Week in Review

It's only been three weeks, but everything is in full swing upstairs in room 31!  We have been working very hard this week. The students' effort did not go unnoticed and I received many compliments from specialist teachers and administrators this week about the great behavior and positive attitudes they have.  Way to go, kids!

During our Language Arts block this week, Mrs. Shaw joined us for a great discussion about our short story, "Thank you, Ma'm" by Langston Hughes. Be sure to ask your child about why they think Mrs. Jones had Roger come into her room and why she fed him dinner. It was interesting to hear the different reasons a lot of them came up with!  

In Writing, students wrote a letter from the perspective from one for the main characters of our short story.  We're learning how to use evidence from the story to support our ideas.  Look for these letters to come home next week!

We have started Unit Two, Numbers and Data.  Earlier in the week I sent home the Unit Two Family Letter.  Keep that letter in a safe place! It will help with homework and vocabulary for this unit. I also have some Student Reference Books available for kids to keep at home. Let me know if you'd like one sent home! We also started our multiplication facts practice today. Any practice you can do at home with flashcards or iPad apps (list coming of great educational apps soon!) would be a great thing for your kids.  We need to know our facts!!  Unit One Assessments will be graded and progress reports will be sent home next week. Just a reminder: Math Assessments are graded using the Beginning, Developing and Secure scale. 

Insects have taken over our classroom! In a good way, of course! Ha!  We have meal worms we have "adopted".  We'll be watching them over the next few weeks to observe metamorphosis. Right now, our meal worms are in the larva stage.  We also have a new batch of caterpillars! We are very hopeful these caterpillars eat and eat and eat and eat!  

Our NWEA testing is finished for the fall.  We did great!  There are a few kids that missed a test due do an absence or need to finish a test because of our limited schedule.  I will share the results with you at our parent teacher conference next month. The class results will really help me with my planning and instruction. I'll be able to greater meet the individual needs of the students in our class.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Walk to School: September 28

Picture Day: October 2

NECAP Testing: October 1-9

Columbus Day (No School): October 8