Catching Up!

Since we returned from the snowy days of February, we have been busy reading Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. The students are really into the story and learning quite a lot about wolves at the same time. We have been integrating the use of laptops by using a webquest created solely for use with this book, and of course, blogging on our classroom reading blog.

We are continuing to learn and review skills necessary for being successful on the reading SOL test coming up in May. We have also been reviewing SOL vocabulary for other content areas - science, math, and civics - by looking at the roots of the words and how they connect to the meaning.

Nine weeks left and they will go by quickly!

What a Welcome Back!

Here are the beautiful banners that greeted me upon my return to school yesterday! One covered the classroom door and the other literally covered an entire classroom wall and windows.
I can't tell you how surprised and overcome with emotion I was. My students have got to be the most caring and thoughtful students in the entire building!

Hi there! Remember me?

Hello guys! It's me...Mrs. Halterman! If I don't appear too happy, it's because I'm not! I hate missing school and not seeing you every day. I guess you know by now that I will have to be out for six weeks with my broken ankle. Sorry you can't see it very well in the picture above. It's hard taking pictures of yourself by yourself! So, here's a better one below...(I'm so glad I had a pedicure before I did this!)

Let me tell you a little of what has been happening. My ankle had three breaks and required surgery. There is now a titanium plate and several pins holding my ankle together. The cast that is on it now is temporary and will be replaced next week when I visit the orthopedic surgeon. He will remove the staples from the surgery and recast my ankle. That cast will stay on for four more weeks. Hopefully after that I will be able to wear a walking boot, put some weight on it, and come back to school. For the time being, I need to remain off it and let it heal. Keep good thoughts for me!
I hope that you are enjoying your time with Mrs. Clark. She's an awesome teacher, and you will learn lots with her. She has high expectations just like me and expects hard work from you when you're with her. I know that you all will make me very proud of you!
I'll write to you again soon. Until then, be good and listen!
Love,
Mrs. H
Bye for now!

Gearing Up for Box Speeches!

Students were introduced to Box Speeches in class today! This is the first official public speaking assignment for the year. It really is a nonthreatening type of speech and will be due next Monday, September 14. The students will be deciding what aspects of their personal lives they wish to share and selecting items to bring in to help to tell their stories. Hopefully we will find out all kinds of interesting things about one another!

Welcome to a New Year!

As summer fades away and a new school year begins, I'd like to give you a glimpse of what will be going on in our classroom.

During the first few weeks of this school year, students will be busy taking reading, writing, and spelling assessments. This information provides the groundwork for our classroom instruction that follows. Students will be delivering Box Speeches early in the six weeks as a way to introduce themselves and get to know their classmates. They will also be writing a personal narrative and learning about nouns in addition to having new spelling words. Our reading instruction will be focusing on writing summaries utilizing the reading strategy "Somebody Wanted But So." We will also review plot structure and introduce the different types of conflicts that can appear in literature. Along with that, students will be practicing making predictions and making inferences with the books they choose to read independently and the stories read together in class. Personification will also be reviewed.

Here's what we looked like on the first day of school:

Fourth Block: Period 7/8

First Block: Periods 1/2

Third Block: Period 5/6