Pruett's AIG Blog for IBJ

I am remiss in not reporting a practice that touched my heart this year. Our own Ms. Madkins has students share things they're thankful for with folks here at Jones. Here's a list of sweet notes I received from fifth graders: Thank you so much for taking the time to come and teach me! I really appreciate that! Thanks Mr. Pruett for being so cool. Thank you for letting me do Safety Patrol. Thank you for organizing Safety Patrol and teaching AIG! Thank you for letting us learn, but also letting us have fun! Thank you for being an amazing AIG teacher and working on math with me. Go AIG! Thanks for teaching me soooo much! You are amazing, and I look forward to every Wednesday! Thank you so much for all you have done. You always make reading so much fun! Thank you for being such an amazing teacher! I will miss you over Thanksgiving break! I treasure what I have learned from you! Wow, it is I who am truly thankful! Warmest of winters to you all!

It is my honor ad pleasure to work with such awesome people, including these  top 50% finishers for the Noetic Math Contest. Not pictured, our beloved principal, Sarah Cain, whose generosity and appreciation for mathematics and gifted learners led us to today's celebration. And Rachel Herrick, whose presence always makes any situation better! Thanks to the families of these students. We appreciate you sharing your children with  Ira B. Jones Elementary School!

Our fifth grade students have started working with Vocabulary Workshop - a great resource for new, exciting words. Working with the Antinori/Dunkel block, I'll be making extra writing assignments for AIG reading students. Our first story was about bears - appropriate with all the local sightings. I asked students to write their own bear story, here's a good one! MY BEAR STORY  (THIS IS COMPLETELY TRUE!) So one nice sunny Saturday, me and my mom had just had a little scuffle about who knows what. I was still annoyed so I blundered into the backseat of the solitary van since my dad,a veteran artist had already left for work. Soon after I got into the car my mom came and got into the front seat. We decided to cancel some of our plans to do something fun so we started throwing out lots of ideas and rejecting lots of ideas. All of a sudden my mom realized she had forgotten her keys. She head back inside but forgot to close the driver’s seat door. So I thought it

A glorious Meet the Teacher Day at Ira B. Jones Elementary! Great weather, families, and  Ms. Cain and Dr. Patterson working the crowd!   Get a Kona Ice?  Thanks to those who could come out, and everyone else - we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Farewell 5th graders, off to middle schools as rising sixth graders! Here are some snaps of your are from The Great Ocean Rescue. Such lovely work! Make us proud in your future endeavors!

Not just a math guru to Jones students, Julie Brown is MY math guru! Here she is working with small groups of fifth graders. Julie and I were able to do some ability grouping within whole-group instruction for classes - using great math materials from Ed Zacarro. Thanks, Ms. Brown for everything!

All fifth grade AIG students had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Jo Landreth, my opposite number at Asheville Middle School. Ms. Landreth met with these students to discuss the transition to middles school and answer any/all questions about next year. It is always a pleasure to have Ms. Landreth on campus! Ask your kids about this opportunity!

NOETIC Math Contest 33669 total participants in grades 2-8 7836 4th graders 772 schools in 47 states Team Winner - top score for IBJ (IBJ 90) Honor Roll - scores of 85 or better (1 IBJ student) Honorable Mention - scores of 60-80 (13 at IBJ) Participation - scores between 0 and 55 (10 at IBJ) NOETIC @ IBJ 24 4th graders Median:  60 Mean:  57.0833 Range:  60 Mode:  60 Team Winner - top score for IBJ (IBJ 90) Honor Roll - scores of 85 or better (1 at IBJ student) Honorable Mention - scores of 60-80 (13 at IBJ) Participation - scores between 0 and 55 (10 at IBJ) TEAM WINNER AND NATIONAL HONOR ROLL RECIPIENT AND FAMILY!

This is a story about Fat Cat. Third graders began our latest work with this single clue as to the code used for Fat Cat's story.  The story, however, was not complete until students used the code (with their own creativity and art work) to craft an ending. Here are a couple of examples. Check 'em out!

Here are some diary entries, written from the perspective of Liz, the main character in our last Junior Great Books story, Crow Call by Lois Lowry. Students reflected on what Liz learned about her father in the story. These samples were sent home awhile back. I hope you enjoyed them. Please ask your kids about our work!

Here's a shot of a BUNCH of fourth grade ESG students collaborating to find and save lost space probes through the simulation Great Solar System Rescue. Looks chaotic (we do have to meet during lunch!), but there is a TON of reading and reasoning going on! Two such groups are in competition to find four probes for the least money spent; it's a simulation, so they spend money for decisions they make. Cheers for making the right decisions are the highlights of my day! Great to see kids engaged!

Julie Brown and myself led small group enrichment for 5th grade with a simulation called Lost! earlier in the year. Here's a snap of kids hard at work.

I only missed one student from this EXCELLENT team on the front end this morning. I'll catch up with him later! Proud to serve!

On February 27, a fifth and third grade class got a visit from an Olympic athlete. Milan Ristic, a hurdler from Serbia, came to visit and share his story of how you get to the Olympics. His story included how he balances his studies and workouts. We measured how high the hurdles are and got to see his spikes! This visit was made possible through the efforts of Dr. Patrick Foo, UNCA and great friend to  Ira B. Jones Elementary! Many thanks to both gentlemen! We eagerly anticipate the 2020 Olympics to cheer Milan on!

As part of our work with Junior Great Books, third graders read a story that involved an Aesop-like lesson - or in this case a wise saying. Here are some examples of their own wise sayings.

Here are some interests as noted by our third graders in Enrichment Study Group. After reading Insects Are My Life , these folks thought about the most important interests in their lives. Here are some pages from our own book!

Here is an uncharacteristically serious ASGR group enjoying green tea and a snack during kamishibai play presentations. Interesting kamishibai + healthy snack = good day!

Here are some snaps of some of our dedicated Safety Patrol - who have been out in chilly weather this week. It's my honor to serve alongside these great young ladies and gentlemen!