Back to School Night

Back to School Night was very successful. It was nice to see our OCS parents visiting our school. If you were unable to come, please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions you may have. Last night was the last night for the book fair. There will be another book fair in the spring. That is the By One Get One Free book fair. You may always order from a scholastic book order. I can certainly get you a book order form from your child's reading level if you are interested. Next week, our science class will be making applesauce in the crock pot. We love this activity because our classroom smells so nice. Yankee Candle has nothing on the real thing. ;) Our social studies class is learning about important social skills. We continue to practice them throughout the day.

First full weeks of school

Welcome Back!

We have a lot of exciting things going on in room 214 and at OCS. Students are doing a great job of being independent middle schoolers. They are opening and closing the locks on their lockers. They developed a new set of class rules and everyone signed his name that he will follow the rules.

In Language Arts Literature classes, students are working with our new writing program called Units of Study. They are working on expressing themselves through their writing. Students are also working sounding out words and constructing words using letter sounds. Each student has a spelling list. He will keep his list in his homework folder. I will not publish it on here, but you may e-mail me if the list is misplaced.

In Math class, we are completing a beginning of the year assessment. Students will then go on to work on his individual math goal for the week. I will let you know when there are tests coming up. Homework will be written in the communication book.

Our science class enjoyed making a mini scientist and cooking play doh last week. This week we will be focusing on science safety. Then we will begin to study astronomy.

5th grade science: please see Mrs. Kimball's blog.

End of the school year

As we approach the end of the school year the students continue to learn new things in each class.

In all subjects, each student is learning about the same MARE area as his grade level peers. They are working on activies to enhance their knowledge about the kelp forest, open ocean, islands, coral reef, and polar regions.

They will be partipating with their grade level peers in Ocean Week activities. hey will act as teachers to impart their knowledge onto other grade levels.

Ahh testing . . .

NJASK testing is starting next week. 7th and 8th grade will be taking the reading/language arts, math, and science portions of the test for four days. The 5th and 6th grade will test the following week. They will not have a science portion of the test. 3rd and 4th grade will be the last to test. Only the 4th grade will have a science part.

Welcome Spring!!!

The students are all really ready for Spring to arrive. I think they are even more excited for the Spring break from school.

Social Studies: Over the past couple of weeks, students have learned about Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. They loved making soda bread during science class last week.

They will continue to learn more about famous women in history and how the contributions of these women affect our lives today.

Students continue to work on life skills. Some are enjoying playing Community Skills For Life on the computer.

Science: Students are learning about the four basic cloud types. We are hoping to be able to recognize them by using a new tool we're making in class this week.

Writing: Some students are really working hard at keyboarding skills. This is a very important life skill. Others are working on writing about things that interest them, writing persuasively, and writing how-to essays.

Reading: All students are practicing reading at their independent reading level using Reading A-Z.
Some students are using flash cards with pictures on one side and words on the other. Some are using the computer based reading software to continue to build and practice reading skills.

Our 8th graders are reading a book called Torn Threads about two sisters trying to survive the Holocaust in Poland. They are working on using context clues to decipher the unknown vocabulary. They are also summarizing each chapter and answering comprehension questions.

Math: Some students are working on recognizing larger numbers, adding smaller numbers, and telling time. Others are adding two digit numbers with regrouping or subtracting larger numbers with borrowing. While others are working on multiplying and dividing fractions

March Madness

It's hard to believe March will be here tomorrow. Spring is just around the corner! We are still working hard and learning new things in room 214.

Science: The students are learning more about clouds. They conducted an experiment to see how clouds are formed. It was very exciting!

Social Studies: The students finished learning information about African Americans and their struggles and contributions. They also continue to work on life skills such as making sandwiches, relaying personal information, and social skills.

Writing: Students are working on keyboarding skills. Others are working on improving their spelling. Spelling pre-tests are usually given on Mondays. Students practice their words during the week and are tested on Friday. They are also working on writing three different types of essays: persuasive, explanatory, and speculative.

Reading: Students completed the Study Island Benchmark Assessment at their grade level. This assesment is similar to the NJASK questions. IEP accomodations were adhered to while the students completed the assessment. Students continue to work on improving their individual reading skills, as well.

Math: Some students completed a test on converting and simplifying fractions. They will be learning how to compare, add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions with like and un-like denominators. This will help them when working with recipes.
Others are working on adding and subtracting numbers with one and two-digits.
All students completed the Study Island Benchmark Assessment at their individual grade level.

Fun, Fun February

Well, the second marking period ended and we are now in the second half of the school year. Most of us are happy the groundhog did not see his shadow. I think we are all done with this crazy weather.

Our whole school is working on being C.O.R.R.E.C.T! For the next few months, we will be doing various activities to focus on each character trait. The first two weeks focused on Courage. Students were paired up with a buddy from another grade level each Friday to work together to enhance their learning about this character trait. On Wednesdays, the students work-out the character trait. They may do jumping jacks, squats, or another type of work out to use their whole body to remember the trait. Students will also have lessons in their classrooms to continue to know the correct way to be.

Science: Will continue to work on life skills activities as well as learning about cloud types to be able to predict the weather.

Social Studies: Will be learning about the holidays in February as well as the Civil Rights Movement and famous African Americans.

Writing: Most of the class is working on improving their spelling. Many are also improving their typing skills. Others are writing daily and working to edit and improve their writing.

Reading: Some students are improving their sight word vocabulary. While others continue to use reading strategies to improve their comprehension of what is read. The eighth graders will be reading a book about the Holocaust to prepare them for the upcoming unit in the general education social studies class.

Math: Some students are learning more about fractions to help them with doubling and halving recipies. Others are learning about adding two digit numbers. While others are working on sorting coins.