It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is the week after next! We have a ton of work to get done this month, and not much time to do it; however, everyone has already made significant headway this year. This is such a wonderful class, we have been able to get a lot accomplished and we want to keep that momentum going! Our themes this month are: Native Americans, Pilgrims and barn & forest animals. This month we will be looking at the story of Thanksgiving to tell the things that the same and different between two texts on the same topic. We will also work on both recognizing and using adjectives in our own writing. In math we are using a number line and a hundred chard to explain how to find 10 more or 10 less than a 2 digit number. We will also use strategies to add a 2-digit number to a 1-digit number within 10.
Important Dates:
11/8- library trip
11/12- school closed
11/20- 11:00 dismissal
11/21-11/23- Thanksgiving break
12/4- Primary and Lower School trip to Marbles Children's Museum (volunteers needed!)
12/6- library trip
12/19- 11:00 dismissal and beginning of Christmas break
A huge thank you goes out to Donna Cumby for planning and executing our Halloween party and Tammy Banas for helping! I know the kids had a ball!
We have a lot going on over the next few weeks! This Thursday is a half day, and we will start dismissing at 11:00. Friday there is no school because many of us will be presenting at this year's NCAIS conference at Greensboro Day School. I'm trying to figure out how to share my presentation with you, but PowerPoint and Google Blogger do not play well together! However, if I find a way to do this I will share it with you soon. Halloween is next week, and we are encouraging students to come to school in their costumes (no masks or weapons please). That morning we will go to the library for their harvest celebration, and we will have our class party from 1:30-2:20. We are looking for volunteers to help with this, so if you are interested please email me. A huge thank you to Donna Cumby for planning this fun event for us! Also, library books are due on Thursday, so I would renew them so that there won't be any fines when we return them next week!
be sure to check your child's backpack this evening because we sent home lots of things today!
We are working on our class book "Christmas Is" this week. If you would like to purchase a copy please return completed form ASAP. If you don't want a book please check the appropriate box on the form and return it.
We will take our monthly trip to the library on Thursday. Please make sure your library accounts are current so that your child can check out some books. We will also return our books Thursday when we go. I have gotten back all the books except 2, I will contact you separately if we need those books back from you.
Our class has been invited to join the 3rd and 4th graders on a math field trip to the Children's Museum in GSO. I'm sorry for the late notice about this! We will be off campus from roughly 9:30-12:30. Please send a lunch with your child on Friday because we will not be back on campus in time for school lunch. If you ordered lunch for Friday it will be held for you.
Please remember to renew your child's library books online at www.highpointpubliclibrary.com or by phone (336) 883-9317. Books are due 9/27, but we will not return to the library until 10/4. I already renewed the books for Dane, Arianna & AJ that were on my card. Also, please be sure you renew your library card if you have not done so already so that we can check out new books next week.
This has been a pretty hectic week, but I'm glad that all of our families are safe and weathered the storm! I called the orchard today, and we are still on for our field trip tomorrow. The following are a few reminders:
We will eat lunch at the farm, so please send a packed lunch. If you ordered lunch already, students can pick them up after school.
Please encourage your child to wear their field trip shirt tomorrow.
Please send in booster/car seats if your child requires them.
Small electronics are allowed on the van as long as they have headphones or earbuds.
We will leave campus shortly after 8:00; if you are planning on going with us you are welcome to follow the van or meet us at the farm ( 506 Parks Crossroads Church Rd. Ramseur, NC). If you prefer to meet us at the farm with your child please let me know so that we won't wait for you in the morning.
We are scheduled to arrive at Millstone Creek Orchards at 9:30, and we will return to campus in time for afternoon classes.
Every year the primary class participates in writing a book which is published through Student Treasures Publishing. This year our theme is "Christmas is..." Our books will be back before we leave for Christmas break, and they make a great gift for family members. However, we understand and respect that our class is comprised of students of various faiths. Please send me a message separately if you are uncomfortable with your child participating in a Christian themed class book.
For more about the process and Student Treasures Publishing, check out the video below.
We enjoyed our library visit today! We started with an apple craft, read some books about apples and we had a tour of the children's room. Some of the library card applications came back because either there was already a card issued for you, some of the information was missing on the form, or the card needed to be renewed. I put those applications in the kids' backpacks with a note on them. Please be sure to update these ASAP. I allowed those students to check out books with my personal card; however, please return the books to me by the 24th so I can renew them 😊. These are some pictures from our visit today:
Thank you to those of you who have already selected a time to meet through Sign-Up Genius. If you did not receive the link via email please let me know. I look forward to meeting with all of you soon!
By popular demand, we will start "Show and Tell" next week. Each Friday students are encouraged to bring something from home to share with the class. We will alternate weeks with a book or a toy. I will make a note on the homework sheet as to which week it is.
We are off to a great start this school year, and it's hard to believe we are already in our 4th week of school! We have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for the month of September. A few of our objectives for this month are:
asking and answering questions about text
describing characters, settings and events in a story
understanding common, proper and possessive nouns
using strategies to make addition and subtraction easier
comparing two 2-digit numbers
This Thursday (9/6) we will be off campus from 9:00-11:00 for our trip to the High Point library. We will take the school van, so if your child requites a booster seat, please send it with them on Thursday.
I have heard from a few of you about some struggles you are having with homework. Please keep it simple. The most important thing you can do is read with your child for 20 minutes every day. This is one of the few things I am adamant about because the research is very clear on the benefits of reading and being read to in the primary grades. Once a child reaches 3rd grade his brain slows its development and reading habits become set. Please don't miss this opportunity in your child's development. For further reading on the topic click here.
Also, please let me know if you are woking on flashcards instead of Xtramath at home; I see that some students have not logged in yet. I apologize for bing a stickler about this, but it is amazing to see the progress of the students who do this regularly! The following video is a tutorial for logging in at home. If you are having trouble with this please let me know and I will help you.
