I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday and Enjoys the Break! See you in the New Year!!

-Mrs. Mackey

If you would like to see a video from Mrs. Mackey, click here. :)

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/f9IvS8qFVqqW8YBpG9Ch
 Mrs. Mackey

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/h1TSvter4ZSJvEtWk9Zd 
Mrs. Mackey, Bayliss, Katie, Alena and Rafi

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/bizpWauAFnWl0eWv0jYr
Giulia, Christina, Amna, Amanda and Martha

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/lr5YZoYvvNT7Fjp6Az4B
Alex, Joseph, Sam, Shivani and Jevon

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Fl5o3HPpRKvvZARFY3vU
Ian, Nick, Ashlyn, Michaela, George

Holidays Around the World!

Art at the MFAH

Thanks to all who came to help! We had a wonderful time!

Economics Intro!

Dear Parents,

Our current planner is on economics and is called Attention Shoppers. The students will be learning about forms of trade, supply and demand, and the development of a business. The first few concepts we are covering are: income, spending, and savings.

Our big project for this planner will be the Million Dollar Project.

Two concepts this project will cover are that the items they choose to buy will be their economic choice and the item they did not choose becomes their opportunity cost.

This is a very fun and interactive project that allows the family to get involved. The base idea of the project is that each student starts with $1,000,000.00 and must spend it all within $1; without spending more than one million dollars.

Students will make purchases to reach their million dollar spending limit. Once a student has purchased all their items, they must categorize what they have bought. For example: Wants, Needs, Transportation, Living, Vacation, Etc. The students are to decide upon the categories.

Within each category, the student must explain why they purchase certain things. Example: Transportation- I chose to buy a motorcycle and bike as my transportation because I want to save the environment, they are cooler, etc. Explanations for each category should explain your reasoning.

Students ARE required to buy some sort of shelter and transportation. From there… the possibilities are endless.

*The catch: Each purchase must be real.* Students cannot just say I am going to buy a car for $12,000. I must see and actual ad, newspaper clipping, online printout, etc. for EACH purchase. If you want to purchase a home, find an actual home ad or flyer to show. If you go on a vacation, I need to see plane and hotel prices, etc.

And the final layer to the cake!!! The budget and spending. Students will write a check for EVERY purchase. Next to the checks they will also keep on ongoing spending tally to better budget their current balance of money.

This project has very broad guidelines and I am interested in seeing the unique and creative ways student spend their money and explain their purchases.

The project is due on January 13^th.

We will not be working on this project in class!

Remember to manage your time wisely! And keep ORGANIZED!

Thank you for your assistance with this project!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Mackey

T-Shirts Coming Soon!! YEAH!

Our water planner was a huge success!!! We learned many wonderful facts and ended the unit with IIM Research projects. Way to go Monkeys!!!

Thank you parent for coming and participating in this very important event. The students love to share their wealth of knowledge with you and show you their classroom. As a teacher, it is great to listen to the students expound on what they have learned.

Junior Achievement Begins!

Junior Achievement is a wonderful way to introduce our Economics Planner. The students will run a business and create a restaurant. They learn about zones and where businesses can go. Look forward to an exciting weekly visit and welcome Mr. McDonald to our class!



Turkey Trade

Mrs. Sigmon, Mrs. Musters and I came up with a great class learning experiment that involved turkeys!! The assignment: make a turkey only using supplies that were cut into one inch lengths. We used this assignment to introduce the students to our new planner: How We Organize Ourselves. The students were divided into random groups with three people. Next, they had to acquire supplies by visiting other countries (i.e. different classrooms) to see what they were exporting. Supplies could also be traded or bartered for. The end products then received an adward. Stop by next week to take a look before they disappear!

Spelling City

Finally! Spelling City for my class is up and working. Check out our newest words each weeks. Play games and have fun! Remember, you still need to be doing at least 4 activities each week!

http://www.spellingcity.com/lisanmcdonald/

Pumpkin Day!

Thank you all so much for your help with Pumpkin Day. It turned out to be a great success! Pictures from the day are below!

 

  

Dear Parents,

On Friday, October 29^th, we will be exploring pumpkins through hands-on activities.  I will need 4-6 volunteers. A sign-up sheet will be outside my door for both volunteers and supplies. If you can bring anything or join us on Friday, please sign up ASAP!

Parents will work with groups of students using pumpkins and exploring math, science, art, and more!

Materials Requested

4 sharp knives (for cutting open the pumpkins)

5 large pumpkins

3 medium pumpkins

3 small (hand-size pumpkin) they will be for floating

Wet naps for cleaning up

5 Plastic table cloths for covering the tables

5 cookie sheets covered with foil to collect seeds

Our Pumpkin Festivities will begin in the morning, and volunteers are requested to be here at 12:50 for set-up.

1:20-2:45 Pumpkin Activities!!

Pumpkin Day Schedule

8:30-9:30- Friday Tests

9:30-11:00- PUMPKIN ACTIVITIES

11:05-11:35- Recess

11:40-12:25- Ancillary

12:42-1:12- Lunch

1:20-2:45- PUMPKIN ACTIVITIES (Volunteers)

We also request a few pumpkin treats to eat during the activities. Some suggestions may be (but are not limited to) pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread/pie, etc.

If you feel like bringing extra pumpkins of varying sizes/ colors, that would be wonderful for observations.

Thank you in advance for all the help and participation!

-Mrs. Mackey

Technology...

I wanted to appologize about the lack of communication we have had this week. Since the HISD system was down, everything has seemed difficult. It shows we really depend on technology in this day and age.

Spelling Words

This week you are NOT required to turn in Spelling Homework. We have been doing an AWESOME job and the class deserves a break this week. If all goes well, we will shift to online Spelling Homework. You can try it out this week if you would like.

Go to the link http://www.spellingcity.com/ and either type in your Spelling words or search for your teacher.

(This week look up Mrs. Muster's Class)

Story Telling Dolls

News and Updates

Classroom News

October 4
2nd Week in LDC
October 8
Ribbon Cutting for Garden 9:00AM
October 19
Water Experiment Day
October 21
Water Lady Visit 1:45
October 23
Spooky Spaghetti
October 28
Main Street Field Trip
October 29
Pumpkin Math

Update!

What is going on in Ms. McDonald’s Class

We have just finished up our Communities Planner and are moving into Water.

The Communities Unit was a great learning experience. We did things like create our own city named Twainsville, write stories about it, create Story-telling Cultural Dolls, and learned about natural resources in the environment that allow communities to grow. We also talked about Houston and the History being the wonderful community we are all a part of. We discussed how communities change and why location plays a part in where people begin settling a community. Thus, the REGIONS test. And now we are on the last Region, the Midwest Region.

The Regions will continue into the Water Planner (not the tests though J) and we will learn about water supply not only in the regions of the Unites States, but all around the world. The Water planner is an action packed unit and we will be having a Water Day, learning from the WaterWise Lady, and doing many fun and exciting experiments. As with all the planners, at the end of the Unit, we will have a Summative Assessment that ties everything together and we see what we have learned as a class. This summative will most likely be on November  12^th.

As for what is going on in class on a daily basis, make sure you are checking your students planner as they should be writing a lot of information.

Remember:

Planners are to be signed every Tuesday Night.

Reading Logs are to be signed.

Homework is still our Reading Log and Spelling Work.

*We are going to hold off on Renzulli for a while as I am looking into some other online Homework options!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

-Ms. McDonald

Weather Report Website

http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/climate/climate.html

This is a good website to use when you are looking for the weather report for your region.

BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!!

The regions are different then the ones we are studying in class!!!!!!

USE the region you are assigned in class, not the one on the website!!!

Class Photo

Here is our wonderful Class!!

Frayer Model

Somw parents have been asking about the Frayer Model with reguards to the Spelling Homework. I found a good website explaining it; http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/frayer.htm

I have also attached an example so you can see what I have shown the kids in class. Feel free to ask any questions!

Spelling Homework, and NOW- Reading Log

Great Job on our first week of Spelling Homework! There are a few things I would like you to know for this week's homework.

Make sure you are putting a title so I know which activity you have completed.
PLEASE put your name on your homework.

Make sure your paper is set up in the correct format. 




Starting this week we will have our Reading log! Please sign (initial)  and return everyday.

Our First Week

This week has been an exciting start  to the new year. We should already be proud of our accomplishments! Our Class of Monkeys have begun to develop a wonderful community and work great as a team.

A few points of interest!

-The weather in our classroom seems to change a lot. I would suggest a light jacket for your student to keep at their desk!

-Remember we have a snack time since our lunch is late in the day. 

-And a note from the principle:

Dear Parents:

In order to ensure a safe and orderly dismissal and so that we can account for every child, we respectfully ask all children in grades 1 through 5 be picked up from the cafeteria only. Kindergarten parents may pick up at the classroom at 2:45. If you arrive at school before 2:45, you must get a visitors’ badge from the front office and wait for your children in the cafeteria, front rotunda, or outside unless you are going to Kindergarten at 2:45.This will ensure that teachers know the whereabouts of all children at all times. Thank you for helping us keep your children safe.


John Baker

And today is Friday. We are looking at out blog!