If you have a veteran in your family, please send Mrs. Vencil a picture of him or her. She puts together a beautiful slideshow of all of our Tigers' family members that are Veterans.
The 2nd graders will be attending the 8:30-9:00 Veteran's Day program on November 11. The 4th graders will be performing. If you have a Veteran that will be present, please have them attend the 8:30 program so that our 2nd graders can see them. There will be a reception for our Veterans following the program in the Learning Commons (library). However, the students will return to the classroom after the program and resume classroom instruction.
Oct. 20-24 Boo Buckets Sale through PTA
Oct. 27-31 Red Ribbon Week
Oct. 27-31 Literati Fall Book Fair
Oct. 28 Dad's Club Trunk or Treat @ OCT 6:00 pm
Oct. 31 Book Character Parade
Nov. 3 Professional Development/No School
Nov. 7 Run Club 3:15-4:15
Nov. 11 Veteran's Day Program 8:30-9:00
Nov. 11 Veteran's Reception 9:00 in the Learning Commons
Nov. 14: Run Club 3:15-4:15
Nov. 15: PTA Gala
Nov 18: Picture Retake Day
Nov. 19 & 20: Dad's Club Turkey Drive @ Drop off
Nov. 24-28: Thanksgiving Break
Gifted and Talented Important Dates: Donna.waters@gcisd.net
5th Grade referral window: Oct. 14th - Nov. 3rd
5th Grade testing begins: Nov. 10th - Dec. 12th
K-4 Parent Meeting: November 12th @ 5:30 (PDEC)
K-4 referral window: Dec. 1st - 15th
K- 4th GT testing: January 8th - 30th
Many of our students play some sort of competitive sport or activity during recess! These are great opportunities to show grit, kindness, perseverance and to work on conflict resolution! Please have conversations at home about what your child did during recess and who they played with. If they they say that they played a sport, we would love for these types of questions to come up. We are really encouraging our students to solve any issues that come up with their words. We also want them to realize that this is NOT the Super Bowl and that it's okay if others play, even if they aren't as talented as others. Thank you!
-Did you get the ball today? If not, what can you do tomorrow to get a turn?
-Did you let other people play quarterback or pass the ball to different people?
-What do you say to other students, if they drop the ball or "mess up" a play?
-What do you say if other students get mad and argue?
-How can you be a leader during recess?
Our goal is to get about 40-45 minutes a week for EACH reading and math i-ready practice.
There is time during school to get our minutes in. We try to devote 10 minutes per day for each subject. However, if students are working on other work, in the restroom, or absent, they may not get all of their minutes in class. Students CAN complete work on getting caught up on their minutes at home. They simply log in and go!
There really is not benefit to getting more than 45 -60 minutes a week in each subject.
Sometimes students don't pass a lesson. This could be due to not understanding the topic or also being distracted and not focused. i-ready will automatically revist that lesson another time to give students another chance. However, if they do not pass the same lesson multiple times, i-ready will alert teachers of this and we will pull those students and work on those specific skills to help students reach mastery!
Reading and Writing
Ask your child...
To tell you the features of a fairy tale.
Our study of fairy tales and fables continues this week. We will review theme, central idea, and introduce story structure, including plot, conflict, and resolution.
We'll also learn elements of drama while reading A Crow, a Lion, and a Mouse! Oh, My! and other dramatic literature from our classroom libraries.
In writing, students are learning about prefixes, suffixes, and how they change the meaning of a base word.
The Book Fair is this week. Don't miss this opportunity to grow your home library.
Math
Ask your child ...
When they can use the Double Plus 1 strategy to add? **when the numbers are side by side (or neighbors) on a number line. (8 + 9)
Which number do you double when you use the Double Plus strategy? The smaller digit: 8 + 9
8 + 8 = 16 16 + 1 = 17
Our 2nd graders learned and practiced different strategies to help them quickly add their facts to 20. Counting on from the largest digit, doubles, doubles + 1, and fact families were discussed. Also, we learned how to regroup when adding 2 digit numbers.
Next week, we will be moving into strategies to help with double digit subtraction with and without regrouping,
Please continue to work on their math facts with flash cards, math apps, or math games.
Science
Ask your child:
How is sound made?
Our scientists will still be exploring and investigating sound energy.
They will be tasked with designing and creating something that will carry sound over a long distance. Students will discuss both soft and loud useful sounds and reinforce that sounds are made as matter vibrates.
If you have any extra paper towel rolls (empty) at your house, please send them our way by Tuesday!
Social Studies
Ask your child:
What are the main functions of government?
Last week our focus was on the U.S. government. Students learned...
The reasons for government (ei. laws and safety)
Types of services provided by the government (ei. schools, roads, libraries)
And where government gets its money (taxes)
Week 12 Spelling List
Focus: y as a long e and long i
spry
gym
city
try
myth
baby
why
crypt
candy
fly
High Frequency Words
busy
among
very
OC Taylor Tidbits.....
Student Absences: Please email your homeroom teacher AND copy Sierra Salter, sierra.salter@gcisd.net and Paola Cervantes, paola.cervantes@gcisd.net anytime your child will be absent for any reason.
Arrival: K-2 students go to the gym. 3-5 students go to the cafeteria. Students report directly to the classroom starting at 7:30. The tardy bell is at 7:35 a.m..
Picking up or Any Ride Changes: Please email Sierra Salter, sierra.salter@gcisd.net and PaolaCervantes, paola.cervantes@gcisd.net, prior to 2:00, if your child is going home a different way than normal.
At 2:30, the office lets each teacher know of these changes, so that we can let students know. If your child is not on our email list from the office about a ride change, we cannot let them go home differently. Your child's safety is our top priority.
Thank you so much!
Second graders started visiting the library a couple weeks ago and are loving it. Mrs. Quinn is the best, as are the new Maker Spaces she's set up for us to explore after checking out our books. Students are allowed to check out two books per week this year. Please help your child take care of their library books by following the rules they have learned and make sure they are in backpacks and ready to return on their scheduled library day. Also, please keep the audio books inside their case, when not in use, so that they do not get lost. Thank you!
Mrs. Miller: Mondays (9:30-10:00)
Mrs. Sifford: Wednesday (10:00-10:30)
Mrs. Lee: Thursdays (10:15-10:45)
Please send your child with two healthy (nut free) snacks. They may want a morning and afternoon snack.
Please make sure student iPads are plugged in every evening before bed, so that they are fully charged for class the next day. Students also need a pair of working headphones.
No wireless headphones please.
Students go to PE every day. Please make sure they are wearing (or have in their backpack) a good pair of closed toe shoes (sneakers).
If you are going to come up and have lunch with your child, please try and let your teacher know the day before. You can sit in the front foyer or outside at the tables.
Lunch Time: 11:15 - 11:45am
If your child forgets a lunch, water bottle or ipad, you can simply come and bring the item up to OCT. There is a bookshelf on the left hand side that is labeled for each grade level. If you place it on the shelf, we will make sure your child gets it.
Let's Celebrate our October Birthdays!
October 3rd: Sophia B.
October 9th: Aubrey
October 10th: Harrison
October 10th: Ian D.
October 11th: Izzah
October 13th: Emma S.
October 24th: Jad A.
We are so thankful for each of you.
Taylor the Tiger wants you to have a GREAT week!