Day 37 Tuesday

Congratulations to all of our winners!  Check DOJO under Class Stories to view the presentation from our virtual awards ceremony.  I am so proud of all of you for your hard work this year!

Love,
Mrs. Ellis

Day 34 Thursday

Boys and girls, we will have our virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday at 7:30.  I hope you can make it!

Love,
Mrs. Ellis

Day 31 Monday

May the 4th be with you!

I hope you all had a good weekend!  Do your parents celebrate May 4th as a Star Wars Day?   (We really don't, but I've been seeing pictures all over facebook).  The picture above was probably Halloween, 2006.  Ephraim was Yoda, Matthew was Darth Vader, and Nathan was Anakin Skywalker.

Have a great day!  

Love, 

Mrs. Ellis

Day 30 Friday

Good morning, boys and girls!  I hope you have a great day today and this weekend!  I have a science assignment for you today...  if you are able to get outside in the next few days, look for signs of new life.  Tadpoles should be hatching, flowers are blooming, and birds and other animals have new babies.  These are some of the sights I've seen:

I found this bird nest in my backyard.  

I couldn't see any babies, so I think the Mom is still sitting on eggs.

I saw these baby ducks a few weeks ago.  

In the next picture, you will see that they already look like teenagers!

I miss you guys!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 29 Thursday

Good morning, boys and girls!  I want to let you know about the assignments on Reading Wonders this week. 

The spelling words for this week would have been words with syllables that have the Sneaky E spelling pattern.  Here's a reminder about Sneaky E:

Here are the words that would have been our spelling words this week:

The stories have a science theme (energy / power).  I assigned two stories that have AR quizzes.  I put the AR Quiz number in thee notes for each assignment.

Have a great day!

Love,
Mrs. Ellis

Day 28 Wednesday

Good morning, boys and girls!  I'm going to assign some lessons on fractions on IXL this week.  Here are a few videos to help you remember what you learned in 1st grade:

Have a great day!

Love,

 Mrs. Ellis

P.S. I'm going to put he link for my new read-aloud, Double Fudge, on the right.  

Day 25 - Friday

Have you had a chance to listen to the two chapter books I've read aloud to you?

They are really funny - I hope you are able tol listen to them!  The links are on the right under "pages."

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 24 - Thursday

Good morning, boys and girls!  Wow, it is raining really hard outside.  I love to listen to the sound of rain.  It reminds me of my grandparents' house when I was a little girl.  Their carport had a metal roof, and the rain was so LOUD.  It is a very relaxing sound to me now - good weather for taking a nap!

Have a great day!

Love,

Mrs. Ells

Day 23 Wednesday

Good morning, boys and girls!  This week's assignments on IXL are on shapes.  Log onto Brainpop Junior through Clever, and watch these videos to refresh your memory of shapes:

Plane Shapes

Solid Shapes

Congruent and Similar Shapes

Quadrilaterals

Polygons

Slides, Flips, and Turns

Have a great day!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 22 - Tuesday

Good morning, boys and girls!  I hope you are able to attend our Zoom meeting tonight at 7:30.  I didn't take a picture at our first class meeting, but this was a picture of last week's meeting:

I hope we can get everyone to join tonight! 

Tell your parents I will be sending them a private message with directions for signing on to the meeting! 

I miss you!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 21 - Monday

Good morning, boys and girls!  I hope you are all doing well after last night's flash flood warning.  The little lake behind my house flooded - this is my neighbor's yard.  I hope her dogs don't swim over the fence!

Have a great Monday!

Love,
Mrs. Ellis

Day 20 - ONLINE CELEBRATIONS!

I want to give a shout out to everyone that has been working really hard online!  

In Lexia, we had 2 people level up this week:  Baylee and Haleigh!

We have also had a lot of people working hard in Lexia to meet their time.  Kudos to :  Baylee, Mackenzie, Ja'Zariah, John, Haleigh, Anthony, Mason, and Cooper.

In Reading Wonders, we've had 3 people complete assignments:

• Olivia has completed some assignments.
• Lilyana and Haleigh completed all their assignments for this week.

Way to go, girls!

In IXL, we have had some really hard workers!

These students mastered skills in Science or Social Studies during the past week in IXL:  Alexander, Reggie, Dylan, Mackenzie, Ja'Zariah, John, Haleigh, Mason, Noah, and Cooper.

These students are already showing mastery on some skills in our new math topic (odd and even numbers) on IXL:  Baylee, Dylan, Mackenzie, Ja'Zariah, Alex, Haleigh, and Cooper.

Excellent, boys and girls!

In extra math, we have several students working hard!

These students have all logged on, taken their placement test, and are working on mastering their math facts for 3rd grade:  Baylee, Cooper, Ja'Zariah, Haleigh, Mackenzie, and Noah.

*Your Xtra Math log-on information is in your portfolio on DOJO.

AR Milestones:

I'm going up to the school (hopefully Monday) to get our AR poster with out progress towards milestones. I KNOW some students have been working REALLY hard on AR, and many have passed AR milestones.  I will announce those next week after I am able to get my poster from the school.

Have a great weekend!  

Love, 

Mrs. Ellis

Day 19 Thursday

Hey, boys and girls!  I hope you are having a good day.  I sure do miss you!

Today I wanted to talk about the spelling words we would have had if we were in school.  I have assigned some activities in Reading Wonders for you to practice.  Click on the Reading Wonders icon in clever, and you will find these activities under the "To Do" button (the green button with a check mark).

 Reading Wonders Icon on Clever

TO DO Button on Reading Wonders

This week's spelling words would have focused on the short e sound spelled "ea," the short u sound spelled "ou," and the short i sound spelled "y."  There are also 2 review words (small and chalk), and three sight words (instead, whole, and words).

Have a great day!

Love, 

Mrs. Ellis

Day 18 - Wednesday

Hey, boys and girls!  It was so great to talk to everyone last night. It was great to see Miss Fisher, too!

I have changed the assignments on IXL to work on recognizing even and odd numbers.  There are two ways to know:

1.  Check to see if a number can be divided into two equal parts.  See the video below for examples:

2.  Lilyana also told us last night:

• Even numbers end with 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8.
• Odd numbers end with 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9.

Remember the funny video by Scratch Garden where we counted by twos?  Counting by twos starting with 0 or 2 will tell you all of the even numbers.  Here's a link for that video:

I have also assigned new games in Reading Wonders for Unit 5 Week 5.  Check them out!

Have a great day!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 17 - Tuesday

Hello, Boys and Girls!

Don't forget our ZOOM meeting tonight (Tuesday night) at 7:00!  You can find the meeting ID number and password on DOJO. I want to check in with everyone and see how you are doing.  I've also invited some specials teachers and other staff to pop in and say "hello."

After we catch up with each other, I want to do a quick mini-lesson during our chat on odd and even numbers. You can prepare by clicking on the link below to watch this video on Brain Pop Junior:  (You will have to sign into Brainpop through clever to watch the video)

Brain Pop Junior: Even and Odd

I can't wait to see everyone tonight!  As our ice-breaker, plan to share a drawing.  It can be a drawing of anything you like!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 16 - Monday

Hello, Boys and Girls!  I hope everyone had a very happy Easter!  Since Nathan and Ephraim are teenagers, we had Easter pizza from Papa John's.  They were happy with that.  

Having teenagers is great, but I miss Easter Egg hunts!

This week is virtual spirit week at River Road.  Here is a list of our activities:

One you've drawn your funny picture of Mr. Bush, get a parent to take a picture of it and send it to me, and I'll share it with the class!

Noah's mom asked me this morning what you should be working on every day.  That was a very good question.  I know some of you are having trouble with technology, and that's ok.  These are the things I want you to do if you can:

EVERY DAY (Monday thru Friday)

• Read Mrs. Ellis' blog post every day.  (This counts as part of your 20 minutes).
• Read for 20 minutes every day.  Take an AR test if you can.
• Lexia - 15 minutes every day*
• Reading Wonders - complete 2 assignments every day until you finish each week's assignments.
• Listen to Mrs. Ellis read a chapter every day (link on the right)
• IXL - 15 minutes every day **
• Xtra Math - one lesson per day

(Add these after you pick up your NEW PACKETS);

• One reading comprehension passage per day.
• One math review page per day
• Write a little bit every day.

*If Lexia doesn't work on your device, replace that with either reading an extra book or work in your reading workbook for 15 minutes.

**If IXL doesn't work on your device, replace IXL with either the math workbook or completing a second Xtra math lesson.

Your total time spent on school work should take between 2 - 3 hours each day at the most.  

Our next ZOOM class meeting will be tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM.  I hope to see you then!  I'll send your parents the code for the meeting later today.

Have a great day!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 15 - Happy Easter!

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!  Here is a little picture joke I saw online that I thought would make you giggle:

I've assigned some things for you to do in Reading Wonders:

1.  Phonics Games for what would have been this week's spelling words:

                         Spelling Pattern:  Variant Vowels

ball                 paw        sauce          chalk          sought
small              jaw          pause          walk
                                     taught

Review words:  new, fruit
Sight Words to Spell:  city, own, read

*We won't have a spelling test, but you still need to practice these words.


2.  AR Books: (These do not have a recorded voice, so you might need help reading the questions if you are below level "N").

   The AR quiz number is 118996.

The AR quiz number is 913564.

The AR quiz Number is 913595.  

Have a very Happy Easter, and I will talk to you next week!  SAVE THE DATE for our next ZOOM meeting Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM.  

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 14 - Thursday

Hello, students!  As always, I miss you so much.  I wish we could see each other! 

The announcements haven't been posted yet.  I will send your parents a message when/if they are posted and add the link here.

I hope you have all had a chance to try Xtra Math.  This website will really help make sure you are ready for 3^rd grade.  Some of you are going to find it easy.  Others might find it hard.  For those of you that struggle to solve addition problems quickly, here is a video that might help you:

You can also find this video on the Math “How to” Videos link on the right under “Pages.”

I hope you are finding time to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.  I saw some baby ducks on a recent walk – they were so cute!

Some of you have finished listening to Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, so I am going to start posting chapters of the sequel, SuperFudge.  The link will be on the right under “Pages.”  Listen to find out what Fudge is up to when Peter is in the 5^th grade and Fudge turns 4!  (Make sure you finish listening to Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing first, though).

I miss you!

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 13 - Wednesday

Hi, boys and girls!  I hope you are doing well.

Click on the link below to view today's announcements.  (This link will only work today, so don't be frustrated if it doesn't work after Wednesday, April 18th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVg1F2mDVqk

I sent you an invitation (in your DOJO portfolio) to practice on the Xtra Math website today.  I wish we were in school to practice our math facts and move your number up on the Math Facts Masters board; but since we we're not, this will really help you get fast at your math facts and be ready for 3rd grade.  

You will need your parent's help to set up your Xtra math account.  Once you set it up, you will just need to complete one lesson per day (it will tell you when to stop).

I hope you are enjoying listening to the Chapter Book, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  The link is under "pages" on the right.  I have already started recording the sequel, Superfudge, and will begin to publish that soon..  Peter's little brother, Fudge, is so funny!

I miss you!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 12 (Tuesday)

Dear students,

Here is the link for today's announcements:

River Road Announcements

It was so good to see some of you and hear your voices last night!  That made my heart feel full!  I missed the ones that couldn't join us, though.  I hope we will have even more students join our next meeting.

I'm glad you are trying to make the best of this really strange time we are living in.  Do you know how many years it has been since the United States had to order a quarantine and cancel school?  It was over 100 years ago, in 1918.  I found some pictures online about that quarantine. 

This sign reminded workers not to spit because it might spread the flu.

Volunteers helped children who needed food.

There was no medicine for the Spanish flu, so they had to stay home just like us:

This is  sign telling what people had to do.

And guess what...  it worked!  The flu finally died out, and people were able to go back to work and school after staying home for awhile.  That will happen for us, too.  We just have to be patient.

Have a great day staying home!

Love, 

Mrs. Ellis

Day 11 - Welcome back from Spring Break!

Hey, boys and girls!  Welcome back from spring break!  

I'm sure this spring break was quite different from other spring breaks in your memory.  I know mine was.  Normally, I like to go on a trip at Spring Break, but I couldn't this year.  What about you?  Was this break different for you?

Here are some things I did over Spring Break this year:

1 - I finished reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing aloud for you - you can click on the link to the right to listen.  It was such a good book!

2 - I went for walks every day.  I stayed far away from other people, but I did manage to see a little bit of wildlife in the city park behind my house.  I saw turtles sunning themselves, which reminded me of the turtle in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Dribble.

3 - I found 2 baby yellow-bellied slider turtles swimming in my pool!  I discovered scooping turtles out of a swimming pool is a LOT easier than scoping frogs out.  Turtles move a lot slower, thank goodness!  Again, these turtles made me think of Peter's turtle, Dribble.

What did you do over spring break?

I hope you can join our online class meeting tonight (Monday May 6th at 7:30 PM).  I've sent your parents information on how to join on Class DOJO.  Plan for "show and tell" during the meeting - I'm going to let everyone have a turn to show something or tell about something that has happened since school got out.

I hope to see you tonight!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 10 - Happy Spring Break!

If we were still in school, today would be the last day before Spring Break.  We would be so happy! 

Since next week is Spring Break, you don't have to do any school work unless you just want to.  However, I will still be posting chapters of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing until I'm finished reading it.

Spring Break will look a lot different this year.  But if you look around, you might find some interesting things to see.  Tadpoles are hatching, and you will be able to see them swimming in creeks and ponds soon.  I saw a bird taking a bath in my swimming pool a couple of nights ago. 

Keep me posted on what you see!

Day 9

Good morning, boys and girls!  I hope you are having a great day so far!  Did you know you can still watch the announcements each day?  Go to the River Road Website (under "Helpful Links" on the right) to view the announcements every day.

Our first zoom video class meeting was a success!  Only a couple to students were able to join, but I really loved hearing from them.  I will schedule the next meeting at night so that hopefully more students will be able to join.

I uploaded another chapter of Tales of a Fourth Grade nothing this morning.  You won't believe what happened at Fudge's birthday party!  Click on Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing under "Pages" on the right to listen.

Have a great day!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 8

Good morning, boys and girls!  I sure do miss you! 

Do you remember the books you wrote just before we had to start staying home?

I know my cat doesn't look very impressed, but I sure was!  You all did a wonderful job on your books!

That would be something you could do right now, for fun!  Matthew used to write books when he was your age.  Remembering his books was why I decided to have you write books instead of just paragraphs with a picture. 

Matthew wrote stories about Star Wars in second grade.  The prequels with young Anakin Skywalker were in the movie theaters when he was your age, so Star Wars was a big thing in our house full of boys.  In third grade, be started playing Pokemon video games on his Nintendo Gameboy, and began writing comic strips about Pokemon.  He wrote hundreds of books!

What could you write about?

Now I know you don't have the printed pages like I gave you, but you don't need them!  You can use plain paper or notebook paper.  You can make a full-sized book or cut the paper in half.  I only have one warning, though:  Don't try to staple too many pages together.  Regular staplers will jam if you try to staple more than 5 pages.  Ask your parents before you staple how many pages are safe for your stapler. 

------------------------------------------------------

I've added Chapter 4 of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing... and you won't believe what Fudge did this time!  Click on the link to the right to find out!

Have a great day! 

Love,

Mrs. Ellis

Day 7

Good morning, boys and girls!  I hope you are all doing well!

I've moved our class plants in front of a window where they can get lots of light.

They haven't gotten a lot of light since they moved out of Room 10 on the first grade hall.  They really haven't grown all year.  What do you think will happen while they are getting all of this sunlight?

I've uploaded Chapter 3 of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - click on the link on the right to find out what Fudge has been up to in Chapter 3!

Day 6

Good morning, boys and girls!  I miss you so much!  I hope you are all doing well this morning!

What are some of the things you are doing to keep yourselves entertained?

Mr. Ellis and I have been walking in the morning and evenings.  I was hoping there would be some tadpoles in the stream that leads to the lake behind my house, but it must be a little to early for them.  I'm going to check every day and send you a picture when they begin to show up.

I was also hoping to be able to take a picture of turtles sunning themselves on the edge of the lake, but it must have been too cloudy for them to come out this weekend.  I'll send you a picture when I see them!

Speaking of turtles, I read Chapter 2 of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing last night and uploaded it.  Click on the link on the right to listen!

Love, Mrs. Ellis

Day 5 of Working From Home

Hello, boys and girls!  I miss you guys so much!  I hope you are all finding fun things to do while we are home, and I hope you are working on your school work!

Working from home is hard.  I've been trying to find ways for us to connect, and I'm hoping I've found a way!  Today, I logged onto a video chat with Mrs. Fugh, Miss Hinson, Mrs. Wooldridge, Mrs. Elliott, Mrs. Redmond, Mrs. Manderson, and some other teachers at River Road.  It was great to see everyone, even if it was only on the computer.  I'm working on doing something something like that for our class!  I need to test it out first, but hopefully our class can have a video chat next week!

You know, one of my favorite things in the world is reading books.  I LOVE children's books just as much as adult books!  When my kids were little and we had to take a long, boring car ride; I sometimes helped pass the time by reading a chapter book out loud.  Well, we don't have a long, boring trip to take....   but we might have some long days ahead.  I am going to read you one of my favorite chapter books, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.  I read several of the books in this series aloud to Nathan when he was in 1st grade.   Nathan loved the characters, especially the little brother, Fudge!

On the right side of this page (under "Pages"), there is a link labeled Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  Click on that link, and you will see the videos of me reading the book.  I'm going to read one chapter each day.  Come back to my blog often to hear the rest of the story!