Dear Families,
It's Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had NOTHING on our schedule which was so nice. We played and relaxed at home. Which meant Michael slept in his own bed 2 nights in a row without waking up! WAHOO! It is a HUGE deal for us right now as too much change has made him sleep like a newborn.
L
- Math Test: We are finishing up Topic 1 this week. We will have our test on Thursday. Wednesday night I will send things home to study!
- Tuesday is Early Release!
- Pretesting: We will start pretesting math units this week as well. On Friday students will take a Pretest on Topic 2. This will help me plan instruction. If a child has already shown proficiency (90% or above) on a unit they will have the option to work through an independent learning contract for that unit. These contracts are a way to provide enrichment in areas that students already have knowledge in. You will get the contract at home to look over. You must approve for your child to work with the contract because it is independent, project based work. They will still do the practice homework so that we can monitor. The pre-test also gives me an opportunity to see students who may not be totally proficient, but still need a challenge. I can then send home higher level homework for these students.
- Novel Blogs : The students were given a choice on 3 novels to read during our current reading unit. All the novels have the same theme of freedom and democracy. Students have chosen a novel and will begin reading today. Each Tuesday and Thursday students will be required to respond to a blog entry on Edmodo. I will be going over this with them today and we will practice our first blog entry together. The students will also have to respond to 2 student's entries to give feedback and continue the discussion. This is always a favorite activity of the students and a fun way to have them read! This is the book they should be reading each night. If they don't read each day they will fall behind!
- Mark your calendars: September 12th Wilderness Science Center Field Trip. October 5th Wildwood Field Trip!
- Genius Hour : The students have all started their Genius Hour projects. We discussed experts today so please let me know if you would like to be on our "Expert" list! For example, if your job is working with numbers let me know. Or if you are a vet some of our students studying animals could contact you! Thank you!
- Homework : Just a reminder that students should spend 0-30 minutes on homework a night. I would like to see students spend 15-20 minutes a night reading. So, if they don't have homework then reading should be their focus.
- Specials Schedule: (Today is a Day 3)
o Day 1: PE/Music
o Day 2: Computer
o Day 3: Art
o Day 4: Spanish/Music
o Day 5: PE/Spanish
Important Dates: (New dates bolded)
August 29th: Vision and Hearing Testing
August 30th: Early Release
September 5: No School: Labor Day
September 12th: Wilderness Science Center Field Trip
September 13th: Early Release
September 16th: Mrs. Duggan Gone All Day
September 23rd: ½ Day of School-Professional Development
October 5th: Wildwood Field Trip
Math: Topic 1: Place Value-decimals-Test Thursday
Reading: Text Evidence
Writing: Paragraph writing
Word Work: in-/un-/dis/mis/
Social Studies: Bill of Rights
Science: What is the role of a producer in an ecosystem?
Intervention: Intro to newsela/problem solving
