Medcalf Minutes
February 15th - 19th
Anderson Grove's Purpose and Direction
Purpose: The purpose of Anderson Grove Elementary is to prepare all students to achieve their greatest potential and to positively impact the future.
Values & Beliefs:
Family Atmosphere
Collaboration and Communication
Integrity
Continuous Improvement
3 Be’s – Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible
Be Known...
Anderson Grove is Known for Being a . . .
Collaborative
Dedicated
Positive
Community
Expectation of the Week: Playground
Be Respectful
Invite others to play
Follow adult directions
Take turns
Be Responsible
Line up when the whistle blows
Bring equipment into the classroom
Be Safe
Stay in designated play areas
Use equipment safely and appropriately
Go down the slide on your bottom
Social Skill of the Week: Staying on Task
- Look at your task or assignment.
- Think about the steps needed to complete the task.
- Focus all of your attention on the task.
- Stop working only when instructed.
- Ignore distractions and interruptions from others.
Market Day & Auction Day
A Note from Mrs. Medcalf
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Our students had a WONDERFUL time at the Spring Party. Thank you to all who participated in the planning, contributed supplies, and made it in to help out. It was a great experience for all!
I look forward to seeing all of you at conferences on Tuesday, February 16th and Thursday, February 18th. If you have not registered for a time yet, please visit www.pickatime.com to schedule an conference time. If the dates for conferences do not work for you, please let me know so we can make arrangements to meet at a different time.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about your child's progress. Although we are between report cards, your child will have much to show you. Please bring them along so they can share their portfolio with you!
A Note from Mrs. Billquist
Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check is a good strategy to use when practicing spelling words. Here are the steps to use this strategy.
1. Look at the spelling word and see if there are patterns or chunks. Are there any tricky parts?
2. Say the word, breaking it into syllables. Listen for the different sounds.
3. Cover up the word and picture it.
4. Write the word. Remember how it sounds and what it looked like.
5. Check to see if the word was spelled correctly. Correct any mistakes and try again.
A Note from Ms. Johnson and Unity Council
It's Sucker Time!
Unity Council will be selling suckers during conferences, both Tuesday (2/16) and Thursday (2/18) evenings. Each sucker cost $1.00 and there are some brand new flavors this year!
A portion of the money collected will go to a local charity! Please consider supporting this fun service project!!
It’s Not Too Late…
If you have not ordered your 2015-2016 Anderson Grove yearbook, you still have time! Unity Council will be taking orders during conferences both Tuesday and Thursday night. Each yearbook is $15. Please make checks payable to ANDERSON GROVE!
Hit the Books with the Omaha Storm Chasers
We have officially begun our Storm Chasers Hit the Books reading incentive program. Please see information that came home in your child’s Friday folder last week. As your child completes each of the reading goals please sign a mascot (attached to the information sheet) and return to school so their teacher can record their progress.
Thank you for encouraging your child’s love of reading! Hope to see you at a game this Spring.
If you have any questions please email Miss Johnson at jennjohnson@paplv.org
A Note from Mrs. von Nagy
THE BOOK FAIR IS BACK!
Come check out this spring’s “Feeling Groovy” Scholastic Book Fair during the week of conferences in the Media Center! Be prepared to have a groovy good time and enjoy some great new books! Keep your eye out for Clifford the Big Red Dog!
Book Fair Hours:
Tuesday, February 16th: 3:30-7:30
Wednesday, February 17th: 3:10-4:00
Thursday, February 18th: 3:30-7:30
Friday, February 19th: 3:10-4:00
Can’t make the fair this time around? Check out our online book fair from February 6th to February 19th at scholastic.com/fair
Upcoming Events
Feb. 15- No School
Feb. 18- Conferences 3:20-7:40
Feb. 26- Family Fun Night- 6:00-7:30 in the Gym
Specials
Tuesday (Day 10) - Music
Wednesday (Day 1) - PE
Thursday (Day 2) - Music
Friday (Day 3) - Art
A Peek at our Week
Reading – Due to the short weeks, we will continue this week's work to answer the question, "What can fossils tell us about the past?" Students will use the strategy of visualizing, or creating mental pictures as you read. Readers will also practice the skill of drawing conclusions, or connecting the story details to help understand the text. These details could include things characters say or do in a story. Vocabulary: fossils, clues, remains, prove, evidence, skeletons, uncovering, buried, fierce, location.
At Home – Activities to Do Together:
Vocabulary - Create a story with your child. Say a sentence about fossils or fossil hunting. Then ask your child to add another sentence. Include a Target Vocabulary word in each sentence. Continue adding sentences until the story is complete!
Draw Fossils - Ask your child to name some favorite animals. Then look online or in a reference book for pictures of those animals’ skeletons. Encourage your child to draw one of the skeletons, and point out that this is what the animal’s fossils would look like. Express Yourself! - Ask your child to write a short paragraph explaining why he or she thinks it is important to study fossils.
Writing – Writing Focus: Opinion Writing - Writers will express their opinion about a topic. We will discuss that good opinion writers include a topic sentence, strong reasons to support their opinion, convincing details, and a concluding statement. We practiced this writing genre by writing a persuasive letter. This week we will keep the genre but will change the format to a paragraph.
At Home - Check out these websites for opinion paragraph samples.
Can you convince me?
Advertising Activity
Math – Mathematicians will show what they know on our Math CFA. This helps me check for understanding and any areas that may need reteaching before we move on to the final assessment.
At Home – Visit these sites for practice with arrays and multiplication/division:
Multiplication with ArraysMultiplication Practice Scroll down to “Multiply It” or “Multiplication Rods” to review arrays.
Division Facts
Cool Math Multiplication and Division
Social Studies – Students will show all the things they have learned throughout our unit on the unit assessment.
At Home – Check out these websites to find out more:
Managing Money
Needs vs. Wants
Spelling – This week students will study of words with the/j/ and /s/ spelling patterns as in age, jacket, pencil, and space We will discuss how G and J can both make the /j/ sound and S and C can make the /s/ sound.
At Home – It is important that students practice sorting their words at home to understand the relationships of their words. Students can practice sorting activities at home as well as play games at http://www.spellingcity.com/BeckyMedcalf/ to have more practice with their words.
Thank you Families!