Dr. Johnson's Reading Blog

On Monday, August 29,  I will be sending out homework. Since this is the first homework, let me spend a minute explaining how homework works in my classroom. At the beginning of the week, most likely Monday, I will send home a clear, plastic folder with your child's name on it. In that folder contains a packet of homework. The first page of the homework is like a calendar and says which homework to do on a particular day.  Homework packets are not due to me until Friday. Homework packets should be turned into me with the plastic folder. Really . . . I don't want to see the homework until that day! On Friday, we will go through the homework so that I can provide feedback to your child. Once your child has completed their homework, please sign your name at the bottom of the homework packet, letting me know you have made sure your child completed their work before turning it in. I don't give much homework, but I have high expectations that what I hand out will be complet...

Here a few things about the week . . . 1) I will begin sending homework this week. I will make another blog post with more information on how homework works in my class. 2) I have updated the calendar that can be found on the blog (on the right hand side). You will find dates for our upcoming gathering (Friday, September 16), an overnight trip at EdVenture (September 23-24), and an in-school field trip called CSI: Forensics in the Classroom (which I'll talk more about later). 3) As we head into the final week before Labor Day, we continue to establish classroom routines and procedures. While this has led to moments in which I have had to fuss for chattiness (which is to be expected at this point), I am finding that this group is sweet and caring. They have already taken an interest in many of the "making" items I have to offer during explorations. They have also taken an interest in computer programming through Scratch . I can't wait to show them what they can c...

As we move into our first full week of school, I wanted to share some of what I will be focusing on during this time. I will spending this week trying to get to know your child as a reader, writer, mathematician, and historian. Understanding your child as a learner will help me map out short-term and long-term goals In math, students are working on some math sheets in place value, additions, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions. As I observe their work, I am noticing their attitudes, how much they take risks, knowledge of basic facts, etc. In history, I want to understand your child's historical thinking. Do they enjoy reading non-fiction? Historical fiction? Do they understand the importance of primary documents? Do they understand the importance of multiple sources? Are they skeptical, and question the validity of various sources, or do they simply believe everything that is stated? In reading, I want to know what kinds of strategies your child uses as they construct ...

Welcome back to another school year! I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow. I have met your child on numerous occasions over the last year - now I just have to put the name to the face. The process of getting to know each other may be slow, but hopefully I can help bridge that through communication. While I will try to keep in contact concerning your child's academic and social behavior, please contact me at any time. I wanted to share some important information that I think you will need as we begin the school year. My primary way of communicating is through email ( scjohnson@richland2.org ). I am pretty good about checking my email throughout the day, though I will probably only respond during my special areas time (10:00 - 10:50) or after school. I will also communicate though this blog ( inquiryforlife.blogspot.com ). I try to publish on the blog as least once a week. When I do publish, I will send out an email letting you know I have updated the blog. I have links to...

I wanted to get some information to you this week: 1) There will be no more homework this week and next week 2) I am collecting books from students, to return to my classroom library. If you see any of my personal books at your home, could you please return them back to class. 3) Students need to begin thinking about 5th grade speeches for graduation. If they are interested in speaking, they must have their speech completed by this Friday. Students will share their speech on Friday morning. We will announce speakers later that day. 4) Graduation attire: At the very least, boys are expected to wear khaki pants or slacks with a collard shirt; NO tennis shoes. Anything beyond that, such as ties or bow ties, is even better. Girls dress is much more open ended. I think we are asking for no spaghetti straps, or if you are going to wear spaghetti straps, your child should have some kind of sweater covering the straps. If they are wearing high heels, they should begin bringing them to ...

EdVenture came out to our classroom a few weeks ago and created this promotional video for the Maker Faire.

The copy machine at school is still not functioning so I will not be sending out a homework packet. For homework this week, students should be working on either their Prodigy.com accounts, or their KahnAcademy accounts, for at least 30 minutes. Students also have their literature study books, or self-selected books, and should read for 20-30 minutes a day. As a reminder, students are taking the SC Ready: Math test tomorrow. This test will be completely online. We have already spend some time getting to know the online test, including answering the kinds of questions that may be on the test.