Classroom News for the Week of September 2nd

Notices and Reminders:

FIELD TRIP $:

Please send a check payable to Mt. Washington Elementary for $50 as soon as possible to cover the cost of this year's field trips. We have seven trips planned this year for your child and need your contribution to make them happen.  There is no other funding source for these school excursions.  If it is easier for your family, you are welcome to send two payments of $25. Thank you in advance for your support!

STUDENT COUNCIL: 

Congratulations to Nikos, Jade, and Lola! They are student council representatives this year from room 17.  I'd like to thank all of the children who ran. You did a great job on your speeches and showed what great classroom citizens you are. You should feel proud of your efforts! Well done! 

REMINDERS: 

* Please make sure to check (and sign) your child's Homework Log each evening.  

* Turn in August reading calendars by Wednesday 9/4.

* Please join the PTA! If we have 100% membership, our class will receive a $100 gift card to purchase supplies. We are close!

READING LIST: Wondering what your child should be reading? Check out NPR's 100 Must-Reads for 9 to 14 year olds 100 Must-Reads

YOUR HELP NEEDED:  Wow! Thanks to the support of the Zepeda, Harth and Staley-Thomas families our project on Donors Choose is almost halfway funded! Please click on this link: Donors Choose to read more about the project and to make a donation. It's fast, easy, and tax-deductible. Every little bit helps and will provide your child with some wonderful materials for this school year. Thank you!

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

Monday, September 2nd: School closed for Holiday.

Tuesday, September 3rd: Early dismissal Tuesdays begin. School is dismissed at 1:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 5th: School closed. Happy Rosh Hashanah!

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 

Topic 2 continues: Review and practice of adding and subtracting with regrouping. 

Writing:

This week students will begin the brainstorming and planning process of writing a fictional narrative based on the design challenge (see "Art and Writing" below).

Revision practice: Showing vs. Telling

Reading:

We will be reading out of the Treasures anthology. This week's selection is a short biographical article on Cesar Chavez. 

Literature selection:  Bridge to Terabithia. Reading comprehension strategy: Making Inferences. 

Accelerated Reader/ Genre Blackout Challenge continued...Ask your child about his/her progress.

Greek and Latin Roots Homework:

Due to the short school week, there will be no root words assigned this week.

Art & Writing:

Design Challenge: Design an NBS Place to Play. Students will be working in groups, using their creativity to make a never-before-seen place to play- similar in concept to the imaginary world of "Terabithia" Jess and Leslie create in Bridge to Terabithia. Students will be using their creations to help them write detailed descriptions of their imaginary place to play and a narrative.

Class/Team Building:

This week our focus will be on what it means to work together collaboratively: Listening to everyone's ideas, finding common ground, presenting ideas as a team. Also, using our time in class wisely.

Social Studies/Science:

Social Studies: Geography - Understanding maps of the earth: Learning hemispheres and lines of latitute and longitude.

Science:  Earth Sciences: Rocks and Minerals

Classroom News for the Week of August 26th

Notices and Reminders:

Back to School Night is Tuesday Aug. 27th 6:00 p.m. There is a general meeting in the MPR at 6 p.m. Classroom presentations begin at 6:30 and 7:00. I have a lot of information to share with you and look forward to answering any questions you may have. See you Tuesday!

STUDENT COUNCIL: This year your child has the opportunity to be a member of the school's student council. The student council organizes school events like "Pajama Day" and the like. Elections will be held Wednesday afternoon. If your child would like to run, he or she should write a brief speech explaining why s/he would make a good representative and prepare to read it to the class on Wednesday (speeches and voting will be held Thursday). This is a simple affair - please do not make posters, flyers, cupcakes etc. You can provide guidance and feedback, but this is a task your child should complete on his or her own.

REMINDERS: Please make sure to check (and sign) your child's Homework Log each evening.  

READING LIST: Wondering what your child should be reading? Check out NPR's 100 Must-Reads for 9 to 14 year olds 100 Must-Reads

YOUR HELP NEEDED:  Wow! Thanks to the support of the Zepeda, Harth and Staley-Thomas families our project on Donors Choose is almost halfway funded! Please click on this link: Donors Choose to read more about the project and to make a donation. It's fast, easy, and tax-deductible. Every little bit helps and will provide your child with some wonderful materials for this school year. Thank you!

SCHEDULE CHANGES: School gets out 12:50 this Tuesday. It is a minimum day. Friday, August 30th is Admissions Day. This is to celebrate California's admission as part of the U.S. No school on Friday.

BOOK ORDERS:  Due Thursday, August 29th. Please send checks only. I apologize - you will not be able to order online at this time.

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 

Topic 2: Rounding Numbers 

Writing:

This week students are finishing the publishing of their summer narratives. They will begin the brainstorming and planning process of writing a fictional narrative based on the design challenge (see "Art and Writing" below).

Reading:

We will be reading out of the Treasures anthology. This week's selection is realistic fiction: "My Diary From Here to There". Reading comprehension strategy: Making Inferences. 

Literature selection: Chapters 5-9 of Bridge to Terabithia. We will be reviewing six comprehension strategies to boost our understanding of what we are reading.

Accelerated Reader/ Genre Blackout Challenge continued...

Greek and Latin Roots Homework:

This week's words are: struct=build &  trans = across, over
structure
destructive
instructor
obstruct
construction
translate
transfer
transform
transparent
transplant

Students should turn in their completed work (between 70 and 100 points) on Thursday this week. Normally, the homework will be due on Friday, but due to the holiday the work is due Thursday. There will be no other language arts homework assigned this week to allow students time to complete their work. A quiz on the word spellings and meanings will also be on Thursday. 

Note, if students choose to make crossword puzzle the may you an online free puzzle maker such as www.puzzle-maker.com. Students must make a crossword puzzle (not a word search) and the must generate their own definitions of the word. Please have your child do his or her own typing.

Art & Writing:

Design Challenge: Design an NBS Place to Play. Students will be working in groups, using their creativity to make a never-before-seen place to play- similar in concept to the imaginary world of "Terabithia" Jess and Leslie create in Bridge to Terabithia. Students will be using their creations to help them write detailed descriptions of their imaginary place to play and a narrative.

Class/Team Building:

This week our focus will be on what it means to work together collaboratively: Listening to everyone's ideas, finding common ground, presenting ideas as a team.

Social Studies/Science:

Rotations and instruction will begin next week.

Classroom News for the Week of August 19th

Notices and Reminders:

REMINDERS: Please make sure to check (and sign) your child's Homework Log each evening.  

Students need to have their school supplies here on MONDAY. The most important supplies are: (2) two-pocket homework folders, 2 spiral notebooks, and a pencil case/box. 

SAVE THE DATE: Back to School Night is Tuesday Aug. 27th 6:00 p.m.

READING LIST: Wondering what your child should be reading? Check out NPR's 100 Must-Reads for 9 to 14 year olds 100 Must-Reads

DONORS CHOOSE:  You can support the purchase of high quality art materials your child will be using throughout this school year. Please click on this link: Donors Choose to read more about the project and to make a donation. It's fast, easy, and tax-deductible. Every little bit helps. Thank you!

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 

Place Value continued...- How do we make sense of numbers?; Explaining Our Thinking Using the Language of Math; Beginning of Year Assessments

Students will have a short quiz on Place Value (Topic 1) on Friday.

Writing:

Students will be taking the five steps of the writing process a little deeper this year. Our first assignment is a narrative. This week students will have lessons on showing instead of telling in their writing and when to an indent and begin a new paragraph.

Reading:

We will be learning to identify six types of syllables so we can decode longer, more complicated words. Also, students will learn how to complete their "Greek and Latin Roots" homework : This week they will be doing the assignments in class so they can learn what is expected from them. Next week, it will be assigned as homework.

We have also begun reading our first literature selection : Bridge to Terabithia. We will be reviewing six comprehension strategies to boost our understanding of what we are reading.

This week students will also be working with their first issue of Scholastic News.

Art:

Design Challenge: Design an NBS (Never-Before-Seen) Vector

Class Building:

We have a name! The students have elected to call our class "The Next Generation". I think they chose well. Runner-up ideas were "Smart Bacon" and "The Conveys" :)

This week we will continue to work together as a class to help one another do and achieve our best. Overall, the students have done an excellent job learning classroom rules and procedures. The focus this week will be on listening to one another well.