november 30

I'm Back! Math homework is page 102 problems 1-25.

I am being kicked out of the building and there is no time to write more. Catch me tomorrow.

November 23

I am off to Texas! Mr. Griffith subbed today and the Homework assignment is page 99 problems 10-27.

Homework tomorrow will be (if all goes well with the sub...page 89 problems 1-7.)

There will be no Gillespie Gazette on Monday, the 29th...(I will be driving home from Texas!

Monday night homework will be page 101 problems 4-9

Happy Thanksgiving to ya'all (practicing my Texan lingo)

November 22

Gillespie Gazette...November 22

Blog address: www.gillespiegazette.blogspot.com

email address: anna.gillespie@jordan.k12.ut.us

School...446-3200
Cell...623-7625
Home...801-375-0024

Dear Parents,

We enjoyed cute London as our Student of the Week. She proved to be working on her SEP goal and that was fun to see.

I need to have any SEP goals that have not been turned in, to please do so. I have about six students that have not set their goals. Parents, please help your student to think of one goal they would like to work on during Second Term if you haven't done that and send it to me. I will make a copy and return a copy to you. Thanks to most of you that have done that.

Parent Letter #11 sent home and due on Thursday of this week.

Spelling List:
1. neighbor
2. heard
3. herd
4. there
5. their
6. the scientist's invention
7. money
8. computer
9. a lot
10. hardware
11. parade
12. chooses
13. menu
14. it's
15. its
16. pointing
17. mouse
18. why

We finished our Poetry Unit and the students should be able to write a poem worthy of publication. Please encourage them to do so. They are due on Tuesday, Nov. 23. I will type them up and submit them to the Anthology of Poetry to see if they get chosen to be published.

We enjoyed two assemblies this week...one on literature and the children were exposed to wonderful books and encouraged to read. It was a great presentation. The other was on our Social Studies Unit about Mountain Men. I think the students enjoyed them both. Ask them about them.

I will be teaching the students about the character trait of Diligence. They will be expected to write an essay on the topic in school Tuesday morning. They will have been instructed on the six traits of good writing and the importance of having a beginning, middle, ending in their essay. They will need to have at least three paragraphs to earn a 4 on this essay. They will be expected to stick to the main idea throughout this essay.

Mr. Griffith will be in our classroom helping on Tuesday. He is "subbing" for me, while I get the poems typed and off to the publisher and also getting ready for my substitute on Wednesday (Short Day) and Monday, the 29th. I am leaving for Texas. My son and his wife had their first baby and our tenth grandchild. We will be going there for Thanksgiving. The baby blessing is on Sunday and it is a 24 Hour trip. So I have to miss two days of teaching, something I rarely do. I probably won't be blogging much next week and don't look for a Gillespie Gazette next Monday.
However, let me take this opportunity to say how thankful I am for the beautiful children I teach each day. They bring great joy to my heart. They are advancing in so many ways and it is a pleasure to be around them. I am thankful for good parents that support their children and my efforts to educate them. I am very thankful for parent volunteers that help in the classroom. There, I said my "Thanksgiving" thoughts. I wish you Happy Holiday.

_______________________________
Parent signature________________________

Student name_______________________

Or Blog a comment to me!

November 18

Okay...so maybe it's just because I think Roman Numerals are fun and cool, but I gave the students another one to do for homework tonight. Actually, I do think they are pretty awesome to know and hey, if they don't learn it in fourth grade...maybe they will never be taught. What grade did you learn them?

Please make sure your student has done both Roman Numeral worksheet because I am taking a grade from each one. If they have lost theirs along the way, have them come get another one from me. If they didn't get a 100% on any worksheet, they can fix it until they do.

Tomorrow, they will be given time to write another poem and I will send it in for publication. Ask them about how their poem is turning out. We spent a lot of time on the Poetry Unit and I hope they use some of the ideas I gave them to make outstanding poetry.

November 17

We had fun learning about Roman Numerals. They have a worksheet to do tonight for homework.

Radio Announcement and Parent letter #10 due tomorrow (Thursday)

November 16

I took a grade on page 84 from every student. (Last night's homework) If your child did not do his homework last night they will need to do page 84 and do it to 100% in order to receive a grade of 70% (consequence for not doing homework when scheduled on Monday, November 15)

If your child did attempt the homework and did poorly or missed any...they are allowed to fix until they receive 100%. Understanding the concepts on page 84 reviews Chapter Two. Students will be expected to understand concepts being tested on page 86. I told the students they could study and go over the concepts on page 86 in preparation for the test to be given tomorrow.

They will not be able to fix their test score!

I instructed all the students to take home Parent Letter #10 and study with parent. Please sign them off if they did so.

Homework (besides fixing and studying) is on page 85. Just do problem #4

November 15 homework

Oops! I just realized I sent the Gillespie Gazette home without attaching Parent Letter #10. Darn it...I hate it when I make mistakes! Please forgive!

The students will bring it home tomorrow.

Math homework page 84 problems 1-14

The students were given their three times each spelling list and many have already started the Radio Announcement that is due on Thursday.

Thanks, Anna

November 15

Gillespie Gazette...November 15

Blog Address: www.gillespiegazette.blogspot.com

Email: anna.gillespie@jordan.k12.ut.us

School: 446-3200
Cell: 623-7625
Home: 801-375-0024


Dear Parents,

Thank you to Tenney for bringing in an amazing poster for her Student of the Week. I could tell her mom spent a lot of time helping her put that together. Thank you Tenney for always setting a good example to the other students.

I appreciated all the parents that made the effort to attend Parent Teacher Conference and SEPs. It was great to visit with you all. Please know that if you haven't had a chance to spend time helping your child decide on a goal for 2nd Term, I need you to do that. Most of you have returned the SEP. I have made copies and will return them to your child for you to have a copy and periodically remind them of their goals they have set for themselves.

I would like to add and addendum to the last Gillespie Gazette. It was brought to my attention by our awesome principal, Mr. Griffith, that I might want to clarify that the study of counties does fit nicely under the study of Utah history. When the students study about their particular county, they will come across many facts about our Utah history. So it does reinforce the study of Utah history. For instance, we recently learned in our Utah text book about the word "cache" Mountain Men dug caches and put their goods, furs, etc. in the ground to be able to come back later and dig it up. We had a student realize that is how Cache County got its name. There were so many mountain men digging caches there that it started the name of the county when we became a state. I thought that was so interesting. So Mr. Griffith is right. There is a lot of history in each of the history of the 29 counties of Utah. Thanks for pointing that out.

Parent letter #10 and spelling list is being sent home on the 15th.

Please make sure you child knows how to spell the following words by Thursday of this week:

thank
knitting
beautiful
rarely
beaten
beet
would
wouldn't
softly
laughed
clouds
threatening
a totally awesome video game
an awesome video game

Please remember that tomorrow is Picture Make-Up Day.
__________________________________________________________

Parent Sign_____________________________
Student name_____________________________

or comment on Blog

November 10,11

I am sorry that I haven't gotten on the blog...please forgive. I guess parent teacher conference has been my focus. Homework has been easy. Page 99 (four problems ) and tonight is something like 103 four problems. I am at home and I left the assignment on the board. But if it isn't 103, something like that...just let it go and see if we can have the students do in on Monday.

November 9

Math Homework...page 81 (1-7)

We are doing a Poetry Unit and learning how to write poems. The students have been "inspired" by one of their spelling words. They got to choose one and start writing their poem ideas. Most of them have done a "rough draft" They will be revising Wednesday and maybe Wednesday night and getting some help from you.
Parent letter #9 is due on Thursday.

November 8

We have a new student. Welcome to Kayden. He has already told me what a fun and great class we have...so I think he will enjoy us.

Report Cards are attached. This reflects the level of work and competence your child has displayed during First Term.

It was a fun day. We had several students give their County Reports and that means we are more than half way through. We have had 14 reports given! Please remind your student to be prepared for their "lucky" day when they get to give their report. I have to explain to you that the study of Utah Counties is not part of the official Utah State Core. It is more like a tradition than a requirement. Because we are expected to teach the Core requirements, it is necessary to put some things in perspective of importance. I am required by law and contract to teach the core requirements set by the Utah State Office of Education. This includes things like language, reading, writing, grammar, math, science, social studies (Utah History...not counties) art, music, healthy life style and PE, computer, cursive penmanship, basically all the things listed on the report card. But county reports, Bring and Brag, birthday celebrations, County Fairs, Halloween Parties, and etc. are extra fluff that are a blast and we do it to make the school experience enjoyable...but it is not required. I hope that this clears up any wonderment about why County Reports are still on going. I teach reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and social studies every day and if we get to a report...YaHoo...but not at the sacrifice of the other academics.

The Book Fair will be available during P/T Conferences. Plan to get some of your Christmas shopping done.

Thank you to Bailee's, London's, and Danielle's moms for coming in and having the Halloween Party. It was great fun for the students.

I have attached your SEP Parent Teacher Conference Schedule for you and your student. Please make sure the student comes with you. Thanks to all of you that pre-scheduled on line. Your child will be setting goals and so we need to have them there at the conference.

Congratulations to all the students that turned in their Reflections Projects. WE had some real "winners" in my opinion.

We appreciated the service that Braden and Rebecca rendered as Students of the Week. They are both hard working, smart students that always set a good example in most all areas of our school day.

Parent letter #9 is attached and due on Thursday, November 11. Please remember that there is a short day on Thursday, November 11 for 1st-6th grades and no kindergarten will be held at all on the 11th of November.

Spelling List:

1. cousin
2. skate
3. think
4. silliest
5. typical
6. string
7. doorknob
8. science
9. then
10. there
11. their
12. there
13. young
14. seems
15. eleventh

See you all at Parent Teacher SEP Conferences.

November 4

Math Homework tonight is page 79 problems (4-21)

We are hoping to get lots of County Reports heard and games played tomorrow. We can do several during Bring and Brag. This can be your child's Bring and Brag...so they won't need to bring anything else...(hint, hint)

November 3

The students are worried about the Spelling Game tomorrow. Please reassure them there was no parent letter due on Thursday. They must have their matching assignment done to play a very fun game. And it would be nice if they had the list memorized...(hint, hint)

Math Homework page 77 problems 1-11

November 2

No Gillespie Gazette this week. I am running short on time! No Parent letter this week. Look for regular schedule next Monday. Sometimes, when we don't have school on Monday, I take the liberty of not writing a Gillespie Gazette. (It is very time consuming for me.) But next week, I will be back on schedule.

This week is the beginning of Term 2 and I encourage the students to have a "fresh start" in doing their very best work this term.

Report Cards will be sent home next Monday attached to the Gillespie Gazette.

Math page 89 (1-7) is homework tonight.