Scholastic Book Orders

Dear Families,

Thank you for all who ordered books from scholastic for this first order. I placed the order today because I asked the school to make up the difference we were lacking to earn the 7000 bonus points. Mr. E allowed us to use $80 to help with our cause and we now have 7280 bonus points to work with. Way to go C6 families.

On another note, the Tegen family is helping to make a magazine/book rack for our classroom using gutters as a tray for the rack. This will be a very nice addition to our library.

I want to thank you all for your support in helping update our classroom literacy selections. This is a great birthday present for me. Yes I am now 33 years old. Where does the time go???

Sincerely,
Kyle Jorgensen

Scholastic Book Orders DUE FRIDAY:)

Just wanted to remind all parents that the scholastic orders are due on Friday. Our goal is to reach $350 in book orders to earn 7000 bonus points for the classroom library. Right now we have a total of $57.88 in our classroom cue with three book orders. If you can do your order online that would be the best for me!

Thanks!
Kyle

We are Rolling!

Dear Families,

This year has been a beautiful start to the year. We are rolling! Here are some highlights. First, I'm seeing a genuine hunger to read developing in the classroom. In fact we read 27,171 minutes in September. That's pretty good, but we are set to smash that month's goal. We already have 3552 minutes for October. If we keep that pace, it we will get 36,704 minutes in October. But what is most encouraging is the engagement the kids are developing with their reading time!

The same has been observed in math. Your kids have been taught to add and subtract numbers up to land over the millions. Next week we will work on problem solving and times tables. I'll be contacting my volunteers to recruit some help with multiplication facts next week during math time from 1pm-2pm.

In writing, our students have built a great deal of stamina. 90% of the class can write 70 words in 7 minutes. You should challenge them to do this. Also more than half the class has taken on the challenge of writing with someone at home. To earn an E in writing they need to do 10 entries/letters to someone at home who then responds to them. Some are writing stories together at home.

In science we have done inquiries with paper airplanes and with bouncy balls.

Thanks for your home support. I'm excited for the Jog-a-thon tomorrow!

Kyle Jorgensen

Two requests:
1. Volunteers during math time next week from 1pm-2pm to help with basic multiplication
2. Order books through Scholastic and my number: K42N3 so we can earn bonus points to buy books for our class!

Line, Ray, Line Segment, Plane, Point

Smashing our RAH Goal Already!

Congrats families!

We are a smashing success for our Read At Home (RAH) program. Check out the link to the right (September RAH) to see our RAH minutes as they are updated "real time" through Google Docs (I love Google). Our starting off the year goal is to read 20 minutes a night which translates to 520 minutes as a class. At the bottom of the chart you can see the class totals in yellow, goal in green, and the bank (which shows the difference between our minutes and our goal). Our totals for the month are at the bottom right. Finally at the far right you can see how your student is progressing with respect to the daily goal which is at the top in blue.

Through the year we also make a bar graph of the minutes read (See: Monthly Bar Graph link).

As you can see, we are almost doubling our goal as a class. TWO SNAPS and TWO STOMPS for the class (ask your kids what that means:)

Kyle

Awesome First Week

Happy Friday Families!

This was an amazing first week as far as engagement, self discipline and setting up routines. It is very important to develop good habits at the beginning of the year. We are on the right track.

I would love for you to reinforce these habits by discussing with your children discipline at home in the sense of:

"Discipline is training myself the right and successful way to do things"

Talk about the right and successful ways they can do things at home such as chores and getting along with others as well as at school. This is a wonderful group of kids and I am already excited about what wonderful things we can do next week.

MONDAY and FRIDAY next week we will spend some time in the naturescape pulling weeds and exploring it. So dress appropriately and if you have some gloves for them to use feel free to send them along.

Thanks for raising such great kids!
Kyle

Dear C6 families,

We had a wonderful first day of school that included a flag ceremony, orchestra presentation and we hit the ground running with academics. Props to Ms. Ward for preparing this group for a smooth transition into fourth grade. Here are some classroom expectations we discussed and the kids filled out notes on the following information.

Discipline: Training myself the right and successful way to do things.

Masnagement: the process of reinforcing behavior by consequences and rewards.

Desk Station: What can be in my desk?
Blue: Math
Yellow: Writing
Green: Science/social studies
Pencil box (with various supplies
2 sharpened Pencils in tray

SLANT - how to pay attention in class
S it up
L isten
A sk and Answer Questions
N od your head
T rack the speaker

Specials List
Time Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
9:30 NA Lib Mus Mus PE
10:00 PE PE NA PE NA
Tech (2:30) Choir (3:00)

Tonight's homework is to read 20 minutes for RAH.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow and our paper airplane investigation.

Sincerely,
Kyle

Open House Important Info

Open House IMPORTANT INFO…

SUPPLIES
You and your child are responsible for getting the necessary supplies to school. Please check with your child occasionally to make sure they have notebook paper, pencils and erasers. It’s best to start organizational skills right away! 

BOOK ORDERS
Order forms will go home approximately every month. If you are interested in ordering books, please return your payment and completed order form. Remember to make checks out to SCHOLASTIC BOOKS, not Forest Ridge School or to Mr. Jorgensen! Book orders generally take two weeks to arrive.

LIBRARY
We will have one scheduled library checkout time per week on Tuesday. Please make sure that your child returns his/her books on Monday, as that is the policy of the library. As fourth graders, students are required to have at least one “chapter book” in their book box at all times.

P.E.
Your child will be attending P.E. class 4 days each week: MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY, & FRIDAY. Students need to wear shoes and clothing appropriate for P.E. participation. Students ARE NOT allowed to wear flip flops to school.

HOMEWORK
*Homework expectations will be discussed at Parent Curriculum night on Thursday, September 22nd (4:30-6:00).

LITERACY
The comprehensive literacy model used in the classroom to teach reading includes the following components: purposeful instruction, modeled reading, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading, and word study. The students will be using a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction texts throughout the year. There will be an emphasis on helping children find “Just Right” texts to be successful readers who increase their reading skills all year long.

WRITING
The students will be provided instruction in many modes of writing, including narrative, imaginative, expository, and persuasive. We will focus on the structure of sentences, paragraphs, and multi-paragraph papers. Purposeful instruction will include modeled writing, shared writing, guided writing, and independent writing. The kids will use journals, writer’s notebooks, and word processing.

SPELLING
The Rebecca Sitton Spelling and Word Skills program will be used. Instead of a “spelling list” going home each Monday with a test to follow on Friday, in class there will be daily work and instruction which is research-based to ensure that students learn to spell for writing. That is, to spell words forever, not just for a test. Assessment will occur in class, and students will bring home words they have not yet mastered. These words can be worked on at home and will continue to be used in the lessons at school.


MATH
The core math program is Investigations. There MAY BE some work with Accelerated Math as a supplement piece. All students will work at their own level and move at their own rate. Instruction varies from one on one work with the teacher to small group work to whole group lessons.

Math facts work (primarily through math games) and math problem-solving will occur on a regular basis.

A supplemental program is our “Number Corner” calendar math. Many concepts are introduced and reinforced at this time. These activities are done each morning, so it is important that your student arrives at school on time so they do not miss this part of math.

BIRTHDAYS
Towards the end of each month, we will celebrate birthdays for students with treats and singing.  Parents are welcome to help celebrate their child’s birthday by bringing store bought treats to school. I need one parent volunteer who would like to organize these parties. This job will consist of contacting families during the month of their child’s birthday and checking to see if they want to bring treats. Birthday celebrations are generally held a half hour before dismissal (3:00 pm). However, donuts are a fun morning birthday treat if that works better for you.

VOLUNTEERS
Please let me or our Volunteer Coordinator know if you would be interested in hearing more about opportunities to volunteer in the classroom or at Forest Ridge in general. Remember that all classroom volunteers need to have a completed criminal background check on file with the office BEFORE volunteering. This will apply to chaperoning field trips later in the year as well. It takes about a month to complete a CURRENT background check with the school district, so please double check with the office or myself to make sure you have a completed background check.

SNACKS
Each day I will allow some time for a healthy snack. Some examples of what students can bring are crackers, fruit, vegetables, cheese, etc. Students CANNOT bring candy, cake, cookies, etc. for a snack.

WATER POLICY
In our classroom there are limited opportunities to use the drinking fountain. I do not allow students to leave their seats for drinks during work time or instruction time. Many children would like to have water more frequently. If your child is one of those children, I suggest that you send an inexpensive water bottle for them to keep on their desk at school. All water bottles must have lids. Also, I am allowing ONLY WATER, no juice, pop, etc. And, please, if Dutch Brothers or Starbucks are part of your family’s routine, have your student finish that tasty treat BEFORE entering the building (if they bring it to our room, I will ask them to toss it at the door). Just like with their breakfast, it needs to be consumed outside of school. Students can leave water bottles here at school, but I strongly encourage that students take home their water bottles at least twice a week to be washed.

Let’s have a wonderful year!

You can reach me at:
Phone: 503-399-5548
Email jorgensen_kyle@salkeiz.k12.or.us

Mr. Kyle Jorgensen

A Sad Goodbye and a Warm Hello

To those who graduated C6, thank you for all the wonderful memories. I hope you enjoyed your time in C6 and expect to hear great things about you and from you in the future! I also want to thank all of you for your contributions to the replacement of my school laptop. That was very thoughtful and generous!

To those coming into 4th grade I want to extend the warmest of welcomes. I look forward to working with each of you. I have really enjoyed all your letters and can't wait to get to know you this fall!

Sincerely,

Kyle Jorgensen

Extension Science Project for the week of May 14th

1. After finishing your trials on friction and the text books and reading your three chapters in the "Concept Links" books. Check out this cool intereactive website. It explores Newton's Laws:

Newtons Laws

Birthday Celebrations

We are behind in birthday celebrations...again...sorry! I have a date picked out to make it up to everyone. According to my list, celebrations are due for:

Eryne (I don't think we included her January) Marley, Noah H, Hayley, Jacob H, Ayden, and Travis

Is there a volunteer out there to help coordinate parents/kids to make the celebration a great one.

Here's the details

Date: Wednesday, April 18
Time: 1:15-2:15
Note: We have our Architecture class at 2:30 and need to be all cleaned up and ready to listen and work by 2:25

THANK YOU!!!

Science

We have been learning about the Solar system during this last unit in science. We have created a few different models of the solar system and are creating Prezis to help explain the orbit of the sun and the moon, the importance of the tilt of the Earth, and the phases of the moon. If parents get a chance they should check out the scale solar system we made in the cpod hallway and look for the prezis to be posted online.

Kyle

FYI the next standard we learn about in science is "Force and Motion". I may be requesting some parent support for both helping with the activities involved in these lessons and for some extra supplies. Our supply budget is gone now for the school. Thank you in advance :)

Math

Good Morning,

It's been a while since my last post. I would like to start up again with posting info on the blog for you. I'll start with math.

We are starting our third core standard in math this year, geometry. This week we are focusing on triangles: classifying triangles by their sides and angles. There is a link to the left titled baseball geometry that they can play at home to help them learn about triangles: their sides and angles.

Thanks,
Kyle

How Does Heifer Pass On the Gift?

Heifer Project Plea

Laurie Aguirre, just sent the staff an email asking us to plea to the parents through our blogs to help support the Heifer project this year. Our classroom fund raising has not brought in what it used to. If you have any spare change that you would like to donate today or tomorrow, that would be appreciated!!! The above video is some extra info on the Heifer project.

Hello Again: Valentines Day...

Sorry I haven't posted anything in quite a while. Life and school has been pretty busy. I do want to let you know that we are having a party on Tuesday to celebrate Valentines day as well as the January, February and June birthdays. So if your kid has a birthday in either of those months, Tuesday is a great day to bring in treats to celebrate. Garrett's mom will also be doing a craft that afternoon with the kids.

Remember to have your kids bring in Valentines boxes made of recycled materials.

Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

Mr. J

Homework tonight

Math workshop has been going really well. I am seeing some real progress in the students fluency with division. This week a majority of the kids passed or exceeded the pretest. The post test is tomorrow as it is every Friday.

The independent work time has been less efficient than I would like and the packets are not close to being done. This week, I'm sending them home with the kids tonight. I'm assigning 30 minutes of math work on the packets. My goal is that they get more practice on the math work not that the whole packet gets done. 

The standard is using efficient ways to solve division problems.

Problem c of the half page is 631 / 17

to solve this I start by rounding 17 up to 20

Then I think 20 x 30 = 600

To start my dividing I can take a chunk out of 17 x 30

17 x 30 is 510

Then I find the difference: 631-510 = 121

So all I have left to do is find out how many times 17 goes into 121

If 17 x 10 is 170, then 17 x 5 is 85

Find the difference 121 - 85 = 36

2 x 17 = 34

36-34 = 2 that's my remainder

I've used these clusters

17 x 30 = 510

17 x 5 = 85

17 x 2 = 34

So 17 x 37 = 629 + 2 = 631

Or 631 / 17 = 37 R 2

This seems really long and drawn out, but when it is done on your student's paper it is done in just a few steps that makes sense. 

Tomorrow, the kids will get their homework packets and they will be Due next Thursday.

Thanks

Kyle

Homework

Thank you DeBorde Family for your comments,

First of all, we are taking this week off of homework. As for the more difficult problems on the multiples of 10, 100, 1,000 page here is how to solve one of the problems.

#8) 240,000 / 4,000
First we can simplify the problem by crossing off the zeros that each number has in common
4,000 has three zeros at the end... so we can take off those three zeros and three zeros off of the 240,000
Now we have 240 / 4
Next I can use what I know about multiplication
4 x 6 = 24 so 4 x 60 = 240
if 4 x 60 = 240 then 240 / 4 = 60
240,000 / 4,000 = 60

#15) WE need to Estimate each quotient
17,400 / 92
First we change 92 to a FRIENDLY # like 90
Then we change the dividend 17,400 to a number COMPATIBLE with 90
9 x 2 = 18 so we can change the 17,400 to 18,000
Now we have 18,000 / 90
Then we can use multiplication to help solve division
90 x 2 = 180
90 x 20 = 1800
90 x 200 = 18,000
18,000 / 90 = 200
(How close is our estimate 17,400 / 92 = 189.13)

Hope this helps with the homework.

Homework concern...

Hi Folks,

It's great to have everyone back. There was a great deal of reading over the break and I love everyone's enthusiasm. I think everyone is in a great mood because the Ducks finally won the "Grand Daddy of 'em all" (Rose Bowl :).

On a more serious note I'm wondering if there was any frustration with the homework over break. Was it too much or too hard. My hope was that it gave enough review over the break to keep kids refreshed with division, but not too frustrating. I did get one note that it seemed like too much work.
I never want homework to be that frustrating, it's only meant for extra practice...
Can you please respond to this post below and tell me and other blog readers your thoughts!!!

Thank you!
Kyle