August 31, 2018

Here's what we've been up to in D111 this week!

ELA

• We worked on brainstorming things we love on our heart map for our Writing Journals. Some students put things like: cousins, vacation, pets, video games, and of course, parents on their heart map! We are hoping to use these maps as a source of inspiration for writing.
• Writing Notebook Assignment:
  • Your child’s homework assignment this week is to find pictures, photos, magazine art, etc. that reflects what they enjoy to do and/or people and places special to them. Please only send in pictures that are okay to cut and paste onto a notebook. These will decorate the front of his/her Writer’s Notebook for the year and provide a starting place for ideas and drafts that will grow into great writing pieces. It will also make their Writer’s Notebook very personal and special to them. Please send all pictures and magazine clippings with your child on Friday, September 7th.

Math

• We have been working on place value and comparing numbers in class. I have included an anchor chart below of the things we've been talking about.

• Next week we will be moving on to rounding. This topic can be especially tricky for students to grasp. Click here for the parent resource we have regarding place value and rounding if you are interested in supporting this topic at home!
• Make 10: We played an activity this week called Make 10. You can easily play this game at home too! Students use playing cards to try and make 10, which will help them with adding friendly numbers. Here are some directions on how you can play at home!
• Optional math assignment: We will be working on learning how to estimate as one of our math lessons. If your child would like to bring in an estimation jar, click here to sign up! This assignment is completely optional but a fun way to connect estimation to our real life!

Odds and Ends

• NWEA Testing: Some students have finished all 3 sections of NWEA. For those that have not yet, we will be continuing next week. I am excited to see the data and look at it with students so they can analyze their scores as well.
• Field Lessons and School Supplies: We are so excited to launch our new donations website! Click HERE to donate toward our school supply and field lesson campaigns.
  • School Supplies: Families, this year each grade level has purchased all the school supplies that your students will need for the entire year. We get a great discount as a school, so we like to purchase everything in advance. We ask that if you would like to help out with school supplies, simply make a $25 donation to our School Supplies Campaign and we will take care of the rest.
  • Field Lessons: Speaking of donations, each grade level is planning some incredible explorations this year! You can see a list of Field Lessons for each grade level. The school has already paid for these trips, and everyone is going whether we meet our donations goal or not, however, we have set our grade level Field Lessons Donation Goal and placed it on the website to help support these trips. You can help by donating to our Field Lessons Campaign on our donations website - the new website will even break up your donation into smaller monthly donations for you with just the click of a button. Click HERE to donate today!
• Get Epic: After researching the website getepic.com some more, it turns out that you are unable to access the website from home - unless you sign up for the monthly subscription. However, you can connect your email address to get notifications on what your child is reading in class.
• Star of the Week: Our star of the week schedule is now up! Click on the "Star of the Week" tab and go to the second page of the slide to see when your child will be the star!
• Chili Cook Off: Our 6th annual Chili Cook Off is coming up! This incredible event will take place on September 26th at 6:00 PM.
• 6th-8th Grade: Click HERE to volunteer or donate for the event. Team up with your advisory teacher to take on other classes head to head for the best chili at our Chili Cook Off! We are asking for help with expert chili chefs, decorators, and servers!
  • Kinder-5th Grade: Click HERE to sign up. This year we are inviting our Kindergarten through fifth-grade families to join the event by contributing dessert and drink donations. We would love to see at least 5 desserts and 5 drinks donated per grade level. Desserts are best donated in individual wrappings (ie brownies versus a whole cake). Drinks are best as 2 liters or 12 oz cans.
• Field Lessons and School Supplies: Click Here to make your donation today!
  • Great News! 3rd grade has already reached 36% of our School Supplies goal and 31% of our field lessons goal!
  • Note: When you make a monthly donation, our grade level campaigns are credited for the entire year in advance on our goal thermometer!
  • Keep up the great work 3rd grade families!

Important Dates:

• Monday, September 3: No School - Labor Day
• Tuesday, September 4 - Friday, September 7: Fall NWEA Testing
• Monday, September 17: Fall Picture Day (in school uniform)
• Friday, September 28 - Progress reports go home

If you have any questions or concerns, please fill in the Google form below. I will respond to you via email!

Until next week,

Miss Ho