Dear Families,
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. We had a quiet weekend at the Duggan's. Michael is feeling much better and I sent him back to school with my fingers and toes crossed. I am looking forward to a "normal" week with my favorite 5th graders!
· Picture Day: Wednesday is picture day! We will get our pictures a little after 10 am!
· Conferences: Conference sign up is available now on my website. Please know that these conferences are student led. So your child MUST be here with you! Let me know if you need help signing up.
· Friday: No school on Friday. It is the end of 1st quarter already! WOW!
· Wildwood: This was an amazing trip. This group of students set all sorts of records in how fast they accomplished tasks and the number of tasks they got too. It makes me very excited to see all that we can accomplish in the classroom. We are spending time now talking about how we can bring what we learned there into our classroom.
· All School Read Along : This is starting this week at SPE! Get excited!
o The purpose it to encourage families to enjoy literature together. Research states, " The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." And "It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades ." Jim Trelease
o We are asking for families to spend time together reading. This is a time for your family to gather on the couch and share reading. Jim Trelease says that by reading aloud we do 5 things for our kids:
§ Build vocabulary
§ Condition the child's brain to associate reading with pleasure
§ Create background knowledge
§ Provide a reading role model
§ Plant the desire to read
o Your child will bring home a baggie that has a book in it. This is the book to share with your family. Included with the baggie book will be a sheet with directions about an activity for your family to share. After you have finished reading, discussing the story and doing the activity return it all in the baggie back to school. We are asking you to complete this activity in one or two days and return it to school. This way we can share with everyone.
- Battle of the Books: Students are expected to read 30-45 minutes a day between school and home. They are required to journal in a "Directors Notebook"!
- Twitter: If you have a Twitter account please follow us at @MrsDugganSPE. I post almost daily the fun things we are up to in the classroom!
- Grade Updates: I know a lot of you have been on Parent Vue checking grades. That is great way to keep up with what we have been working on. Please know that grades are updated each week by Tuesday at 10am. If you check on Monday they won't be updated and there might be missing assignments that aren't really missing. Same thing for a Friday. If you ever have questions about grades please let me know.
- Specials Schedule: (Monday is a Day 1)
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)
October 12th: Picture Day
October 14th: No School: End of 1st Quarter
October 25th: Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 26th: Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 27th: No School/Conferences
October 28th: No School
Math: Topic 3-Multiplication (Test 10/18)
Reading: Author's Purpose/Foreshadowing
Writing: Memoir/Narrative
Word Work: synonym/antonym
Social Studies: none
Science: Energy in a Food Chain
Intervention: Math Project /problem solving
