OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: March 16-20, 2026
Theme (science/social studies/literacy: Last week our focus was on the questions: What is community? What are places we love in our community? This week we will focus on WHO is in our community and WHAT they do! We will read a fiction text, Thank You, Omu, focusing on both sequencing, and cause/effect. We will also do a variety of mapping activities, using both a road map and downtown map of Juneau. A few other concepts we are working on are using context clues to determine meanings of unknown words
Writing: This week students will complete an organizer for their opinion opinion paragraphs. The prompt will be: Would a sled dog make a good pet? Yes/no...and why? Students made a husky craft to go with their writing. They will work on handwriting letter "Ee." They will also write in their journals in response to the text written above.
Language: Our focus will be on the three different types of compound words: open, closed and hyphenated...as well as possessive nouns
Bears: "ed" ending (sounds like "d," "t" and "ed")
Eagles: vowel teams "ie" "igh"
Heart/High Frequency Words: (Heart words don’t always follow the rules and we often have to remember their spellings “by heart”. HF words appear most often in texts)
Bears: Review: seven, upon, children, second, sentence, until New: open, along, also, animal, began, begin, even,
Eagles/Seals: Review: often, once, only, open, own New: paper, pick, real, river, run
(Both grades are exposed to and practice both sets of words)
Math:
2nd: Students are working on regrouping in addition and will move onto subtracting 2-digit numbers following that. Looking ahead, that will involve using a number line, hundreds chart and regrouping using place value blocks.
3rd: Students will take a checkpoint review the various strategies they've used to subtract greater numbers. We will also begin our multiplication unit, exploring groups and objects, and the relationship between addition and multiplication.
Special Activities Last Week: Our class continues to track the Iditarod! We are tracking 3 mushers: Jessie Holmes, Jesse Terry, and Rohn Buser. It has been to see where they are each day! You can get on the Iditarod website with your child and see for yourself where they are this weekend! Early in the week, the students began "Iditaread!" Along with the 4/5 class, our students are challenged to read along with the mushers, with page numbers equating to miles along the trail. Readers are tracking their progress on a large bulletin board in the hallway! On Thursday we headed into the woods to find animal tracks with Mr. Mike. On Friday we went to the library and pool! Thanks again for all of the parents/grandparents who came with to the pool!
This Week: It will be a full week! Monday we have a whole-school field trip to the Treadwell Ice Arena. We will skate and play outside, having lunch in the shelter. We will write letters to a leprechaun before St. Patrick's Day! I wonder if a leprechaun will visit? On Tuesday and Thursday we will work with Mr. Dirk on having mini cross-country ski lessons on school grounds. On Friday we will head to Mendenhall Campground to put our skills to the test. Consider joining us! We will get to the campground around 11:45!
Announcements:
Marmot of the Week: Harper!
Birthdays: Eden (19th)! Also, Ms. Savannah (15th), Mr. Corey Weiss (21st) and Ms. Sarah (22nd)
-Early Release Mondays at 2:30
-Swimming/Library dates for this semester: 1/30, 2/13, 3/13, 4/24, May TBD
-All School Center Dates: This Wednesday, 3/18 (typically on Fridays) Special Robot-related centers to tie in with our upcoming All-School Read of The Wild Robot
-Ice Skating at Treadwell 3/16
-Cross Country Skiing 3/17, 19, 20
-Spring break: 3/23-3/27
*Please see ALL posted links for important information!