January 22, 2012: If you've been trying to access your grades online, you've probably noticed that the link isn't working. The school district started having problems with the server last week and it is still down. They hope to have the server up and running as soon as possible.

January 13, 2012: There will be no school on the 16th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We did discuss this holiday in class, as well as the reasons why we celebrate it. You may want to have a discussion with your child about human rights and equality.

Our Super Activity will be sometime in the next two weeks. The students who have earned the activity are going to take part in planning exactly what type of activity it will be. A note will come home with your child in regards to this event (if they have earned it) and will let you know the details. I am thinking it will take place on either Friday the 20th or 27th.

Before we know it, the Hope of America presentation will be upon us. To help prepare for this, we have been learning the words of the songs and the accompanying actions here at school. I have provided a link on the class webpage (the photo of the boy with the American flag) that will take students to the practice videos I have uploaded, and a page of mp3 versions of the songs so that they may download them to a computer or other device to practice.

Please make sure that you are reading with your kids on a daily basis. One of the best ways in which to become a better reader is simply to read. The more often they do this, the better they will get.

January 6, 2012: This week we’ve been learning about adding fractions with the same—and different—denominators in math. We will continue going over these and working on subtraction as well. We will also be working on adding and subtracting mixed numbers soon.

Next week we will be having our literature responses. These responses will take place on Wednesday and will be the same type as the last set. The students should still have copies of their previous ‘stand alone’ rubric to get ready for this response. Additionally, they should take into consideration the suggestions their classmates gave them as to things that they did well, or things they could improve on.

We will be having Market Day on Thursday of next week. If your child would like to be a vendor, they need to return the vendor’s license with your signature on it to indicate your permission. Just as a reminder, homemade food items should not be brought to school.

There will be no school on the 16th due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In class we discussed the reasons why we celebrate this holiday. We also have had some fantastic discussions about treating others with respect and being kind to everyone. You might want to ask your kids about the video we watched on Thursday, A Classroom Divided. Please remind your kids that this holiday isn’t just a day we don’t have to go work or school, but it’s to help us remember those who’ve fought for human equality.

Please make sure that you’re reading daily with your kids and helping them with their assignments as they need it. The time you spend now will be more powerful than you might ever realize.

December 21, 2011: The 5th grade's performance of "I Want an Alien for Christmas" yesterday was pretty awesome...

If you'd like, you can view a video of it on our Facebook fan page. 

Don't forget that the students will have their next literature response one week after coming back from Christmas break. Please make sure they finish their book and begin work on their project before the due date. The project type will again be a 'stand alone' response.

Reading hours will be due on the Friday we get back to school - January 6th.

December 20, 2011: Don't forget that tomorrow we'll have 12:30 release. Also, our Christmas Sing-In will start at 9:00.

Just as a final note, the Mystery Page has been updated...

December 16, 2011: Next week will be a short one. We will be getting out of school for Christmas break on Wednesday. Usually our early out days are at 1:30, but this Wednesday it will be at 12:30.

Our class Christmas party will be on Wednesday, and we will be having a gift exchange. If your child would like to take part in this exchange, please have them bring a gift (try not to spend over $5) and have them bring it—wrapped—to the classroom on Wednesday. I do ask that the gift is not a ‘white elephant’ type of present. If your child is unable to bring in a gift, please let me know beforehand and arrangements will be made for them so they can still take part in the activity.

Our ‘stand alone’ literature responses were fantastic overall! The kids really enjoyed presenting their projects this way; therefore, we will be having a few more responses like this. Our next literature response, which will also be a stand-alone, will be the week after we get back from Christmas break; they will either be on the 11th or 12th of January (they have approximately 3 ½ weeks from now to be ready).

There are a few photos on the class Facebook page from events of this year. If you are interested in seeing these photos, you can follow the link here on the class website. I will be adding more images as the year goes on and as I have the time to do so.

December 9, 2011: Thanks to all of you who made it out to the Read-A-Thon this week. It was wonderful to have you in the classroom and reading with the kids. Please remember to read with your kids on a daily basis; also, never forget that it’s never too early (or late) to start reading with them. The red sheet that came home a few days ago with your child outlines some of the items I shared right before the Read-A-Thon.

Literature responses will be this next Thursday. Don’t forget that this response is a ‘stand alone’ project. Your child received a rubric a week or two ago outlining what is expected, and we discussed this in class. If you have any questions about this particular response, please feel free to email or send a note to school with your child.

Please make sure that you’re going over your child’s homework with them each day. Additionally, checking their grades online is an excellent way to see how they’re doing overall. This also lets you know if they’re turning in their work on time. You can access their scores via the top links on every page of the class website; your child knows how to log in to check (and can show you) if you’ve not done this before.

This week we learned a lot about the early history of the North and South American continents—as well as early explorers. Also, we began to learn about the American Revolution this week. Feel free to ask your child about the things they learned in regards to the history of our country.

Next week will be White Ribbon Week. The purpose of this week is to make students aware of the importance of staying safe online. Monday’s theme reminds us to not view, post, or pass along embarrassing information about others. In a world where digital forums and social networking sites exist like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, it is important to make kids aware that posting information about others which is not kind is just as bad as talking about the person directly to others. In fact—in many ways—this is even worse because this information can be viewed by an unknown (but possibly huge) group of people. Please talk to your kids about this if they use any of these (or any other) forms of digital communication. We need to remember that being nice never is outdated, nor does it ever go out of style.

December 7, 2011: Don't forget that tomorrow morning (8:40 - 9:15) is the Read-A-Thon; students may wear their pajamas to school if they'd like.

December 2, 2011: This week has been exceptionally busy. We have been working on a lot of concepts—as well as reviewing those we’ve already studied. We started to learn about similes and metaphors, and will continue to do so into the next week or two.

Your child should be brining home an invitation for the Read-A-Thon next week; it will be held on Thursday from 8:40 a.m. until 9:15. This event will take place in our classroom, and I’d love for you to come and read with your child if you are able to do so. The forms your child is bringing home have all of the information you need to know about this event.

Students will be having literature responses in two weeks; this response will be a ‘stand alone’ project. Your child received a rubric two days ago outlining what is expected in the project and we discussed this in class. If you have any questions about this particular response, please feel free to email or send a note to school with your child.

The Provo School District has encouraged teachers to create a Facebook page for their classroom. Classroom of Chaos has had a page for quite some time, and I usually add student photos the year they graduate from high school. This year I’d like to start adding in student photos from this year, but I may only do this with parent permission. I will not identify your child by name in the description nor will I tag them in the shots. Please sign the space on the Weekly Evaluation to indicate your permission (or non-permission) to post images.

November 24, 2011: Just two short videos to show you a bit of where I am. I hope you're all enjoying your break, reading for your literature response, and having a great Thanksgiving.

Mr. Z

November 18, 2011: Thanks for coming in for SEP Conferences yesterday; I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to go over your child’s progress with me. I am sending an updated copy of your child’s plan home with them today so you are aware of their updated scores and goals. If you were unable to come in at your scheduled time, please contact me after the break to set up a time.

Next week will only be two days because of Thanksgiving holiday. Because of this, I will be out of town visiting relatives and will have a substitute. If you need to contact me during this time, you may do so via email. I will still be checking fairly regularly, but it may take me a day or to longer to get back to you.

Our next literature response will be a choice as for book genre. However, their project type will be ‘stand alone.’ This means everyone will need have a project that will represent their book without any type of oral presentation in front of the class. All students will set up their ‘projects’ on their desks and rate others’ work based on a rubric I will provide after the break. Their project will need to represent the book and let others know what it’s about completely on it’s own. Students should be using this time to read over their book before the project is due.

November 11, 2011: Literature responses are next week; your child signed up to go today, and the schedule is listed below:

The students should have a QUALITY project put together that represents their book in a way and which will encourage others to read it—additionally, they should have a completely filled out form. Several students are still not ready for their responses at their scheduled times…even after four weeks’ notice. Please make sure that your child is fully prepared before their scheduled time.

This week I noticed that several students were not writing their homework assignments in their planners correctly. Since the class president had been doing planner checks, I had not been aware that students were not writing these down like they’d been told to. I will be doing planner checks from this point to insure that their assignments are written down as they should.

SEP Conferences will be on Thursday of this week. If you cannot make your scheduled time, please let me know as soon as possible and check the open times listed below. It’s possible that you and your child may be moved to one of these open times. The sooner I know you need one of these times, the sooner I can move you. led for next and times have have been posted below, please consult with this schedule and let me know what time you’d like. I try to keep the online schedule updated and this is generally the best route to see what is still available.

November 4, 2011: Literature responses will be in a little over a week; the genre for this month is nonfiction. Your child should already be reading their book and working on their project. We have talked quite a bit on making sure that the final project is related to the book and their presentation lasts more than 30 seconds. One of the purposes of the responses (besides opening your child’s eyes to new types of literature) is to try to persuade the class to read the book they’re presenting. If their project/presentation is shoddy or thrown together at the last minute, it will not meet one of the purposes of the assignment. Please make sure that your child presents their response to you before they present it to the class the week of the 14th to make sure that it is quality work and that they are fully prepared.

Since we’ve been working on summarizing texts for the past two weeks (as well as topic and supporting sentences) for the journal entry this weekend, your child is to either summarize the Thought of the Month or write a response to it—their choice. We read over and discussed the thought during class today. Also, they will need to have the poem, The Builder, memorized by Friday of next week.

SEP Conferences will be on the 17th and 18th; a note will come home to you soon with your scheduled time (this will be posted here on the class website as well). This will be time to discuss your child’s academic progress up to this point: their reading levels, fluency, and how well they’re doing in math. This will also be a time to discuss the goals they set at the start of the year and change them if they have been completed.

October 27, 2011: Today's Maturation Program has been moved to 1:00 due to the presenter needing to come a bit sooner than originally planned. Your child should have called you about this change earlier today.

Our Scholastic book orders are due tomorrow. The online catalog deadline is on Saturday the 29th and there are quite a few more catalogs available ordering this route.

October 19, 2011: Literature responses will be the week we return from Fall Break (remember that there is no school tomorrow or Friday). Your child signed up today and wrote down the day on their Weekly Evaluation. You can also view this time on the schedule below. Please make sure they have read their book, completely filled out their form, and have an original, quality project to share with the class on the day they are to present.

Maturation will be on Thursday the 27th at 2:00; a permission form should be stapled to your child's evaluation, please fill it out and sign it. You are more than welcome to attend with your child should you choose to do so.

If your child has an 85% in the regular classroom and in the math class for term one next week, they will be eligible to attend the Super Activity next Friday. A note will come home next week telling about the event if they made it. You are welcome to attend this activity with your child.

A list of your child’s missing assignments – if any – should be stapled to their evaluation.

Literature Response Schedule:

October 07, 2011: The deadline for ordering books through scholastic online will be tomorrow afternoon should you choose to still order any books utilizing the online system. If you decide to still order a class composite, you may still do so but a late fee will apply (see the order form for details).

Next week is Spirit Week. Should students wish to take part in the festivities, the days will go as follow: Monday: Pajama Day. Tuesday: Silly Sock Day. Wednesday: Wacky Hair Day. Thursday: Wear Red Day. Friday: Team Jersey Day and the School Fun Run.

Wednesday of next week is National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day. If you’d like to come and have lunch with your child, please fill out the form on the back of the pink half sheet your child should have brought home so the lunchroom can plan for you—price of a school adult lunch is $2.75.

The following run-on sentences are listed on your child's Weekly Evaluation. Your child should be able to fix them by either breaking them into two complete sentences, or using a comma and a conjunction:

1. San Pablo Etla is on the edge of a valley Lupe’s father built their house on the mountainside.
2. Lupe found Pipiolo asleep inside an old shoe she saw greatness when he opened his eyes.
3. Pipiolo slipped into a cornfield Lupe followed him.

Though our next literature response isn’t for about two weeks, I would highly recommend having your child start reading their book now so they aren’t trying to put things together at the last minute.

A list of your child’s missing assignments—as of this morning if they have any—should be attached to their Weekly Evaluation

September 29, 2011: There is an order form coming home along with the Weekly Evaluation for the class photos; if you wanted to order a copy of these photos, the deadline will be next Friday.

On the Weekly Evaluation there is a letter your child will need to correct. There are 13 words that need to be capitalized and 6 missing commas. As part of the Weekly Evaluation, your child needs to find/correct these errors.

With the Fun Run coming up, the school had the kickoff assembly this afternoon. Your child should be bringing home some information in regards to it today. We also found out about a free resource for the kids to use called Champion Village. This is a fun, easy way for students to track their activities.

1. Click the hotlink above.
2. Create a free account by following the simple steps.
3. Check your email to activate.

Though our next literature response isn’t for about four weeks, I would highly recommend having your child start reading their book now so they aren’t trying to put things together at the last minute. Also, reading hours - as well as our Scholastic book order - are due next Friday. The online catalogs are a much better way to go about selecting books because you do have access to a much bigger variety of books to choose from (17 catalogs via the link above). Online orders may be submitted until Saturday the 8th.

A list of your child’s missing assignments—as of this morning if they have any—should be attached to their Weekly Evaluation.

Have a nice weekend.

September 23, 2011: This week we learned two different ways in which to combine sentences. These may be combined with a comma and a conjunction, or by simply adding in a semicolon between them. These combined sentences are called compound sentences. Have your child read the following paragraph. Your child needs to underline each compound sentence, and circle the conjunctions.

Thomas Pakenham has a very interesting job. He searches for fascinating trees. He takes many pictures of the trees, and he writes about their interesting “personalities.” Some of the trees are small, but some of the trees are quite large. The Montezuma cypress, for example, is 190 feet around. Mr. Pakenham hopes that his pictures will remind us not to take trees for granted.

We have been working on mode, median, mean, and range. We have also been reviewing division and what it entails. Feel free to give your child a few simple division problems to see how they’re doing. If they are still struggling with their times tables, they should be practicing these at home. If they memorize these facts, their math homework this year—and every year hereafter—will be much easier.

Though our next literature response isn’t for five weeks, I would highly recommend having your child select a book now and commence reading. Once-again, we had several students who were not ready or who threw together projects at the last minute because they put off their assignment until the last minute.

Don’t forget that Family Skate Night is tonight, and there will be no school on Monday.

Have a nice weekend. A list of your child’s missing assignments—as of this morning if they have any—should be attached to their Weekly Evaluation.

September 16, 2011: The Newbery Literature Response will be due next week, starting on Monday. The schedule is available below (and your child wrote thier day down). Also, as a class, the students decided on a few literature responses they did not want to see any more of; these responses are: 1. A last-minute drawn picture. 2. A retelling of the book or chapter as the project. 3. A project not related to the book. Please have your child utilize the list of ideas in their planner to help them come up with an appropriate project if they’ve not already done so. If they have lost this list, another may be downloaded from the Useful PDFs page.

This week we learned about simple and complete subjects as well as simple and complete predicates. Your child should be able to circle the simple subject and underline the simple predicate in the following four sentences:

1. Davy was an American frontiersman.
2. In 1832, he was elected to Congress.
3. Sally danced better than anyone else.
4. The President thanked him for the help.

We also learned about compound subjects and compound predicates. Your child should be able to mark which of the sentences is which with either an S or a P to show that it is a compound subject or predicate.

1. Sally and Davy were dancing.
2. The President paced and worried.
3. Our class lined up, and then waited for Mr. Z.
4. Joey and Becky went to the movies.

Your child should also be able to put the commas in the right place—because we also learned all about this, too.

1. We went down the hall to the library and into the office.
2. She brought pencils erasers papers and books to class.
3. It was a bright warm sunshiny day!
4. Joey is smart friendly and kind.

A list of your child’s missing assignments as of Thursday afternoon should be attached to their Weekly Evaluation.

September 9, 2011: Don’t forget that the Newbery Literature Response will be due a week from Monday. Students should already be reading their books and coming up with project ideas. Since we’ve already seen a slew of examples—some well-done and thought out while others were thrown together at the last minute (and they have a list of ideas in their planners) they should be able to come up with an appropriate, quality project for their book. The note at the front of their idea list in the planner should pretty well sum up what a project should be. If they have lost this list, another may be downloaded from the Useful PDFs page.

Since there were several students last time who—even two weeks after the report was due—still weren’t ready, I thought it would be a good idea for you and I to both know the Newbery book your child is currently reading and the project they are planning on doing for their report thus far. Your child should have listed the book they selected as well as their project idea on their Weekly Evaluation form. They should also have a list of their missing assignments attached to this form.

Your child will be bringing home a copy of the goal sheet we filled out during SEP conferences earlier this week on Monday. Please put this up somewhere in your home as a reminder of the goals they have set and as a reference. If this gets lost or ruined, and you need another copy, please let me know and another one will be sent home. If you have still not come in with your child to set goals, please contact me via email: jasonz@provo.edu or phone at the school: (801)- 370-4630 so that we may set up a time to do this.

September 2, 2011: There is no school on Monday due to Labor Day and students will be released at 1:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week because SEP Conferences. The schedule may be seen below; if you need to change your scheduled time for any reason, please let me know the slot you’d like to be moved to.

Though we’ve just begun the school year, there has already been a problem with a few students not completing assignments on time. As outlined in the class Survival Manual, assignments not completed on time will be scored as a zero. Please ensure that your child is getting their assignments done. Please check their grades online with the instructions I provided for you two weeks ago. The broken 'Grades' link above has been fixed. Any score your child has with a red mark indicates that it was late.

A general weekly outline for homework (for now) will be as follows:

Monday: A Vocabulary Poster (due Wednesday) a word problem, and a Math assignment.
Tuesday – Thursday: A word problem and a Math assignment.
Weekend: A word problem, a Math assignment, the Weekly Evaluation, & a journal entry.
Students are expected to read every night.

We will be taking a Spelling test at the end of each week; students are more than welcome to use the online games via Spelling City to practice their words from the class website if they would like.

We still have a few students missing forms or other items. If your child is missing any of these forms, they should have attached them to their Weekly Evaluation.

August 29, 2011: Students signed up to go for their Literature Responses on the following days:

Parents who signed up to be chaperons for the storytelling festival will get more information via a note sent home tomorrow with your child. Thanks for being willing to sign up and come along with us!

August 26, 2011: It has been a good first week. We started assessments for both Math and Reading; we will start our Writing assessment next week.

I apologize for the Weekly Evaluation which says that students signed up for a time to go on their Literature Response and that they have a list of response options in their planner. Due to the shortened days, we didn't get around to these items. The response options were completed and ready to go but are - unfortunately - sitting on the counter in the classroom. You may still download the list HERE or see them in the Survival Manual. Students will get the list on Monday.

Also, students will still be doing their responses next week. The following students signed up before leaving the classroom today; everyone else will sign up for the rest of the week on Monday. If your child would like to go on Monday, there are four slots still open.

Since students know they their responses are due next week, they should plan as if they were going on Tuesday or Wednesday because there is a good chance that these will be one of the days they will be going on...in other words, have them begin working on their response now and don't let them wait until next week to start. As a class we saw a few examples of responses, and we talked about having appropriate projects that fit with the book and those responses that do not do them justice.

SEP conferences are scheduled in two weeks, and the times you’ve signed up for have been posted below. If you have still not signed up for a time to come in, please consult with this schedule and let me know what time you’d like. I try to keep the online schedule updated and this is generally the best route to see what is still available.

We have been going over class rules as well as learning the ins and outs of what to expect during the school year. If you have not had a chance to read over the Survival Manual yet, please make sure that you do so as it will answer many of the questions you might still have.

We have a few students missing forms or other items. Your child should have written down what these items are and should be letting you know. Please make sure that these are handed in as soon as possible.

August 19, 2011: Below I have a list of times the students are scheduled for testing. Students will be dismissed at 1:30 each day so that I may meet with your child individually. Please make sure that you bring your child as the time you signed up for. If you are going to be late, please call the office (or send an email) to rechedule. If one person arrives late, it sets everyone else back

If you have still not yet signed up for a time, please contact me for one of the empty slots.

If you have not yet returned the forms from Back to School Night (or those from the envelope I brought by a week or two ago), please make sure you bring those back on the first day. School will start at 8:40 on Monday. Please feel free to bring your child directly to the classroom - we will go over the procedures of where to line up and all of that good stuff on the first day.

August 8, 2011: Welcome to our class website! I am so glad that you’re here. Take a few minutes to poke around and have a little fun. There are some great links and sites which will help you out throughout the year. If have educational webpages you use which could be added, don’t hesitate to let me know! Send me an email so that others can enjoy these educational beauties as well.

The reason you are here is probably because you have already received your scavenger hunt…don’t wait until the last minute to work on it; a few of the items have stumped students in the past. If you find yourself stuck and can’t find something, please send me an email for a hint.

But wait, where can you email me? Well, if I told you here it’d make item #1 on the scavenger hunt far too easy…look around; it’s on this site someplace.

I look forward to seeing you in the next few weeks.

Mr. Z

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