Newsletter 1-26-18

ELA
We read A Weed is a Flower, a biography about George Washington Carver.  We learned linking verbs and worked on fact and opinion.  We also wrote opinion essays explaining in which country we would like to celebrate our birthdays and why.  We worked in groups to sort words with comparative and superlative endings.  

Math
We are studying money and time in math.  Students need to tell time to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.  We will have the test on Wednesday.  I will send a study page home on Monday that so that the children can practice, and you can review the problems with them.  We had fun making these piggy banks.

We also did a money Nearpod.

Field Trip
We are looking forward to seeing Ballet West perform Cinderella on February 13. Please return the permission slip, if you haven't so already.  We could only take two chaperones, but we'll have another field trip later this year.

Valentine's Day
Our party will be Wednesday, February 14 from 1:00 to 2:15, and we need parent helpers!  If you are able to run a game, do a craft or read a story, please respond as soon as possible.

Students may bring their own decorated boxes to school for their valentines.  The box should have a large opening and be able to fit on students' desks.  If students don't have a box, I will have bags that they can decorate.  Please don't have your child bring their box until Valentine's Day, since I don't have room to store them.  My students last year had so much fun with this! 

I've included a list of names for valentines.  Students don't have to bring valentines, but if they do, they need to bring one for everyone in the class.  We have 28 students.

Amer           Armoni           Aspen     
Brody          Connell          Driggs
Eli                Elise              Ellie
Harper         Iris                 Izzy                               
Jaya            Jensen           Katelyn
Kayli            Keiper            Lucy
Madelyn      Nathan           Oliver
Santi           Shaylyn          Taylor             
Thomas      Tommy            Trey
Valery

Updates
Our PTA has asked us to reach out to families who may not receive weekly updates from the school via email.  The benefit of receiving weekly updates is that you will receive important information from the principal, updates from the PTA, key dates including field trips and no student days, open Watch DOGS dates, see pictures of our Eagles, and more!

To receive weekly emails, you log into your family access account via Skyward. 

·         Go to Online Registration

·         Mark Online Registration as not completed and make changes

·         Go Step 8 (Skylert Information)

·         There you can edit which email addresses and phone numbers you receive alerts through

·         You need to click on General to receive weekly updates

·         You can also click to receive information from attendance, cafeteria, and surveys

Please make sure your child has a snack each day.  A water bottle is also a good idea.

Thank you for your support at home.  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Newsletter 1-18-18

We have been reviewing verbs in language arts.  We've practiced past, present and future tenses, played games, created books, and made our own verb super heroes!

We have been working on money in math.  Even if students are able to identify coins, they may still have a hard time counting them.  Please take some time over the long weekend to have your child practice counting coins.  I have some money games on the right side of my blog that they may enjoy, and there are many free apps for iPads and tablets.  They can also use the money manipulatives on Pearson at this link: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/curriculum/math/Tools/tools/EnvisionMoney.html?helpDir=./help_mt&returnURL=../MTindex.html

We are moving toward our next goal, 90%.  Please make sure your child is going on Reflex Math at least five days a week at least until they get the green light.  Being fluent in math facts helps our children with their classwork and on the CBM test.
   
Brody is 100% fluent in Reflex Math.  Fantastic!

We had a great SOAR week!  We read We're all Wonders, interviewed new friends, and handed out our own SOAR tickets. We had many kids enter the Wonder contest and get a SOAR ticket, and the winner will have her or his entry displayed in the lunchroom.

Jaya, Oliver, Madelyn and Amer have all completed the 20 book challenge and earned their prizes.  Terrific!

Please remind your child to bring a snack every day.  Students also enjoy having a water bottle so that they can have longer, more frequent drinks. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 




  

    

Newsletter 1-6-18

Happy New Year!
We've had a great week at school!  We came back rested and ready to work.  We read the book Squirrel's New Year's Resolution and made our own resolutions for 2018. 

Language Arts
We read the story Anansi Goes Fishing and talked about how creative thinking can solve a problem.  We read another Anansi story, A Fool Goes Fishing, and compared and contrasted the two stories.  There are many Anansi books you could look for when you visit the library.  We also talked about past, present, and future tenses of verbs.

Math
We are working on one and two-step problems in math.  These can be very tricky, and I am impressed with how well our class is doing.  The way we teach it may be unfamiliar to you, so I will try to explain it below to show you the steps we do in class:



1. Read the problem through the first time.

2. Close read the problem again.  Circle the numbers, box the key words, and underline the question.

3. Draw a bar diagram (part-part-whole.)  This will help you organize your information.  The whole is always on top, and it is the always the largest number.  The parts are always on the bottom, and they are always the smaller numbers.

4. Decide where your information will go in the bar diagram.  For example, in this problem we see that there are more yellow bricks than red bricks, so the yellow bricks will go on top.  (I have students write a y for yellow and an r for red.) 

We can see that there are 47 yellow bricks, so that number will be our whole and go on top.  We don't know how many red bricks there are, so that is our mystery number.  We can leave it blank or write a question mark.  We know that there are 23 more yellow bricks than red bricks, so that will be our other part.

5. Once we have two of the numbers, we can solve.  We all know two rules: part + part = whole and whole - part = part.  When we are done, we check our work and plug the number back into the story problem to see if it makes sense.

I attached the reteaching page to the email in case you want to practice at home.  

I will be sending home graded math pages on Monday. Please look them over to see how your child is doing.  I try to have the children correct with me or with an aide or parent helper whenever possible.



We are gradually moving up in Reflex Math.  Please try to have your child do this daily at home.  It really helps if they know their math facts when we get into these difficult problems. 

We are planning to have the math test on Wednesday.  I will send home a review page before that.  If students complete it at home and have you review and initial it, they will get a something to celebrate ticket.  Thank you for your help!

Other Information
We have many students forgetting their signed planners each day.  This is a good communication tool, so please help your child remember to get it signed and put it in his or her backpack.  Please remind your child to bring a healthy snack each day, too.  Water bottles are also a good idea.

Thank you so much to our parent volunteers.  You help in so many ways.  Here's a reminder of the schedule:

         Every Monday 9:30-10:30
         Michelle Fawson

         Tuesday 9:30-10:30

         1^st week: Estephany Wolfe

         2^nd week: Megan Hansen

         3^rd week: Alma Mesic

         4^th week: Ali Gleason

         Every Wednesday 9:30-10:30

         Monet Palmer

         Every Thursday 9:30-10:30

         Michaela Tosh

         Every Friday 9:30-10:30

         Staci Caldwell

         Benee Larsen

         Work from home

         Deidre Pickering

         Alma Mesic

         Staci Caldwell

It's great being back and seeing your cute kids again! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.