Naaktgeboren's Class Blog

Greetings Families, Let me begin by saying thank you to those who donated food and time to our Read-a-Thon. It was a real please to our students, and Mrs. Geyer and myself, to hear a wonderful story read to us. I hope that our students can learn from the young heroine and overcome great evils though love and friendship.  Here are the lessons for next week. Assessment at a Glance  Monday: Math Quiz (Multiplication) Tuesday: None Wednesday: None Thursday: Grammar Quiz (4 Types of Sentences) Friday: Spelling Test and Science Quiz (Bones of the Skeletal System) Please continue to have your child work on his or her Pinocchio Project at home and its due date is getting close.  Lessons for the Week  Language Arts Poetry Selection (Recitation Friday, December 11) from   Julius Caesar   (Act III, ii, 76-109) by: William Shakespeare   Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesa...

Greetings Families, Plans have been set for Read-a-Thon. Please click here to view the SignUpGenius . We will be reading The Snow Queen , a classic text by Hans Christian Anderson. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

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Greetings Families, We are already well into quarter 2 and the excitement in the classroom continues! Please be on the lookout for an email regarding the Read-a-Thon and the activities we will be having in the classroom. The book fair is this week, and we would love for you to participate. Students may purchase books for themselves or to donate to our classroom library. Here are the lesson for next week.  Assessments at a Glance Monday - History (Rivers) take-home test will be sent home Tuesday - Science (Cells, tissue, organs, and systems) Quiz Wednesday - History (Rivers) take-home test is due Thursday - Spelling Test (20 words) Friday - None *Please remember to have your scholars working on their Pinocchio Projects. Language Arts Spalding In Spalding we will be exploring our next 20 words in the O list; we will also be going back and adding a few of our current words to the rule pages at the front of our Spalding notebooks.  Writin...

The original document may be viewed here . 

The original document may be found here . 

Greetings, I spoke with most of you about the Thinking Blocks App available for the Apple iPad. Click here to find it at iTunes. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren Math Playground - Modeling Word Problems Addition and Subtraction  - Online Multiplication and Division  - Online Fractions  - Online Addition and Subtraction  - iTunes Multiplication and Division  - iTunes Fractions  - iTunes

Greetings Families, Here is the poem the students will have to learn this month. It is from Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1. I have provided a larger section so you can understand where it comes from in the play. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,— For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.  Best, Michael Naaktgeboren William Shakespeare (1564-1616) from Macbeth A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder. Enter the three Witches.      1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.      2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.      3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!      ...

Greetings Families, It was a joy to get to sit down and talk with you during conferences. It was a pleasure to hear about your child from your vantage point and to hear about some of the things you are experiencing at home. With many of you, Mrs. Geyer and I spoke with you about research done my Carol Dweck (2006). The title of her book is Mindset: The New Psychology of Success . I've not read the book in whole, but from the recommendations it has received from the President of Great Hearts, Eric Twist, and headmasters Gillingham and Wagner, I believe I can recommend it without reservations. Yet, sitting down and reading a 246 page book may not be something your busy life affords. Thus, let me offer you a short and convincing summary by Alex Vermeer . (Disclaimer: I've never read anything else by Vermeer and therefore cannot recommend any of his other writings.) In the summary he does a good job of hitting the major points and shows why our mindset controls so much of what ...

Greetings Families, It was great to see you all during parent teacher conferences this week. If we had any follow up action items I will do my best to get that information out to you by Tuesday. We had a great week in 3A, though it was different with our half-day schedules! I am looking forward to getting back to an almost normal week schedule next week. On that note, please remember that there is no school tomorrow, Monday, October 19th. Here are the lessons for next week! Assessments at a Glance Tuesday - None Wednesday - None Thursday - Math Test (Multiplication and Division Word Problems with Bar Models) Friday - Spalding Assessment Lessons Langage Arts Literature This week we will be starting Pinocchio! We will be reading the first 6 chapters. The students are really excited to begin our new unit. Please make sure your child brings in their copy by Tuesday, if they haven’t already. Spalding This week we will be learning 20 words since we hav...

Read-a-Thon  Mark your calendars for our second annual Read-a-thon! This special day will be on Friday, October 30th, and will occur alongside our first on-site book fair! Students may come to school dressed as their favorite classical literary characters, scientists, or historical figures. The goal of this event is to stir a continuous love for reading and an opportunity for lifelong learning. Costumes need not come directly from the grade level curriculum, though they must be classically on-mission. We kindly ask that you send costume ideas to your classroom teacher for approval by Friday, October 23rd. Be sure that costumes allow students to engage in regular school day activities like recess, lunch, and some curricular instruction. The headmasters, teachers, fellow scholars, and students' family members will read to students throughout the day. The Read-a-thon will be a huge celebration of reading for our entire school community! Book Fair  ...

Greetings Families, There is no tutoring this week. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I wanted to let you know that we will be having reading groups on Monday and math centers on Wednesday as planned. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Dear Families, I hope your students are enjoying their fall break!  Here is an update for what conference week will look like.  The entire week is half days.  Please remember to pick your child up at 12:05 or 12:25, respectively. Also, remember that there will be no clubs next week. Assessments at a Glance Monday – none Tuesday – none Wednesday – none Thursday – none Friday – Spalding Lessons Math We will be working on word problems for multiplication and division.  This means that bar models are back!  We will be learning how to create bar models for multiplication and division, which will be a new and exciting challenge. I would also recommend that you take a look at MathPlayground’s multiplication and division modeling exercises . There are tutorials and word problems that can help you understand the process and will provide your child with some guided practice. Language Arts Literature We will be focusing on the ...

Greetings Families, With the start of the new quarter, we have two new clubs beginning:  3rd-5th Grade Dance Club (Mondays: 3:05-4:05 pm) and 3rd-5th Grade French Club   (Tuesdays: 3:05-4:05 pm). Please click on the links to signup. Clubs will resume the week of October 19, 2015. Thank you, The Archway Arete Staff

Greetings Families, I wanted to inform you of a few adjustments that will be happening as we move into the second quarter. I informed the students of these changes on the last days of the first quarter. Both of these refer to removing things from the classroom because they have become major distractions. The first is mechanical pencils and the second are personal pencil sharpeners. Mechanical pencils are great tools, of which I use, but for some reason playing with the lead and taking them apart is a constant occurrence in the school day. It is not the case for all students, but enough that a general ban is necessary, but many students allow them to be distracted by them throughout the day. The second, pencil sharpeners, seemed like a great idea. Students would be able to have nice, sharpened pencils throughout the day. But like the first, they serve as a greater distraction than support. Students would share them, causing talking during lessons. Pencil shavings were all over the flo...

Greetings Families, I hope everyone's fall break off to a great start. Many of the students have told me about cool plans, such as D.C, California, and camping. Even if you aren't traveling, I hope the time off for your child(ren) and the lack of homework will provide an opportunity for some fun family activities and relaxation. Conferences Many of you have signed up to conference with Mrs. Geyer and me. I'm looking forward to seeing you and discussing the progress your child is making. If you have any questions or concerns, please come prepared to discuss those. If you have not singed up, you may find a link here .  There is also the opportunity for you to visit with the specials teachers. Each of the specials teachers see your child for 80-120 minutes a week, so try to find a time to talk with them. You will notice that there is no link for art. As I'm sure you have heard, Ms. Martinez did not return to our staff. We have had some great substitute art tea...