs. Miley, Mr. Kirschen, Mrs, Solof, Mrs. Hovey and especially to Mrs. Spring!
Please enjoy a few pictures from today!
 
Thanks again for your support!
Joe

 

April 8, 2013.

Hello,

We had a very different day today. Quite a way to start a week! The field trip was great! Then we had the "Energized Guyz" in the afternoon.  Sounded like the kids enjoyed every thing!

Last week we finished another unit in math. The scores were excellent! We will start unit 10 tomorrow. The first few lessons involve money. Please double check homework.

Please let me know if your kids do not plan to attend school on the 18th and 19th of this month.

I plan to host a Mother's Day program for all of the moms on May 10 at 2:00pm. We will enjoy some tear jerking Mother's Day writing over some tea, lemonade, cookies, and tissues. If you can't make it, please let me know so we can have an aunt, grandma or some kind of special someone to fill in.

Also a second grade tradition, "Special Person's Day" will be on May 24 in the morning. Students will choose one person that has made an impact or difference in their life. We would like that person to be present on the morning.

Talk to you soon.  

Joe

March 25, 2013.

Hello,

It was a pleasure to see everyone last week. I feel like we are all in a great position to finish with a very strong final marking period. Homework will be due on Thursday this week.

A reminder that Thursday is a half day again. We have teacher inservice. Friday we do not have school.

The Underground Railroad "informance" will be held on the back stage classroom at 10:30 on Thursday 3/28.  This program should be about 45 minutes. If you would like to take your child after the program we will have a sign-out sheet in the classroom. Dismissal is at 11:50.  

Scholastic book order is due tomorrow.

See you this week!

March 18, 2013.

Hello,

I look forward to meeting with everyone this week! Report cards will be sent home Wednesday. Please see the attachments to the email. One is the updated conference schedule. The other is a reference sheet to how I have come up with grades for each mark.

The Underground Railroad "informance" will be held on the back stage classroom at 10:30 on Thursday 3/28. Sorry about the changes.

 

See you this week!

Joe

March 11, 2013.

Hello,

I decided to slow this week down and take some time reviewing some concepts in math. You will notice the homework looks a little different than the typical homelinks.

The spelling this week looks at two prefixes, re and pre. I did not have a chance to correct the list with the kids. If using the pretest sheet, make sure the words are spelled correctly before studying. If studying from the spelling "pencil worksheet" be sure to study the 5 vocab words, clasp, typical, objects, confused, caused.

The Underground Railroad "informance" will be held now on the back stage classroom at 10:30 on Thursday 3/28. Sorry about the changes.

Please remember to confirm your conference this week. See the email for the schedule.

I think that does it!

See you soon!

Joe

March 4, 2013.

Hello! Decided it was time for a new look on the website.

Another routine week. We will finish up fractions this week in math. We will talk about penguins and non-fiction texts in L.A. We will continue to travel on the Underground Railroad in social studies. We will start to discuss plant and animal life cycles in science.  

Make sure you confirm a parent teacher conference time. I will post the updated sheet in the weekly email.

We will be having an "informance" for the Underground Railroad on March 28th at 10:30PM in the cafe. We hope that you can make it!

Please continue to work on RAZ kids assignments and xtramath.org. Please let me know if you are having problems logging in. A few errors popped up last week with RAZ kids. Should be all set now.

See ya!

Joe

February 25, 2013.

Hello-

Welcome back! I had a fantastic vacation! From beaches in Mexico to skiing in Vermont! Sounds like everyone enjoyed the week off! Lots of yawns today by all...

And just like that, it's March by Friday!!!

I set goals and reminded about expectations today as we nicely fell back into routine. Reminded the kids that I will be meeting with parents this month. (I will put out a conference schedule soon)

A huge thanks to the room moms for an outstanding Valentine's Day party! THANKS!!

On the Friday before the break we were surprized to hear news of another student moving. Tatiana will be missed. We wish her great success at her new school. Each student and friend was able to write a nice letter to her on her last day and we put together a nice book and memories from our class.

This week we will start fractions in math. Very difficult concept for kids this age. Please assist on homework and double check answers.

Everyone is now signed up for xtramath.com . Please feel free to practice basic facts using this website instead of holey cards. Once they complete addition (100% mastery), subtraction will start. Let me know if you need the login info.

Please continue to work on RAZ kids assignments and xtramath.org. Please let me know if you are having problems logging in. A few errors popped up last week with RAZ kids. Should be all set now.

See ya!

Joe

February 12, 2013.

Hello-

Good to be back! I hope everyone enjoyed the time off. It sounds like the kids had a blast! Unfortunately they were not able to get outside for recess today because the playground was not yet inspected until the afternoon. We should be good to go tomorrow on the 15 foot snow banks. Extra eyes at recess are always welcomed at this time of year.

As you can imagine, we are trying to cram the last couple days into one. Please keep an eye out for the spelling list. I did not have time to give the pretest. I cannot guarantee that it made it into every ones' homework folder. It's attached in the weekly email along with the Valentine's Day checklist for those making Valentines.(same file).

Our room parents have put together a little party for Thursday for the kids. THANKS!

Everyone is now signed up for xtramath.com . Please feel free to practice basic facts using this website instead of holey cards. Once they complete addition (100% mastery), subtraction will start. Let me know if you need the login info.

Please continue to work on RAZ kids assignments and xtramath.org. Please let me know if you are having problems logging in. A few errors popped up last week with RAZ kids. Should be all set now.

See ya!

Joe

February 4, 2013.

Hello-

Back to a regular week here in room 303. We will take a nice break from testing. The results were very impressive. Many 100% scores accross the board! I will contact you individually if there are any concerns. I will be sharing scores next month at conference time.

Please continue to work on RAZ kids assignments and xtramath.org. Please let me know if you are having problems logging in. A few errors popped up last week with RAZ kids. Should be all set now.

Thanks a ton to those who have donated supplies! We are in pretty good shape at this point.

 Upcoming Events:

-Conferences week of 3/18

-Field Trip to Warner Theater- April 8, 2013

January 28, 2013.

Hello-

Assessment week. I plan to continue with the routine of spelling, story, and new skills.

Last chance for January book order.

We will be starting a unit focusing on freedom using the history of the Underground Railroad. Hoping to start next week.

That's it for now.

Joe

January 22, 2013.

Hello-

We are finally back at 100% attendance!

We are finishing up a theme/ unit in Language Arts and a unit again in math. That makes 3 units of 6 in LA and 6 of 12 in math. Also approaching 90 days of 180. WOW...Halfway! I am very pleased with this group of hardworking, cooperative, easy going, happy students!

I will be giving some more assessments next week.

We will be starting a unit focusing on freedom using the history of the Underground Railroad. Hoping to start next week.

We read briefly read about the International Space Center today. We watched a tour of it during snack and some at the end of the day. Pretty cool!

http://www.wimp.com/orbitaltour/

That's it for now.

Joe

January 14, 2013.

Hello! Short week. Homework is due on Thursday. In today's homework folder you will find a flyer on how to login to xtramath.org. I have been using this with some kids in the classroom. Please check it out and substitute or supplement nightly fact practice. If you did not receive a flyer in the folder then it is because I am confident that your child knows his or her basic facts. I ask you to consider finding mixed basic fact sheets or work on memorizing multiplication and division facts.

We continue to work on creative writing. I have seen some really nice application and wonderful progress since the beginning of the year.

Keep up with reading on RAZ- kids and remember you can request progress reports. I am aware that different tablets used have not been registering completion of some tasks. Please let me know if this is happening and assure me that you are doing the reading. I say this because I really believe that this program is very helpful to reading fluency and comprehension.

Joe

January 7, 2013.

Back to a normal week with spelling,story, focus skills, and homework. I decided to hold off and give the math test today. I also gave a holey card test today that may send some students into retirement(of daily fact practice.) Be on the look out for mastery certificates. It is for both addtion and subtraction, not just one.

Continue to visit RAZ kids for assignments. I have begun to push assigned readings into the next level for many.

We could use more small drinking cups for the classroom. I could also use some black ink for my classroom printer. Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901. Black ink number 105.

Thanks,

Joe

Happy New Year!

Welcome back. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday vacation. We had many very tired bodies come in this morning many with coughs and sniffles. I was sick the entire break, six days with the flu!!!

Thanks for the great class gift to Amazon! It was very generous of all of you. I look forward to spending it soon! 

With this short week I plan to focus a little more in on writing. We talked about New Year's Resolutions today and wrote our goals for home and at school. As much as I wanted to share these with you immediately, I decided to hang them in the classroom. Ask about them.

I will not start a new story and spelling list or send home work. I did add a book to everyones' RAZ reading list. Please check in with that. We will review and test the geometry unit by Friday. Review all of the polygons and 3D shapes, line segments, parallel, symmetry etc.

It's that time of the year when the lost and found starts to really build up. It is also the time of the year when our little coat room gets filled with extra gloves, hats, etc. Another reminder to put names on everything. It helps all of us a lot!

Also, I do not mind if the kids leave their snow gear in the coat room but it must go home on the weekend. However, the coat room is NOT locked.

Talk to you soon.

Joe

12/10/12

Hello-

 It was great seeing everyone last week. I would like to share some trending topics. Holey cards. If mastered they can be retired. (I will print a certificate when I find mastery in the classroom for both addition and subtraction). But keep up skills by mixed addtion and subtraction. See link- www.mathcafe.com to generate worksheets.

Some kids that are having trouble and not seeing progress. We need to visit the basic strategies again. Start with doubles. (7+7, 8+8) They need to be memorized. Play with dice, dominoes, make flash cards. When they know the doubles we can find the near double problems. (7+8). +9 strategies, pretend it's +10. then one less. I will visit them again in the classroom. I have used a flashcard program called www.xtramath.com and that seems to help monitor progress as well.

Many people asked about books and series on their child's reading level. There are many different reading scales. (see the Tool Kit Page) These scales are used at Barns and Noble last I checked. Use the chart to help convert. This website has a pretty healthy list. http://home.comcast.net/~ngiansante/ 

Partial Sums- Different way of multiple digit addition. Please read the note at the top of tonight's homelink to get an idea behind "Partial Sums." I will eventually teach "carry the one" strategy but please practice this method like the note suggests. We will practice this more tomorrow. We will also test unit 4 this week. There is a worksheet on the tool kit page as well that helps.

"Kids in Business" - Even if you are not selling anything, please feel free to visit us in the gym from 4:15 - 5:30.

Candy Houses on Friday morning. Kelly Miley will be sending out a reminder email. Thanks for the donations and help!

I added two more books to each student's reading assignment. I would like to make this a mandatory part of homework in the next marking period. Please let me know if this is a problem. I found that there is a IPAD APP for RAZ-kids..

 

12/03/12

Hello-

I look forward to meeting with everyone this week. Report cards will be sent home on Wednesday so keep an eye out for them. In your conference I will go over work samples I have been collecting that show what I am seeing in the classroom. I will show you some of the assessments that I have given. Most importantly, we will talk about behavior and work ethic. If you have any burning questions, let's make sure we start with them so we can have enough time answer them. If we do not have enough time to cover everything, I have no problem meeting again soon.

Please visit the Book Fair this week! The class will be visiting it and making our "wish lists" tomorrow morning. With that said, we do not have library on Wednesday.- no book returns please. 

When in the building this week, please see the candy house sign up sheet outside my door. Thanks for your response to our room parent emails!

I added two more books to each student's reading assignment. I would like to make this a mandatory part of homework in the next marking period. Please let me know if this is a problem. I found that there is a IPAD APP for RAZ-kids. Search for it in iTunes.

 

11/26/12

Hello.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a really nice feast here at school! Thanks for the donations!

We have run low on small dixie cups for the classroom. Small waterbottles are always welcome too however reusable water bottles are best!

Conferences are next week. The latest schedule is linked below.

We will be starting a new unit in math this week. It covers a lot of double digit addition and subtraction problem solving activities.

In language arts we will be working on the /-our/ word family. We will also continue to talk about proper nouns, synonyms, main idea, sequencing, predictions and making inferences.

Thanks to the PTO we will have Mr. D. join our classroom for some fun and exciting writing instruction twice this week!

www.freerice.com (Mr. D.'s recommended link)

Kids In Business will be December 11. Get started on a business plan! Please let me know if you have any questions. This is a "go with it and see where it takes you" kind of deal. A great learning experience in so many different ways. Have fun!

I plan to add books to each students RAZ assignment. Try to get to it this week. The kids should remember their password picture. Email me if they don't.

Student Login

.-Mr. P.

11/20/12

Hello.

Please try to finish the online reading books assigned with RAZ-kids.  The kids should remember their password picture. Email me if they don't.

Student Login

There was no math work assigned and homework folders were not sent home.

We will start Unit 4 when we return from our break.

I looks like we are pretty set for our Thanksgiving Feast! Thanks for your help!

No need to send in a snack for tomorrow because of the feast.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

-Mr. P.

 

11/12

Hello.

Last week I was able to get our class signed up with a really nice interactive reading program that we can use at home and in school. Many of you may have recieved an email regarding RAZ-kids. This website alows each to listen to a story, read a story, and answer questions about them. The story is catered to meet each student's independent reading level. Please find some time this week to log in and finish the two books assigned. Student Login

A letter was also sent home in each homework folder with login and password info.

This reading time can be counted toward the daily reading log. Let me know if you do not have computer access so I can make sure everyone gets time with this great reading opportunity.

This week we will finish up unit 3 in math. This unit ends with working alot with money. This can be very difficult for some. Please pay close attention during this week's math homelinks. We will test on Thursday or Friday after a review.

I am still looking for a few more Field Trip permission slips.

I looks like we are pretty set for our Thanksgiving Feast! Thanks for your help!

11/12/12

Hello.

I hope you enjoyed the show today. I know the kids definately enjoyed making pies! Please see the pictures on the picture page. It is password protected. See the email for username and password.

Our next event will be our Thanksgiving Feast. We will be looking for your help to cover some finger foods for a special morning snack feast. Sign up sheet coming soon.

Speaking of sign ups- please make sure you are signed up for conferences. See attachment below for scheduling and email me a time that will work for your schedule.

Talk to you soon.

-Mr. P.

Upcoming Events:

-Thanksgiving Feast - Nov 21 AM-

-Candy Houses- DecTBA

-Field Trip to Warner Theater- April 8, 2013

10-22-12

We were able to get through all of the assessments last week however I have not corrected all of them quite yet. I will be collecting these scores and get some data back to you soon. I have been very please of what I have seen so far. In the next theme, we will focus on sequencing, time order words, main idea and details (writing), nouns, adjectives, synonyms, making inferences and making predictions.

Math Unit 2 will be tested this week and we will roll right into unit three. Please read the family letter with your child to see what is coming up in the next unit.

Please see the Room Parents page for updates. We are now looking for your help!

Thanks to our room moms we successfully made "Blazer the Scarecrow" for the scarecrow garden/trail showing this Thursday at 4:00 - 5:30. Hope to see you out there!

Talk to you soon.

10.15.12 

Hello-

This week will be a little different because we finished our first theme in language arts. We will take a week off from having a spelling test. I will test the kids on skills and concepts taught since the first day of school such as main idea, authors purpose, compare contrast, types of sentences, character traits, editing, writing a friends letter and the word sounds from our spelling program. Sounds like a lot I know but I am confident that they are ready for this assessment. I will continue this week with review along with focusing in a little more on creative writing.

Tumblebooks.com is latest and greatest of story book reading websites and thanks to Mrs. Miller we are all welcomed to log on and use it! I have been putting it on at the end of the day during bus dismissal and it has been a real hit!

Tumblebooks.com

Username: avonrbs Password: books

For math, please make sure your child completes the entire packet. This week most of the work to do is on the second side of the packet. The facing sides are directions about the lesson and assignment for that day. Again, please do not do all of the work in one day. The end of unit 2 is coming up and I will be assessing that next week. I plan to send home results soon.

Talk to you soon.

 

I have a meeting with our room parents this week to start putting dates on the calendar with times.

September Book Order should be coming in this week. October is up and ready to go by visiting the weblink below. I will send home flyers this week but please don't send in a check. Email me if this is a problem.

That's it for now. Thanks for tuning in.