Morning Message 1/28/10

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, January 27, 2010.
Day 89 of School, 91 days left
Tiger Day: R

The report from the substitute and the other teachers about what you accomplished yesterday was mixed. You all know that it is very hard when I need to be away from you. I need to trust that you will be on your best behavior and that you will be helpful to the substitute. Thank you to everyone who did their best!

This Morning:

• We’ll be very busy arranging our room to get ready for Colonial Day. We’ll need everyone’s quiet cooperation.
• There is no Math today because we have an assembly.

REMINDERS

• Colonial Day is tomorrow! Have you invited family members? Does anyone need more invitations?
• You must come dressed in your costume tomorrow.
• There is no school on Friday or Monday. When you return on Tuesday, we’ll be doing our practice math SOL.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your Language Arts notebook and practice poetry quietly to yourself until after announcements.

Morning Message 1/25/10 (posted 2 days late due to illness)

Good Morning! Today is Monday, January 25, 2010.
Day 87 of School, 93 days left
Tiger Day: G

This Morning:

• Poetry! Then, we’ve got to finish up our Food Web Murals! So we’ll work hard on that.
• Hopefully, there’ll be some time to explore Adaptations internet resources and do some singing as well!

This Afternoon: More Colonial Day dress rehearsals! More editing! Will I be able to “catch ya’”?

Colonial Day REMINDERS

• Colonial Day is this Thursday!
• Make sure that you hand out invitations to your family and other adults at TJ.
• Once you bring in your poster and props for your dress rehearsal, you may leave them at school... Unless you need to take them back home to improve them or practice more.
• You will need to take your colonial costume home because you will need to come to school dressed in it this Thursday.

To-Do List:

1. Turn in all important papers (signed forms, etc.) and put your empty Friday Folder in your mailbox. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your Language Arts notebook (it’s red) and glue down the new poem on your desk. Then you may find a colleague to practice with. This new one has lots of fun vocabulary in it-- so you might want to pull out a dictionary!

Morning Message 1/22/10

Good Morning! Today is Friday, January 22, 2010.
Day 86 of School, 94 days left
Tiger Day: I

This Morning:

• First thing this morning, we’ll decorate and address invitations to Colonial Day.
• We’ll be finishing up our Food Web Murals. They’re looking really great already! When we get them up in the hallway, people will want to study them closely and they’ll be able to learn a lot!

This Afternoon: More Colonial Day dress rehearsals! I can’t wait to learn more!
Colonial Day Presentation Tips:

• Speak clearly and confidently. Don’t use notecards-- use the bullet points on your poster.
• Don’t turn your back to the audience or cover up your poster.
• Be sure to share all the cool information and pictures on your poster.
• Make sure that you have a substantial demonstration.
• Make sure that your poster has information from all your research categories.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Put your colonial presentation notes away in your work in progress folder.
3. Think about who you would like to invite to Colonial Day. Take one invitation from the center of your desk. You’ll need to fold it half (see board). You may decorate it (with colored pencils) and write a note on the inside. If you would like more than one invitation, I have more copies. Just let me know.

Morning Message 1/21/10

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, January 21, 2010.
Day 85 of School, 95 days left
Tiger Day: T

This Morning:

• We’ll be finishing up our “Best Beak” labs this morning.
• Then we’ll start this work on our final drafts of our Food Web Murals. If you don’t know what I’m talking about yet, you will soon!

This Afternoon:

• We’ll enjoy our first Colonial Virginia Day presentations! I’m so excited to see what you have come up with! I can’t wait!

REMINDERS: Bring books with you to Math. Math Olympiad test today at 2pm.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Put your finished “I Will Survive!” data and question sheet in your Science binder at the back. REMEMBER: You will be graded on the completeness and quality of the work inside your notebook.
3. Take out your “Best Beak” lab and continue to work on it.

Morning Message 1/20/10 (posted one day late)

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, January 20, 2010.
Day 84 of School, 96 days left
Tiger Day: S

This Morning:

• We’ll be headed down to the Science Lab to do another scientific simulation.
• If we have time, we’ll also work on our Food Web murals.

REMINDERS:

• The whole 4th grade will be taking the Math Benchmark Test today. It will cover all of what we have learned so far this year. Do your best-- this test will show us what the 4th graders are really good at and maybe what we want to work on more.
• Virginia Day presentations start tomorrow.
• Don’t forget about getting fit!

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your “I Will Survive!” data and question sheet. Continue working on it. Remember to use your best handwriting.
3. If you finish early, you may enjoy reading or practicing poetry.

Good Morning

Good Morning! Today is January 15, 2010.
Yesterday was Katarina’s B-day! Wish her a happy one!
Day 83 of School, 97 days left
Tiger Day: R

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and got lots of work done on their Colonial Day projects!

This Morning:

• We’ll be headed outside to do a scientific simulation of the flow of energy through a food chain.
• If we have time, we’ll watch a little more of the Colonial Williamsburg Day in the Life series to get us primed for Colonial Day.

REMINDER: Don’t forget about the Get Fit Challenge! Ms. Bragg is feeling fit today because she went to Yoga class yesterday.

To-Do List:

1. Return your empty Friday Folder to its mailbox. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Find a colleague who has a similar occupation as you for Colonial Day. Chat with them about the work you have done so far. You might even practice a bit of your “speech.” Be sure to take turns and give each other feedback.
3. When you are done conferring about Colonial Day, you may enjoy practicing poetry!

Friday Letter

January 15, 2010.

Dear 4th Graders and 4th Grade Parents,

We’re nearly ½ way through the school year-- wow! Here is a quick recap of the past two weeks and a look forward to exciting upcoming events. Parents and 4th Graders: Please read the following together and discuss.


INQUIRY: VIRGINIA STUDIES

• We discussed the causes of the French & Indian War, watched video clips of reenactments, and acted out “new” tactics.
• We examined the “trouble with Britain” as our textbook put it. We saw how some colonists reacted to tax collectors and what they did to intimidate those who would dare take such a job-- sometimes scary, sometimes smelly and gross!
• We participated in a roll playing activity where many “colonists” expressed anger at having their M&M currency taxed. It led some to exclaim in the words of Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death!” For this special occasion, the King of England visited our classroom.
• We discussed colonial and modern economics and noticed both similarities and differences. Some colonials went into debt, but not with credit cards like modern people do! So, we asked ourselves, how did that happen?
• We examined the original text of the Declaration of Independence and did our best to decipher it.

Questions for Discussion:

• How was George Washington involved in the French and Indian War?
• What were the sides in the French and Indian War?
• Why did the British try to prevent the colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains?
• Why did the colonists have “trouble with Britain”? And why were the British annoyed with the colonists?
• How did it feel when your M&Ms were taxed? What did you want to do?
• What does “taxation without representation” mean?
• What is “credit”?
• What does it mean to go into “debt”?
• Why was it necessary for some colonists to go into debt?
• What does the word “currency” mean?
• What did the Declaration of Independence say?
• What was it like to read the Declaration of Independence?

VIRGINIA DAY/COLONIAL DAY

• Our projects are now well underway! Every day I get more exciting reports about what 4th graders are planning... I’m so excited to see the results!
• We’ve already scheduled classroom presentations-- so students know when their projects are due (on the 21st, 22nd, 25th, or 26th). On their rehearsal day students should bring their props, final poster, and their costume with them to change into before they present in front of the class. This long weekend is a great opportunity to enjoy working on the projects.
• All requirements are listed in “Preparing Your Colonial Virginia Day Presentation.” Be sure to refer to these to make your project the best that it can be! And don’t forget about the numerous resources on portaportal: Virginia Studies > Virginia/Colonial Day Research. There is information in this folder about colonial clothes and occupations, plus some fun games too!
• Instructions on how to make mob hats, cravats, shoe buckles, ladies pockets, tricorne hats etc. were given out on Thursday.

Colonial Day Mini-To-Do List:

• Develop a demonstration.
• Make/find tools and other materials to use in demonstration.
• Develop a costume-- search closet, borrow, make, etc.
• Put together final poster.
• Develop a speech/talk explaining your occupation (who you are and what you do). Note: It’s not a memorized speech. Use your bullet points on your poster to help you.
• Rehearse talk and demonstration in front of a practice audience (siblings, parents, friends, the mirror, etc.).

Questions for Discussion:

• What kinds of tools/materials are you going to need for your demonstration?
• Show me your poster design/rough draft.
• How are you going to condense your notes into bullet points?
• What are your ideas for your costume? How is your costume appropriate for your job?

INQUIRY: SCIENCE

• We quickly reviewed watersheds and natural resources. Then tested that knowledge and our plant knowledge together.
• We’ve continued our exploration of ecosystems, food webs, and adaptations with two cool online assignments: a BrainPop assignment and an online animation assignment . We worked together to create diagrams depicting food webs and the way that energy passes along the food chain.

Questions for Discussion:

• What is a food web?
• How is a food web different from a food chain?
• Where does the energy in a hamburger come from?
• What does the word “niche” mean and how do you pronounce it?
• Why are decomposers important?
• Show me the coolest science link you found on portaportal recently.

MATH

• All math classes have worked hard this quarter to successfully compute complex multiplication and division problems. This requires all the computations skills: of course, multiplication/division facts, but addition and subtraction too!
• Most students would benefit from continuing to practice and study math facts at home. Errors on tests are often caused by incorrect math facts. Parents: Please give your 4th grader the time and the encouragement to study and play math fact games at home. 4th Graders: Don’t forget about the fun games on portaportal! Go to Math > Math Facts.
• This coming Wednesday, the whole 4th grade will be taking a “benchmark” assessment on the math skills that they have been working on this quarter.

READING

• We’ve been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a read-aloud and picking out sophisticated words. Roald Dahl is quite the wordsmith! (Another fun link: Roald Dahl Museum and Story Center)
  
• We’ve begun reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen as a class.
• Our guest reader this week, Mrs. Pavela, treated us to a fabulous read-aloud of the book Listen to the Wind: the Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea. We used this engaging book with its lovely illustrations to discuss concepts of cooperation and appreciation.

Questions for Discussion:

• Do you remember any of the sophisticated words from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
• What was something that surprised you about Listen to the Wind?
• Are you interested in reading any of Dr. Greg’s other books?

WRITING

• We’ve started an exciting new writing project. We’re composing words for wordless books and modeling quality writing in the process for our 2nd grade friends.

Questions for Discussion:

• What is your wordless picture book about?
• What have you come up with so far?
• How will you describe what’s happening in the pictures so that if I close my eyes, I can still “see” what’s going on?

WORD STUDY

• We’ve been studying several related patterns. We noticed that when we add -ed to a word or -s to a word, often changes are necessary.

Questions for Discussion:

• When do you have to make changes to a word before adding -ed or -s?

ONLINE SOL PRACTICE TEST

• This is the first year TJ plans on doing the state standard testing online. There are many benefits, including immediate results. To test our systems and give the students practice with this new format, we will be holding a grade-wide practice math test on Tuesday, February 2nd. Our class will be using the computer lab.

STUDY ISLAND FOR MATH TOO!

• We’re very fortunate to now have access to the 4th grade math section of Study Island. This is another great way to familiarize yourself with the necessities of taking a math test online... And the NUMBER 1 necessity is: SCRATCH PAPER! Have fun playing the games and getting used to using scratch paper now. 4th graders can access Study Island through portaportal-- it has its very own folder.

4th GRADE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

• Mrs. Harbison has just announced that the 4th grade musical performance will be held on March 24th at 7:30pm. This is another of TJ’s fabulous traditions that creates lasting memories. Every year 4th graders impress the packed audience with their singing, playing of musical instruments, dancing, and speaking. Have friends and family members mark their calendars now. (Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the final performance because it conflicts with my prenatal classes. But I will certainly enjoy the rehearsals!)

MS. BRAGG’S NEWS

• As most of you have already heard, my husband and I are expecting our first child around June 22nd of this year. I shared the news with the 4th graders right before the snow storm, the day after we first heard the baby’s heartbeat. I plan to be at school until the end of the year (knock on wood). This is a very exciting time for me and I so appreciate all of the well-wishes, encouragement, and understanding that have come my way recently!

UPCOMING DATES:
Please remember that the classroom google calendar is available online 24-7 and it’s very easy to subscribe to. I highly recommend using google calendars for their ease of sharing and portability.

• 1-18        NO SCHOOL: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• 1-19        2nd Quarter Math Benchmark Test
• 1-25        Math Classes Switch
• 1-27        ASSEMBLY: Michael Forestieri, storyteller
• 1-28        VIRGINIA DAY!!!! (also the end of 2nd quarter)
• 1-29 & 2-1    NO SCHOOL: Teacher Work Days

• 2-2          Online SOL Practice
• 2-5          Report Cards go home
• 2-11        Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Fieldtrip (more TBA)
• 2-12        2pm, Valentine’s Day Party
• 2-15        NO SCHOOL: President’s Day

• 3-24        7:30pm, 4th Grade Musical Performance (George Mason)

Best wishes for a fun, relaxing, and productive weekend!
-Ms. Bragg

Morning Message 1/15/10

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Today is January 15, 2010.
Day 82 of School, 98 days left
Tiger Day: E

This Morning: We’ll be finishing up some work-in-progress. Then we’ll watch and discuss another installment of Colonial Williamsburg’s A Day in the Life series. Anne Sparks' Day: Meet Anne Sparks, a free black woman who makes her living as a seamstress. While Mr. Carter's daughter, Elizabeth, is shopping at the millinery for accessories to wear to the ball, Anne arrives to deliver a sewing order. This episode explores family life in a free black household, and shows how even free African Americans struggled in eighteenth-century Virginia.

REMINDERS:

• No school on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King’s contributions. Use this extra time to make your VA Day project truly fabulous!
• Fill out your FIT challenge every night to be eligible for prizes!

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Most of you have some copied research materials or images on your desk. Look these over and add them to your research folder. NOTE: Ms. B also added new links to portaportal to help you with your research.
3. Take out your “My Lesson Guide”/“Trouble with Britain” worksheet from your Work-In-Progress folder. Use your textbook to help you complete it. When you are done, you may enjoy reading or reciting poetry.

Online Ecosystems Assignment

Hello 4th Graders!

Welcome to another fabulous online assignment! For this assignment you will be collaborating with a colleague. But you each will have to fill out a packet and draw diagrams.

Here are the links you will need:
Food Web
Microorganisms at Work
Energy Flow

When you are done, you may explore the following areas on portaporal:
Science > Animals > Animal Adaptations
Science > Ecosystems/Biomes
Science > Food Webs
Science > Plants > Plants: Adaptations

Expand your brain and have fun!
-Ms. Bragg

Morning Message 1/14/10

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, January 14, 2010.
Day 81 of School, 99 days left
Tiger Day: G

This Morning: After the announcements, we will be headed down to the Art Room to work with Ms. Rathje. She’s going to help us make our posters the best that they can be. We’ll look at examples and then start working on our rough drafts.

REMINDER: Fill out your FIT challenge every night to be eligible for prizes!

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. On your desk is your last corrected Math Fact quiz. Be sure to study those that you got wrong. You want to have these facts at your fingertips so that you can solve complex problems efficiently. When you are done looking it over, put your graded quiz away in your homework folder.
3. Take out your Language Arts notebook and find a friend to practice poetry with. Remember: the goal is to recite the poem with expression. Ms. B is getting you a new silly poem to add to your collection.

Morning Message 1/13/10

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, January 13, 2010.
Day 80 of School, 100 days left
Tiger Day: I

This morning the 4th grade teachers did a great deal of planning for Virginia Day. On the morning of Virginia Day, you will be presenting your speeches and demonstrations to “tourists”-- parents, friends, and 3rd graders. After our specially prepared colonial lunch, there will be fun colonial crafts and games in the afternoon. It’s going to be a fun day!

I really appreciate everything that you are doing to make our new students feel welcome in our classroom and at TJ. It’s really tough to enter a new school and to have to learn so many new things all at once! It’s so important that everyone feels safe at school!

REMINDER: Fill out your FIT challenge every night to be eligible for prizes!

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. On your desk is a new sheet of Word Study words. You may recycle your old ones. Begin cutting out your new words, then sort them. Be careful not to get your words mixed up with other people’s.
3. When you are done, you may enjoy reading.

Morning Message 1/12/10

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, January 12, 2010.
Day 79 of School, 101 days left
Tiger Day: T

I hope everyone was able to do some quality research for Colonial Day last night. I’ve added many links to portaportal that should be helpful and I will continue to add more. The Colonial Williamsburg website is truly a rich resource! There are many slideshows and some videos!

This Morning: We’ll be headed down to the computer lab to continue our ecological research.

This Afternoon: We’ll have our last library research time immediately after lunch recess. Several parents have volunteered to help us with our research. They’ll be circulating to check in with students.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. There are copies of the Kids Discover Ecology magazine on your desk. Take out your worksheet packet from yesterday and continue working on it with your partner.

Computer Lab Assignment: Ecosystems

Good morning class!

Yesterday, we read about ecology and biomes. Today we're going to continue our ecological research with some online activities. We'll check in with Tim and Moby to see what they have to say on the subject. You're going to watch 3 BrainPop videos, take a quiz on each, and draw quality pictures/diagrams to describe what you've learned. You've got a packet of all the materials you'll need. The diagrams you create will become a part of your science notebook, which will be a record of what you've studied this year. It will also help you study for your future tests/quizzes.

REMEMBER: In order to use BrainPop, you need to login-- username: tjelem, password: tiger. (Note: TJ's membership will only work during school hours).

Here are the links to the videos:
Ecosystems
Food Chains
Natural Selection

When you are done, you may explore the following areas on portaporal:
Science > Animals > Animal Adaptations
Science > Ecosystems/Biomes
Science > Food Webs
Science > Plants > Plants: Adaptations

Expand your brain and have fun!
-Ms. Bragg

Laptop Classwork/Homework Assignment Today

Hello 4th Graders!

Mr. Knight showed us many internet research resources today. Let's remember those:

• Kid Rex
• Britannic Online
• Ask Kids
• World Book Online for Kids
• ... and many more, available under Tigernet Community Group > Links Tab > Research folder.
  

Also, don't forget that many of the best links are collected on portaportal under Virginia Studies > Virginia/Colonial Day Research.

To-Do List:

1. Research your colonial occupation online-- take notes, etc. You may print out a few pages in school. At home, you may have access to a color printer. It would be great to have color print-outs for you poster. Of course, you can always color in a black and white print-out as well.
   
2. To get ideas for your Colonial Day costume explore the "VA Day: Colonial Clothing" folder on portaportal, also under Virginia/Colonial Day Research. Use your Colonial Outfit packet too. Tonight, really start planning things out. Think about what you already have that might work. What could you borrow? What could you make?
   
3. If you have thoroughly completed all of the above, you may explore the "VA Day: For Fun" folder.
   

Note: Tomorrow will be our last for researching in the library!

Morning Message 1/11/10

Good Morning! Today is Monday, January 11, 2010.
Day 78 of School, 102 days left
Tiger Day: S

REMINDERS:    

• We are welcoming a new student today: Jovanna Blum. We’re excited to meet you Jovanna! Remember to be super helpful to both Jovanna and Thomas as they learn about TJ and our classroom.
• We started things off on the right foot last week by cleaning out our desks and lockers. Now let’s try to keep them that way! There should be no loose papers in your desk-- everything has a home.
• The Get Fit Challenge started yesterday. Remember to keep your record sheet in your homework folder. Check off every day that you do the required amount of exercise. The goal is to do it at least 5 times a week. Ms. Bragg will be participating too! Those who participate will be eligible for prizes!
• We’re still in flu season so let’s try to stay healthy! On each pod is a diagram of how the flu spreads. Study it to educate yourself on how to avoid contracting and spreading it.

This Morning: Let’s finish “The Trouble with Britain”

This Afternoon: Internet research for your Colonial Virginia Day projects with our computer guru Mr. Knight.

To-Do List:

1. Return your empty Friday Folder to its mailbox.
2. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
3. Some of you have copies from library books on your desk. Put them carefully away in your research folder.
4. Find the map adventure on p. 204. Read the directions and work out a route with a podmate.
5. When you are done, you may enjoy reading or practicing poetry.

Morning Message 1/8/10

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Today is Friday, January 08, 2010.
Day 77 of School, 103 days left
Tiger Day: R

I hope you enjoyed your morning! Everyone should be well rested and ready to take their plant/natural resources test this afternoon. We’ll proceed with today’s schedule as usual.

Starting off the new year right means getting organized. Let’s clean out our desks and our lockers!

• There should be no loose papers. Everything should have a home.
• Work-in-progress goes in your Work In Progress folder of course!
• Be sure to wipe out all crumbs and eraser shavings.
• You should only have 1 book from our classroom library in your desk.
• Everyone will need to be checked by a desk checker. Once you are checked, the desk checker can put a stamp on your point card (counts as 1 point).

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Clean out your desk and your locker.
3. Once you are done cleaning out, you may begin work on your VA Studies Weekly quiz.

Morning Message 1/7/10

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, January 07, 2010.
Day 76 of School, 104 days left

We’re nearly done with our first week of school in 2010. Have we started off the year on the right foot?
This morning we’ll be doing a fun role-playing activity to better understand how the colonists felt. As you know, the King of England will be visiting our classroom this morning. Be sure to show him the proper respect.

This afternoon...

• We’ll do our best to start our new writing project with our Book Buddies
• We’ll have an opportunity to do some more research for Colonial Day.

Note: Ms. Allan’s Math class needs a book today.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your plants and natural resources flashcards. Study with some colleagues.

Morning Message 1/6/10

Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, January 06, 2010.
Day 75 of School, 105 days left

Remember we’re trying to get back into our routines this week. We want to start the year off right! It’s 2010 and many of you are 10 or turning 10-- I think there’s something special about that!

REMINDER: Math Olympiad Test today.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Take out your plants and natural resources flashcards. Study with some colleagues.

Morning Message 1/5/09

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, January 05, 2010.
Day 74 of School, 106 days left

New Student: We will be welcoming a new student (Thomas Reeves) into our classroom, possibly today. Be sure to be helpful and show Thomas how we do things around here. J

This Afternoon: Colonial Day Research! And Plant Experiment!

This Morning: The trouble with the British!

Getting Back Into Routines: It’s always tough to get back into the swing of things after a long break. Let’s do our best today to earn some points and few letters... A matinee sounds pretty good about now.

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Check out your graded Math Fact quizzes and the movie flyer on your desk. You’ll need to study those Math Facts you got wrong. Put both the movie flyer and your Math Fact quiz in your HW folder.
3. Take out your writing notebook and find a colleague or two. Share your writing with at least two other people in the classroom. Remember to be a good listener and to hand out compliments where appropriate.
4. When you are done sharing, you may enjoy reading until it is time to start Virginia Studies.

Morning Message 1/4/10

Good Morning and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today is January 4, 2010.
Day 73 of School, 107 days left (We skipped days 70-72 because of the snow days.)

Wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other! I can’t wait to hear about your adventures over break-- I’m guessing that everyone had a fantastic time in the snow! J It was a fabulous end-of-the-year gift to have those extra days off... But it did result in some loose ends... Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to give our friends Sloane and Riley a proper farewell. They both have assured me that they will send emails and photos of their new homes in Thailand and Romania. Also, we haven’t done our plant test yet. We’ll talk about scheduling that this morning. It’s going to take us a little while to get back into the swing of things this morning-- to remember where we left off... But we’ll get there!

As we begin a new year, we make resolutions to improve. My resolution: to increase my vocabulary... What’s your resolution?

To-Do List:

1. Complete your morning routine! Don’t forget about snack!
2. Return your empty Friday Folder to your mailbox.
3. Check out the flashcards on your desk. Have you seen any of these words before? Which do you like best? Try to learn the meanings of at least 4 words. Then quiz your podmates.
4. Once you have mastered the meanings of at least 4 words, locate the “Trouble on the Frontier” worksheet (on the other side it has a “My Lesson Guide” for Chapter 7, Lesson 2) in you Work in Progress folder... Continue working on this.