Mrs. Otto's Updates

Trade Fair!

ottos — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:17:07 +0000

The Trade fair was a great success! Check out some pictures of the students at this event. Also, I posted a picture of each colony during sailing. The kids learned a lot during the Discovery simulation. Congratulations to all of the colonies!

Treasure Bay Colony

The Rebellion of Darkness Colony

Pirates Colony

Royal Navy Colony

Trade Fair "wares"

Happy trading

Homeroom Update 3-8-10

ottos — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:35:13 +0000

This coming week:

Continued focus on organization and planners
No spelling
Greek and Latin Root practice (Monday with laptops and net books)
Linking Verb and Action Verb Grammar (Grammar partners on Wednesday with laptops and net books)
Last Discovery round, simulation discussion, colony rating, final journal entry and test
Trade Fair on March 11th at 2:30
End of the trimester on Thursday
No school on Friday due to Report Card Marking (report cards go home on March 17th)
New Reading Groups begin on March 15th (regrouping based on mid-year MAP testing, Star Reader, Fluency and class participation/effort)

Have a great week!

Math 3-8-10

ottos — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:27:15 +0000

This will be the last week of chapter 7. The students will take their chapter test on Wednesday (March 10th) and receive their scores on Thursday. Any reteaching and/or retesting will be done on Thursday. Students need to be able to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers (both with and without decimals), as well as solve word problems and round decimal numbers. A good way to study is by reviewing their completed and corrected homework, as well as looking over the practice test in their student activity book.

Leveled Reading 3-8-10

ottos — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:23:38 +0000

Poetry became part of our discussion last week! On Thursday and Friday, the students learned about TPCASTT (or Title-Paraphrase-Connotation-Attitude-Shifts-Title-Theme), a strategy for analyzing poetry. I modeled a few using “Dreams” and “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, and then the students worked independently and/or with partners to try “Democracy” by the same poet. They did a phenomenal job! They dug deep to find meaning and look for figurative language and themes in these poems. On Monday, they will take the Theme 3 Reading test, and then Tuesday-Thursday will be our last Junior Great Books story (part of the G.E. Verbal seminar).

Homeroom update 2-26

ottos — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:55:25 +0000

We’ve had an exciting week in room 50:

Math Olympics occured during Team Time, with a closing ceremony in the gym on Thursday afternoon, hosted by Mrs. Beckler. Click on the video link below to see the YouTube video. The students had such an exciting time working together for the Otto Olympians. We received the Silver Medal…Congratulations!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbPbiqoo5pg

The students completed rounds 3-5 of Discovery and have begun to Battle the Native Americans and other colonies. Colonies also received their first supply shipment, which was determined by their sponsorship…private company or the government. All colony members wrote their first journal entries about their beginning experiences. I was impressed by how many students wrote about how they were learning about compromise and working with people they don’t always see eye-to-eye with. It’s so much more than a Social Studies lesson! Next week, they should complete Rounds 6-9 (out of 10 rounds), with the last round and final activites during the final week of the trimester. Colony Members have done well learning their jobs and uncovering strategies to help their colony thrive. Next week, the students will write their second journal entry.
Lastly, the students have begun working with “Grammar Parters” each Wednesday, using lap tops and net books to practice their proofreading skills. This takes the place of writing out DLP. In other grammar news, we finished subject/object pronouns and reflexive pronouns, and will focus on comparative/superlative adjectives and adverbs next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Math 2-26

ottos — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:44:12 +0000

We’ve begun long division, both with decimals and without. The next week and a half will focus on refining these skills and practice moving the decimal, and estimating/checking if their answers are reasonable. This includes practicing multi-digit multiplication and division in word problems. Lastly, now that Math Olympics are finished, we will be working on mean, median, mode and stem/leaf plots during Team Time next week. The chapter 7 math test is scheduled for Wednesday, March 10th. Retests will occur on March 11th, which is the last day of the trimester.

Leveled Reading 2-26

ottos — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:39:46 +0000

We began Junior Great Books on Tuesday. This collaboration with Mrs. Leslie (a G.E. verbal seminar) focuses on Shared Inquiry and Discussion. Our first story was Kaddo’s Wall about a rich man who learns a lesson about greed and selfishness. Our current story is In the Time of the Drums about a boy who learns how rich he can become through knowledge of his cultural heritage. The students do a few readings of each story, use post-its to jot down questions and comments about the focus skill, and actively participate in small group discussion. Mrs. Leslie and I have been so impressed by the deep thoughts and ideas shared by these phenomenal students. Junior Great Books continues through March 11th. The students should be bringing their books home a few nights per week to reread and add comments/questions.

Homeroom 2-11-10

ottos — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:56:02 +0000

Congratulations to Muzzammil and Nathan, our classroom representatives for the Woodland Spelling Bee which takes place on February 19th at 2:30 p.m..

Sailing went well this week, as all 6 colonies landed safely in the New World. That’s not to say there weren’t some bumps in the road. The mappers from each colony chose a square of land on which to begin colonization, and then discovered its $ value. The students used their mapping skills to make profitable decisions. Next week, they work with their colony members to establish and expand their land, while keeping enough members alive to help support their growing colony. Also, they will create their first diary entry, which will focus on this initial leg of the journey. Cooperation and compromise remain at the forefront of this simulation!

We will have a new spelling list next week, and continue to focus on subject, object and reflexive pronouns.

Have a great long weekend!

Leveled Reading 2-11-10

ottos — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:45:47 +0000

The students finished their artist biographies. It was fun to listen to them share their writing, as well as their artwork representing the artist’s style. We also completed our novel, The Calder Game. The students did such a great job with their annotations. I was impressed by their deep level of discussion. They took an essay test on Monday to share their understanding and connections to the novel.

This next week, we will study hard for our Word masters Challenge Meet #2 (on Thursday, Feb. 18th). They need to practice using our new 25 words, as well as the previous 25 words, in analogies. Good luck to all students!

Homeroom Update January 30

ottos — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:57:56 +0000

Highlights from last week:

2 great days/nights of conferences!
bitter cold and 4 1/2 days of indoor recess
the beginning of Discovery and the creation of colony names, flags and colonial hats
picture day on Friday Picture order forms will be accepted through the end of the day Tuesday, February 2^nd.

A look ahead at next week:

one more conference day/night
getting outdoors for recess
3 mapping assignments for Discovery, where the students will work hard to earn wealth units for their colony’s ships when they sail to the New World the next week
Eagle Celebration on Wednesday