Whether it's hot or cold...Be prepared for the Weather

I am so excited about becoming a meteorologist in training...I can't wait until March when we put our Weather Logs to use, recording the temperature, precipitation, wind, and cloud cover each day. It's all so exciting! I know I am preparing by curling up in front of the television each night and watching the Weather Channel for just five to ten minutes. I am making close observations of how information is presented. I am starting to notice a pattern, like how they always show the high temperature for the day, followed by the low.

Have you watched yet? What have you noticed?

Also, if you have some extra time, play a few rounds of this game...it helps you to review what kinds of clothes are required for different weather conditions. You could also play this game to dress me for the weather! We know from our class discussions that being prepared for the weather is an important safety issue.

Presenting Prefixes

Chet here, boys and girls! Let me tell you, I was a little worried when I heard the word prefix. It sounds like something a doctor uses..."Nurse, hand me the prefix!" Well you know me, I'm a curious bear, so I did a little research and guess what?!? They are not scary at all. It turns out, prefixes are certain letters that can be added to the beginning of a word to alter the meaning. Here are some common prefixes you guys have probably already seen:

dis (not): dislike, disagree, disappear
im (not): impolite, immature, impossible
in (not): incorrect, incomplete, inappropriate
un (not): unplug, unsure, unaware
re (again): rewrite, retell, return
pre (before): preview, pretest, prehistoric
mis (wrong): misspelled, misunderstood, mistreated

Hope this is helpful! Remember, you can't just add a prefix to any word you want. They only make sense in from of certain root words! Don't use them improperly! ;)

Chet

P.S. Check the Skills Help section for games to practice prefixes.

Leveled Books Online!

Hey guys! It's me, Chet! I was surfing the net last night in my den, and I stumbled across this really great resource I think you should know about! I'm sure you're all aware that each night, for twenty minutes, you should be reading a book at your independent reading level. Sadly, I heard from Miss P and Miss Hoffmann that sometimes you guys forget your leveled books at school and are unable to complete this assignment at home. Well, thanks to my sleuth work, that problem is solved! By clicking the link, Education Place (located under Duval County Resources), and logging in, you will be able to read leveled books online! There are many exciting options on the site. You can read the books independently, books can be read to you, new vocabulary is featured, and some books already have comprehension questions so you can quiz yourslef after you read! Reading levels are broken into groups (if your independent level is J, you will be in the Jaguars, if your independent level is K, will be in the Katydid group, etc.). The letter of your independent reading level is the first letter of your group! Miss Hoffmann and Miss P will be putting your username and password in your planners so you can begin using the site pronto! I suspect we will all be doing a little more reading at home now that we have this awesome site at our fingertips! Let your teachers know if you are confused or have any questions! Well, I'm off to start reading some of my leveled books! Catch you later!

Sincerely,
Chet

Destination Success

Our blog now conatins a link to the Duval County supported website, Destination Success. By clicking the link and logging in, you will gain access to many games and activities focused on developing your reading and math skills. This site is provided to our school free of charge, and we are encouraging everyone to utilize it!

To login:

Username: firstname+lastname+264 (all lowercase and no spaces)
Password: 2 digit birth month+2 digit birth day

Good luck explorers!

Getting some ZZZ's!

Hello. It's Chet. Catching some serious zzz's. Plan to return to school Friday.

What is that called when animals sleep during the winter? I know it's a big science word. Geez, I can't remember it...too tired to think...must try to....zzzzzzzzzzz

Wonderful Words!

Our study of wonderful words continues! We have discovered that our love of words is contagious, as many of our friends and family members are joining us in our search and enthusiasm for new vocabulary! Our latest unit revolves around one chapter from the book, Rats on the Roof. Together as a class we read Chapter 4, Eat Your Vegetables, and could hardly suppress our excitement for learning the new words. There was no grumbling in our classroom!
We are dumbfounded by our ability to learn and use new words! There is much diversity in our classroom community, but we all have one thing in common...an insatiable love of words!

Our new words are:

relocate: to move to a different place
ferocious: wild and mean
collaboration: working together
queasy: feeling sick to your stomach
lumbered: moved slowly or clumsily from one place to another
steadfast: loyal or not changing

Accept the challenge to find and use these words on a regular basis!

Roosechet's Fireside Chat

Hey kids! It's Chet Bear...and I'm just cuddled up by the fire like good old Franklin Roosevelt. He used to give speeches over the radio; the speeches were called Fireside Chats. I'm not sending my message out over the radio waves...I'm blogging on my computer. Well, actually this is Miss Hoffmann and Miss P's computer, but they went home and left me with all these things to trace for the upcoming holiday party, so I thought I'd take a break to surf the web a little and do some blogging.

I heard that this week's newsletter included a section about Calendar Math, with some questions that your parents were supposed to discuss with you to see how everything's coming along. Maybe you could answer them all, but maybe some of them were tricky for you. I pay very close attention during that time, so I'm going to type up the answers so you can check to see if you were right...

1. What is the pattern?
The pattern is different each month. This month it goes like this: blue rectangle, yellow rhombus, orange/red square, yellow rhombus. This is often referred to as an "abcb" pattern.

2. Can a square be a rectangle?
Yes! A square is a rectangle. A rectangle is any four-sided shape with four square corners, and squares meet those requirements. But remember, a square is a special rectangle because all four of its sides are the same length. So, a rectangle is not a square. Confusing, I know! It helps me to draw the shapes.

3. What are different coin combinations to make 75 cents?
Note: I'm a busy bear and I don't have all night, so I'm not listing all the possible combinations. However, I will give you a few to get you started.
75 pennies
7 dimes, 5 pennies
7 dimes, 1 nickel
14 nickels, 5 pennies
15 nickels
2 quarters, 2 dimes, 5 pennies
Can you come up with more? Can you think of a way that uses quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies?

4. How do you know if a number is a multiple of 5?
I know a number is a multiple of 5 if I say it when I'm counting by 5's, starting at the number 5. I also know a number is a multiple of five if it ends in a five or a zero (i.e. a 5 or 0 is in the ones place).

5. How can you use "doubles plus one" or "doubles minus one" to solve a near doubles problem?
First of all, a near doubles problem is any equation that has consecutive numbers in it. Some examples are 7+6 or 4+5. Let's take the first one, 7+6, and use it to talk about the strategies. Here's "doubles plus one." I might not have a clue what 7+6 is, but I know my doubles facts very well, so I can use them to help me. Since I know 6+6 is 12, I can just add one to that sum to solve 7+6 (because 7 is one more than 6).
Here's "doubles minus one." Let's use 7+6 again. I know 7+7 is 14, so I can just subtract one to find the sum for 7+6 (because 6 is one less than 7).
This one takes some practice, but when we start adding and subtracting larger numbers, it's really going to come in handy.

Well, that's all for now everyone. I'm going to head down to the cafeteria and see if they left any corndogs sitting out. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I ate a few dozen or so, and then I'd better get back to work.

Love ya,

Chet Bear