Mrs. Loppnow's News & Notes
Week of October 9, 2017
A Note from Mrs. Loppnow:
Happy Conference Week!
It was a pleasure to see so many of you at conferences this week. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you next week! I truly enjoyed our time chatting and setting goals for the year. I appreciate your efforts in collaboration and your support of school expectations and events!
Speaking of special events, we had a lot of fun during Project Go on Tuesday! It was very heart-warming to see Grandkids and Grandparents (and volunteer Grandparents!) working on a project together. I overheard some great conversations about what "life was like in the olden days"! (I'm wondering why Grandparents are looking younger and younger every year?!?) Please see below for some photos of the partnerships in action! We did spend time writing THANK YOU notes to our volunteers and grandparents. Please look for those in the OWL binders today and be sure you give an extra special THANK YOU from me!
Because next week is a short week, I will write my next update the week of the 23rd. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I would love to hear from you!
I hope you all enjoy your weekend!
Mrs. Loppnow
651-425-5667
A Peek into this week and next!
Writer's Workshop: This week's Paragraph of the Week was all about Something We Are Proud of! We focused on vivid verbs and adjectives and worked hard to put our feelings into the paragraph. Themes included: being a big brother, doing a back flip, trying unusual foods, and scoring five goals in soccer, to name a few!
Content: This week we talked about the Three Branches of Government and discussed the role of each. Students had fun singing along to the Three Branches Rap to learn Who Has The Power? See below!
Reader's Workshop: With our background information on FolkTales after reading Ooka and the Honest Thief last week, we switched our focus to Fables. Students LOVE listening to the fables, trying to identifying the moral, and discussing how the moral relates to their own lives. Our upcoming reading focus lessons will help us identify the difference between Folktales, Fables, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, and Tall Tales.
Spelling: This week was our first "review week". The list included words from each of the first 6 units. For every review week we give an alternate test called a "dictation" test. For this test, I read a paragraph to the students and they have to write down exactly what I say. Don't worry, I repeat the paragraph sentence by sentence, word by word SEVERAL times to be sure they are all on track to having it complete. The purpose of this test is to allow the students time to use the words in context instead of in isolation. Once they see how the words fit together, they have a better understanding of the spelling strategies as well as practice writing complete sentences. Dictation test will occur after every 6 units. I encourage the students to keep their weekly lists until after the dictation test so they can continue to review the words. My hope is they are beginning to use these words successfully and accurately in their daily writing journals. Because next week is a short week we will NOT have new words!
Keyboarding Camp!
REMINDERS & REQUESTS:
- WORD MASTERS: I am still looking for a parent volunteer who would be willing to come in once a week to help students with WordMasters. This is an enrichment activity for some of the students who are ready for extensions in literacy. I am looking for someone to help out from 1:30-2:00 any day of the week. Please let me know if you may be available.
- Keyboarding Camp Celebration: I am looking for donations of: Hershey's chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and Golden Grahams cereal for our activity on the 31st. Please let me know if you are able to help. We also are looking to borrow a few "Pop Up" tents for the day. If you have one you are willing to loan to us, please let me know!
- BOOK LOGS: Rocky's Reading and Writing Club sheets are due on MONDAY! Please make sure you have recorded your minutes AND received a parent signature. Thank you! Writing notebooks should be returned each Monday for an opportunity to SHARE.
- Battle of the Books: Battle sign-ups went home this week. I encourage your child to participate in this fun experience. However, please be sure he/she is ready to take on the commitment of reading the books. The time spent reading MAY be used for daily reading minutes! It's a Win-Win!
Upcoming Events:
- 10-10: Project GO! 8:00-9:00 Grandparents are invited to join us!
- 10-10 to 10-18: Scholastic Book Fair
- 10-12 & 10-17: Conferences
- 10-19 & 10-20: NO SCHOOL
- 10-25: UNITY DAY: Wear ORANGE
- 10-31: Keyboarding Camp Celebration
- 11-1: College t-shirt/sweatshirt day
- 11-3: Pride Day: Wear your Red Rock colors!
- 11-4: Red Rock Holiday Bazaar
- 11-6: Wendy's Night
- 11-30: End of Trimester One