April Newsletter

What you need to know for WASL Testing

Third grade will begin WASL testing April 21^st (not April 20^th). 4^th and 5^th graders will begin the test April 20^th and continue until April 27^th. Third grade will test April 21^st, 22^nd , 23^rd , and 24^th (4 days total). We will take one test each day. Third grade takes three math tests and two reading tests. Make-ups will take place the week of April 28^th -May 1^st. If at all possible make sure your children get a good night rest and eat a good breakfast. Try to give your student a balanced high protein breakfast. Morning snacks during our WASL break will be provided. If you have any questions at all please call me at 464-5745.

Reading Comprehension

I spoke to several parents at conference time about helping students with their comprehension. Our goal is for students to “dig deeper” into the text for a deeper understanding. I hope the questions I sent home have been helpful for you and your child.

I recently came across a quote which I wrote on the white board in our classroom. I think it helps students understand it is okay to still be learning to read at 3^rd grade. “Good readers don’t stop learning to read. I am a better reader today than I was yesterday and not as good as I will be tomorrow.” Stephanie Harvey (age 50)

Classroom Needs

Several students have been running low on pencils and erasers. Be sure to ask your child if they have enough school supplies.

Research has shown: Chocolate increases reaction time as well as your attention span, chewing gum helps students concentrate, and peppermint increases test performance through concentration and alertness. If you are willing and able to donate the following to our classroom for WASL testing, please make sure you have enough for 20 students:

-Sugarless gum

-Individually wrapped chocolate pieces (like Hershey’s kisses)

-Individually wrapped peppermints (We call these ‘Thinking Mints’)

Conferences

As you all know, conferences begin this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will all be half days. Some students will be doing ‘Student Lead Conferences’ with their parents. Student Lead Conferences are ran much the same as regular conferences. However, your child presents information on how they are doing in school. I will also be involved and share the report card as well as other important information. I will be sending notes home tomorrow if I would like your child to attend their conference. If your child does not receive a note, and you would like them to attend the conference anyway, please feel free to have them do so. If your child is unable to attend their conference, please send me a note, call, or email me to let me know and I will plan accordingly. Thanks and happy conference week!

February Newsletter

Valentine’s Party

As you all know February 14^th is Valentine’s Day. From past experience with Valentine parties, I have found the simplest and most cost-effective plan is the following:

I will order large, heart-shaped cookies from the bakery at Yoke’s (our partners in education) and have a volunteer pick them up. The plan is to frost and decorate the cookies, then exchange Valentines. There will also be an activity if we have time. Please send $1.00 to cover the expenses of the cookies. This should be sent in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on it by Tuesday, February 10^th. I will keep track of the money received. If this causes you a hardship and are unable to do so, I understand. Only do what you think you are able.

Regarding cards, it is not required that your child bring Valentines, but if they bring any, they must include one for all students. A copy of our class list is attached with a few teachers attached as well.

I appreciate your cooperation and contribution to our party! If you have any questions feel free to call me. Thanks!

Upcoming Reading Programs

Read Across America:

This program takes place in the month of February in celebration of Dr. Seuss. Our goal this month as a classroom, is to read 50 hours. If your child gets their planner signed, this counts as an hour (or more if they do more at home). I have also sent home a purple sheet that you and your child can fill out for any additional time read at home (above their 1 hour). In class reading does not count. For every 5 hours we read we will receive a stripe to add to The Cat in The Hat’s hat. If we reach our goal of 50 hours, we will get root beer floats.

Reading is the Ticket:

This program helps each child earn a free ticket to use at Silverwood this summer. This year the reading record keeping will take place from February 23^rd-March 25^th. More information will be coming about this in the next few weeks. I know we will be able to “double-dip” on minutes for the first week of the program.

Reminders:

2/12/09 Sweetheart Breakfast beginning at 7:30am

2/13/09 - 2/16/09 Mid Winter Break/President’s Day- No School

2/20/09 - Pickles and Popcorn (students may bring .50 for a pickle and/or .25 for a popcorn)

2/26/09 - Family Math Night 6:30-7:30

March 10,11,12,13 – Half Days: We will be having conferences. Our school board voted last week on some calendar adjustments for snow days and this is when our conferences have been scheduled for.

Help Needed…

The following letter went home today. If you are willing to help, send me an email, note, or call. Thanks! 

Dear Families,

With Valentine’s Day approaching quickly I wanted to ask for a few volunteers to help with our Valentine’s Day party. The plan is to frost and decorate cookies, then exchange Valentines (I will be sending a list home with student’s names next week). There will also be an activity if we have time. What I need from volunteers is someone to buy the cookies, cookie decorations, napkins, cups, and juice or milk. I will contact Yoke’s and have them make us heart cookies with no frosting in their bakery. This year our party will be on February 12^th at 2:00pm because there is no school on Friday. If you are able to bring something or are able to help with our party please let me know. After I receive responses I will contact you next week. Thanks!

Hard at Work

Our Friday Schedule

Our plan for tomorrow will still include taking our Spelling Test as well as having our “Milk and Cookies” party. Thanks for all your flexibility with our crazy weather and school schedule!

Rescheduled Party

I have decided since we did not get our “Milk and Cookies” party before break, the only fair thing to do is to move it to Friday (January 9th). If you had originally signed up to bring something or you would like to send cookies, feel free to. We will have our party at about 2:30 on Friday. Instead of showing a movie I will have some winter activities instead. If for some reason we don’t have school, we will work something out for next week.

Holiday Party December 19th!

Friday the 19^th, we will have a classroom party in the afternoon. Our theme this year is going to be “Milk and Cookies.” We will be doing various activities in our classroom and be enjoying our milk and cookies. A few parents will be bringing milk, napkins, and cups. Students need to bring cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies can not be homemade. Please bring a package of your favorite store bought (or bakery) cookies. Depending on how many cookies are brought by children, there may be a sampler that goes home. We don’t need to eat too many sweets!

Thank you!!

December already!

I apologize for not getting spelling words up on Monday this week. It slipped my mind! They are up now. I want to remind you all, the words I post are all the words they will be tested on for this week. The list consists of 5 new words, and 13 review words.

In other news, our Physics of Sound unit will begin within the next couple weeks. Today we had a visit from a String Trio who plays for the Spokane Symphony, come and share with us some of their music and expertise. It was so interesting and the kids learned so much! It was a great way to begin our unit on sound which will bring a lot of information on vibrations and pitch.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Break and maybe even got a little ‘Black Friday’ shopping in. Only three weeks until Christmas!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences have begun! Conferences run through November 20-November 25th. If for some reason you cannot make your conference let me know as soon as possible so we can reschedule. While you’re here, check out the book fair in the multi-purpose room. It’s a great place to pick up some Christmas presents for your child. :-) I look forward to seeing you all!

Although we have half days for the next week, those of you who have children in the Stepping Stones program, we are still having the program every day. Your child is done around 3:00 and if they ride the bus, they will be taking their regular bus home. The only day we WILL NOT have Stepping Stones is November 26th.