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It feels so good to be back on the SFX campus! SEESAW If your family has not yet signed up for SeeSaw, please do so as soon as possible.  When we go remote (the two weeks after Christmas Break), this will be the main source of communication.  This will also allow you to see some fun videos we post in the classroom and work your child is submitting. Winner, Winner….Dinners for Others! Our class won the food

On Thursday, our 3rd and 4th grade students participated in an author webinar with children’s book authors Kate Messner and Traci Sorell. Ms. Sorell is one of the authors of the book Indian No More, which is our Global Read Aloud book for 4th grade. The webinar was titled “Rethinking Thanksgiving,” and offered a thought-provoking author visit based on their books about the real histor

Hello Families This week we greeted one another during the morning meeting with a traditional Tibetan greeting by sticking out our tongues! According to Tibetan folklore, a cruel ninth-century Tibetan king had a black tongue, so people stick out their tongues to show that they are not like him (and aren’t his reincarnation). Religion This week we started a new chapter entitled, God is Powerful and Loving. 

Amazing Job I first want to start off with a HUGE compliment for my entire Cummings Crew, parents and students!  Everyone jumped right into e-learning without missing a beat.  Thank you for quickly adapting and following along with my crazy plan.  We got a lot of solid learning in this week, although it looked very different!  We have three days next week and then back to the classroom on Thursday

Happy Halloween We had so much fun celebrating Halloween in our costumes on Thursday.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween that is masked and socially distanced. Crazy Hair Day Door Decorating Contest Our class put together an amazing entry for the SFX Student Council door decorating contest based off the book There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed A Bat! Conferences Thank you for a great Fall Conference

Starting this month, during my weekly designated library time with our 1st-4th grade students, I have launched the 2020 Global Read Aloud initiative. Information about Global Read Aloud can be found at https://theglobalreadaloud.com. The program allows schools throughout the world to connect through designated children’s books that raise awareness. I am happy to share we are connecting with schools in

Fun Run Our class participated in the Boosterthon Fun Run on Friday.  We had a blast running, dancing, and earning those laps!  Overall, our class raised $51.67 per a lap.  We have earned Crazy Sock Day, Crazy Hair Day, extra recess, and time to read outside. Not too shabby!  Thank you to all the parents, students, families that donated and made this Boosterthon a SUCCESS! Brier the Brave Thank yo

Boosterthon FunRun Boosterthon helps us raise money for our school, and it has also been teaching us some character traits.  This past week we learned about teamwork, care,  and courage. Thank you to all the families that have logged onto funrun.com and shared their child’s video with family and friends.  Currently our class has raised $7.67 per a lap.  We have earned a dance party where we

The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state and I have been fortunate to serve on this committee for the last three years. Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of the 20 Bluestem nominees by May 1st and turns in this Bluestem Reading Challenge form to me on or before May 1st will get to attend a

Wear Pink We had a large turn out of friends that donated a $1 to dress down on Friday.  Thank you for your support!  The money goes to a great cause, so close to so many of our hearts, The Colleen Pope Vitu Haiti School Memorial Fund. Recorders The recorders finally arrived and were sent home this past week. (You’re Welcome!)  The kids were so excited, almost giddy, when Mr. Pancratz walked into the classroom with t

Math This week we learned mental addition strategies for larger addition problems. All of the strategies were about having good number sense and breaking numbers apart.  In class I showed the kids multiple mental addition strategies.  The kids then choose what strategies make sense to them and what strategies they find easy.  Hopefully a few of these strategies will stick with them throughout this chap

The last two weeks I have been speaking with all 3rd-5th grade students  encouraging them to take the Bluestem Challenge. The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state and I have been fortunate to serve on this committee for the last three years. Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of the 20 Blue

Back To School Zoom Thank you to all the families that joined me Wednesday night for our Back to School Zoom.  It was nice to connect with all of you and show you a little bit about what our days at SFX look like.  If you missed the zoom, or if you have any follow up questions, please feel free to reach out to me by e-mail. I am looking forward to conferences, in about a month, to really talk about your chi

This week was a success!  We have moved on from learning rules, procedures, and routines to hitting the books. Math Over the past two weeks we have been working on place value of numbers up to 10,000.  We have reviewed the different forms that numbers can be written in, we have compared and ordered numbers, as well as rounded to the nearest 10 and 100.  We will be having our Chapter One math test next

Wow, it has been a GREAT first two weeks at SFX in our classroom!  The first week we spent a lot of time getting to know all our new classmates.  We played games, shared our “All About Me Bags” and had time to create bioglyphs (a picture consisting of symbols to show someone’s life) and self portraits to decorate our space.  We also spent a lot of time learning and practicing the new safety proce

You have been subscribed to receive classroom news through our SFX blog system. Please note what this looks like, by grade, below: 1 – Kindergarten will use See Saw to share classroom news and updates this year across both the SJ and SFX campuses. Watch for an update here soon! 2 – Grades 1-4 will continue to share weekly updates and overviews through the SFX blog system. You are automatically subscribed

Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 3 to see a message from Kevin, the 2 is a message from Brody and the 1 will lead you to Emma’s message. A Message from THE WORLD’S BEST 3rd GRADE TEACHER…ME! Hey Crusaders!  I am so sad that our year had to end this way, but I can guarantee that this is a year I will remember forever!  I can not tel

Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 4 to see a message from Matthew. Virtual Countdown Tomorrow is our last Crusader Countdown, THE LAST DAY OF 3RD GRADE! Day Date CrusaderS 3/2/1 Tuesday, June 9th Kevin Cook, Brody Blankenbaker AND Emma Angelo   Love Ya, Mrs. Cummings

Looks like you all had a blast during Field Day, just look at all these smiles! Breakfast Art Paper Airplane Fun Sponge Water Relay Chalk Artist Towel Flip Lego Design Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 6 to see a message from Hunter.  If you click on the dog bed you’ll see pictures and learn a little about our new class pet for the day.  We als

Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 7 to see a message from Seamus.  Continue to send in accomplishments that I can spotlight or pets you’d like to bring to school for the day. Virtual Field Day Today is Virtual Field Day!  Good Luck!  Please e-mail me pictures that I can post on the blog. Zoom Meeting I will still host our LAST Zoom call today a

Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 8 to see Grace’s good-bye video.  Continue to send in accomplishments that I can spotlight or pets you’d like to bring to school for the day. Virtual Field Day Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3rd, is Virtual Field Day.  The Student Council, Mr. Van, and Mrs. Elliott have been working hard to plan our first ever

  Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 9 to see Evelyn’s good-bye message.   We have new class pets today.  A class mate turned in a hamster, dog and a chicken…do you know who?  Be sure to click on the laughing animal to find a “Joke of the Day”. Virtual Pets Still looking for more virtual pets!  If you’d like to bring

  Cummings Virtual Classroom Be sure to click around and check out the virtual classroom.  Click on the 10 to see Paige’s good-bye message.   We have a new class pet today, click on the fish bowl to see who is joining us.  Be sure to click on the laughing animal to find a “Joke of the Day”.  See if you can share the joke and get a giggle out of someone!  The spotlight is now shining on a new vi

  Supply Pick Up/ DROP OFF Last night Mrs. Barrett sent an email about when/how to pick up your child belongings.  Last week I cleaned off all the classroom walls, I cleaned out all the desks, and cleaned out every locker.  I neatly placed all of your child’s belongings into a labeled bag.  The only thing I did not pack up was their Words Their Way books (which I will pass along to next year’s teache

Cummings Virtual Classroom Check out the virtual classroom! Click on the 12 to see Johnny’s good-bye message.   We have a new class pet today, click on the dog house to see who is joining us!  Be sure to click on the laughing animal to find a “Joke of the Day”. Class Zoom I can’t wait to see everyone for our Class Zoom at 10:00.  Be ready with prayer intentions and a group game of Eye Spy. At