December the time to give!

To celebrate the holidays, students will be writing letters to many different people in our community. Students will have an opportunity to communicate their well wishes through their writing. Who else could you write to and why? (Feedback welcomed!)

December is the time to help others and enjoy time with your family. I would love to hear how you have helped someone? (Feedback welcomed!)

Enrichment ideas for December:

*Write poetry and share your poems with family members.

*Set your own personal reading goals over the holiday break.

*Read a nonfiction book and write an essay.

*Track Santa on Christmas Eve and keep a travel log. Where is Santa?

*Bake cookies reading a recipe. How did the cookies turn out?

*Write elf letters to younger students.

*Make new year resolutions to be a better student!

Happy Holidays to all!

Mrs. Wells

November...A time to give thanks!

On Wednesday, November 23rd, students will honor people who have made a difference in their lives. Students will create a "Who you Are Makes a Difference" essay to present to their honored guests. Students will also give their guest 2 blue ribbons as a symbol of their appreciation for their guest. Take time to show others they are special to you! (Feedback welcomed!) Perry students are special to me!

At home, students will read a Newbery novel of their choice for at least 15 minutes every night and complete the reading log. At school, students are reading short stories and a novel in literature group circles. Students are engaged in reading, discussing, and learning about the elements of fiction.

Our class is very thankful and fortunate to have Ms. Blaisdell, from Malone, to come into our class and help with language arts class.

Veterans and our military....thank you for your service to our country! (Feedback welcomed!)

Enrichment: Write a letter to a veteran or member of the military.

Intervention: What do you still need help with the first nine week concepts and what are we going to do to fix it? We will review our Quarterly Common Assessments.

Conferences are next week. I hope to see you on Wednesday or Thursday!

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my students, Perry Local Schools, my family, my faith, and my friends. What are you thankful for??? (Feedback welcomed!)

Many blessings to you,

Mrs. Wells

October

Happy Fall!

During the month of October, students will get to check out books of their interest to read. Students will read their book in class and home. After reading daily, students will respond on a reading log. By reading every night, students will be entertained by a good book and earn a reward coupon from "Pizza Hut Book It" program. I will check the reading log every Monday. Students, set a reading goal. How many books are you going to read in the month of October? (Student feedback welcomed)

I want to thank Dr. Owen and Nancy Owen for coming into our class and sharing their knowledge and expertise on taking care of pets. The kids learned a lot and enjoyed your beautiful and intelligent dogs. Thanks again for your time! What was your favorite thing you learned from the presentation? (Student feedback welcomed)

Thank you to Mr. Kernan for all of your help in the learning process the past month. The students enjoyed and learned from Mr. Kernan's engaging lessons. Thanks again for your dedication to Perry students!

I wish everyone an enjoyable safe fall season!!

Well what are you waiting for? Let's get reading!

Mrs. Wells

Welcome Back to School

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year!

How exciting, the new school year has begun! I am very thankful to be teaching your learner this school year. I have immensely enjoyed getting to know your learner the last few weeks. My mission is to challenge and engage every learner in reading, writing, and social studies. I hope the new school year has been a smooth transition. Please let me know if I can help make it better for you.

Students will get to act out a few stories using puppets. Ask them if they enjoyed the puppets and stories. Hopefully, students will be able to identify active reading strategies and elements of fiction after the next few stories we will read in class. The first novel we will read is Shiloh.

Our class reading goal is to read as much as we can every night! Choose books that are interesting to read. Let's talk about them in class.

In social studies, students are learning map skills and geographic terms. Ask your child what is their latitude and longitude of where you live.

Many students will participate in many out of school activities. First, I wish you all good luck and success in your extracurricular activities! Second, I want to celebrate your interests and successes. Please share in class your abilities and experiences. We have a lot of talent in Perry. Let's encourage and be proud of what makes us each special and unique outside of school.

Finally, I am really proud of the fifth grade students that read over the summer and completed the summer reading logs.

Keep up your dedication to learning, homework, and reading for enjoyment!

Mrs. Wells

May

May summer bring you joy and blessings!

We have saved the best for last to read in May. Graduation of Jake Moon, Heartbeat, Freak the Mighty are such interesting books that will make you excited to continue to read during the summer months. What five books are on your summer reading list? (Feedback welcomed)

At the end of the school year, there are many fun-filled activites to participate in such as camp, field day, award assembly, and community day. Enjoy the wonderful learning experiences.

I have such Perry Pride because of the students I teach. They make me smile and I am thankful to be their teacher. Perry students exemplify hard work and a commitment to learning. Thank you students for caring about your learning. Enjoy your summer break and time off. Remember to read and write abundantly and participate in Pfeiffer's Summer Reading Program. Seventh grade...here we come! We are excited to about 7th grade because...(Feedback welcomed)

April is blooming with reading!

Students just finished reading the novel Freedom Crossing. As a fun extension activity, I recommend that families visit Hale Farm and participate in their Underground Railroad experience. Visit their website to find out more information. (www.wrhs.org/index.php/hale )

(Feedback is welcomed!)

For reading for enjoyment, I recommend that you read Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roderick Rules. After you read, I suggest you go to the movie. It is an excellent family activity that will bring lots of laughs! Please share with the class if you can participate in the extension activities.

This month students will prepare for the Ohio Achievement Assessment test on Tuesday, May 3rd. I am proud of their effort students have displayed while preparing for the assessment. Good luck and do well!

Folktales will entertain us in class. Which folktale is your favorite story? Did you learn anything from the folktales' themes? (Feedback is welcomed).

I hope every student enjoys their spring break. Keep reading this spring! Let's end the year with a strong and positive finish to the school year!

Many blessings,

Mrs. Wells

March Wishes

MARCH WISHES


Welcome to spring even though our weather doesn’t reflect the season. I wish you a safe and healthy spring! We are completing the end of the third nine weeks. Please reflect on your successes this year. Are you proud with your effort? Did you achieve your goals? (Feedback welcomed) Don’t forget to make new learning goals for the fourth nine weeks!

Throughout the year, we have practiced reading strategies. My favorite reading strategies are using active reading strategies (predict, make inferences, make connections, ask questions, and summarize) when reading. Also, visualize the story when you are read. In addition, reread anything when you don’t understand! What reading strategies have led you to success? (Feedback welcomed) I wish that you find a book that you want to read!

Since we have been busy reading nonfiction stories, what has been your favorite? Explain (Feedback welcomed) Students read My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen. The stories about his many dogs are fascinating. What fascinating pet story would you like to share? (Feedback welcomed)


The OAA is quickly approaching. We have been actively practicing strategies to help us do our best on the test. Strategies that will work are: rereading passages, highlighting answers, setting goals for each selection, restating questions in your answers, coding questions and answers, and having high expectations for yourself. My wish for you is that you pass the OAA and not only meet your OAA goal, but overachieve!
Letters from authors are starting to arrive. I wish that every student receives an author letter back! Who do you want to write to next? (Feedback welcomed) Most importantly, I wish that you respond to this blog!

Make a wish…Mrs. Wells

February Friends

February Friends,

Wow, it is hard to believe that January flew by. We were able to read and write poetry and learn figurative language. Who is your favorite poet?

In February, students are reading about significant people in history who have contributed to society (Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, Bessie Coleman, Harry Houdini, Jackie Robinson, Abraham Lincoln etc.). Hopefully, these role models will inspire us at Pfeiffer to achieve in life and be the best we can be. What would you like to do when you grow up? How would you like to help society? Who do you identify with in history? (Feedback welcome)


In January we wrote to our favorite authors. We are waiting patiently to hear back from them. Our next writing essay will be an autobiography of ourselves to give to our parents. We will set writing goals for the rest of the year. What is your writing goal? (Feedback welcome)


The genre, nonfiction, presents us with so many opportunities to learn. We challenge you to learn about something new today and share the information with others! What are some of your favorite topics? (Feedback welcome)

Hope to see you at student-led conferences on February 15th and 17th.

Happy Valentines Day!