It's hard to believe that the time for PARCC testing is almost here!  We will take our first English Language Arts PARCC test the morning we return from April vacation.  Please make sure your child gets a healthy, protein-based breakfast each morning of testing.  A good night's sleep the evening before is also important.  Students may bring in mints or gum to chew on while they take the test.  No one is allowed to share their gum/mints per our Food and Wellness policy.  Students should dress comfortably.  They have practiced and prepared for these tests in class.  I'm excited to see how they do.  

If you know you will be out on the following dates, please let me know by email klombardi@middleboro.k12.ma.us so I can inform Mr. Thompson.

ELA Test #1--Monday, April 25th

ELA Test #2--Thursday, April 28th

ELA Test #3--Tuesday, May 3rd

MCAS Science Test #1--Monday, May 9th

MCAS Science Test #2--Tuesday, May 10th

Math Test #1  Friday, May 13th

Math Test #2  Wednesday, May 19th

Math Test #3  Monday, May 23rd

Math Test #4  Thursday, May 26th  

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS--parentheses, exponents, multiplication/division, addition/subtraction) is making way for a new mnenomic--GEMDAS.  Why the change?  Well, practically speaking, when learning Order of Operations it is not only parentheses students have to worry about when they are evaluating expressions.  Brackets [  ], and braces {  }, must also be acknowledged--especially as students move closer to Middle School and Algebra.  The "P" has been replaced with a "G"--which stands for groupings and includes any grouping symbal such as parentheses, brackets, and/or braces.  However, the process that you remember is still the same.  To help your child at home with Order of Operations, remind them to move through the problem from left to right, first looking for any groupings, then exponents, and finally moving continually through the problem from left to right searching for either multiplication or division (doing which ever comes first) and then addition and/or subtraction (again--whichever occurs first).  Ask that your student do the work out (instead of in their head) step by step so that you can discover any calculation errors. 

If you're having trouble with exponents, check out this cool video made by my students last year! 

Q:  Kayla, why do you want to be an FBI agent?

A:  I want to be an agent so I can help people.

Q:  What was your inspiration?

A:  It was a show called Criminal Minds.

Q:  What field would you choose?

A:  The BAU, which stands for Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Q:  Do you think you will have to travel out of state, or possibly out of the country for this job?

A:  Ummm, possibly.  What I know is that you get a call from your boss and he or she tells you what kind of criminal you are pursuing.  Then you just build off your past crime fighting experiences, and of course use the knowledge from the college you attended, to figure out the best way to catch the criminal. 

Hi Parents!

As we begin Topic 3, "Multiplying Whole Numbers", we will be doing a lot of work with the Area Model of Multiplication.  I know for many parents that this approach--partial products--might be a new way to approach multiplication.  I find this work very important to help my students more fully understand what they are doing when they multiply.  It is not the traditional multiplication algorithm we are used to, but I ask you to give this video a quick viewing so that you can help your child at home.  Thanks for your support of the important work we are learning in class!  (To view video, hold down your control button while clicking on link).   Parent's Guide to Area Model of Multiplication

On Wednesday, Sept 23rd Room 8 welcomed families to visit our classroom.  We had a great turnout!  Families toured the classroom, guided by their children, and had the opportunity to choose a time slot for Parent Conferences (Wednesday 11/18 and Thursday 11/19).  A PowerPoint slide presentation played in the background, informing parents of class policies and academic expectations.  Mrs. Lombardi also invited parents to sign up for REMIND--a free communication service where parents/students can receive text messages from Mrs. Lombardi reminding them of upcoming class events.  (Look for the REMIND information tab on the main page for further information, or to sign up!)

Students got to give their best estimate at the estimation jar!  The student closest to the real answer won a pumpkin!  Congratulations go out to Emma T. for her estimate of 96.  (actual answer was 95--nice estimation skills!).  When asked to share her strategy, Emma stated she walked around the full jar counting how many little pumpkins were lining the sides of the jar--and then she estimated how many more little pumpkins it would take to fill up the middle.  Open House was a great night, and a great start to a wonderful school year!  

Even teachers get First Day of School Jitters!  Another school year is underway here in Room 8!  Our first day began with nervous giggles, and shy students reluctantly raising their hands to ask their most pressing questions.  By the second day, we were old friends!  

As we work to get to know one another, we are laying a solid foundation for a successful school year.  Establishing class rules is an important first step.  In Room 8 we worked collaboratively to create our Class Rules.  First, students wrote down a few rules they thought would be important for our classroom.  Next, we "turned and talked" with another student--sharing our rules, and listening and commenting on our partner's rule suggestions.  Later, this new team of two joined another team of two--forming a quad.   Each quad was tasked with prioritizing and consolidating their rules into their new team's most important rule.  Working together like this is not always easy, but it is a skill they will need for their college years and beyond.  How do you get your point across to others?  What does it mean to really listen to someone else's ideas?  Who will take the lead in the group?  How will you work together to accomplish your task?  What do you do if you don't agree?

Meeting back up on the rug, the teams shared out their rules with the whole class.  We found that many groups had used the word respect in their rules.  We talked about what respect means, and then--if we were a "fly on the wall"--how we would see respect being used in our classroom.  What would the students be doing? How would the room look?  How would the supplies be treated?  How would students speak to one another? How would they speak to the teacher, custodian, or cafeteria/recess monitors?  We came up with the following class rules.

CLASS RULES

1.  RESPECT

People (students, teachers, and other school staff)

Things (our supplies, desks, backpacks, lockers, etc.)

Learning Needs (people learn in different ways, some may need quiet--respect people's learning style) 

2.  INCLUDE EVERYONE

(lots of problems between people stem from hurt...include everyone and we'll have fewer problems.  We are a family, we care about our family's feelings.) 

TRY YOUR BEST AND WORK HARD

(from teacher to student, we will all give 100% this year!)