12.19.14 Crew News

Calendar Updates:Dec 19: School in session (this is different than other schools in the district)
               Report Cards sent/emailed 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)

Digestive System & Nervous System The students participated in a jigsaw protocol to learn more deeply about the digestive system. Students were in groups of six, then split off to become an expert about the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, or nutrition, and then returned to their original group to teach each other their learning. It was a great way for students to become experts, be responsible for their learning, and teach each other. Make sure you ask your child to tell you all about it!  Today we covered a brief overview of the nervous system. We had an interesting conversation about how systems work together in the human body. What great learning we have had so far about how systems interact! Report cards... This week was a busy one, where I collected samples and gave assessments to give you the most current view of student's progress in reading, writing, math, and expedition. I hope that you find the narratives on the report cards helpful and informative. It gives information about your child's growth, areas of challenge, and next steps. Please feel free to set up a meeting with me at anytime to get more information about how your child is doing.  Report cards from me will be emailed, and those from the Integrated Arts teachers (music, PE, and art) will be sent home as a paper copy in a manila envelope. Meanwhile, the students engaged in some meaningful community-building: Secret Santas! I have never had a group that was so interested in being Secret Santas! What great opportunities for creativity and communicating to an authentic audience! We spent the week developing a thoughtful letter. It provided great opportunities to talk about the structure of a letter (heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature) as well as opportunities to push writers for more specific details (give an example of why/when that person is nice, funny, or awesome).  The Secret Santas left stickie-note kindness, cut out snowflakes, made creative gifts, bookmarks, and popsicle ornaments.  Here are some pictures to share the hard work and delight of being Secret Santas:  Singing holiday songs with the 2nd graders! Thank you to our helpers and everyone who sent items in! I have never seen such a thoughtful, caring exchange of notes! It was heartfelt and very memorable. :) Thank you for the kind notes and generous gifts. I feel very loved and appreciated! :)  I wish you a happy holiday season! See you in 2015!