February = Black History Month

We have finished 103 days of school and have 77 days more to go. That's 58% of the school year. Only 42% of the school year left!

It is February and it is Black History Month! On February 25th, we will be having a Black History Month program at TWC from 12:30pm - 2:00pm. Mr. Napoli, Ms. Dimick, and our class will be doing a skit on The Temptations. We have been practicing for weeks! Ms. Dimick choreographed a dance for our classes and everyone will be singing a famous Temptations hit. You'll have to come and see what song is it for yourself! There will also be some props that the students made, as well as a brief history about The Temptations. It should be very entertaining, so please stop by and see your students hard work!

Each Tuesday, Mr. Napoli, Ms. Dimick, and I have been meeting with our 4th and 5th grade classes to talk about classroom expectations. We have allowed the students to discuss appropriate rules, expectations, procedures, consequences, and rewards. We have also spent time pointing out the positive things that we have seen coming from each classroom. I can say that for all three classes our hallway walking as seen major improvement, as well as the attitudes of many of our students! We are starting to see a positive change for many of our students after a month or so worth of meetings! I have been encouraging my students to really look at the big picture. Sure they may be in 4th or 5th grade right now, but they are starting to lay down their own foundation for future learning. Each student in this class will finish high school and go on to college! That is an expectation that I will have for them even after they leave my classroom.

Current classroom topics:

Math: Division

Health: The Media's Influence on our Lives

Science: Hypothesis and the Scientific Method

Writing: MyAccess.com and Narrative Writing

As always, we are constantly discussing and working on our body control and respect for others!

Remember: Next Thursday, February 25th is the Black History Program and next week starts our 3rd round of Benchmark Testing!

Donations and Days Off!

We have finished 84 days of school and have 96 days more to go. That's 47% of the school year. Only 53% of the school year left!

Since my last post, many great things have been happening in Room 117! Our wishes were granted over winter break and Room 117 received a few gifts. I let a few family and friends know that our classroom was lacking Kleenex and a pencil sharpener. Between my parents and my good friends, Alex and Kelly Statza, we now have an additional 33 boxes of Kleenex in our room! This should last us through the cold season! My grandma fulfilled our pencil sharpening needs with a brand new pencil sharpener! We are so thankful and the students made Thank You letters for everyone who donated. Also, Ms. Gianni, the TWC security guard, was very nice and donated a projector that was given to her to our classroom! The projector will be put into use next week and will allow a stronger connection to technology within our classroom.

Our classroom has been working very hard lately! I mean, VERY hard. Since the start of the school year, we have talked about "respect". Respect for our teachers, respect for our parents, respect for our classmates, and respect for ourselves! To ensure that we show respect within the Thurston Woods community, we have been practicing our classroom and school etiquette on a daily basis. After lunch, we have been working on our hallway procedures by walking around the school and attempting to be an inspiration to all the younger students. Throughout the day we discuss the expectations of the classroom and how it affects our ability to learn. We had a rough start but we are really starting to see results in ourselves! The students know that they must not let anyone be a distraction to them, inside or outside the classroom. I have set the bar very high for Room 117. They are going to meet and pass this bar before the end of the school year. Please feel free to discuss all of our classroom happenings with your child. I'd be more than willing to sit down and explain my expectations for your student!

Last week, we completed a really interesting unit on Probability in Math. The lessons were very hands-on and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The first day involved picking objects from a box. We discovered how to properly use the terms "likely", "unlikely", "certain", "possible", and "impossible". The second day involved using spinners to see if there is a better chance of landing on a piece if it is the same size as the other pieces. The third day I brought in a basketball hoop that Ms. Socha lent us. Thank you Ms. Socha! We talked about predictions and how they can be used in probability. I took a few shots and the students predicted how many I would make. The students took a few shots and we made predictions on their success. The final day involved flipping coins. Now the students quickly figured out that the probability is the same between heads and tails, but we thought creating some actual data by flipping coins would be best to prove this. The students seemed to gain a lot from this probability unit and it truly showed on their test scores!

Remember: No student attendance on Friday, January 22 and Monday, January 25!

Room 117 has runny noses!

We have finished 65 days of school and have 115 days more to go.That's 36% of the school year. Only 64% of the school year left!

It's official! Room 117 is out of Kleenex! I have had one student bring in an extra box of Kleenex since my earlier post about our low inventory. I will be sending home a letter encouraging you to stop and pick up a box or two for our classroom. I've seen some 99 cents sales at Walgreens and Walmart lately. Please consider donating to the Room 117 Runny Nose Foundation.

Recently we lost a very important member of our classroom: our pencil sharpener! In September, I put down a pretty penny on a heavy duty sharpener for our classroom. The students were using it on a daily basis with no problems. On Tuesday, December 1st, a student from our class accidentally dropped it on the ground, which resulted in its demise. I cannot afford a brand new sharpener at this time. If you could possibly provide your student with a small personal sharpener, they can usually be picked up for $1 at most.

Upcoming classroom topics:

Math: Fractions Greater than One
Health: Human Development (You will be receiving a letter outlining this unit!)
Writing: "Creating a New Candy Bar" paper via MyAccess.com
Science: Body Systems
Social Studies: TBD

As always, feel free to contact me for any reason. I'd love to discuss your student's performance and how we can work together to further their learning experience!

Remember: Winter Break starts on Wednesday, December 23rd!

New happenings in Room 117!

We have finished 55 days of school and have 125 days more to go.That's 30% of the school year. Only 70% of the school year left!

It's been a while since my last post, but we have been doing a lot in Room 117! We are continuing to work on our writing skills using MyAccess.com. I encourage you to work with your student on their writing at home. They can access this website on any computer. They are given multiple writing prompts to work on. In math, the students have been working on a multitude of ideas. We just started a unit on geometry. The ideas we have been focusing on range from polygons to angles to symmetry. The lessons have been very hands on!

On a daily basis, we continue to work on our classroom procedures. This includes lining up quietly, appropriately walking through the hallway, raising a hand to participate, and being respectful to your classmates and other adults. We are making significant progress! Hopefully by Christmas break we will be mastering all these simple procedures! Please feel free to speak with your student about the importance of these procedures, since without them we tend to waste a lot of classtime!

I posted this in an earlier post, but Room 117's supply of Kleenex is getting dangerously low!
Winter is around the corner and drippy noses are sure to follow. Please send your student with a box of Kleenex to school sometime before our Christmas break!

As always feel free to contact me about your student and their performance. The classroom door is always open(figuratively), so come on in and observe your student some time!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Remember: No school on Thursday/Friday, November 26/27.

Planners and Tissue Paper!

We have finished 36 days of school and have 144 days more to go.
That's 20% of the school year. Only 80% of the school year left!

Just a quick update for all the parents. Please be on the lookout for your student's planner!
He/she will be bringing it home every day after school to show you their homework for the day. I will be signing at the bottom of each day to make sure they wrote down their assignments. Please make sure you also sign their planners each day so I know they are making it home.
This will be a great tool for you to see what we are doing in class on a daily basis, as well as a communication tool for us as there is an area to write any notes. Please feel free to ask any questions about your student in that area. Our goal is to have a 100% planner usage rate by November 6th.

As the weather gets more dreary each day, many of our students have been coming down with colds. This has meant an increase in tissue usage to almost a box every two days! I asked everyone to bring in two boxes at the start of the school year. Unfortunately not everyone was able to do this. Our supply is down to about only 5 more boxes! I will not be able to front the cost for new tissue boxes throughout the winter season. If you are willing to help out, please feel free to send your student to school with another box or two of tissue paper whenever you can. Otherwise, providing your student with a small bag of tissues for their own personal use would not be a bad idea!

Remember: No school on Thursday and Friday next week! October 29th and 30th!

Fields Trips, Students are Super, and more

We have finished 33 days of school and have 147 days more to go.

That's 18% of the school year. Only 82% of the school year left!

Last week Thurston Woods Campus and Room 117 opened its doors for Parent-Teacher Conferences. There was quite a turnout with over 60% of Room 117's parents showing up. I am always open to updating parents on their students performance, so please feel free to contact me at your convenience. If I did not get to meet with you last week, I will do my best to contact you by the end of the month!

Our class went on two field trips since my last update. On October 8th, Ms. Dimick's 5th grade class and Room 117's 4th/5th graders went to the Survive Alive House. It was located at 2059 South 20th Street. More information about the Survive Alive House can be found out here: http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/router.asp?docid=2901. The students met with real firefighters from the Milwaukee Fire Department. They were given an opportunity to watch videos, ask questions, and reenact an actual house fire. The students learned a lot about fire safety and hopefully will be taking their fire safety tips home to their families. Also on October 15th, Ms. Dimick's class, Mr. Napoli's 4th grade class, and Room 117 went on a fun field trip to Niemen's Market in Cedarburg. The weather did not exactly cooperate, but it made for a unique experience for everyone! It was raining throughout the day with temperatures in the low 40's. Everyone got a little bit muddy, but that's why washing machines were invented. The students were given a chance to pick a bag full of apples, pick a small pumpkin, watch a play on Johnny Appleseed, go through a corn maze, and meet a few animals. The ride back was quite wet for all of us, but I think we all enjoyed the experience at Niemen's Market. Pictures were posted above. More information on the orchard can be found at : http://www.savorwisconsin.com/alllistings/detail.asp?recordid=1219&table=producer.

I would also like to congratulate Vershawn and Lamont for being nominated for the Students are Super program last month! They received t-shirts and recognition over the PA system by Miss Kalagian, our building principal. These students were chosen because they showed outstanding achievement in the classroom, as well as their ability to show respect to their peers and adults within Thurston Woods Campus. Congratulations Vershawn and Lamont!

Math Olympics, Pizza, and more

We have finished 18 days of school and have 162 days more to go.

That's 10% of the school year. Only 90% of the school year left!

The Math Olympics took place this morning from 9 - 11 am in the cafeteria and art room. I believe Room 117 had the best turnout in the school! It was great to see many familiar faces enjoying all the math games and activities being offered. We will all be thanking Semetria this week, since her name was picked from the Pizza Combination game. This means Room 117 will be getting a pizza party in the near future! Thanks Semetria and everyone else for participating in that game!

A quick reminder that Thurston Woods is having an Open House from 6 - 8 pm on Thursday, October 1st. It would be great to see a large turnout for our classroom. This will be a good chance to see where your student is learning on a daily basis. I will also be more than willing to answer any questions about the curriculum and/or your student's performance.

Finally, I am going to attach the most recent Parent Letter and as always please feel free to call/email me with any questions or concerns!

Thurston Woods Campus

Room 117 – Grade 4/5

Mr. Pipkorn

Email: pipkordj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Phone: 414-430-1937

Dear Parents and/or Guardians of Room 117 Students,

I’d like to update you on our classroom’s rules and consequences in this letter. We have been doing a lot of great learning, but often rules can be broken during instruction and the consequences need to be enforced. I’d just like to make sure you understand how our classroom works, so there is no confusion if I contact you in the future about your student’s performance.

We have six rules in our classroom: 1) Talk at appropriate times using appropriate language, 2) Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself, 3) Stay in your seat, 4) Be respectful to your neighbors, your teacher, and yourself, 5) Stay on task and be ready to transition quickly and quietly, and (6) Be a team player!

We have four consequences in our classroom: 1) 2-3 Verbal Warnings, (2) 5 minutes of recess time with me, (3) entire recess with me (4) phone call home/referral.

Please talk with your student about the classroom rules. They should almost know them by heart, but unfortunately they can sometimes be forgotten.

Also, remember there is a classroom blog: www.mrpipkorn117.blogspot.com

Thanks,

Mr. Pipkorn