Online Stop Watch

Online Stop Watch is an website where you can basically have an online stop watch! Online Stop Watch is a good website for kids because when you get home from school and you have to read 20 minutes for homework. You can use Online Stop Watch so you can time yourself so you don't read under 20 minutes or more than 20 minutes so you have time to do your other homework and other thing like play with friends or siblings. Also, you can time yourself and your friends. Let's say you and your friends wanted to try the saltine challenge you could time yourself and your friends to see if you can beat the challenge.


I would probably give Online Stop Watch a 3(Good) or 4(Great) because you don't always you Online Stop Watch it's not your average website. When you do use Online Stop Watch it is very useful. Don't you agree? Mrs.K uses it all the time to time us on our work when the timer is out it makes an alarming noise so you know the timer is out when you hear the noise.

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/



Your Computer Expert,

Reagan E.

Fact Monster

Fact Monster is a very educational website for all grades and ages. One reason it is great is because it has all subjects, but mostly math. Teachers and students can print worksheets or work online.  You can choose what level of difficulty you need to study by using the grade option. My rating is a 5 (AWESOME).

Here is the link to the website.  Have fun playing and learning!

http://www.factmonster.com/

Your Computer Expert,
Reagan E.

Rating System

Our computer expert, Reagan, has come up with a rating system for educational websites that are recommended by Mrs. K. This is Reagan's rating system:

1. Not so great
2. Ok
3. Good
4. Great
5. Awesome


Your Computer Expert,
Reagan E.

  

BYOD

Please bring your devices to school on Monday, so we can finish researching slow changes to the Earth and podcast about it!!

Attention Artists!!

Dear Parents,
Your students are loving "choice art" and are already creating some amazing art. They are also going through supplies very quickly. If you have some of these at home or would like to purchase a few things, it would be greatly appreciated.
popsicle sticks yarn
floral wire paper plates (regular white)
glue sticks plastic cups (clear)
Thanks,
Mrs. Robin

Fall Festival

Walk-a-thon is soon, make sure you bring in $30 so you can stay after school for popcorn and the movie party. Also, for Fall Festival, bring in some money (how about $2?).

  

                                  Love,
                                        Lauren


Mrs.K's class

Help Our School Raise Money With Your Kroger Card!!

Here's how you can use your exsisting Kroger Card to help Centerfield raise money!!!

 

If you already have a www.kroger.com account, follow these easy steps:

1. Go to www.kroger.com/communityrewards Sign in to your account with your email and password.

2. Click on "Enroll".

3. Enter our school's #11221 or search for Centerfield.

4. Select Centerfield Elementary and hit "Enroll".

That's it! You are enrolled.

Don't have a www.kroger.com account but you do have a Kroger Plus card, then follow these steps:

1. Go to www.kroger.com and click "Register" in the top right hand corner.

2. From the "Create an Account" page, enter the requested information. Then click "Create Account".

3. Next, link your Kroger Plus card to your new account. This number is found on the back of your Kroger Plus card.

4. Next, click on the Community Rewards link.

5. Click on "Enroll".

6. Enter our school's #11221 or search for Centerfield.

7. Select Centerfield Elementary and hit "Enroll".

You are enrolled.

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

Please bring more playground equipment we are in need. We only have a few tennis balls and soccer balls I recommend to bring basket balls or volley balls or footballs. If you do our class will certainly thank you!:)

 

 

                                                                                   Love,

                                                Lauren

BETTER...

  This week we started MAP testing. Today we did language. In science, we just finished the candle experiment. The EQ (essential question) was how matter changes from one state to another. In the case of the candle, matter went from solid to liquid to gas. In math, we are doing big word problems. We are using different strategies to figure out the answers. In reading, we are doing DRA (Developmental Reading Assessments) to determine our instructional level in reading.
  We are still in need of playground equipment for our class. Tennis balls would be great!:)

                                    Love,
                                          Lauren

GETTING INTO IT!

Our class is getting better at teamwork. We are helping people out but there are still some bumps in the road. Right now in science we've been having a lot of fun. The experiments, like are lava lamps, are the best! In math, we are using 5 step problem solving to help us do story problems. Also, everyday we are reading books for Read Across Kentucky. Our class thinks this year is going to be great!

                                                                                  Love,

                                                                Lauren

 

 

Mrs.K's class

Read Across KY

We have been diuscussing Read Across KY in our classroom over the last 2 weeks.  Students have reviewed the different genre types, so that they can pick books with a purpose this year.  As a class, we read the book "Do Onto Otters" and then worked together to right a reflection using CEIEIO.  Students were supposed to bring these examples home to use as a model for writing their reflections for now.  Below is an example that a student has turned in.  If you click on it it is much eaasier to read.

 

Students remember to choose a correct prompt to answer about your book and use the sentence stems in your writing.

Read Across Kentucky Reflection - C – E – I – E – I – O

C * Change your prompt into a topic sentence. (Pick a prompt from the front page.)

E * Use evidence from the text. (In the story it said …)

I* Interpret the above evidence. (Clearly, this shows…)

E * Use evidence from the text. (Another part of the story said …)

I* Interpret the above evidence. (To me this means…)

O * State your “Oh” or “Aha” moment. (From reading and thinking about this story, I now know…)

Evidence Sentence Starters:                                     

In the story…                The author says…                    The story states…                                          

In the text…                 The text states…                      The author states…                    

Interpretation Sentence Starters:

I know…                                   This shows me…                            This means to me…

I believe…                                It is clear to me....                          I think…

Oh Sentence Starters:

I learned…                   Now I realize….           I am beginning to think….

Now I know…..             I believe…                    From reading this book I now understand….

 

 

 



Important Info For Centerfield Families

Centerfield Families:

If you wish to volunteer please remember that you must have a completed background check and confidentiality training. The following link is the confidentiality training please be sure to view this link and take the test at the end so that you may volunteer in our building. The link is also at the bottom of our school webpage for your convenience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dw9QTyp2eY&feature=youtu.be

Attached you will find the Weekly PTA newsletter please be sure to look at it for upcoming events!

Also attached you will find a change of transportation form please read the following message regarding this form:

The transportation arrangements change form can be printed and sent in with your child regarding a transportation change. This form is for a TRANSPORTATION CHANGE only, not for daily transportation.

If your child is to ride bus to/with, please put the address of where child will be riding the bus and if riding the bus with another student give the student’s name and their address.

If students are riding home with other students, office must receive a note from both parents.

Donations

Don't forget we are taking donations to purchase our Kentucky Studies Weekly for Social Studies this year.  These newspapers really allow us to learn a lot about Kentucky in a creative and interesting way.  Also, our classroom is in need of play ground equipment.  We had a few soccer balls donated, but we could use some kick balls, footballs, tennis balls, jump ropes, you name it. Thanks for all your help so far!!

Off to an Excellent Start!!

We have begun the 2014-2015 with a bang. Students have been learning classroom routines and expectations. We have been working hard to get our workshops started, applying for classroom jobs, and working together to develop our class promise. We have also started to learn what it means to be an inquiring scientists by trying different experiments. We made a Diet Coke explode with Mentos, figured out how to make an egg float, and made lava lamps using water, oil, food color, and Alkaseltzer! 

Welcome Back!!

I'm so happy to welcome all students old and new to Centerfield! I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable summer. I can't wait to meet you all at our open house, Saturday, August 16th from 11:00-12:00. I have planned a fun interactive activity to help you get to know our classroom a little better. We will be doing a QR Code scavenger hunt of out classroom. I will have some devices to use, but if you want to download the free app for QR Code reader, you and your parents can use their phone or your device. Hope to see you there and I'm so excited to get our year started!

Copy of 4th grade 2014 Slideshow

Copy of 4th grade 2014

In the Paper Homework Questions

These are the questions that you need to complete your math assignment.  Please answer them at the bottom of your graph and return it to class tomorrow.
 

Reflection: Answer on bottom of bar graph

How many words did you find?  How did you represent your number as a fraction and decimal?  Which fraction is larger? How do you know? Which decimal is larger?  How do you know? 

 

What was the scale increment of your graph and why?  What are the other important parts of your bar graph? Why are they important? 

Make 2 comparison sentences based on your bar graph.

Read Across KY March Madness

We have finally come to the end of our Read Across KY March Madness contest.  Students worked really hard and completed over 100 reflections.  Our classroom mathematicians tallied up our teams scores and here are the results.

Team 4 was the overall winner with 97 points.
-their team MVP was Shayla Casey, who completed 12 reflections and  2 regions.
-Landon completed 10
-Will completed 7
-Megan F. completed 7
-Caleb completed 7

Team 3 came in second place with 58 points.
-their team MVP was Madison Garriott, who completed 10 reflections.

Team 1 came in 3rd place with 55 points.
-their team MVPs are Jaida Annis and Kevin Cook, both with 9 reflections.

Team 2 came in 4th place with 47 points.
-their team MVP was Dustin Keown, who completed 12 reflections and 3 regions.

Our overall winners for the classroom challenge were Shayla and Dustin.  Great job guys!  I can't wait to see what the winning team chooses as their reward.

 

Reading Homework

On Edmodo, read the article Patriots vs. Loyalist.  As you read make three inferences about your reading in your steno.  Make sure that you are using the text structure to help you create deeper inferences.  Choose one of your inferences to put on Edmodo.  Make sure to use a Thinking Stem, Ms. K's favorite word, and Evidence and Schema in your inference.

What's Happening

                Hi I know I haven't blogged in a while so here's a overview of what's happening in our class this week! Before we talk about  the subjects we want to talk to you about march madness in read across Kentucky which ever team has the most reflections turned in by the end of march wins the team that is  in the lead is team 4.

Math-we are learning to multiply fractions there are 3 ways to solve a fraction multiplication problem like equation, number line, and model

Writing- we are finishing up our Info books to have an expert fair Thursday and we made a poster for our animals that we were researching.

Reading- we are working on having  inferences with evidence from the book and schema.

Science- we are learning about life science and life cycles particularly

So that is what we are doing this week maybe blog again later this week and keep you up to date on our class and what we are doing in class

RAKY March Madness!!!

 

 

Dear Parents,

       We are going to have a little healthy competition in our classroom this month, as well as, work toward finishing our RAKY.  Your child has a basketball taped in their planner that lists their independent goal areas and how many books they need to complete that region. Check it out!

March Madness – RAKY

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4
Megan D. Jaida Kevin Tezja Kayla	Hallie Dustin Jasmine Toby	Sofie Madison Jaxon Paul	Shayla Landon Will Megan F. Caleb

·       Every time someone on your team submits a reflection you get a 2 points.

·       Free throws (1pt) will be given for “Ms. K Awards!”

·       3 point shots will be earned for finishing a region.

·       The two teams with the most points will advance to the championship game.

·       The team that has the most players to complete their “independent goal” will win.

Democracy Project

We have been studying about our Constitution and our branches of government in Social Studies. We have also discussed that not all of us learn and like to show what we have learned in the same ways.  So below is a link to a Democracy tic tac toe board.   My class is very familair with this kind of activity board.  It allows students to choose what they create and use the strengths that they have to do it.  They need to create their product next week at home.  It is due on Friday.  They will be graded on effort, prensentation including organization and convention, and also social studies content and accuracy. 


http://www.bing.com/search?q=tic+tac+toe+board+for+3+branches+of+government&src=ie9tr

Democracy Unit: Tic-Tac-Toe Board

Analytical Intelligences	Interactive Intelligences	Introspective Intelligences
Logic smart   Technology: Inspiration program and Internet     Product: A compare and contrast chart between Articles I-III of U.S. Constitution: the 3 branches of government.	Body smart     Product: Construct a jeopardy game that teaches your classmates about democracy and U.S. government. Example can be found following the link.	Wonder smart   Technology: Publisher or Word   Product: If you were a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, write a letter to your children & grandchildren about changes you would make to the Constitution. Which items might the delegates better have addressed?  Reflect on why you would make these changes and the impact it would have on people then and now--does the Constitution stand the test of time?
Music Smart   Product: Original song/rap that talks about function of government, or personal liberties through amendments, or how government affects your life.	People smart   Product: work collaboratively with a group of three to complete the tasks for the Constitutional Convention webquest: We Were There. http://www.tntwebs.com/usconstitution.html	Picture smart   Technology: Digital camera and either PowerPoint/ Photostory/ or Moviemaker Product: Create a Multimedia project on amendments that highlight personal freedoms/ liberties, why each of these amendments were added, and impact on America.
Nature Smart   Technology: digital camera, PowerPoint/ Photostory/ Moviemaker Product: Take pictures of government institutions or examples of government in our community and create a multimedia slide show of your examples. (schools, road signs, police, city hall, military, etc.)	Word Smart   Technology: Puzzle maker software or Internet  site like: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/crossword/   Product: Create a crossword puzzle using key themes, concepts, and vocabulary from our Democracy unit	Self smart   Technology: Publisher or Word   Product: Self-reflect on how democracy impacts your life. What do you value in your life? How does this compare to values of a democratic society?

 

New Reflection Format

Dear Families,

            2014 is going to be a great year and I am excited to begin it with your children. As they may have told you already, we will start a new type of reflection for Read Across Kentucky (RAKY). The reflection is based on a strategy called C-E-I-E-I-O that is used by many school districts across the country.

            My reason for changing the type of reflections is multi-purpose. One reason is that it is simply time for a change! Another important reasons is that I strongly feel this type of reflection will help your child successfully write Extended Responses (see explanation below). This will help prepare for 5^th grade and various types of writing.

I have already explained everything about the new RAKY C-E-I-E-I-O Reflections to your children and have modeled it as well.  I have given your child a packet that includes an explanation of C-E-I-E-I-O, a list of prompts to choose from (very important),  an example of a completed C-E-I-E-I-O, a blank template of  C-E-I-E-I-O , and a copy of the rubric that I will use to score reflections. I have encouraged your child to keep this colored packet in a safe and accessible place at home so that they can use it to guide their reflections. I have also uploaded these documents onto the classroom website. (www.centerfieldbrown.weebly.com)

Please know that this is my first year teaching RAKY and I have loved this experience! It has been a challenge for both the students and me; however, so far we have all had success! Please also understand I will possibly tweak the RAKY reflections again sometime in 2014, but will of course keep you in the loop.

            Thank you for your continued support and help! It is wonderful collaborating with such amazing families! Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Carrie Kapfhammer

 

RAKY Goals:

1. Total of 16 “Independent” Reflections by February 14^th            

2. Total of 25 “Independent” Reflections and 10 “In-Class” Reflections completed by May 29th

Extended Responses

Definition:  Through written extended response students learn to respond to text by reading and comprehending ideas.  In answering complex questions students learn to construct deeper meaning by conveying their own ideas in conjunction with the author's to explain their reasoning. 

Purpose:  To deepen student understanding of literary works through written responses related to reading passages. Regular practice of these extended responses prepare students well for the KPREP (Kentucky State Assessment Test.) 

  

Read Across Kentucky Reflection - C – E – I – E – I – O

C * Change your prompt into a topic sentence.

E * Use evidence from the text. (In the story it said …)

I* Interpret the above evidence. (Clearly, this shows…)

E * Use evidence from the text. (Another part of the story said …)

I* Interpret the above evidence. (To me this means…)

O * State your “Oh” or “Aha” moment. (From reading and thinking about this story, I now know…)

Evidence Sentence Starters:                                     

In the story…                The author says…                    The story states…                                          

In the text…                 The text states…                      The author states…                    

 Interpretation Sentence Starters:

I know…                                   This shows me…                                  This means to me…

I believe…                                It is clear to me....                   I think…

 Oh Sentence Starters:

I learned…                   Now I realize….           I am beginning to think….

Now I know…..             I believe…                    From reading this book I now understand….

RAKY CEIEIO Prompts to Pick From:

Choose one question from the list below and use CEIEIO to write your RAKY reflections.

Fiction:

• How did the characters change from the beginning to the end of this text? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• How are some of the characters in this book alike or different? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Describe the internal character traits of the main character from your text. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• What was the theme of this book? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• In the story, what emotions and feelings do the characters show? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• What is the main idea of this text? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Create an inference after reading this text about the characters or plot of the story. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Describe the setting of this story. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Describe the events from this story (first, next, later, after that, and finally). Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Describe the main characters thoughts, words, and actions from one scene in this text. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Identify the poetic elements in this text. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.

Informational:

• How might people today be inspired by this person?  Use information from the text and your own ideas and conclusions to support your answer. (For biography.)
• What is the main idea of this text? Include key details that support the main idea. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Summarize the text. Use the strategy somebody, wanted, but, so, then, to help you. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Describe 3 key vocabulary words from this text. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• List 4 facts from this text. Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• What conclusions can you draw from this informational text? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.
• Identify and explain the text structure (cause and effect, chronology, or compare and contrast). Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.

Name______________                                                                                      Date_____________

Book _____________________ Author____________________ Genre____________________

RAKY Reflection - C*E*I*E*I*O template

C * Change your prompt into a topic sentence.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

E * Use evidence from the text. (In the story it said …) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I* Interpret the above evidence. (Clearly, this shows…)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

E * Use evidence from the text. (Another part of the story said …) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I* Interpret the above evidence. ( To me this means…)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O * State your “Oh” or “Aha” moment. (From reading and thinking about this story, I now know…)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  RAKY Reflection Rubric

___C Change the question into an answer sentence

___E Evidence (what the author/text says)

___I Interpretation (your voice…what you know)

___E Evidence (what the author/text says)

___I Interpretation (your voice…what you know)

___O Oh!  I get it. (What did you learn?  What is the big idea?)

___ Quality Work!

___________ Total

___ Please re-do and re-submit

___ I am concerned this book may have been too easy or too hard for you.

STARS –                                   WISH -