We’re still trying to get our plays performed. The kids are ready, it’s simply a matter of being able to gain access to the stage. Grade-level performances by the first and second graders have us waiting in the wings. While we wait, students should be trying to come up with simple costume items to help distinguish their characters. The most likely scenario is that we’ll perform all three on Monday, March 16th at 9 a.m.. Thanks for your patience.

We also didn’t get to new book clubs last week, and with Spring Break just around the corner, we’ll now wait until April. The kids do have a vocabulary exam this Thursday, and another math quiz on Friday. Here’s the math homework for the week: Tuesday, March 10; Wednesday, March 11; Thursday, March 12.

Our floor hockey games have been thrilling. If you haven’t seen one, we encourage you to watch of games with Mr. Kuhlman’s class on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.. Our fourth graders have gone 2-1-1 against the fifth graders. Wins against Mr. K could give one or both of our teams a shot at the championship, which is on Tuesday, March 17th at 12:45 (followed by the 5th grade vs teacher game).

Finally, conferences are scheduled for Wednesday through Friday of next week. Be sure to schedule one by clicking on the Spring Conferences tab above. I’ll send out a confirmation e-mail soon.

Kids are excited about rolling out the Checkbook Project. They’re anxious to spend, but what the program really teaches is how to earn, organize, and save. The Checkbook Project is a classroom economy that teaches “real-world” math skills while motivating students to do their best. We use it throughout the 4th and 5th grades at CPE. If you care to read more about the project, click here, and if at any time you have questions or concerns, please e-mail me.

Spring parent-teacher conferences are coming up. You can sign-up for a time slot by clicking on the Spring Conferences tab above.

In class we’ll be working on a new set of vocabulary words, trying to get our plays performed, and continuing our study of long division. Here’s the math homework for the week: Monday, March, 2nd; Tuesday, March 3rd; Wednesday, March 4th; Thursday, March 5th. For reading, kids should be reading from a book of choice until we start new book clubs late in the week. Finally, the school’s Sportsmanship Floor Hockey Tourney is underway. Family members are welcome to come watch our games. This week our two teams, The Golden Roadrunners and Los Locos play Ms. Strand’s third graders on Monday at 12:45, Mrs. Torrey’s 5th graders Wednesday at 11:30, and Mr. Hadley’s 5th graders Thursday at 11:30.

Congratulations to Mya B. and Hailee H., our Students-of-the-Month for January, and McKenna D. and Kara H., or Students-of-the-Month for February. These students have consistently demonstrated academic excellence, good citizenship, and an enthusiastic attitude. Great job, ladies!

Special thanks to all the families who contributed snacks for our Valentine’s party. We’ll be using the abundant leftovers for in-class snacks during math and for prizes for in-class contests. Thanks also to all the folks who sent in Valentine’s gifts for this ol’ teacher. The thought is appreciated!

In class this week we’ll be continuing our study of division, playing History Jeopardy, taking our semester History exam (Friday–here’s Wednesday night’s study guide), and writing Perfect Paragraphs in the imaginative mode. We’ll also be taking our play practice to the stage (the kids need to be thinking about developing their costumes). Here’s the homework for this week: Tuesday, Feb. 17th; Wednesday, Feb. 18th; Thursday, Feb. 19th. For reading, students should be reading from their poem, their plays, AND their independent chapter book, which needs to be finished by the end of February. Thanks for keeping the kids reading!

Due to the large number of activities this week (Valentines, Spirit Week, planting the Douglas Fir, awards assembly, etc.) we’ve decided to postpone History Jeopardy and the History exam until next Thursday and Friday. That’ll give kids a little more time to study on their own and us a bit more time to review material in class. That also means the third study guide activity from the previous post will be assigned next Wednesday night instead of this week. Thanks for your understanding.

A special thanks to the parents who were undeterred by the forecast of high winds and heavy rains to join us for the tree planting trip last week: Mr. Kilbane, Mr. Liles, Mr. Martin, Mr. & Mrs. Bugarin, Mrs. Ceremony, Mr. Wood, and Mr. Qualls. The weather turned out to be surprisingly decent and, thanks in large part to all of you, the kids had a great experience. Although the tree planting was done in Josephine County, most Grants Pass-area schools cancelled, leaving the bulk of the planting to three hardy groups of District 6 kids from CPE, Mae Richardson, and Sams Valley. Kudos to our kids for stepping up!

Big events this week include History Jeopardy on Thursday and the semester history exam on Friday. The kids will be bringing home study guide activites on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights to help prepare them. On Friday we’ll also be having a Valentine’s Party in the afternoon. Students are working on their mailboxes either at home or school. Students are not required to participate, but if they choose to give out Valentine’s, they’re expected to give one to each of our 36 students. A class list will go home on Monday. On Friday we’ll also be attending an awards assembly in the gym where we’ll be naming our Room 15 Students-of-the-Month for January and February.  In class this week we’re working on our plays, starting independent chapter books (for homework reading), crafting Super Sentences, and working on division. Here’s the homework: Monday, Feb. 9th; Tuesday, Feb. 10th; Wednesday, February 11th; Thursday, February 12th.

Room 15 kids will be starting new book clubs this week. Two of three groups will have nightly homework reading. Students from the third group (The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me) will read the entire book in-class, but they’re expected to read at home for at least twenty to thirty minutes each night from a book of choice. We also hope to record our radio drama plays this week, which with any luck will appear on the Platy soon. In math, we’ll be continuing our work with multi-column multiplication. Here’s the math homework for this week: Monday, Jan. 12; Tuesday, Jan. 13; Wednesday, Jan. 14; Thursday, Jan. 15.

An important date upcoming is the Tree Plant field trip on Thursday, Feb. 5th. We need parents to serve as chaperones. Each chaperone will lead one small group of approximately five kids as they plant tree seedlings in the Josephine County forest property. It’s a marvelous trip. To see highlights from previous trips, click here.

The kids recently pointed out a couple things that are apparently bugging them as much as they’ve been bugging me. The first one has to do with our fitness program. As you know, the kids run for about 15 minutes each morning. When a student is sick or injured, parents can call the school or send in a note saying the student cannot run that day. But you know kids…sometimes they exaggerate their condition so that Mom or Dad will give them an excuse not to have to run. When we get to PE, though, and we’re playing their favorite game, they miraculously heal up and are ready to go. Know that our policy is that if a student isn’t healthy enough to do fitness, he or she also isn’t healthy enough to participate in PE. Additionally, we prefer a written note (phone calls necessitate a disruptive intercom call into our classroom). A couple of our students got together and assembled the following standards for the note (and an example, which appears at left): The note should include: 1. a date (some kids use the same excuse note over again); 2. a parent or guardian’s signature (some kids may write their own note); 3. an excuse (if an excuse is just “my child can’t run,” that is not good enough; 4. child’s name (if we don’t know who it is, that’s too bad); 5. a phone number (so we can call to see if the note is real). The kids added some consequences, too, which you can see by clicking here. Note that we cancel the fitness run for all students when the temperature is below freezing, when there is visible precipitation falling, and when the air quality reaches the “red” level.

A second issue that has been drawing groans from the kids is the frequency in which students are departing school early. Early departures cause a disruption in class, both with an intercom call and the process of gathering items the student needs to take home. We may be in the middle of a recital, a read aloud, or a science experiment when we get this buzz from the office and have to stop what we’re doing to send the student on his or her way. (Plus, often times the student doesn’t want to miss what we’re doing.) Lately, it seems to be happening almost every day, and sometimes within ten minutes of the end of the day. We know it gets crowded out there in front of the school, but we’d all appreciate it if you would try to time that doctor’s appointment a bit better. Thanks!

In class this week, the most significant item of note is that we’re now attempting to tackle multiplication with multi-digit factors, such as 67 x 4812. This is one of the toughest math sections of the year, so the kids are likely going to feel frustrated and need extra help at home. Here’s the homework for this week: Monday, Jan. 5; Tuesday Jan. 6 (#3-7 only); Wednesday, Jan. 7 (#1-12 only); Thursday, Jan. 8 (#26-39).