Dear Families,
Included in Thursday folders last week were permission slips and information sheets for our field trip to Manitou Cliff Dwellings on March 1. Please keep the information sheets for your records and return the permission slip with $12, the fee for this trip. Understand that we do not keep money in the classroom to provide change, so exact payment or a check made payable to AcademyACL is simplest. We have had several inquiries regarding chaperones for this excursion, and each class has plenty for this trip at this time--thank you for your interest!
Due dates:
Friday, February 15 - Please let us know if your child will need a sack lunch. Ms. Brown sent an email on Thursday requesting this information, or you can let your child's homeroom teacher know.
Friday, February 22 - Permission slips and field trip money ($12) due no later than this date.
If you need another copy of the permission slip or the information sheet, please see your homeroom teacher.
Here are a few more important dates to add to your calendar:
February 15 - Early Release at 2:10
February 20-21 - 3rd grade Reading TCAP (Please note that on the initial Academy ACL calendar, the dates for TCAP were the 13th-15th. Testing dates were changed by the district after our calendar was printed.) Make up tests will be done on the 22nd.
March 1 - Field Trip to Manitou Cliff Dwellings
March 4-22 - DIII - DV TCAP and makeup days; 3rd grade will take Math and Writing tests at this time. 4th and up will take all (Math, Reading and Writing, plus Science for 5th and 8th)
March 23-31 - Spring Break
April 24 - Science Fair Projects Due
LifeSkills
Division III has been discussing test-taking strategies for upcoming TCAP tests. Students have been getting familiar with the format of the test itself, reviewing phonics skills in reading, as well as ways to calm themselves down when anxiety strikes and prepare their bodies and minds for this demonstration of learning. Please help your child prepare for TCAP by helping him or her get a good night's rest before the test each day, providing a healthy breakfast, and sending water bottles to school to promote hydration.
In addition, we have been reviewing our Social Contracts in each class as there are times where students experience brain burps with behavior. Kindness to others during class and outside of the classroom is imperative for strong social skills.
World of Math
Ms. Brown's class had a wonderful integration with Ms. Hellen this week, creating pieces of Mondrian art to further apply their knowledge of fractional parts of the whole. Students created a grid of 80 squares, and then took out fractional parts to create blocks of color. Please check back this weekend for a post that includes photos of students' artwork from this integration unit!
Dr. Ricotta's class is wrapping up Unit 7 concerning fractional parts of a whole. Students were each given mandarin oranges to see and touch the whole then peeling it for the segments representing the fractional parts. Pattern blocks were helpful in segmenting in introducing parts to whole. It has been a very tactile learning unit!
Art of Language
Partner and popcorn reading "The Tiger Rising" has been Dr. Ricotta's students' novel focus. Students have been completing journal pages for this unit which entails prediction, vocabulary, comprehension, and non-fiction information. Students are actual enjoying completing the 'worksheets'!
Caesar's English Lesson 9 has introduced new stems. Vocabulary cards with definitions were created and students have been able to play games to reinforce their understanding. Having students write original sentences for modern words of these stems proves they can use the words in context.
Ms. Brown's students have started an analysis of poetry, focusing on imagery and symbolism. They have read two poems by Emily Dickinson, and another by Joseph Ceravolo. All three poems engage the subject of cyclic change and students are engaged in the analysis of the theme of these poems as well as the analysis of the poems from a structural standpoint.
Students are beginning to integrate their Caesar's English work into their writing. Having just completed work on a persuasive writing project, it was noted that students are taking risks with the use of higher-level vocabulary to strengthen their sentences, and exploring more complex sentence structure.
Historical Inquiry
Students are wrapping up their initial study of Colorado's history. Students have investigated everything from the symbols of our state to how our geography affects life here for humans and other living things to important people and events in the development of Colorado. Students will be finishing up culminating projects next week.
Beginning the last week of February, we will begin a simulation in which students will take on roles within a wagon train heading west from Missouri to Oregon, making decisions along the way which require data analysis, generating solutions, and determining a course of action as a group. It is often a challenge for students to develop a thorough understanding of the issues pioneers faced and why people chose to move from place to place during those early years of our state's history, and this simulation provides students with the opportunity to analyze this time period on a deeper level, while making connections to events in our own state's development.
Science Fair
Help your student to continue his or her research and experimentation for the science fair! During the month of February, students should be planning out their experiments, and gathering observations and data.
Here is a link to the Science Fair planning packet you were provided at conferences:
We expect that students will be analyzing concepts that truly interest them, and that the design of their experiments are unique and demonstrate the kind of advanced and creative learners we know them to be. As your student works through this process, please help them to prepare their science fair board so that it presents both a neat and creative appearance. Students have asked whether parents can assist with this part of the project, and the answer is a resounding yes! We expect the work itself to be student created, however helping students with the use of word processing to create labels, pictures, or graphs using their data, as well as the finer points of board organization at this age is most helpful.
Science fair projects will be due April 24.
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