Naaktgeboren's Class Blog

Greetings Families, If your child has been invited to attend math tutoring, here are the dates and times for November. Please put these dates in your calendar to prevent confusion. Note that there will be no tutoring the week of Thanksgiving. 11/2 - 2:05-2:45 p.m. 11/3 - 3:05-3:45 p.m. 11/9 - 2:05-2:25 p.m. 11/10 - 3:05-3:25 p.m. 11/16 - 2:05-2:45 p.m. 11/17 - 3:05-3:45 p.m. 11/30 - 2:05-2:45 p.m. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I hope your child was able to find a book or two, or more, at the book fair that they will enjoy reading. I also want to thank those who purchased books for the classroom. The class and I am blessed by your generosity. The book fair continues online if you weren't able to make it to the one on campus. You can find it at here . Please select Archway Arete at checkout.  Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I forgot to inform you of the items we went home last Friday. Below is the list of items and the class averages. Spalding Test: 89% Phonogram Test: 86% Grammar Quiz (Classroom Practice 14): 83% Science Quiz (Plants and Organisms Quiz): 73% Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend. My family had the opportunity to enjoy a fall festival on Friday night and we might be enjoying another one tomorrow night. Hopefully, your home hasn't had too much candy eating induced craziness or sickness. Here are the lessons for the week. Lessons Language Arts : This week in language arts students will read more about the adventures of Robin Hood and his merry band of outlaws. in grammar, the focus turns to diagramming of prepositions. Spalding will bring more words and more markings. Science : In science, students will learn how organisms interact with and impact their environments. For example, students will understand how animals adapt to changes. Students will also study different types of biomes with a focus on Arizona. History : Students will explore the shift in power in government in the late Middle Ages and consider the role of the Magna Carta and the rule of King John in this shift. Math ...

Due to the warmer temperature, students may wear the summer dress code until Thursday, November 10th (there is no school on Friday). Beginning Monday, November 14th, students will be required to follow the winter dress code . Pants will be required or skirts must be worn with tights or long socks.

I'm sure your kiddos are excited about the Read-A-Thon on Monday. Just a few reminders ... - Please have your child bring a towel or small blanket to sit upon on the football field. They will be reading to a younger student. - If you want to read, please email Pamela at ptipescu@msn.com. - We will be serving turkey sandwiches, carrots and pretzels for lunch in the classroom. If your child has food allergies or does not want to eat this, please send a lunch. - Please ensure they bring a water bottle. - If you haven't donated towards classroom expenses, please send in $3 to offset the cost of this party. Thanks! We are excited! Cambi Kari Pamela

Greetings, Click here to see the Quizlet for tomorrow's test. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings, In class today, we reviewed how to compare fractions. This skill requires some other skills, such as multiplication and multiples. Many students appeared to master this skill. However, some did not. If your child is struggling to solve the comparison fractions and ordering activity on tonight's homework, please allow them to watch this short video. The woman teaching uses the same language I use in class and it may allow them to make sense of something they missed in class.

Greetings Families, Below is a letter from the class moms. If you would like to read to the class, please email Ms. Tipescu (Pamela) as soon as possible. Only a few people have volunteered so far and it would be better to have more. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren Next Monday, October 31 is the Read-A-Thon. Your child is welcome to come dressed as a literary character (see Mr. N's email regarding that). There is an assembly that morning and the Read-A-Thon activities are scheduled to begin at 11:00am and go to the end of the day. Yay! Time for fun!  The kids will be eating lunch in the classroom. We will be serving a 6' turkey sub sandwich, sides, fruit pies, and cookies. If your child needs/wants to bring his/her own lunch, feel free. Please make sure they bring a water bottle that day.  We will be reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to the kids. If you would like to be a reader please email Pamela ASAP. Reading will take place 11:00-11:55, 12:25-1:15 a...

Greetings Families, This week in math, we will be reviewing fractions. If your child seems very unfamiliar with fractions, please let me know. I can copy off some practice worksheets from the third-grade book. For students with math tutoring, dismissal will be 2:25 p.m. on Wednesday and 3:25 p.m. on Thursday, as I have traffic duties this week. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I hope you have enjoyed the extended weekend. It was great getting to meet with most of you last week. I hope I was able to convey the delight I have in your child. It is a great privilege to be able to be your child's teacher. This week are are back into the grove of things, as we resume full days. Here are the lessons for the week. Lessons Language Arts : This week in literature students will discuss conflict resolution. They will read chapters 3-5 of Robin Hood. In grammar, they move into deeper classifications and diagrams. In Spalding, there are words and markings. History : Students will explore the shift in power in government in the late Middle Ages and consider the role of the Magna Carta and the rule of King John in this shift. Science : This week in science students will learn the defining characteristics of animals and how they are different from other living organisms. Students will then learn the difference between vertebrates and invertebrate...

Mark your calendars for our third annual Read-a-thon! This special day will be celebrated on Monday, October 31st. Students have the option to come to school dressed as their favorite classical literary character, scientist, or historical figure. Costumes need not come directly from the grade level curriculum, though they must be classically aligned. We kindly ask that you send costume ideas to your classroom teacher for approval by Friday, October 28th. Be sure that costumes allow students to engage in regular school day activities such as recess, lunch, and P.E., as well as curricular instruction. The headmasters, teachers, fellow scholars, and family members will read to students throughout the day. Our Usborne book fair will be open for business during the entire school day, as well. It is sure to be a full, fun day celebrating the beautiful enjoyment reading brings!

Book Fair The Archway Arete Usborne book fair will be open for preview on Tuesday, October 25th, and will be open for business from October 26th through October 31st. This will be held in the science room. We look forward to providing this exciting opportunity for students and parents to purchase books for their personal and classroom libraries. Profits from the book fair will go directly towards the purchase of more books for the Arete library, and teachers will have wish list baskets from which you can purchase titles for your child’s classroom. When visiting the book fair, please enter through the southwest gate of the archway building and a volunteer will be ready to welcome you. The book fair will be open for parents and students during the following times: 10/26 7:20-8:20; 11:00-1:30; 2:30-4:00 p.m. 10/27 7:20-8:20; 11:00-1:30; 2:30-4:00 p.m. 10/28 7:20-8:20; 11:00-1:30; 2:30-8:00 p.m. 10/31 7:20-4:00 p.m. If you would like volunteer to serve our staff and student...

Dear Parents, We are very excited to inform you of Archway Arete’s third annual spelling bee! It will be open to all first through fifth graders. There will be a classroom bee to determine who is eligible to compete in the school bee. From there, the winner of the school bee will continue on to the Great Hearts District Spelling Bee. The dates for each are as follows: November 7-10: written portion in individual classrooms November 14-18: oral class bee in individual classrooms December 5 (6 pm): Archway Arete School Bee in the gym January 24 (5 pm): Great Hearts District School Bee at Archway Veritas auditorium For the school bee, we will be following the same guidelines as will be used for the District bee and on. This means that students need to say “capital…” if there is a capital letter, “hyphen” if one is present, and address any spaces or accent marks. A student may start over in spelling a word but is not allowed to change the spelling that they previously used. The spell...

Greetings Families, If you received your child's math test today and were surprised by his or her low score, I likely am as well. The reason being, during the week, many students appeared to know what they were doing during class activities. Some of the mistakes students made were silly. It was often the result of not knowing multiplication facts. If you are looking at your child's work and they weren't just silly mistakes, but he or she somehow failed to master the content, please have him or her go to Khan Acadamy this weekend to  watch these videos . Once he or she has finished the videos, print this worksheet out for him or her and see if he or she can correctly solve the problems. Thank you for your support. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, Here are the assignments being returned today. Please review your child's work with him or her and discuss areas for improvement. Subject: Title of Assessment or Assignment (Class Average) History: Middle Ages Quiz, Chapters 9 & 11 (85%) History: Middle Ages Quiz, Chapters 13 & 14 (84%) Grammar: Labeling and Diagramming Worksheet (81%) Math: Unit 2 Chapter 3 Test (72%) Thank you for your support. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Greetings Families, I apologize for the lateness of this post. I had written it up over the break, but somehow failed to post it. Due to the shorter days, the lessons have been reduced. Here are the lessons for the week.  Lessons Math: In math this week we are focusing on learning how to multiply a multi-digit number by a two digit number. From what I am hearing students says, they know how to do the work, but the worksheet took them some time last night. This is likely due to the fact that many of the students still have not mastered their math facts or they are just slow at bringing them to memory. This is one of the reasons I have encouraged students to study their math facts regularly. Those who have done so probably found last nights homework less challenging. There is a math test on Thursday. There is no math tutoring this week due to conferences. History : Students will take a closer look at important figures in Europe this week, including William the Conqueror...

Greetings Families, I apologize that I'm getting this out to you late, but if you would like to have your child do some school work over the break, I've made this packet to help. Please do not feel like you need to do this. Break is a designated R&R time. This is only for families or students who would like to do something over the break. You can find the packet here . Best, Michael Naaktgeboren

Archway Arete Students and Families, Throughout Western civilization, bards have been keepers of tradition, reciting the poetry of their people and passing on oral history. At every grade level, our students practice memorization and recitation of poems in the classroom. This year, we will again be joining our fellow Great Hearts schools in holding a Bard Competition for our 3rd through 5th grade students, whom we will challenge to memorize and recite poetry. Over the course of two rounds and two poems, we will winnow the field to find our school’s most skillful bard. That student will be named School Bard for the year and will represent Archway Arete at the Great Hearts Archway Bard Competition in the spring. If your student is interested in competing, you can download the competition guidelines and registration form . Whether your student participates or not, we invite all of our Archway families to join us for these public recitations, which promise to be engaging reminders of thi...

Greetings Families, Fall break is nearly upon us and after that we have conferences. My conferences will be from 2:00-7:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 2:00-6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Along with signing up to meet with Ms. Maguire and myself, please sign up to meet with your child's specials teachers as well. I look forward to meeting with you. Best, Michael Naaktgeboren Click here to meet with Mr. Naaktgeboren and Ms. Maguire. Click here to meet with the Specialist.

Greetings Families, I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Hopefully the weekend has provided at least some time for rest and preparation for the week. This marks the final week of the first quarter. I'm sure students will be very excited for the fall break, so please encourage them to do their best in class and on their work as the finish the first quarter strong. Here are the lessons for the week: Lessons History: Students will take a closer look at the lives of knights and the role of cities and guilds during the Middle Ages. They will also participate in Chivalry week--this is typically a fun week full of activities in which they explore the importance of community and honor during the Middle Ages. Science: During the last week of quarter one, students will take a closer look at the flower with consideration of the plant's life cycle and plant reproduction. Students will do a plant dissection toward the end of the week.  Math: It has originally been my hope to h...