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SCRATCH

10/30/2013

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Hello Parents,

We started using SCRATCH today to get us in the Computer Science spirit.  We LOVED designing our Sprites and making them move.  Scholars are free to login at home and create-away!  They each have a username and password.  Visit my "Computer Science" page for more information.  You can find the page under the "Other" tab.  I will post links as we go along and give you updates about what we are learning.  Today we took time to familiarize ourselves with the software, but my goal is to have them create standards based projects.  I am following a curriculum guide created by SCRATCH.  
Have a great day,


Christina Polay
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Update - October 27

10/27/2013

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Hello Parents,

We had a great week.  Your young scholars impressed me (and Mrs. DiMarco) greatly with their ability to find text evidence.  It is a skill we have worked on daily in class in all subjects thanks to the switch to the Common Core Standards.  

We posted two new segments on the news site, and are working on adding more content.  

The November conferences are scheduled for November 12 - 14.  Please sign up online: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0E4FAFAD29A4F85-november.  Let me know if you have any problems or if you need a different day/time. 


Thursday will be a day of learning mixed with some Halloween fun.  We have PE that day, so please make sure your child wears clothes under his/her costume.  The Explorer Reports are due Friday.  My apologies for making it the day after Halloween! 



Have a great week,


Christina Polay

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November Conferences

10/26/2013

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To sign up for your parent teacher conference, please visit: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0E4FAFAD29A4F85-november

Please let me know if none of the times work for you.  We can always meet the following week.


To use the program, click the desired conference time.  You will be asked for your first and last name.  You do not have to sign up for an account. 
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Weekly Update - October 20

10/20/2013

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Hello parents,

Thank you for all of your kind comments about News 8.  We have a lot in the works, and will post something new this week.  We'll let you know when there is new content.

We took our end-of-the-unit math assessment on the Pearson website.  We had a few technical difficulties, but ended up doing well overall.  I will incorporate monthly online assessments into my routine, along with the weekly quizzes.  

This week, there is a minimum day on Thursday, October 24. School begins at 8am and ends at 12:29. Hope to see you at Science Night!

As usual, the Language Arts page has been updated with a new Reading Log, Poem of the Week, and Treasures Skills Sheet (which includes the spelling list and other skills we will focus on this week).  This week, we will get our second California Studies Weekly newspaper.  Scholars will have a short homework assignment Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. You can login at home - instructions are posted on the Social Studies page.

Student Council Elections continue this week, with two of our scholars giving speeches tomorrow morning to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  Good luck Elle and Guy!

Lastly, check out this link when you have a chance: http://code.org/ I signed our class to participate in the upcoming Hour of Code because I agree with Steve Jobs: “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.” 
— STEVE JOBS, THE LOST INTERVIEW.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, 
Christina Polay
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Update: October 13

10/13/2013

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Hello parents!  


This week, we will continue to learn about people who have made a difference and will begin to put together a community service plan. Visit the Language Arts page and click Unit Project Info + Links for updated information as the unit progresses.  We are choosing projects that we would like to do, but we don't actually HAVE to do them.  Therefore, most of the work will be done in class over the next five weeks.  I have encouraged scholars to choose something that can be done with minimal assistance from an adult, so it IS possible that they can finish the projects, if they'd like... it's up to you.

To begin preparation for the future Smarter Balanced Assessments that will replace the CST and LAUSD periodic assessments, I will be giving a monthly assessment online through Pearson.  We will have our first assessment this Friday.  It will cover Topics 1-4 and 6.  There will not be a pre-quiz on Thursday.  Please make sure your scholar is practicing basic facts at least five minutes a night.  

There will be an Earthquake Drill in school this Thursday.  It is a good idea to review what to do at home in case of an earthquake.  Visit The Great California ShakeOut website for more information.

Halloween is fast approaching.  More information will be sent out shortly, but students are allowed to wear costumes this year.  We have PE that day, so students should wear something under their costumes and wear comfortable shoes.  Obviously, no blood, gore, or weapons.  We will not have a party, but a small, fun celebration in class at the end of the day, with students winning a small prize for participating in my Halloween critical thinking activity - "Characters Dressed as Characters"  (adapted from Byrdseed: Gifted Education).  

The gist of it is this: Over the next couple of weeks, we will begin making lists of characters from specific literature, movies, comics, etc... or real life historical figures we have read about, and imagine who the characters might be for Halloween.  The idea is to make a connection between two characters from different stories.  For example, The Cat in the Hat might dress up like Captain Jack Sparrow, since both create chaos, but in their core are good-hearted.  Or, Martin Luther King, Jr. might dress up like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, since they both had a dream.  

I don't want you to have to go out and buy something specific, but it would be great if students could consider adding a layer to their own Halloween costumes, and come as a character dressed as a character.  :)

We are adding California Studies Weekly to our curriculum for Social Studies.  To login at home, visit http://www.studiesweekly.com/online/home.  The username is your child's first name and the first letter of his/her last name.  Please note that only the first letter of his/her first name and the first letter of his/her last name are capitalized (for example: ChristinaP).  The password is room8.

Almost done! Only a couple more announcements:

The Language Arts page of my website is better organized now... The weekly skills are posted and include the spelling and vocabulary lists, plus other skills we will focus on during the week in language arts; we have a new poem of the week; the reading log is posted in case you need to download it.

I would like to do more on the laptops we have in the classroom, but it is hard without headphones.  Some students have brought in earbuds.  It would be great if everyone could have a pair.  If you have any extra headphones or earbuds, please consider donating them to me!  Thanks.  

Lastly, we will launch our news website (News 8) this Wednesday.  We are VERY excited about it!  It will be a great way for the students to share with the world what they are learning.  


Have a great week - and as usual, please email me or stop by if you have any questions.


Christina Polay
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Update: October 6

10/6/2013

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I'm sure you have heard by now about our soon-to-be-launched news site!  We are working on producing videos about student council elections, bullying, science, and art.  We'll keep you posted on our progress.  We wrapped up our first language arts unit and have started Unit 2, Making a Difference.  We also started the second unit in Social Studies, Early People in California.  Beginning this week, we will dive deeper in poetry with a Poem of the Week.  In addition to analyzing it in class, scholars will have a short homework assignment each night relating to the poem.  This week's poem is 74th Street by Myra Cohn Livingston.  You can download the assignment by clicking here or by visiting the Language Arts page.  In math, we have focused on becoming better critical thinkers and problem solvers.  I am very impressed with how well your scholars tackled the expanded algorithm/area model and can solve two-digit times two-digit multiplication problems without using the standard algorithm.  


*Please note that LAUSD has withdrawn the periodic assessments scheduled for this month.  I will provide you with information about their replacement as soon as I have it.  Thanks for understanding!


Have a great week!
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I'd Rather Read! 

10/5/2013

 
Visit the Language Arts page for more information and to download the reading log.

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Christina Polay
cme5472@lausd.net      mrspolay@gmail.com

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