Hello Families!

Fall is in the air and Halloween is just around the corner!  Our students continue to work extremely hard to learn our target concepts and are picking up and practicing strong study skills they have learned in the classroom!  Thank you for your continued support at home.

Here are the targets / concepts we are tirelessly working to master:

Literacy

Our students are currently working on finding the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in our classroom texts, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic. We finished our current “module” by comparing and contrasting ideas from the last three books we read.  All three had themes dealing with nature and conservation. In the coming weeks, we will start our new story, The Road to Freedom.  It is narrated from the point of view of a young girl who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom. We look forward to having many valuable discussions related to topics raised within the story.

Writing

Our students are currently conducting research on an endangered animal, and creating a brochure or Google Slide show discussing why they are endangered, and what the world can do to save them from becoming extinct. Have your child tell you some fun facts about their endangered animal! Since this is our second nonfiction, research-based project, students will be expected to complete this one with a higher degree of independence. 

Math

Our students are currently working through recognizing, that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents ten times as much as it represents in the place to its right and one-tenth of what it represents in the place to its left using whole numbers AND decimals. 

Please view the parent letter at the end of this blog for more detail!

Social Studies

Our discussions continue to revolve around how indentured servitude affected the growth of the early American colonies.  Today we read a story written from the perspective of an indentured servant named John Halfhead. The students were intrigued by the Old English he used! We played a game of Kahoot right after reading in order to review the main concepts. 

Science

We are continuing to learn more about various ecosystems. We are exploring what makes an ecosystem healthy or unhealthy, how ecosystems change, and how humans change ecosystems. We took our unit test yesterday.

Reminders

**Completed October reading logs are due Wednesday, November 1st. . October book in a bag projects are due Friday, Nov. 3.

**Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

**Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts up to 12.

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND CLASSROOM PARTY INFORMATION

Please be sure to read the Principal's Message for school guidelines around appropriate costume attire for our Halloween festivities.  If you are unsure about whether or not something in your child's costume is appropriate, please contact me.  Also included in Mr Hanrahan's blog are the guidelines around students going home for lunch on Halloween.  If you plan on bringing your child home for a costume change, please be sure to review the procedures.

Parade

Our Parade Route begins at 1:20pm outside of our southeast doors (near our gymnasium and the buffalo). The students will continue north on the sidewalk and then head west past the district office around the building, past the playground and end back at the southeast, Buffalo door. Please keep your fingers crossed that we have great weather! In case of inclement weather, we will have an indoor parade for teachers and students only.

Parties

• Parties will begin at approximately 2:00pm and end at 2:45pm

• Only PTO approved parent party volunteers may attend classroom parties. No siblings are able to attend.

• If you are a volunteer, it is recommended that you have your driver's license scanned into our security system prior to party day so that your badge can be ready for you upon arrival.  

• All party treats must come from the Approved Snack List (see page 3) and brought in to be checked by the nurse. These need to be at school by 9:00am on October 31st. They can be brought in prior to that and will be kept safely in the office.

Halloween Costumes

As October is here, please help us with the following costume procedures and guidelines....

• Students will change into their costumes after the lunch period.

• Costumes must be appropriate for school.

• Please no masks, blood, super scary stuff, general ickiness, or weapons

• Please no cigars or cigarette items

• Please no bare tummies

• Please keep hair coloring and make-up simple

Can students go home for lunch to get into costumes?

• Students are able to be picked up to go home during their own grade level lunch period. See below for specific times and details.

• Students will meet their parent/grandparent/family member in the foyer of the school.

• Please write a note stating that students will be going home for lunch. Students will give their “going home for lunch” note to the staff members who are supervising pick-up.

• Students need to return to school by the end of their lunch/recess period.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Have a fantastic weekend!