Hello Students and Families!

Thank you for checking this blog.  Each week I will write about our week, tell about what we are learning, share pictures if available, give important information, and talk about things to come.  Please subscribe (scroll down on the right hand side bar), and you will receive an email when I update the blog, and you can check it out.  Help me save money and trees by not printing a newsletter! 🙂

This was a busy week of learning procedures, getting set up on the iPads, and beginning the 4th grade curriculum.  We began our first reading unit – Interpreting Characters in Fiction by talking about how we need to read intensely.  I am asking them to slow their brains down and notice everything in their books.  We will try to make movies in our minds and analyze why the author used certain words and phrases and included certain parts in the story.  We talked about having sympathy or empathy for our characters to try to understand them better.  We looked at the rubric of skills they will be learning with this unit, and they did a small self check of where they are now compared to where they will be and what they have yet to learn.  I will be beginning the tri-annual reading assessments over the next weeks, and these assessments will continue for a few weeks.  These assessments allow me to know your children as readers, guide them toward “just right” books, and decide how I can best instruct their reading this trimester.

We began our math curriculum, and our first unit is all about place value.  This curriculum was new last year, and I am already seeing the benefits of being in year two.  Please remember that our math Homework and Practice (called Practice Buddy) and a Quick Check are on the iPads every day.  The benefits of doing it this way is immediate feedback for your child.  All too often students will complete the paper homework, getting many incorrect, but not know they are practicing it incorrectly until the next day or later when the teacher grades it.  By that time, it is too late.  This program on the iPad tells them immediately if they are correct or not, and gives help.  We will go over all the help options available to them in class.  MOST of the time your child will be able to complete the homework in class.  Every day we will write the homework in their planner.  Please review the Homework and Quick Check with your child to go over if it is complete and what they are learning.  Your child can show you how to go on to the program.

Speaking of the iPads, the SL Tech Team acknowledges that there have been some issues with their new filter and not being able to get into programs at home.  They are working on resolving these issues, and promise me it will be fixed by Monday!  Thank you for your efforts to go over your child’s work and for helping them charge the iPads each night.

We needed to take a few pre-assessments in writing this week.  Next week we will begin our fiction writing unit.

In science we are studying the sun, moon, and Earth.  Your child has been asked to go out and observe the moon in the next few days.  Their sheet is due by Wednesday, September 13.  The moon is visible in the mornings right now -check out the beautiful waning gibbous!

You probably noticed the 5 popcorn buckets that went home with your child!  This is our first fund raiser.  Please try to sell all 5 buckets and return the $60 to school as soon as possible, but for sure in the next couple of weeks.  We have more if you want them.  Please return what you are unable to sell.  They are $12 each and good to use at many Wesco stores (see the side of the bucket) until December 2018.

Thank you for sending in all the supplies we need for the year.  Don’t forget headphones or earbuds!  These are an important tool as well.

Important Dates

Monday, September 11 – 3rd Grade MSTEP results coming home

Thursday, September 14 – HPC Meet and Greet 6-8 PM at Old Boys

Tuesday, September 26 – Picture retakes

Thursday, September 28 – Planetarium Field Trip

Have a great weekend!