Parents

NWEA Testing for the 2^nd trimester will begin this week and extend through next week The dates for our testing is Wednesday, 2/17, Friday, 2/19, & Wednesday, 2/24. Please be sure to have your child get to bed early and eat a good breakfast for the next two weeks. Since our testing is at the end of the school day, I encourage parents to pack a healthy snack and lots of water. POSTED 02-15-10

With the New Year brings one of my favorite classroom activities – literature circles. Literature circles are small groups of students near the same reading level who read a book and then, reflect, ponder, and answer questions about it. It is a fun way for students to practice reading strategies discussed the 1^st trimester (making connections, inferences, author’s purpose, asking questions, and predicting) as well as put the writing strategies discussed to good use. The challenge will be whether students can dig deep enough in their reading to obtain the information necessary to answer the questions and make the connections. (Can you tell I love it?!) POSTED 01-11-10

Each year I like to let parents know that 2^nd trimester is the heart of our year. I expect each and every student to do their part in becoming the best they can be and that requires hard work. In an effort to continue to challenge students, Mrs. Bressler and I have developed a new “challenge spelling list” as well as more challenging vocabulary words. The “challenge spelling” will be given to students who receive 100% on their pre-test given on Monday. Please remember, however, that application of spelling words is key. Simply memorizing a list to do well on Friday’s test isn’t enough. These words must be applied to daily writing. (This goes for both spelling & vocabulary.) POSTED 01-04-10

There are a couple of important things taking place this week that I wanted you to be aware of. First of all, Mrs. Nault has graciously agreed to come and present her extensive Native American collection Tuesday, November 17^th. There will to 2 parts to this presentation. Inside the class, she will present some authentic Native American artifacts and her extensive knowledge of the Native Americans. Outside, there will be a snack and craft set up. I would love to have a couple of parent volunteers to assist with the craft and/or watch to ensure students are handling the artifacts carefully. Many are irreplaceable and quite old. Each part will take approximately 1 ½ hours. POSTED 11-16-09

The second thing happening this week is our Thanksgiving Feast. Our Thanksgiving Feast will take place on Thursday, November 19^th from 11 a.m.-1. p.m. There is a sign-up sheet on the outside door of my classroom. Please help by signing up for one or more of the items.

Finally there are a couple things coming soon that I wanted to let you know about. Our first field trip will be December 1^st to Riley’s Farm in Oak Glenn. The bus will leave ILCS at 9:30 a.m. and will return at 12:30 p.m. Students should bring a water bottle, a small snack, and a jacket (it tends to get cold up there). I am also looking for 4 parent volunteers to go on the field trip. (You must be Megan’s Law cleared.) Please let me know if you’d like to join us. POSTED 11-16-09

Lastly we will be having another vendor’s store before Christmas Break. Start thinking now about items you can create to sell. This is a perfect opportunity for students to do a little Christmas shopping for their families with money they have earned. The exact date will be coming shortly.

The end of the trimester is here, which means parent Conferences are just around the corner. Parent Conference notices went home last week. I am still missing quite a few responses. Please let me know ASAP whether the time indicated will work for you. I am required to meet with all parents this trimester. POSTED 11-02-09

ILCS has been informed by AR that students are no longer allowed to take reading quizzes at home. All AR quizzes must be taken during school hours at school. It will now be especially important to be reading throughout the trimester. Don’t wait until the last couple weeks to try and reach your goal. I still have quite a few students who have not met their goals for this trimester!

We will be beginning a new writing focus 2^nd trimester; friendly and formal letters. To assist with this I am asking that every child bring in a piece of paper with their complete address on it. POSTED 11-02-09

I hope everyone is working hard on their Native American Projects. Remember that this project has 2 parts; a shadow box and a report. Students may choose from any of the U.S. tribes that interest them. Everyone will be giving a short presentation of their project on November 16^th.

I am still looking for as many non-fiction children magazines as possible for a reader’s workshop activity taking place Thursday, October 29^th. If your child has a subscription to Time for Kids or National Geographic for Kids and we could borrow the magazines for the day please let me know.

Mr. Gordon has requested that all parents who are able to please come to the October 27^th district board meeting. They will be discussing our charter renewal. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the district office. Mr. Gordon will be requesting that the charter renewal discussion be brought to the beginning of the meeting agenda. POSTED 10-19-09

I am looking for as many non-fiction children magazines as possible for a reader’s workshop activity taking place Thursday, October 29^th. If your child has a subscription to Time for Kids or National Geographic for Kids and we could borrow the magazines for the day please let me know.

I have an urgent need for parents this Thursday & Friday. Thursday I need a parent from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. who will assist students in painting their tipis outside on the picnic benches. Friday I need 2 parents armed with heavy duty glue guns to glue completed tipis together. This should take about an hour (best guess) from 10:45-11:45a.m. POSTED 10-12-09

We will be doing something new in our homework this week called “stories and trade”. “Stories and trade” is a story created by you and your child using the vocabulary words for the week. Have your child start the story with 2 sentences. Remind them to hook the reader with good descriptive language to set the mood or precise action to get me wondering what will happen next. Next, it will be your turn to write 2 sentences, continuing the story. I want the story to flow, so that I can’t tell two people are writing. Have fun!!

We are starting a new month and a new opportunity to win the pull tab contest, keep collecting and turning in the tops of your soda cans. September’s contest was won by Mr. Osborn’s class. POSTED 10-05-09

Just a reminder: we will be having our first class store Friday, October 16^th from 11::15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This is an opportunity to spend class cash earned on items made by fellow classmates and at the treasure box Students are not required to make items for the class store, but it is strongly encouraged. It is a lot of fun and a good way to earn additional class cash. All items brought to sell must be homemade and no food is allowed. Some ideas to get you thinking: bookmarks, decorated pens, bracelets, painted pet rocks, or even something such as selling tickets to a teacher approved skit. Students must decide how much of the item to make and its price. So put on your thinking caps and start creating! I am still looking for prize donations for the treasure box and parent volunteers to run it. Students may bring their items to sell Friday morning or Thursday after school.

We will be having our first class store Friday, October 16^th from 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This is an opportunity to spend class cash earned on items made by fellow classmates and at the treasure box. Students are not required to make items for the class store, but it is strongly encouraged. It is a lot of fun and a good way to earn additional class cash to spend. All items brought to sell must be homemade and no food is allowed. Some ideas to get you thinking: bookmarks, decorated pens, bracelets, painted pet rocks, or even something such as selling tickets to a teacher approved skit. Students must decide how much of the item to make and the price to sell it. So put on your thinking caps and start creating! I am looking for prize donations for the treasure box and parent volunteers to run it. POSTED 09-28-09

The annual Fall Festival is just around the corner and the 3^rd grade classes will be teaming up to run a bowling booth. My class did it last year and it was a huge success. You can help out several ways. First, we are looking for volunteers to run the booth (1/2 hour shifts). We are also looking for volunteers to bring in candy/small toys for prizes and 2 liter soda containers to transform into bowling pins. A sign-up sheet will be posted outside my door. POSTED 09-21-09

Now that we are a month into school and have the rhythm down, I wanted to explain a little about AR. Through my class website: www.rigsbysclass.com you can take AR tests. Students should be familiar with this process from last year. (There is also an opportunity to take AR tests in class on Thursdays in case you don’t have computer access, but are having difficulty logging on). If your child does take a test at home please print out and sign the TOPS report that pops up at the end of the quiz. Your signature is your word that you did not help your child with any part of the test. If for some reason the TOPS report can’t be printed then a quick note will suffice. Encourage your child to read and take tests now, so the end of the trimester doesn’t sneak up on them. POSTED 09-14-09

This week marked the first week on Spanish. Our new Spanish teacher is Mrs. Garcia. In an effort to be more “green”, homework assignments can be found on the Spanish website located on the "Homework Page". Homework for Spanish will be due on Friday. It is your responsibility to make sure you have it printed and completed by then. If anyone does not have assess to the Internet please let me know ASAP so I can get you a copy of the assignment. POSTED 09-14-09

Friday began the first of many weekly assessments. As those come home this week look them over and use them as a guide to determine study time needed throughout the week. POSTED 08-31-09

Re: math assessments. Mrs. Bressler and I decided that our classes would not start at the beginning of the 3^rd grade Saxton math. The reason for this is twofold. First of all, we felt that much of the first 25 lessons were a review of second grade and that we could plug in any holes in learning. Secondly, starting at lesson 1 made it extremely difficult to cover all the material needed for the CST’s before the CST’s were administered. That being said look over your child’s first math assessment and review with them the items missed. (I, of course, will also being doing this at school). Determine whether the mistakes were silly mistakes or something that they truly didn’t know. If you have a chance, jot a quick note telling me anything you feel your child needs additional clarification on. Saxton spirals through curriculum, so chances are that similar problems will be on the next test.

Re: homework. If your child did not have time to finish the guided practice in class please have them complete it at home. Same with the timed tests. If your child isn’t able to finish the practice facts in 1 minute, have them continue using a crayon or pen until all the problems are finished.

Here it is, the first of many weekly newsletters to come. I’d like to start off by thanking all the parents who were able to make it to Back-to-School Night Tuesday. I enjoyed meeting all of you. I’d also like to thank all the parents who have indicated their willingness to help out this year in whatever capacity they are able. I appreciate it very much. Remember, if you are volunteering to work in the classroom or going on a field trip, you must fill out a new Megan’s Law form. I will notify you once I have approval from the office so we can set up a schedule. POSTED 08-24-09

I am still missing a couple of 1^st day packets - please get those in soon. We have until Friday, August 28^th to collect as many PTO memberships as we can. The class with the most memberships wins a pizza party. So if you haven’t joined PTO yet, hurry!! POSTED 08-24-09

It has important information, fun games to play and a weekly brain teaser. Students who answer to brain teaser correct will be awarded an extra $20 class cash (parents no helping please). POSTED 08-24-09

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