Reminders and Important Dates
Thursday, September 13: Achievement Night, 5:30pm. Guest speaker Jackie Law will be speaking about MAP testing information for parents, and staff will share math games and science fair information for each division.
Friday, September 14: Drawing and materials list for Rube Goldberg Projects are due! This day is also an Early Release at 2:10.
Saturday, September 15: Paper Making Project Help Needed: Jimmy Cline, a Division III parent, has graciously volunteered to build the paper presses we need to create our medieval paper. He needs help, however, with the construction of them. If you are available in the afternoon on Saturday and willing to assist, please get in touch with him via email: jimmycline@comcast.net.
Friday, September 28: Rube Goldberg Machines DUE! Mechanisms Fair in the afternoon in the gym. More details will follow. If your child has not shared this project with you, please check his or her binder for the information. It can also be obtained on the school's website in the Forums under Division III.
In Other News...
The weather changes have started in our region! Fall is almost upon us! Please remember that our weather is unpredictable, and so students need to come prepared with rain gear and jackets each day. As the weather turns colder, students will not be allowed to play outside if they are not dressed appropriately.
If you are picking your child up mid-day, please remember to check in at the office and allow the office staff to retrieve your child, rather than heading straight to his or her classroom. It's imperative for the safety of our students and staff that the office is aware of who is in the building at all times and who is taking students out during the day.
If you wish to observe or volunteer in a particular class, be sure that you have scheduled your visit ahead of time with the teacher(s) in whose classes you wish to observe or volunteer. We welcome our families, but would appreciate knowing when we will be having visitors and volunteers. In this instance too, you must check in with the office and obtain a visitor's badge. If you will be volunteering, you must have completed the volunteer orientation. Please contact the office for the next orientation.
LifeSkills
Students in Division III discussed and role-played situations involving the giving and receiving compliments. Students noticed that tone of voice plays a role in how compliments are received. We have also started writing persuasive letters to Mrs. Myers to convince her that we should be allowed to take a field trip to the DaVinci Machines exhibit in Denver in October.
World of Math
Ms. Brown and Dr. Ricotta's Math classes took MAP tests this week. Teachers will let you know when scores are available. Ms. Brown's math class will take their Unit 1 test and a few students will finish up MAP testing on Friday. Dr. Ricotta gave her Unit 1 test earlier in the week and Mrs. Burns' class is scheduled to take their Unit 1 test next week!
Art of Language
Ms. Brown's Art of Language class has continued with Writer's Workshop, focusing on expository writing. Students have been busy interviewing others for their essays and many are actively drafting essays that incorporate many different non-fiction features and informational writing structures. Word Study information went home on Monday and the first assessment will be next Wednesday, September 19.
Dr. Ricotta's class is learning analogies and Latin stems (bi-, pre-, super-, sub-, and de-). They are continuing work on their non-fiction animal essays and have started reading The Secret Garden.
Mrs. Burns' language arts class has been learning to identify the main idea and details in nonfiction text using non-linguistic representations. She put related items in a box, and through exploration, students identified what the main idea of the box was, as well as identified which items were details.
Inquiry
Division III has completed their study of mechanisms and simple machines, working on three culminating activities throughout the week. In Dr. Ricotta's classroom, students played games such as Mouse Trap and Capsula to further explore mechanisms at work. Mrs. Burns arranged for students to take apart common household machines such as broken X-Boxes (which was a favorite!) and coffee machines, identifying mechanisms and the way they work within the system. In Ms. Brown's classroom, students went on a simple machine scavenger hunt, finding the six simple machines on our playground. Students sketched where they were located, labeled each using scientific vocabulary such as load, effort, input and output, and then explained how those simple machines were integrated into the equipment students play on every day.
We will begin our first Historical Inquiry unit this Thursday, which will have students becoming experts on medieval inventions, technology, and medicine. In Art class, Ms. Hellen will begin facilitating the paper making process on Monday, as an integration of history into art. She is still looking for additional volunteers to help from 12:30 until 1:30 or so each day. Please contact her to schedule a time to help out!
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