Sunday, April 27, 2014

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 28th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Monday, May 19th—Delayed Start
-May 15th-23rd—Scholastic Book Fair
-Wednesday, May 21st—Mobile Dentist
-Friday, May 23rd—Fun to Be Fit @ 1:00
-Monday, May 26th—Memorial Day
-Wednesday, May 28th—Kindergarten Program (afternoon)
-Tues., June 3rd—Fieldtrip to Kettunen Center
-Monday, June 9th—K-1st Track & Field Day

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 
Our student of the week is Coleman Cook.  Coleman enjoys racing his remote control car  and he also enjoys going bowling.  When he grows up, Coleman aspires to serve his country as a Marine. Congratulations to Coleman on being our Student of the Week!

READING:  
Our focus text for this week is Hush, a Thai Lullaby, which we will use to practice comparing and contrasting.  Our focus letter this week is the letter Uu and we will be using Chunky Monkey to help us read and write words with the un, ub, ug, & uck chunks, as well as Flippy the Dolphin to help us work on u-e words.  Our sightwords for this week are was, his, & her.  I’ve completed running records on all of the students; you may notice that the books they are bringing home are a little more challenging, as I’ve adjusted all of their levels to keep them challenged, as they continue to grow as readers.  I’ve also adjusted their levels on Raz-Kids. :)

WRITING: 
This week we will continue our writing unit on Procedural Writing—How-to Books.  We’ve made a list of things we know how to do at home and are ready to begin writing our books with the correct steps to teach others.  We will also complete a couple of journals this week—taking good care of our Earth, and what we like to do on a rainy day.

MATH:  
This week we will continue to practice identifying and naming coins and 3-D solid shapes.  We will create a Class Number Story Book using pictures and equations to show addition and subtraction stories.  We will also be building 3-D shapes using straws.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 
This week in Science, we will continue to learn about lifecycles—chicks & butterflies.  In observance of Earth Day (last Tuesday) we will continue to read several books about the Earth and discuss & write about how we can take good care of our planet. 

ENDING THE YEAR STRONG:
This is the time of year when it typically becomes harder for students to focus on academics & good behavior.  As we look toward the finish-line, there are still a lot of important skills that we need to introduce and master.  It is almost time for me to begin assessing for report card ,as well as DIBELS  & AIMSWEB testing.  Together, we need to continue to impress upon the students the importance of ‘best effort’ and ‘high expectations for both academics and behavior, so that we can finish the year strong! 

 Please be sure to return you library book on or before Wednesday!




Gymnastics Photos

 Anna going up in an elevator lift!
 Canden gets a lift!
 Even Grayson's Mom gives it a try!
What an extraordinary group of athletes; they put on an amazing show with a great message!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 14th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Tuesday, April 15th—3rd Grade Bookstore
-Friday, April 18th—No School—Good Friday
-Monday, April 21st—Delayed Start
-Monday, April 21st—Mileage Club Starts
-Saturday, April 26th—Mom to Mom Sale
-Friday, May 23rd—Fun to Be Fit (afternoon)
-Tues., June 3rd—Fieldtrip to Kettunen Center
-Monday, June 9th—K-1st Track & Field Day


3RD GRADE BOOKSTORE: 
Each year the third grade classes set up a book sale for the K-2nd graders as part of their Economics Unit.  They have used books for sale ranging from 25¢- $2.00.  We will go and shop TOMORROW, Tuesday, April 15th.  Please send your child with $1.00-$2.00 in change so they can purchase a couple of books. :)

READING:  
Our focus text for this week is Five Little Ducks which we will use to practice sequencing and retelling a story in order.  We will also be reading several other narrative & informational texts about ducks.  Our focus letter this week is the letter Qq and our sightwords are that & you.  Please continue to practice reading and writing sightwords at home.  I will be completing running records with the students this week so that I can establish their most current reading levels for take-home books, as well as for Raz-Kids.  Most of them are making tremendous growth in reading!!!  Thanks for taking the time to read at home!

WRITING: 
This week we will begin a new writing unit—Procedural Writing—How-to Books.  We will be looking at several mentor texts to notice the author’s purpose, audience, and structure of how-to books.  Then we will be the ‘experts’ on ‘Kindergarten’ as we begin writing our own How-to book about Kindergarten for the preschoolers who will be visiting us in a couple of weeks. :)

MATH:  
This week we will work on comparing numbers and dividing, as we work on identifying equal halves.  We will also look at some different tools that we use to measure time.  Students will practice their measuring skills and graphing skills, this week, using Jelly Beans—Yum!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 
This week we will wrap up our Science Unit on Motion.  Students can bring in a toy from home for our lesson TOMORROW—see attached note.  Then they will take an assessment at the end of the week.  We will also be reading several stories related to Easter, Eggs, & Bunnies this week.

FUN TO BE FIT SHIRTS:  
Mrs. Kelley is still collecting T-shirt orders for Fun to Be Fit; if you’d like to purchase a shirt, please send you order form and payment in ASAP.

 **Please remember to return your library books on or before Wednesday!

**Please be sure to return your child’s report card envelope! :)

**Summer Baseball & Softball forms are due in the office by the end of this week.







Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Breaking News From Mrs. Brinks

Pajama Day—Friday
We took a vote and the majority of the students wanted to wear their PJ’s to school on Friday (tomorrow).  Those who would like to are welcome to do so!

Popcorn & Movie—Friday
We will also be watching The Lorax this Friday afternoon.  Popcorn will be available for purchase—25 cents!

Spring Break Memories
Several of the students have been asking to bring in ‘Show & Tell' items from their recent Spring Break adventures.  They may bring in a special item, photo, postcard, etc sometime in the next week and we will let a couple of students share each day.



 Report Cards
Report cards will be sent home this Friday.  As indicated on the report card, any areas that your child receives a -- or — are areas that they need to work on.  As the year progresses, the expectations continue to increase.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me; I am always happy to discuss your child’s progress with you.  Everything in your child’s report card envelope is yours to keep—PLEASE return their empty envelope to school and they will receive a treat! :)


Book-It
March was the last month for Book-It; please be sure to return your child’s Book-It calendar so that I can issue their Pizza Hut coupons.


Reminders
**Summer Baseball & Softball forms are due in the office by this Friday.  The office has extra forms if you need one.
**Mrs. Kelley is looking for parent volunteers to help with Mileage Club. You can contact her at ckelly@mcbain.org


Techy Students
The students are doing more of their work on ipads each day.  We have learned to take photos of our worksheets and upload them into Show Me, so you will notice less papers coming home.  Students are also learning how to email their work to me and their parents.  Check your email—You just might have mail! :)

3rd Grade Bookstore
Next Tuesday, April 15th, we will be visiting the 3rd Grade Bookstore.  As part of their economics unit, they bring in gently-used books for the younger students to purchase.  Books are very minimally priced—if you send your child with $1-$2 in change they should be able to purchase several books.