12.11.14 Crew News

Announcements:

LAST CALL for Chaperones and Volunteers: I am looking for volunteers for our fieldwork to the Museum of Nature & Science on January 8th and chaperones for our winter voyage to Keystone Science School on Feb 23-25th. If you are interested, please sign up here by 12/12/14. I will do a lottery and give final confirmation the week of the 15th. Thanks!

Holiday Party: Do you have a collection of holiday cards that people sent you last year and you are not sure what to do with? PERFECT! Please send them in so that students can use them to make new cards for each other. Thank you to Vanessa for setting up a sign-up for a few things for our holiday celebration on Friday December 19th.

Fieldwork Permission Slips: On January 8th, we will be going to Museum of Nature and Science. Please send these permission slips back soon, so that we are all set before we leave for winter break.

Behavior Reminders: As the holidays and our winter break gets closer, I can feel the energy building in the room. Kids are getting carried away with impulsive behavior. To make this a successful six days of school, can you please check in with your child about their choices? I appreciate your support!

Calendar Updates: 

Dec 19: School in session (this is different than other schools in the district)
               Report Cards sent home
Dec 20-Jan 5: Winter Break/Jan 5th is a Teacher work day (this is different than other schools in the district)

Jan 6: Students return to schoolJan 8: Fieldwork to the Museum of Nature and Science
Jan 16: No School (Teacher Professional Development)
Jan 19: No School (MLK Day)
Feb 23-25: Winter Voyage to Keystone
Feb 26: No school for 3rd grade (Day of Rest)

In Expedition... While I was away at the conference, students read articles about nutrition and created presentations to share their information with the class. Ask your child for some new facts they have learned about nutrition! During their presentations, students worked hard to explain their topic without reading off the slides, face the audience the whole time, and avoid filler words such as "um" or "like." What great growth I have seen in their oral presentation skills! Then, we also enjoyed a presentation by Dr. Eric Plummer, who came to talk about spine surgeries. Students were thinking about how parts of a system sometimes fail and how humans support support those parts. Be sure to ask your child about new learning! Next up, we are learning about the Circulatory System. In Writing... Our crew worked very hard on two pieces of writing that we felt we should share on ePortfolios. We got them up today! Check out your child's ePortfolio to see their climbing reflection and solar oven reflection. These two pieces of writing went through several stages of revision before they were finished. It feels good to share them!  In Math... I am strongly encouraging students to begin the process of memorizing their multiplication facts. There are so many fun ways to practice these, such as computer games, phone apps, flashcards in the card, games, and more. Counting up by 3s, 4s, 6s, and 7s helps too. Parent volunteers have been coming in to test students on their facts. To get a set of facts checked off, answers need to be given in less than 3 seconds. Our Crew Cares! Many wore green today to show support for Officer Adsit and his family! One student said that our message in our picture should be "our crew cares." :D