Thank you

• To all parents that have helped their children with the theme each day for Spirit Week!

 

 

Crazy Hair Day

 

School Medical Assistant News

Before returning to school after February vacation, please consider washing: backpacks, hats, mittens, coats, lunch boxes and water bottles.  This will help everyone stay healthy.    Thank you in advance!

 

Instructional Updates

PreK-K

Teachers read out loud no less than 3 books each day in the Pre-K/K classroom and students do at least one responsive writing page each day. At the beginning of the year pre-k “writing” can be a scribble, a doodle and maybe some letter-like drawings or even a few actual letters of the “author’s” name. At the beginning of the year, teachers will often scribe for Pre-K students, while encouraging Kindergarten students to sound out words and write those sounds down. Some students demand that we write “the real way” to write a word so they may copy it, as they have already learned that the English language is full of quirks. We celebrate each child’s writing and illustrations as a tangible connection between the child and the written word. The first step in the literacy journey is establishing the importance of the written word, and that words convey meaning. We have some prolific authors and illustrators in our classroom, many of whom are gaining more independence as they develop resources such as finding a published book to find out how to write certain words.

 

In math, we are continuing to explore vocabulary and concepts of heavier than, lighter than, taller than, shorter than, more than and less than. One favorite task was for students to arrange themselves from the “most tall” to the “least tall”, another engaging activity was figuring out how many unifix cubes tall each student in our classroom is!

 

3/4 ELA –  This week in general reading, we completed Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle and focused on reading the last page, which was a nonfiction essay about bullfrogs, their habitat, life cycle, and physical attributes.  We practiced taking notes and noticing the vivid words and phrases used to describe the bullfrog and its habitat.  We also focused on the idea of adaptations and habitat.

 

ELA

5/6 ELA – We continued our reading of Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry.  All students are developing great stories for their “Ellen Writing”.  Can’t wait to share them with the public!

 

 

7/8 ELA – We have been reading I Am Malala which is a memoir written by Malala Yousafzai.  The focus has been on not only empathizing with Malala, but trying to understand how religion can influence politics, and how politics can influence religion. Students who have been involved in “Ellen Writing” have made nice gains in their stories.  We look forward to sharing them later in the year.

 

 

 

Math

3/4 Math: 3rd-grade mathematicians are learning about area, exploring filling a space with squares. 4th-grade mathematicians are beginning their study of fractions by decomposing fractions into unit fractions. Students continued to build their fluency of math facts by playing math games this week.

 

5/6 Math: 5th-grade mathematicians continued to work with fractions and also reviewed their skills with decimals. 6th-grade mathematicians began their module on expressions and equations, beginning by looking at the relationships between the different operations in mathematics.

 

7/8 Math: 7th-grade mathematicians used their skills with area and circumference of circles to solve real-world problems. 8th-grade mathematicians began graphing horizontal and vertical lines.

 

Super Studies

3/4 Super Studies: This week, we added in a new part of our weekly routine, which involved dedicating one 90-minute class period a week to bringing science instruction outside. On Monday, we spent that time on the nature trail looking for clues for how animals survive the winter. Back in the classroom during the rest of the week, we read about hibernation and migration.

 

5/6 Super Studies: The students are doing a wonderful job exploring the causes of the Civil War. They are discussing the issues of slavery with insight and empathy, and are eager to learn how discontent in the 1800s led to the war and how that part of our story shaped our nation.

 

7/8 Super Studies: This week, the class wrapped up their “tour” of classrooms around the world by learning about students in Benin and Afghanistan. They worked on short essays to explore the similarities and differences of varied school settings and the importance of educating boys and girls around the world.

 

 

 

 

PTF News

Warm Clothes

The warm clothing rack is still in constant use and is helping children and adults get into warm gear. Drop off warm, clean winter gear and we will make sure it gets on the right people. Please come in and take what you need!

 

 

Coffee Social

The Coffee Socials have switched to once a month. The hope is that the coffee socials can be an opportunity for you to chat with other parents, to communicate with Mrs. Blake, and to hang out in your school community. There will be a new theme or discussion for each month. If there is something you would like to hear discussed with the principal or other parents let us know. We look forward to having coffee with you!

 

 

Upcoming Events:

 

• 2/14 Coffee Social
• 2/13 Packing Back-backs
• 2/25 3:10 PTF Meeting
• 3/7 March Soup Chili Chowder Cookoff- start planning your winning recipe now!
• 3/15 Coffee Social

 

February

2/14                                                                Winter Carnival

2/17-2/21                               VACATION WEEK

2/28                1:00 PM                                   Early Release

 

March

 

3/13                7:30 AM                                  Coffee Social

Trimester Ends

3/20                                        No School—Teacher Workshop Day

3/27                1:00 PM                                   Early Release