Dear Families,
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good 3-day weekend. I was able to take some time Friday afternoon and catch up on life's chores at home and school! Jim is finally making some good progress so that made our weekend even better. He got out of the house without using a walker!! He sees the doctor again Wednesday so hopefully we are going to start making progress daily!
· Conferences: Just a reminder that conferences are student led! Your child MUST be here for their conference. Students will be going over their work from 1st quarter and their goals for 2nd quarter. Make sure that you sign up on School Center this week. Time slots are filling fast.
· Math: Math test is Wednesday this week. Students should spend time studying on Tuesday night. This test is on multiplication. Some students are still struggling with basic multiplication facts. They need to be practicing this daily!
· Reading: We will finish up our first reading unit this week. We will be focused on foreshadowing and reviewing our skills. It looks like we will test next Wednesday!
· Writing: We have started our memoir unit of study. Students have already written 3 different quick writes on a different subject. This week they will decide which one they want to take through the writing process.
· Battle of the Books: The students are doing an amazing job reading and discussing their books. They meet with their teams and coaches each Monday to focus on a new skill. All of the coaches have been super impressed by the level of discussion and thinking in group and in their Director's Notebook!
· 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.
- 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 5)
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 19th: Picture Day
October 25th: Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 26th: Parent/Teacher Conferences
October 27th: No School/Conferences
October 28th: No School
Math: Topic 3-Multiplication-Test Wednesday
Reading: Foreshadowing/Battle of the Books!
Writing: Intro to Memoir
Word Work: synonym/antonym
Social Studies: none
Science: Learning styles
Intervention: Present Genius Hour/problem solving
