Friday, November 30, 2012

11-29-12 Daily Update

Parents,

We had a great week of learning, responsibility and behavior.  Nearly all students were able to play battleball today for their hard work!  Way to go!

A reminder that Treat Shop supplies need to be brought in next week or Monday, Dec. 10 at the latest.  Thank you for your help with this project.

Midterm progress reports went home today.  Please review and cut the bottom of the first page to return to school.  These should be returned not later than next Wed. Dec. 5.

Keep in mind that any assignment may be corrected and returned to improve the grade.  Even tests can be corrected if the corrected work can show me improved understanding of the concept in some way.  If a student earns a D or F on any assignment, I typically expect them to CAR (correct and return) this paper. 

Reminders:
  • Midterms - signed and returned by Wed. Dec. 5
  • Secret Santa - Thursday, December 6 at 2:00
  • Treat Shop (make) Tues, Dec. 11
  • Treat Shop (buy and sell) Wed. Dec. 12


-Mr. Pransky


Language

None.


Reading:  

None.

Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night

AR Goal for Friday, Dec. 7 is 57%


Social Studies:  

None.


Science

None. 

Math:   

None.


Spelling:  

Lesson 12 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Parent Volunteer

Parents,

I still have a few students who have not yet memorized their multiplication and/or subtraction facts.  Would anyone be interested in working with a few students  in the hallway on Mondays at around 12:00?  It would probably just be for 15 minutes or so with flash cards, but it might be possible that we would work on other math practice if it works well for them.  If you are interested, please let me know.

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

11-28-12 Daily Update

Parents,

This seems to be the time of year that a lot of bugs are being passed around.  If your child misses school for more than a day, please contact the office as early as possible to request missed work.  I'll do my best to get it gathered together for you by the end of the day.   Also, remind your child to wash his/her hands when they come home and before they eat.  On ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.

A practice test for Math is now posted on the Pearson site.  I will send your child an e-mail with log in instructions if they have forgotten how to do it.

Reminders:
  • Secret Santa - Thursday, December 6 at 2:00
  • Treat Shop (make) Tues, Dec. 11
  • Treat Shop (buy and sell) Wed. Dec. 12

Have a great holiday!


-Mr. Pransky


Language

None.


Reading:  

Scholastic News: Quiz Whiz

Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night

AR Goal for Friday, Nov. 30 is 46%


Social Studies:  

None.


Science

None. 

Math:   

None.


Spelling:  

Lesson 12 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Treat Shop donations

Parents,


The last few days has been a whirlwind of making various recipes for Treat Shop in the Pransky kitchen.  After some treat making, a lot of calculation, and of course some taste testing, I do not think we will be able to stretch our supplies enough to make my first idea for treat shop - the chocolate molded Oreos.  If anyone has bought any of the Oreo molds already, please let me know and I will reimburse you for the cost.  Instead, we will try making "Bugle Bites." (See attached image). I made a batch of them tonight and they meet all of my criteria - they are relatively inexpensive, fun to make, not too messy, tasty, attractive-looking, and we can make a lot of them.  A copy of the letter below will go home on Thursday.  I thought I would send it via e-mail as well.


November 28, 2012


TREAT SHOP


Dear parent(s),


Each Christmas season fourth graders look forward to participating in Fourth Grade Treat Shop.  Treat Shop is the culmination of a unit about entrepreneurship in Social Studies.  In this unit, students will get firsthand experience with many of the phases of running a business.  On Tuesday, December 11 students will make treats using assembly line-style teamwork.  To promote sales, students will also advertise their product to the other grade levels.  Then, on Wednesday & Thursday, December 12th & 13th the fourth graders will sell their treats to the other children and staff in the school.  Students do not just learn about entrepreneurship.  They also learn about giving back to their community. The money raised from this activity are used to purchase Christmas gifts for needy families in the Whitehouse area.  For this project to be realized, we need your help.  We will need each student to donate an item to use in making the treats.


  Please have your child bring in the item marked below on or before Monday, Dec. 10.


We need a donation of:

(Families for that item are listed in parenthesis)

  • One - (12 oz) bag of white Candy Melts (ex. Wilton) - not white chocolate chips (Logan, Chloe, Emily, Davin, Hannah, Alex, Evan, Olivia, Hayden, and Andrew)

  • One - (7.5 oz or larger) bag of Bugles (original flavor) - (Alexa, JD, Jasmine, Max, and Jordon)

  • One - (12 oz or larger) bag of holiday colored M&M's (Andy, Allison, Aiden, Paul, and Kyle)

  • One - box of 100 sealable snack size bags (ex. ziplock) (Quinn)


 

Note: If you would like to donate extra of an item that would be greatly appreciated.  We will need more snack size bags, and they are also useful for many things in the classroom as well. We also may need extra Bugles since some may come to school broken.


Thank you in advance for your support with this project.


Sincerely,

Mr. Pransky


--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Oreo molds

One of the students told me they could not see the images I included in my e-mail yesterday about Treat Shop.  I have attached a couple images of the treat we may make and the molds that I would need to make them.  Hopefully these show up for you.  Please let me know right away if you can help supply the molds.  If I can't get enough donations, I'll need to plan to make a different treat.

Thank you for all of your help!

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

11-28-12 Daily Update

Parents,

We finished reading the Newberry award winning children's novel, Sarah, Plain and Tall today.  We have been working on character, visualization, figurative language (similes) and making inferences with this story.

A practice test for Math is now posted on the Pearson site.  I will send your child an e-mail with log in instructions if they have forgotten how to do it.

Reminders:
  • Math challenge slips can be completed each day for prizes from the office
  • Secret Santa - Thursday, December 6 at 2:00
  • Treat Shop (make) Tues, Dec. 11
  • Treat Shop (buy and sell) Wed. Dec. 12

Have a great holiday!


-Mr. Pransky


Language

None.


Reading:  

Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night

AR Goal for Friday, Nov. 30 is 46%


Social Studies:  

Finish Social Studies Weekly


Science

None. 

Math:   

Soar into Spring worksheet


Spelling:  

Lesson 11 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

11-27-12 Daily Update

Parents,

Several students mastered multiplication facts today.  Way to go!

Great!  These students have mastered Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication so far:
Chloe, Hayden, JD, Emily, Max

Terrific!  These students have mastered Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication, and Division so far:
Jasmine, Quinn

Amazing! These students have mastered Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication, Division and 11's and 12's so far:
Allison

Fantastic! These students have mastered Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication, Division, 11's and 12's  and squares so far:
Paul, Davin & Andrew

Awesome!  These students have mastered Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication, Division, 11's and 12's, squares, and fraction/decimal/ percentage conversions so far:
Jordon, Evan, & Aiden


A practice test for Math is now posted on the Pearson site.  I will send your child an e-mail with log in instructions if they have forgotten how to do it.

Reminders:
  • Math challenge slips can be completed each day for prizes from the office
  • Secret Santa - Thursday, December 6

Have a great holiday!


-Mr. Pransky


Language

None.


Reading:  

Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night

AR Goal for Friday, Nov. 30 is 46%


Social Studies:  

Finish Science Studies Weekly


Science

None. 

Math:   

AM Practice.


Spelling:  

Lesson 11 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: lastname_firstname  pw: pransky#)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Treat shop volunteers

Parents,

Thank you for the great response to helping out with Treat Shop.  I believe I have enough volunteers at this time.

Something else I could use help with is providing a few supplies.  I have 2 very small crock pots that I use for melting the chocolate.  If I could have a couple others donated for the day, that would help us create more groups to work on making more cookies at the same time.

Also, I would like to use holiday molds for dipping oreo cookies in melted chocolate kind of like these:

imgres.jpg

May make designs like this:

imgres.jpg

I have some at home that I can bring in but if we have more that will allow us to have more groups of kids making treats and get them done much faster.  They cost about $3 for two sheets of molds.  If you have some you would like to donate for the day, that is great.  If you'd like to buy and donate them to our class so we can use them in the future, that's great, too.


Thanks in advance for your help!


-Shane Pransky


In the can of any donations that you would like back, please remember to put your name on it somewhere so it may be returned.


--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Monday, November 26, 2012

Treat Shop Volunteers

Parents,

I am looking for a few parents who would be interested in coming in to help make treats for Treat Shop this year.  It usually takes up about 2 or even 3 hours in the morning from 9:00-11:25 or so.  We are doing Treat Shop on the morning of December 11th.  I haven't finalized what we will be making yet, but it usually involves helping kids melt, stir, and dip chocolate, bag treats, and clean up.  Please respond if you are interested.

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

11-26-12 Daily Update

Parents,

Welcome back everyone!  I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was a great one!

Your child had their final presentation about child abuse prevention today.  I would encourage you to talk with your child about the topics that were discussed with Mrs. Baldridge, one of our school counselors.  Your child has a letter about this in their take home folder.

Your child also has a letter in their folder regarding Secret Santa on Thursday, December 6th.  If you are not familiar with Secret Santa, it allows students to "shop" for family members here at school.  See the green flyer for more information.

As we approach midterm, students will be expected to be at their Math Fact goals for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Some students have a sign and return packet that needs to be completed by Friday.  The goal is 100 facts completed correctly in 5 minutes with the sheets given to be on pace for mastery in Math Facts in a Flash. 

Either Friday or early next week, we will be having a Math test over Topic 3.  This includes these topics related to multiplication: factors, products, arrays, multiples, prime and composite numbers among other concepts.  I will be posting a practice test on the Pearson site sometime later tonight if I have time to create it.

Reminders:
  • Math challenge slips can be completed each day for prizes from the office
  • Secret Santa - Thursday, December 6

Have a great holiday!


-Mr. Pransky


Language

Read Ch. 1 & 2 of Sarah, Plain and Tall (LEAP)

Complete "Letter to Sarah" worksheet


Reading:  

Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night

AR Goal for Friday, Nov. 30 is 46%


Social Studies:  

Finish Science Studies Weekly


Science

None. 

Math:   

None.


Spelling:  

Lesson 11 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: lastname_firstname  pw: pransky#)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

11-20-12 Daily Update

Parents,

I hope the Thanksgiving break is a great opportunity for you and your child to relax, eat well, and enjoy the company of your family.

When we come back, students will be expected to be at their reading goal (40% in AR) and close to, if not completely mastered in, multiplication facts.  If your child has not yet met either of these goals, then please have them take advantage of this time at home to read or practice.

Reminders:
  • Math challenge slips can be completed each day for prizes from the office
  • Wed. Nov. 21 begins Thanksgiving break

Have a great holiday!


-Mr. Pransky


Language

None.


Reading:  


Read your AR book for 15-20 minutes each night
AR Goal for Monday, Nov. 26 is 40%
AR Goal for Friday, Nov. 30 is 46%


Social Studies:  

None.


Science

None. 

Math:   

None.


Spelling:  

Lesson 11 Test Thursday



Quick Links:

Class Blog- frequently used links and daily updates.

Home Connect - check AR reading and Accelerated Math, or practice with Math Facts in a Flash

Google Apps - check school e-mail and use google applications (un: last name_firstname    pw: aw + 6 digit lunch code)

Moodle - web links and resources for every subject! (un: lastname_firstname    pw: 6 digit lunch number)

Pearson  - Access math book and worksheets from the math book (un: lastname_firstname  pw: pransky#)

AR Book Find - Do you have a book at home or from another library that you are wondering if it is AR?  Look it up here.

Infohio - Awesome resource for web research with online encyclopedias for kids among other things (un: infohio  pw:power)

SpellingCity - quiz and play games using each week's list words
Scholastic Book Order - Class Activation Code: F8273

--
Shane Pransky
Whitehouse Primary
4th Grade