December 16, 2016 Weekly Update

Hi there!

We are getting close to Winter Break!

 Please remember the kids will have their winter party this Tuesday.  I will email times/details reminders on Monday.  We are looking forward to sharing a great time with friends and I want to thank everyone who has helped make this possible!

I also want to congratulate everyone on a spectacular musical performance on Thursday evening.  Our class did a great job in both the singing and speaking roles.  They also did a nice job in the audience as the BEU choir sang some holiday favorites.  What a nice inauguration for what will become a yearly tradition.

A quick update on the classroom:

Social Studies/Writing-  Students have completed their presentations on Missouri regions.  We learned about the rich farmland in the north, the dense forests and hills in the south, and the rolling plains in the west. Students practiced their parts and made interesting slideshows. 

Math-  We have completed our problem-solving unit.  I think the kids found it very challenging, as they were required to use multiplication to find the answers to division situations.  We worked extensively with partners, and the kids are learning to share ideas and solve problems together!

Reading-  As a treat, I am reading "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli.  This has been a favorite book of mine for years, and I can tell the students agree!  They just can't wait to see what happens to Maniac next!  Along the way, we are reviewing narrative elements, and next week we will experiment using our ipads to answer questions on Schoology!

I want to wish everyone a happy winter break.  I hope your time off is relaxing and full of cheer. See you in 2017! 

KM




 

December 9, 2016 Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all staying warm during this cold snap!  We have had a great week, and here are some of the things we have been learning in class:

Math-  Working in groups and problem solving have been the keys to our success in math this week.  The problems the kids are working through are division based, but they use multiplicatioin to  help the students understand the meaning of division.  They enjoy creating posters with their partners and showing them to  the other students!

Writing-  We are integrating writing and social studies as students are preparing presentations for the regions we have been researching.  Students took notes, made maps, and will be making a powerpoint presentation about their regions next week.  

Reading-  We are finishing up our read aloud book!  It has been so exciting, it's hard to imagine starting something else, but we will soon have to move on to another great story.  Stay tuned!


Before I go, I wanted to mention that we are having our class spelling bee next week.  I will send an email out soon with a reminder, but it will be held Tuesday afternoon.  I am encouraging all students to participate, so  I hope everyone can join in on the fun!

We'll see everyone at the musical on December 15th!  Take care, and winter break is approaching soon!

December 2, 2016 Weekly Update

Hello Families!

We are happy to be back from break, and I hope everyone enjoyed some much needed time off!

Here is a quick breakdown of the things we did in room 218 this past week:

Math-  We spent the week looking at a problem solving situation that gave us practice with multiplication, and introduced some important connections with division.

Reading-  We have started putting together a parts of speech interactive notebook.  So far, we have covered nouns and pronouns.  Next week, we will look at verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Social Studies-  We are researching the different regions of our state.  Next week, we will complete note-taking and work with groups to create a map of our region that shows landforms, economic products, and other features!

Spelling-  Students will be working on Sort 9 next week in spelling, and they will take the spelling test over sort 8 on Monday.  

I wanted to extend my thanks to everyone who helped contribute to our holiday feast before the break.  The kids really enjoyed it, and it would be a great tradition to start for our new school.  Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

November 18, 2016 Weekly Update

Welcome back from a busy couple of weeks.  Conference week seemed extra busy and hectic with all of the election drama going on!  It feels good to get back to a sense of calm before the holiday week has us rushing about all over again!

Speaking of conferences, I am thankful for meeting with everyone last week.  I appreciate you taking the time out to meet with me about your child's progress.  I am truly thankful to have this group of students in my class, and I will continue to do my best to keep them focused, engaged, and learning each day.

Thanksgiving Feast (for students)- Thank you to those parents who have agreed to donate a food item for our Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday, November 22nd.  The students are really excited to try all of the different traditional favorites!

Students will go to recess and lunch at the normal time, but they will be eating lunch in the classroom, not the cafeteria.

Here is a quick briefing of our busy week:

Math-  We are finishing up our lessons on two-digit by two-digit multiplication.  We took our unit test on Friday, and we will soon be looking at solving multiple-step problems! 

Reading-  We have been enjoying our reading of Jack's Run.  Everyone is so excited to see if Jack and Joanne will escape, and what will become of the family!  We have been studying the problem and solution pattern in stories.  In small groups, we are working on comprehension and accuracy.   

Social Studies- Next week, we will be starting our unit on Missouri regions.  Students will study the goegraphy, economy, resources, and cultural differences between the different regions of the state.  


Writing-  In writing, we will begin our unit on the informational essay.  Students took a pre-test based on the Lewis and Clark adventure, and we will learn and practice with a paper on the Missouri regions. In spelling, students continue to learn to spell based on prefix and suffix patterns, as well as short and long vowel patterns.  

I think that covers it for now.  I hope everyone has a very safe Thanksgiving, and you celebrate with the ones you care about!

KM

November 10, 2016 Weekly Update

Hi Families!

Just a quick update, since this is a busy conference week!  

We will be having our Grandparents Day celebration on Monday Nov. 14th.  We will have a presentation in the gym from 10:00 to 10:30, and then we will have classroom activity from 10:30 to 11:00.  

Also, I am looking forward to meeting parents at conferences tonight!  Remember, no school tomorrow!

I sent an email about our Thanksgiving feast on Nov. 22nd.  I was hoping to have parent volunteers provide "Thanksgiving" foods and we were going to have a little celebration in here.  If you can provide items, please email me and let me know what you could bring.  

I will update families on who has agreed to bring what as more responses come in.  

Have a great week, and a safe weekend!

KM

November 4 Weekly Update

Hello families!

We are excited to get the chance to meet with you during conferences next week!  Your child's report card will be sent home in folders, and I will have an extra copy on hand to discuss during our conference time.

Remember, there will be NO school on Tuesday Nov. 8 and Friday Nov. 11th!!!!!

A quick update of our week:

Writing-  We are working on getting our America papers drafted.  Students will be allowed to read their papers on Monday to the other fourth grade students, and the students will vote for the paper to be read at our Grandparents Day celebration on Nov. 14th!

Math- We have begun studying two-digit by two-digit multiplication!

Science-  We just finished up our unit on weathering and erosion!

Reading- We are getting to the exciting parts of Jack's Run!  We have also been talking about cause and effect, and especially how multiple effects can come from one event.

I think that's about it for this week.  Enjoy your weekend, and I look forward to meeting with you next week!

Fall Party Fun, Part 2

Fall Party Fun!

October 27, 2016 Update

Hello families!

A few things to share this week...

First, please see the conference date/time you were assigned on the confirmation form.  This form will be coming home in today's Friday folders.  I will also send a second form next week, just in case.  If you cannot make the assigned date/time, please call the main office as soon as possible so we can find a better time to meet.

Also, we want to say "Thank You" to everyone who helped make our Fall party such a great time!  We are so lucky to have supportive adults that are willing to give of their time to make sure the kids had a great celebration.

Here is a briefing of this past week's classroom happenings:

Math-  We just took our Topic 5 multiplication test, and we will be moving on to  double-digit multiplication!

Science-  We are finishing up our unit on weathering and erosion.  Next week, we will take a short assessment to see how much we have learned about these Earth processes.

Reading-  We are reviewing story elements.  We are really enjoying our new read-aloud book, Jack's Run.

Writing-  We are working on our "What America Means to Me" essays. Early this week, we brainstormed words that we relate to the idea of America, and how those words relate.  We will eventually be typing these essays!

I think that's about it for now.  Have a great weekend, and remember, there is no school on Monday!

Photos from Brown Bag Breakfast

Here are a few pictures from our recent event.  Thanks again for visiting our classroom!

October 21, 2016 update

Hello everyone!

We have been busy bees in room 218!  We just completed our Personal Narrative post-assessment, and we are working hard in ST math today.

Here are a couple of friendly reminders-

The Friday folders handed out today contain the parent conference forms for the fall.

A reminder that conferences are Monday Nov. 7 and Thursday Nov. 10.  The form sent home today has a space to put your preference of date and time, as well as a spot to list siblings that attend BEU.  If there are multiple family members, our administrators will help schedule those students to make it convenient for families with multiple conferences.

So, please look over the conference form carefully and return it on Monday with your date/time preference.

Here is a quick rundown of our past week in room 218:

Writing-  We have finished our personal narrative essays, and we will be moving on to a theme writing about "What America Means to Me" next week. This theme is to prepare for the Grandparents Day event on November 14.   More to come on that soon.

Math-  We continue to work with multi-digit multiplication, and we worked on a very challenging chicken nuggets lesson on Thursday!  Next week, we will begin reviewing and have the Topic 5 test.

Reading-  THis week, we continued to study how we can make inferences and predictions based on what the text says along with our background information.  Next week, we will go back and review character traits.

Science-  We have been able to start reading in our new Science textbooks!  We have read some great information on erosion and weathering, and the pictures in the book are just stunning!



Have a great weekend, and please return the conference forms in the folders Monday!  Thank you!

October 14, 2016 Weekly Update

Hi everyone, and I hope this week has been a good one!

I first want to say "Thank You" to those who were able to attend our "Brown Bag" event Friday morning!  It really helped the kids show off their finished personal narratives in style!  We appreciate you taking the time out of your day to share this first annual event!

We were also treated to a healthy snack and lesson on advertising from the Columbia Public Schools Nutrition Department!  The kids really liked the sunflower "peanut" butter and crackers!

Besides our recent classroom events, we have been busy as usual this past week! Here is a brief summary of events:

Writing-  The kids are feeling quite accomplished, as we have published our first writing piece of the year!  They worked hard editing, revising, and putting the finishing touches on their personal narratives.  I am happy to see that students added details, dialogue, theme.  They also read over their work, figured out which text needs to be added or removed, and organized their work into paragraphs that follow a logical narrative sequence.  

Math-  This week, we began looking at 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication!  We are starting off by looking at the relationship between our basic facts and larger multiplication problems.  We ended the week working on estimating and breaking apart numbers.  
Reading-  We have been reviewing how to make inferences, predictions, and using context clues!  We took a practice test on Friday, and we discussed the answers in small groups.  On Monday, we will take a reading assessment over inferencing to show off how much we have learned about these skills!

Science-  We have been talking about erosion and weathering.  On Thursday, we went outside to  observe the practices being used on our school property to prevent erosion.  We have also watched an educational video that detailed different types of erosion!

I think that's about it for this week.  I will post some pictures from 

Oct. 7, 2016 Morawitz Family Update

Hello all!

It has been yet another busy week of learning in room 218!

Check below for some of the highlieghts!

Writing-  We have been working on revising and editing our personal narrative drafts.  Next week, we will be publishing our final copies, and we are excited to share our hard work during our "Brown Bag" breakfast event on Friday!

Science-  We have begun exploring our unit on Earth Systems.  The first part of this unit focuses on erosion.  We have taken a walk outside and seen erosion/erosion prevention on our school grounds, and we have watched a cool Bill Nye video that explains the different ways in which erosion occurs.

Math-  We finished up Topic 3.  Topic 5 is our next unit, and this unit takes multiplication to 2 digit multiplied by 1 digit numbers!

Reading-  Last week, we came to the exciting conclusion of Zach's Lie!  Next week, we will be starting a new chapter book!  In Daily 5, we are focusing on inferencing/prediction and fluency and accuracy!

Well, I thinik that's about it for now.  Be sure to look in the Friday folder for the Brown Bag invitation, and we will see you on Friday!

KM

September 30, 2016 Morawitz Family Update

Hello Everyone!  Another busy week here at BEU!  We are going on  a field trip to the RBHS Planetarium on Wed. Oct. 5, so be on the lookout for the permission slip!

Here is a quick recap of the past week:

Math-  We are studying arrays and how they are related to repeated addition (multiplication).  We will be reviewing next week and having our test shortly after that.  I will send the review via email if students need extra practice!

Writing-  We are almost done with our personal narrative papers!  We have talked about adding dialogue to show rather than tell, and we have worked to develop a conclusion that fits the story.  We will be revising, editing, and publishing next week!

Reading-  We are talking about inferencing and predictions as we complete Zach's Lie.  The kids really love it!  

Daily 5-  We are working on fluency and accuracy, as well as comproehension skills.  We are working on our second word sort in our spelling unit, so make sure to get the weekly work finished!

Science-  We are working on a cool experiment with bread, water, and (hopefully) mold!  

I think that's about it for now.  We're excited for our field trip next week!  Enjoy your weekend!

September 23, 2016 Update

Hello families!

Here is a short blog post about all of the cool things we did this week!

Math-  We had an "Array Day" where kids went out and took pictures of arrays with their ipads to get us ready for multiplication!  We also played subtraction war, and took our Topic 2 test.

Writing-  We have spent time getting to "The Heart of the Story" and creating details.  We are also working on splitting our paper into it's organizational parts- introduction, rising action, climax, and conclusion.

Reading-  We are really enjoying Zach's Lie, and we have been talking about inferencing and making predictions!

Science-  We set up and discussed the importance of a science notebook, and we are talking about the steps of the scientific method!

Well, that's about it for now.  Until next week, have a great weekend!

KM

Morawitz Family Weekly Blog Update- September 16, 2016

Hello Everyone, and Happy Friday!

We are moving right along through the year, and I am so proud of the progress we are making not just as students, but as young citizens!  We typically get great reports in specials, and our kids are doing a great job following expectations in and out of the classroom this week!

Congratulations to our Friday  Superstar students of the past couple of weeks, Ethan and Isabelle!

This week's Friday Superstar student:  Kalin!

We have had such a great week of learning in room 218.  Here is a quick subject update from the week:

Math-  We are working hard with addition and subtraction of whole numbers to the thousands.  The subtraction across zeros can be tricky, so we have been working hard at it!

Reading- We continue to enjoy our read-aloud book, and we are using our interactive projector to learn about narrative elements.  

Writing- We have been working on focusing on small moments and adding detail to our personal narratives.  Next week, we will work through organizing and editing our drafts. 

Until next week,have a great weekend!  

September 9, 2016 Updatte

Hello everyone!

We have had a very busy week here at BEU!  The kids are working hard in math and reading, and we are learning a lot about US geography!  Plus, we are so excited to get our classroom ipads!  We will be able to work with so many cool learning applications!

Here is a quick update:

Writing-
We are redrafting our personal narrative essays, and focusing on leads and dialogue (showing not telling)

Math-
This week we will be adding and subtracting whole numbers.

Reading-
In reading, we have been studying story elements and characters.  We are also working on our Daily 5 expectations, and have added a "Read to Someone" option, which helps fluency and accuracy.

Social Studies-
Next week, we will have our quiz over the US states, continents and oceans, and Missouri features.

I think that's about it for now...we have scheduled a Planetarium visit in the near future, but I will have more on that as it gets a little closer.   See you next week, and enjoy your weekend.

Weekly Update September 2, 2016

Hello Everyone!

We have had a busy week here at BEU!  We are working on "planting" our seed ideas and watching them grow into beautiful personal narratives in writing!

In math, we just finished up our place value unit, and next week we will work on more complex operations. 

We continue to practice expectations for Daily 5 options in reading.  The kids really love our read-aloud book, Zack's Lie.  

We continue to review expectations for behaviors, and have done a nice job in the hallway, cafeteria, and at recess!

A copy of the newsletter for the week is included in the Friday folder. 

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend!  See you next week!

August 26 Update

Hello Morawitz Family!

We have had a busy week in room 218!  Here are some of the highlights:

Reading:

We took our DRA reading assessment this week.  I'm so proud of the students who put in their best effort to complete the assessment!  We are also continuing to build our reading stamina to prepare us for our Daily 5 options.


Math:

We have has a lot of fun learning about place value!  We have practiced problems and gotten to know our textbook a bit better, and we have had plenty of opportunities to learn through fun math games with manipulatives and computers!


Social Studies:

There is so much to learn about the 50 states!  This week, we have started mapping the different states to help us learn where they are.  We are also watching cool videos that tell us more about the resources and cultures in different regions of the U.S..


Writing:

We are spending a lot of time talking about personal narratives as well as reading sample narratives from real 4th and 5th grade students.  We have developed many ideas about what makes a good personal narrative, and next week we will begin working on developing our personal narrative ideas into rough drafts!

Mr. Morawitz's Classroom Newsletter August 19, 2016

The Morawitz Family Monitor

August 19, 2016

News and Positive Points

Welcome to a new year, new teacher, and a brand-new school!  My name is Mr. Morawitz.  I am currently embarking on my seventh year as a classroom teacher.  I have taught 5th grade all 6 years, and will be teaching my first year of 4th grade at Beulah Ralph!  I am looking forward to getting to know my students and their families as we progress throughout the year.  This section will typically have celebrations and achievements for our classroom, so keep this in mind as we begin the year!

Classroom Schedule

While our classroom schedule will occasionally change to meet the needs of the classroom or school-wide events, here is a convenient snapshot of our day:

8:20am- Morning Work

8:30am- Writing

9:30am- PBS/Science/SS/Health

9:50am- Read Aloud/Optional Recess time

10:10am- Specials

11:00am- Restroom Break

11:05am- Math

12:20pm- Recess/Lunch

1:05pm- Bathroom Break

1:10pm- Reading/Daily 5

3:05pm- Class Dojo point update/ Clean up/ Pack up

3:17pm- Dismissal 

Welcome Back!

Check this out!

BEU website

Here is a photo from our dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday!  Such an honor to be present at this event!