News & Notes:
- Cold Weather - We will go outside every day that the windchill is above 20 degrees. Please send in boots and warm weather gear each day as several of our recess locations are snow covered.
- Music - Students received their recorders in music this week. Click here for information on this project from Mr. Cross.
- Chromebooks - This month we will be taking the NWEA test. In order for the test to function properly, Chromebook updates need to be completed. To help with this, please have your child charge the chromebook with the computer on and connected to your wifi. The updates cannot occur without being connected to the internet. Thank you!
Upcoming Dates:
- Friday, January 14 - No school for students
- Monday, January 17 - No school in observation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day
- Tuesday, January 25 - Bennie Family Fun Night at 6:30pm
What We're Learning:
- Writing - We are working on including details in informational writing.
- Reading - Our literacy strategy focus for next week is "making connections". We will do that throughout the week in our "book of the day" and in our whole class book "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World".
- Brain Friendly Reading - We have made great progress with our Brain Friendly Reading. This week I met with each student to conduct a phonics screener. I will use this data to help guide our small groups as well as whole class instruction. Next week we will review of short vowel sounds as well as syllables.
- Social Studies - We have begun our unit on Civics and Government with a focus on the Constitution.
- Science - We are studying how energy is transferred in our new unit of physical science.
- Math - This week we did some review of concepts we focused on in the fall. Look for "exit tickets" on rounding, number comparison and expanded notation as well as multiplication. This will give you a good idea of your child's level of current understanding. We will be focusing on fractions for most of the month of January.
- Social Emotional Learning - Mrs. Metzger has been talking about an "attitude of gratitude" in our morning WBEST broadcasts. During one morning meeting each week we share something we are grateful for.
Weekly Highlight:
- Our "Toy Take Apart" investigation was a huge hit!! We are in the process of dissecting our toys and discovering how their electrical circuits work.
Ask Me:
- We have been "tapping the chart" daily. Ask your child how we know which letters are vowels. (Hint - you can "sing" the vowels.) See if your child can tell you the short vowel sounds for all the vowels.
