Thursday Book Talks

Thursday Book Talk

The Book Talk is based on a favorite book the students have read this year, which is grade-level appropriate.  Book Talk points are assigned by the book’s difficulty level, so the book must be approved by Mrs. Hoffman in advanced; bring it by for approval a few weeks ahead of the scheduled speech time.

To see when your child's Book Talk is scheduled click the "Class Calendar" in the top right hand side of the blog. 

Assignment Parts:

 1.      Glogster Presentation:  A presentation must be included in your talk.  It must be in addition to your speech, not repeating everything that you are saying.  Attractive design and attention-getting details are important.  Use at least 2 pictures or clips within your presentation that connect to the book.  The scanner, digital camera, and clips from the computers are available.  Include the title (underlined) and the author of the book in your presentation (title page).  This must be saved to a flash drive for the presentation, just in case internet is not working. Students have logins and passwords and have been on Glogster during computers at school. 

Glogster link: Click login in the top right hand corner to login.

2.Outline:  The outline must be turned in before the speech.  It must be typed from the computer. (See example page)
      Start with a great lead statement
      Give a 1-5 sentence summary of the entire book
Part Two:  The Body

3.Talk:  Explain what the book is about (quickly) and your response to it.  Follow your memorized outline.  Practice your talk so that it can be given comfortably without any notes.  The talk itself should be approximately 10-15 minutes.  Since you will create a 5 section outline, use this format.

Part One:  The Introduction

      Make sure to mention the title and author

      Describe the setting

      Describe the main characters and how that character might have changed

      Describe other characters that are important to the main theme and plot

Part Three: Describe the problem of the story and how the main character goes about solving the problem.

      What is the theme and message of the story?

Part Four:  The conclusion

Does the book have any relevance to your life?

Why should someone read it (why was it your favorite)?

Part Five: Read a descriptive passage from your book. 

Where does it fit in your speech? Comment on why you chose that passage.

Click here to view the Book Talk documnets: example outline and scoring rubric

Allergy Awareness!

Dear Parents:

A student in our class, David, has a life threatening peanut allergy. This means that this David’s allergy can cause him to go into anaphylactic shock.

We need your help in order to create an “allergy aware” classroom.

Here’s what you can do to help:

1. Avoid sending foods for the afternoon snack which contain nuts or peanut butter.

2. Check the classroom snack guide before bringing in classroom treats to share.

Below is a link with the pre-approved list of safe snack items that can be used as a guide of what to bring in the classroom.  David’s mom’s contact information is included on the snack guide, as well. You are more than welcome to contact her with any questions or to talk about snacks that are not listed. (Jane's number is #541-405-5574  Her e-mail is janeanneowen@gmail.com)

3.  Before sending in any type of classroom treats (for birthdays or special events), please contact me ahead of time so we can ensure the treat is safe for everyone.

Thank you in advance for helping us keep the classroom safe and healthy for all of our students.

If you have any questions, contact me at any time.

Pre-Approved Lists

Click here to view the pre-approved lists

Student Birthday Celebrations

Our energetic and excited students took a poll on Edmodo to see when in the month they would like to celebrate student birthdays. The result was at the end of the month. This means towards the end of each month we will have a brief celebration for students who had a birthday that month. In no way do I want parents to feel obligated to do something for their child's birthday. However, if you would like to send in a little treat for the class, Mrs. Jane Owen has graciously volunteered to coordinate these treats. As you may or may not know her son David has a pretty severe allergy to peanuts. She has provided us with very helpful tools when buying treats or baking treats for students with nut allergies. I will post some helpful pages about these soon. You may bring in treats that are not included on these lists, but please do not bring in anything containing peanut butter (ie. Reese's cups, peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter brownies etc.)

If you would like to contact Jane her e-mail is: JANEANNEOWEN@GMAIL.COM and phone number is 541-405-5574.

We will celebrate this Friday 2:30-3:00 for David, Bella, Abby and Eddie.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Dates: September 23rd- October 7th

The profits from our sale will fund our PE Teacher and technology for the classrooms. 

Make Checks payable to: Jerry Whitehead PFA

Collect Money at time of order: NO sales tax

Test Corrections

Tests can sometimes be a difficult task for students. The purpose of taking tests is for me to formally check in with the students to assess their progress. We are constantly doing informal assessments throughout the week, and these are not for grades. I want every child to be successful on the test. There are many different reasons why students may struggle with a test. If for some reason a student does not preform well they have a chance to make up the problems they missed for partial credit.  Students will ALWAYS be able to do test corrections (expect for their Project Presentations). They should do the corrections on a separate piece of paper, staple it do their test, and turn it in.

On the most recent Math fractions test, students will receive 1/2 of a point towards their original score for every answer they redo correctly.

It is the students responsibility to take the test home and do these corrections. Please feel free to e-mail if you have any questions.

Friday Speech Info.

Blow is a link to the three Friday Speech information pages. Directions page, Example outline, and Presentation Rubric.

Check the calendar on the right to check the date of your child's Friday Speech.

Friday Speech Information

Conference Week Info:

School Confrences will be the week of October 28 - November 1. I will be sending out a sign-up sheet this Friday. You will mark your top three choices of days/times. I will do my best to get you the time you want. If for some reason you are unable to come in we can work somthing else out. Also- if your son/daughter is in the afterschool program this is a note from Sparks Parks and Recreation. Good Morning Sparks Schools, As the Recreation Supervisor in charge of the before and after school programs, I would like to thank you for your support of our programs in your school. I also wanted to let you know that due to staffing challenges, there will be no after school program at your school during conference week, October 28 – November 1. We are notifying the current program participants but I wanted to make sure you were also informed. There will be a program at our Recreation Gym facility from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. during that week for parents that need a place for their child(ren). Parents will need to arrange for transportation to the facility if they wish to participate in this program. The before school program will operate as usual during this time. I am available during regular business hours at the number below should you have any questions or need to contact me for any reason. Thank you again for your support of our programs. Shauna Nelson Recreation Supervisor Sparks Parks & Recreation Department (775) 353-7815 (775) 353-2401 fax

SHARE- Information

There will be a parent preview night for SHARE (Sexuality, Health, And Responsibility Education) on Tuesday, October 22nd from 5:30-7:30 at Juniper Elementary. After the presentation Mrs. Elliott our school counselor, will be sending out parent permission slips so they the classes will be ready when she starts teaching. The dates we will be doing SHARE is 01/21-01/30.

Agenda Books

Agenda books are in. I know you have all seen them since I've stamped at least one of your signatures. Just a few quick reminders:

1. Students will need to read 20 minutes nightly, unless I sign that they don't need to read. There will be several ways the students will be held accountable for reading (book talks, book projects, class activities, Accelerated Reader, etc.)
2. Generally no assigned homework on the weekends, unless they are working on a Friday speech, Book Talk, or parts of a project.
3. Other Math, Reading, Science, and Social Studies homework is not assigned regularly. We do a lot in class, and most of it I want to scaffold for them. There will be times that they have Math pages for practice, Edmodo posting to interact with, or parts of a project to work on...but none of this is consistent so please make sure to look at the agenda books each night and sign them.

Let me know if you have any questions! I am here to help. :-)

Read Aloud Class/Family Activity

As 21st Century communication skills are an integral part of SWAS and the Common Core State Standards, we will be beginning a read aloud family journal based on the writings of Jim Trelease. Each week a different student will bring home the read aloud book Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud by Jim Trealease. After choosing a story and reading aloud as a family, each family will add a journal entry to the class read aloud journal. You are welcome to read past entries and share your feelings and thoughts about the stories you read together. I have completed the first entry with my own family as an example. It is very important that each student return the book and the journal on the Friday of the week they receive it so that every family may have an opportunity to enjoy this project. Family time becomes a lost concept as we rush around and try to maintain our busy lives, so take this time to connect with your family and enjoy the forgotten power of a story read aloud.

Important Parts of the Blog

There are several important parts of the blog you should know about:

 1. Class Calendar- Click this to see: What times are open for you to come in and help out in the class (if there isn't a note that says parent helper- then that day is open), when students have their Friday Speeches; when students have their book talks; when we are on break; when we have field trips etc.

2. Our class bookshelf. This shows you all the books we have read or are currently reading as a class. Please talk to your child about these books. You passion for what they are learning will make their learning more fun.

3. GT Parent Resources. If you feel like you'd like to know more about being a parent of a Gifted child please check out some of these resource. Espically the Washoe County School District, GT Parent Connection. This resource is at your fingertips right here in Reno. (more information about GT Parent Connection to come)

4. Follow by email. I will continue to send out emails letting you know I've updated the blog. But if you'd like a quicker notification that something new is on the blog just enter your email....on the right hand side under "Follow by email."

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything on the blog.