Naaktgeboren's Class Blog

Greetings parents, I wanted to remind you that we will be having a history quiz on Wednesday. The students should have brought home their history folders tonight to begin studying. One thing we are doing is beginning our transition away from study guides. After our first quizzes, we realized that many students were not prepared for quizzing. Therefore, the third grade team decided to assist students by giving a study guide. However, it was never our desire for students to become dependent on them. Therefore, having given students a season with them to practice studying skills, we will now no longer be using them. Since students will be dependent on completed notes and other resources, some of which we have not returned, I felt that it was necessary to give you the notes in full that we are expecting students to study from. Please ensure that your students have access to this information, as some of it has not been added to their folders. If students study this information well, the...

Greetings Parents, I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Here are the lessons for next week. Math This week students will be learning or reviewing multiplication and division. Singapore Math first addresses multiplication and division during second grade. However, the third grade teachers expect that many students to have never learned these operations. Please do not be to alarmed. Students should also be studying for the Unit 2 accumulative assessment, which will be Monday. They should have brought home their textbooks and workbooks to study for this assessment. This assessment will cover things from both Unit 1 and 2. The pages assigned in the workbook are meant to help students review and discern where they need to study better. Science This week we will be discussing ecology. We will first discuss what makes an ecosystem. We will then discuss the food chains and food webs of an ecosystem. We will end the week discussing things that can impact the balance of...

Greetings Parents, I just entered the grades in for the reading logs and a number of students are not doing or recording their nightly reading. Please check the student's planner and yellow folder each night to ensure they are doing their assignments. The assignment scores equal 40 percent of the grade, so not completing or doing the assignments will have a major impact on grades. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Parents, As mentioned before, Ms. Miller will be out on Thursday. One of her many duties is placing homework in the yellow folders so that the students have all of their work together. With her being out, she will be putting Wednesday night's and Thursday night's homework in the homework folder on Wednesday. This does not mean that I expect all of the homework to be done on Wednesday night. When your child comes home with a lot of work to do, don't be alarmed. The planner for Wednesday night will reflect what your child is supposed to have finished for Thursday. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Parents, This Thursday, Ms. Miller will be out. Therefore, I have to cover her traffic duty first shift and cannot have a tutoring session after school that day. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Parents, A number of you have asked when we will start having classroom volunteers. This is something I'm still a little uncertain about as a new Great Hearts teacher. We have selected our classroom parents and I'm waiting for some guidance from them and the PSO. I would like to encourage all who are able to attend the PSO's first meeting that is open to all parents. Hopefully some details about serving will be made clear and I can start having you join our classrooms if you are interested. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Parents, We are entering the final third of the quarter. These next few weeks will be important weeks for our students in terms of assessing where they are academically. I would encourage you to make sure that your child is finishing his or her homework assignments every night. Though this is important for every subject, it is especially important for math. If students fail to practice what they learn in class, it will be very difficult for them to retain and refine these skills. That will lead to poor assessments, and, even worse, great difficulty moving forward as we build on that foundation. Your efforts are vital to the advancement and achievement of your child. Thank you for all that you do. Here are the lessons for the week. Language Arts Poem and Idiom “By Myself,” by Eloise Greenfield “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” Spalding The students have started the process of mastering cursive. Please remember that it is a process. Handwriting is ...

Greetings Parents, The students had a homework assignment to do over last night and tonight. I asked them to draw and color them well so we could hang them on the board outside. Some of them were still a little confused about what the three items should look like so here are some examples. Coast Oasis Harbor Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings parents, Here is what we will be learning together this week. LESSONS Language Arts Idiom : "Cold feet" Poem : "The Tragic Story," by William Makepeace Thackeray Spalding Cursive. Cursive. Cursive. Last week I stressed the importance of wring our manuscript letters neatly and correctly. Today, students are reaping the reward or curse of their efforts. From now on, all written assignments will be done is cursive so it is important that they take their nightly writing assignments seriously and do their best. These should be done while sitting at a table. Literature This week we are reading chapters eight and nine of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  The students will also be bringing home a study packet for the test we will have on Friday of next week. The directions for this assignment are on the packet. Writing and Language We are continuing our development of writing and language skills. Part of learning to write involves being...

Greetings Parents, I apologize in the delay of posting this, but here is a list of approved books for the classroom and suggested list for home. However, I say that with this disclaimer: I have not read all of these works. There may be some on this list that you do not feel are appropriate for your child. I would suggest that before you purchase any book, that you read some reviews to ensure that it is wholesome and appropriate for the values of your home. The list can be found on this website: Great Illustrated Classics . However, let me add another disclaimer: I do not suggest that you build a home library from these alone. Many of the books offered by this site are abridged or shortened. As students grow, it is good for them to read full length works with challenging words. I am also hesitant about using book that have pictures in them. I think they are great parts of a home library, but should not dominant. While we have been reading through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe...

Greetings, Here are the words your child should be prepared to spell tomorrow. The words are not very difficult and that is why we have continued to give new words to study on Thursday and Friday. Here are the words they must spell. 1. ask 2. just 3. way 4. get 5. home 6. much 7. call 8. long 9. love 10. then 11. house 12. year 13. to 14. I 15. as 16. send 17. alone 18. lone 19. one 20. has 21. some 22. if 23. how 24. her 25. them 26. other 27. baby 28. well 29. about 30. men 31. man Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Parents, Many of you have replied in regard to your child's tutoring afternoons. Please inform your child of what days he or she needs to stay late. Tutoring will happen Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2:45 to 3:15, and Wednesday from 1:45-2:15. Keep in mind that tutoring will not be offered on half days, as all students leave at the same time. If you have not emailed me, please do so. Even if you choose not to send your child because you feel that they are doing well enough or that you can help them at home, it is helpful for me to know that. If you would like to do some of the tutoring at home and would like extra practice materials, please let me know. The tutoring time I offer will not be spent going over the night's homework. Instead, it is reviewing information that the student has not learned well that is hindering him or her from moving forward well. Best,

Greetings Parents, First, let me note that tutoring will not be offered on half days. I have gone through the grade book and reading assessments to determine which students are in need of tutoring. If your child is one of them, you should have received as email. If your child is doing poorly in a subject, please do not panic. There are many factors that go into student grading. Many students are simply challenged by the rigors of a Great Hearts education. Others are coming from schools that did not teach to the same level and are a little behind. However, I am sure that with the student's hard work and your encouragement, they will succeed. If you are displeased with your child's grade, please feel free to email me. I tried to give a short explanation in each email. If you would like, I would be happy to go into greater detail. Below is the schedule that will be used. Monday - Language Arts Tuesday - Math Wednesday - Language Arts & Math Thursday - Language ...

Greetings Parents, I am happy to announce that we chosen two parents to serve as class parents. Ms. Garver and Ms. Oetjen were randomly selected and have agreed to serve in this capacity. They will be contacted by the PSO and given further instructions on fulfilling this role. Once they are settled into their new positions, we will begin having other volunteers. Thank you, Ms. Garver and Ms. Oetjen.

Greetings Parents, Many of you are referencing the calendar available on Archway Arete's website, but the dates listed for Singapore and Spalding Nights are incorrect. These events have been scheduled for one night, September 17, 2014 at 6:00pm. I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren  | Third Grade Archway Classical Academy | Arete

Greetings Parents, I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend. I am looking forward to another exciting week of learning. Let us begin by looking at this week's lessons. Lessons LA Idiom "Better late than never." Poem "Tree," by Joyce Kilmer Spalding We are continuing our sprint though introductory words. Each night students will bring words home to practice. On Friday we will have our second spelling test on the words from Monday-Wednesday. We are also preparing for cursive. This week, the spelling homework will be an important part of developing solid handwriting skills. Work that does not meet the standard will be sent home to be redone. It is important that students are doing their best and writing neatly before they transition to cursive. Please encourage your child to do his or her best each night on these assignments.  Literature We will be reading and discussing chapters 6 and 7 of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this week. Th...

The Winter Concert for grades 2 nd -5 th will now be on December 4 th .

Please remember that school pictures are tomorrow, September 4.

•          Have your child read aloud to you every night.   •        Choose a quiet place, free from distractions, at which your child may do his nightly reading assignments so he can focus. Children read better when they are in a calm environment with few distractions. At home, make sure your child is reading in an area with low noise and low traffic.   •        To check your child’s understanding of what he is reading, occasionally pause and ask your child questions about the characters and events in the story.   •        When your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word, give him time to do so. Remind your child to look closely at the first letter or letters of the word.   •        When your child reads aloud to you and makes a mistake, point out the words he has missed and help him to read...

Greetings Parents, I hope that everyone has enjoyed their three day weekend. Please remember to review your children's math tests and to have them return the signed paper. Here are the lesson objects for the week. Language Arts Idiom : "Back to the drawing board" Poem : "The Land of Nod," by Robert Louis Stevenson Spalding We are continuing our sprint though 1 and 2 grade words and learning the Spalding rules. The students have done well at learning these. Please continue to help them study and master their phonograms. Literature We will be reading chapter five of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  On Friday, the students will be tested on their knowledge of the book up to this point. All of the questions will come from the worksheets that the students have completed each week. There will also be a homework packet sent home, which students are to complete each night. The packet is meant to be done without the assistance of the previously fi...