OCTOBER FUN

I hope you have all enjoyed the long 4-day weekend.  The class enjoyed a fun pajama day and movie lunch to start off the wonderful weekend.  We have a lot of fun activities planned for this short week.
Congratulations to all on a job well done as pledge helpers last week.  Everyone was polite, reverent and spoke clearly as they led the school in the morning Pledge of Allegiance.

*  Daniel was our Star Student last week.  We were amazed at all the wonderful places you have visited, Daniel.

*  This week's star student is Peyton.  We learned a few interesting things about you last week and look forward to hearing more this week.

* In Math this week we will complete the Unit 2 test  and then start Unit 3.  Please review addition and subtraction facts with your child.  A strong base knowledge of the basic math facts will be valuable as we continue to work with numbers and mathematical operations in Unit 3.

*  We have completed our Name research projects.  Did you check out your child's report on twitter?  You will also be able to listen to the report at our open house on October 25th. 

*As we get back to our WEX writing, the students will be working on revision assignments as well as editing on their own.  It is an important skill in writing to be able to review your own work and correct sentence structure, punctuation as well as change telling sentences into showing sentences with details to make our writing more interesting to the reader.  I will continue to encourage all students to share their written work and respond positively to the works of their peers.

*  We completed a quiz in Science last week and will continue exploring the states of Matter.  We discovered ways to change objects from one state of matter to another through freezing, heat and evaporation.

* We continue exploring comprehension strategies in reading.  In the past few weeks, we have been listening to our inner voice and asking questions while we read.  The class used the informational text Time For Kids to practice the Read, Write and Talk comprehension strategy.  Many of the students felt they understood the articles better if they wrote their inner thoughts on the pages as they read and then discussed their thoughts with a partner.  Next, we will think about how our background knowledge helps us understand new information in our reading. 
*October Book Report is Mystery!  Forms went home last week and the book report is due Nov. 1st.

*  REMEMBER: This Thursday is a MONDAY schedule.  Since we miss so many Mondays due to days off of school, the district sets a few Monday schedule days into the calendar. 

*  Friday, October 12 at 6:30 pm is movie night at Ivy Hill. 

*  Also this Friday Scholastic Book orders are due.  If you would like to order books, you can place your order online or by using the order forms I sent home last Thursday.  Please write your checks out to Scholastic Books and DO NOT send cash. 

As I said, it is a short week but a busy one.  If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me.    

                                                                                        Marybeth Buck 10/8/12