Off to a GREAT Start!

We are off to a great start. Kids and teacher are getting back into the routine of school! I look forward to meeting all of you at Open House on 9/26.

PICTURE DAY is this Friday 9/20.

If you have any questions feel free to send me an e-mail       gregg.galati@colchestersd.org

Getting back into the swing of things!

This week in writing we started working on our opinion pieces. Students seemed to grasp the concept of supporting their claims with evidence from the text.

In math we are working on rounding decimals and coordinate grids. We will get to have some fun and play battleship next week using our coordinate grid skills.

Students designed a sign to hang in front of their colonial village storefront. We have a bunch of creative business names.

Have a great weekend.

Gregg

Indian Brook Field Trip Reminder

We are off on out team building hike tomorrow 10/5. Please remember to wear your tie-dye shirts, comfy clothes and a lunch/snack.

Students just took their Unit 1 math test and I hope to get them all scored and returned in a day or two. Our next unit in math will focus on expressions and multiplication of multi digit numbers.

In writing we have been working on putting details into our stories. We had a break through today when we brainstormed about being stuck in a blizzard. The details just kept on coming!

We are still in need of some building supplies for our design technology challenge. Just send it in with your kiddos.

 

Thanks Gregg

 

Welcome Back

We are off to a great start. The kids have been great getting back into the swing of things. This week so far we have taken some baby steps in writing and played some fun math games. I am looking forward to a great year, if you have any questions or concerns please shoot me an e-mail or give me a call.

Have a great weekend.

This week in review!

We started off Monday and Tuesday with taking our Math SBAC tests. Testing makes for some tricky scheduling and some tired kiddos. We will be taking the ELA section this coming Monday and Tuesday.

Our last trip to the STARBASE program was very exciting, students graduated and got their diplomas, the next time we meet with the teachers from the program(June 12th) we will be launching our rockets.

In math we are working on triangle and quadrilateral attributes. The definitions are driving the kids a little crazy. We wrapped up our unit on Food and Nutrition. The rest of the year will have us looking at how our Government works and Ecosystems.

Have a great weekend.

Gregg

Busy Week

In writing we are working on forming an opinion , students did an awesome job with their first assignment about whether or not students should get paid for good grades. We are currently looking at if kids should have access to certain social media sites. It should be very interesting.

We wrapped up our Unit 6 test finally! Everyone appears to be healthy and no more bugs floating around the room, I was able to get all kiddos tests completed. They will be going home on Monday. Unit 7 in Math has us Multiplying mixed numbers. With a little review on adding fractions, we are off to a good start.

In Science we are working of food and nutrition. We have looked at the fats, sugars and vitamins, we will be starting food labels this week. Students also took a look at the digestive system from start to finish.

Our Starbase visit was a big hit, students explored endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions. They built safety restraints for an eggsplorer and worked with a CAD program designing a satellite.

 

Off to a chilly start!

This week our focus in writing has been organizing our thoughts for writing a report. Students worked on introductory paragraphs, hook sentences and coming up with a thesis statement. They did a great job with supporting details.

In Social Studies we are going to war! King George thinks he can tax the daylights out of the colonies! Sugar Act, Stamp Act, The Intolerable Acts, the colonists are fed up.

In reading we are working on using evidence from the text to support our thinking.

Math has us dancing around with decimals and sinking battleships on coordinate grids.

 

 

Switching Quarters

We are finishing up our study of Colonial America, the kids are working on creating a brochure trying to entice people to come live and settle in their colony. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out and how well they do presenting them.

In math we are taking our unit 2 test today. I have a good feeling, kiddos have been working really hard on estimating, multiplication and division.

Writing our personal narratives is going along really well. Students have done a great job, catching the readers attention, adding details and having a beginning middle and end.

I look forward to seeing everyone at conference time.

Have a great weekend.

Mr. G

 

Multiplication… Exponents and Friday 13th

This week we finished reading my all time most favorite book, My Side of the Mountain. We then watched the movie and looked at similarities and differences. I was glad to hear that the kids enjoyed the book a lot more then the movie.

Our next read a loud is Maniac Magee, which has really grabbed the kids attention. They are really going to enjoy reading about the Legend of Maniac Magee.

In math class the focus has been on estimating and multi-digit multiplication, with a couple of exponents and word problems thrown in. The area model seems to really be helpful for students who struggle with their facts and the traditional algorithm.

Today we had an author visit MBS,  Marina Cohen, the author of current Dorothy Canfield Fisher book The Inn Between.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Mr. G

This Week in Review!

This week in math we worked on some pretty tough volume problems. Our unit 1 test will probably be next Wednesday. I will send home a review on Tuesday.

We tie-dyed t-shirts today, the kids had fun choosing the designs they wanted to try. We have our first field trip next Thursday 9/28. On Thursday we will be hiking around Indian Brooke Reservoir and doing some fun team building activities!

In reading we are working on summarizing text and text features.One group was so excited about the info. I gave them about Bug Bites! Yummy…..

 

Have a great weekend Mr. G