Mrs. Cummings' Classroom Blog

APPLE CORE DOLLS Dear Parents/Guardians; As many of you know we have started reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This story is a part of a series called The Little House on the Prairie. To add a little excitement to the book we have decided to include in our unit a study of pioneer life. The students have been working on a Pioneer Life WebQuest and within this assignment there is an at-home activity. We would like all students to participate in this at-home activity. Each of the classrooms have been given a project to complete over Thanksgiving Break. This gives your student a week to get all the necessary materials and complete the project. Please ask your student for the packet that as sent home earlier this week. It has the directions attached . This project is due: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013.    Thank you for your help in your child's learning! They are really excited about this!  Below you will find the directions as well:  Mate...

NO SCHOOL There will be no school the week of November 25-December 1st as we are on Thanksgiving Break. School will resume on Monday, December 2nd, 2013. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you all get time to spend with family and friends. Enjoy this break, I know I will! :)  P.S. Also, good luck hunting to all of those who do! Be safe and have fun!   

I have updated the Math Videos link with some videos of the different ways the students have learned how to do multiplication. Please take a look. I will be doing this for our Unit #3 Division as well. :)

READ LIKE A ROCK STAR  Reading Incentive-2nd Quarter November 5th-January 23rd  As a parent you are aware of our Accelerated Reader Program here at the Hayward Intermediate School. Mrs. Laird, our reading specialist, has taken the time to make AR even better! We are going to be "getting the band back together!" Here is what this reading incentive entails: 1. Students will read AR books, take tests and earn points. They must average (at least) an 85% on all tests to meet their goal. 2. Teachers have sent up goals for their students  and will check progress four times this quarter. This progress monitoring will be called "sound checks."  3. There is a school-wide goal of reading.. . 60 million words by January 23rd! As of 10-23-13 the students had read a total of 23, 450, 831 words)  4. Here is the INCENTIVE: If we are at 25% or our school-wide goal, then 25% of the staff will get chosen to be Rock Stars at the lyceum on January 23rd. The teac...

WEEK IN REVIEW  Veterans Day  On Monday we started out the week with a Veteran's Day Ceremony. It was beautifully done by members of the armed forces and Mrs. Lee.The students sang patriotic songs led by Mrs. Wood, two 4th grade students read their Veteran's Day Essays, Taps was played by a member of the High School band which was followed by a moment of silence for those who have served and are currently serving our great nation.  When we got back to the classroom, I had the students write "Thank You" notes to  the National Guard Armory here in Hayward. The students really did a great job with his. They were very respectful and understanding. I sent the "Thank Yous" to the Armory this week.  Math In Math we have finished out Unit #2--Multiplication. The  students had a review they completed today. They are to take this home and study the material for the test tomorrow (FRIDAY). We will start fresh with Unit #3 on Monday--Division.  ...

TODAY IS AN EARLY RELEASE DAY! Students will be released from school at 12:40pm . Please make sure your student knows what their plans are. If there is a change in plans please call Mrs. Gay in the front office ASAP.   Thank you! Happy Wednesday. :)

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS AT HOME  During our WKCE testing week we were not on a regular academic schedule meaning that the students did not have math, reading, etc. throughout the day. But, due to the fact that we had the afternoons off of testing it gave us time to do a little experimenting with some science that the students have yet to be exposed to. Since out Unit #2 in ELA is all about weather we had a discussion about different types of weather predicting instruments including weather/wind vanes, anemometers, barometers and a rain gages. I have included below some directions on how to make these fun instruments at home. We did not have time to make each out ourselves in school, but we did have time to use instruments that were already made. I thought it would be fun to give you and your students the directions to maybe keep for a rainy or snowy day activity. ENJOY! :)  WEATHER/WIND VANE  1. Draw a large cross through a hole in the center of a wooden board. M...

Please be sure that your child is dressed properly for the cold winter months. We have recess everyday.  Please call with after school plans BEFORE 2:00pm!  Thank you!!!