Woods Weekly
Week of October 5th-9th
Classroom Happenings
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The weather looked a little dodgy but it held out for us on Tuesday. We were able to go to Beyond Boundaries and work on our team building skills. At times, students grew very frustrated, but they realized that yelling at each other never helped them accomplish their task. Through team huddles and strategizing, students were able to persevere. I saw them cross the hot lava pit, balance the teeter-totter, overcome the balance beam, and move the bowling ball without using their bare hands. It was quite a day! If you have not already asked your child about, please do; you're in for some interesting stories.
Scholastic book orders were given out to students last Friday. Orders are due by this Friday, October 9th. There are two ways that you can order from Scholastic. 1. You can send in your order and a check made out to Scholastic Reading Club, or 2. You can order on-line at scholastic.com/readingclub. Our class activation code for on-line orders is NG6FZ.
We need your help!
Our supply drive called Supplies4GI's has officially begun. Supplies4GI's is an organization that has been sending care packages to our deployed soldiers around the world for 11 years. They partner with school corporations (Tri-Creek, Kankakee Valley, Valparaiso, and Crown Point) to make this happen. The supply drive runs from October 1st through November 11th (Veteran's Day). There are a couple of ways that you can help out:
1. Send in the names and addresses of soldiers (enlisted friends, relatives, neighbors) that you would like to receive letters and care packages. A form was already sent home but let me know if you need another copy.
2. Donate items from our grade level Wish List so they can be added to care packages. 4th grade is in charge of collecting canned soup (small pop top cans), stick deodorant, toothbrushes, and dental floss.
Any donation, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated.
I can't believe it, but the Color Run is practically here! This is a fun, family event that will help raise money to benefit our school. You can support this fundraiser by: 1. being a color runner; go to https://colorrunvalpo.eventbrite.com to register, 2. encouraging your child to collect donations, and 3. sharing the event with friends, family, and neighbors on social media.
Our school goal is to raise $5,000. If we meet this goal, Mrs. Sienkowski and Mr. Bob will have to kiss a pig. You read it correctly; they'll have to kiss a PIG! We also have class prizes. The class with the highest percentage of students who collect donations will win one of the following prizes:
1st prize: Class pizza party
2nd prize: Class ice cream party
3rd prize: Class extra recess
There are also individual prizes:
The Top Fundraising Student from Central and TJ Middle School will win a Go Pro Camera.
Each student who raises $50 or more in donations will be entered into a raffle for a $100 gift card. There will be one winner at each school.
Please come out and support the schools with this super fun event! I'll be running, and I hope you will be too!
Here is a look at what is coming up next week:
Science:
We are taking a break from science as we explore our government in social studies.
Social Studies:
We are wrapping up our mini-unit on government by holding an election for class governor. Students who want to run for class governor signed up today. Their task over the weekend is to work on their campaign AND study up on the three branches of government at the state level. Those running need to make a campaign poster; they don't have to be over the top, but they should include information about the candidate, why we should vote for them, and their campaign slogans if they have one. Students who are running will give a 1 minute presentation on either Monday or Tuesday. The class will vote for the final two candidates. On Wednesday, we will hear the final debate between our two remaining candidates; they share what they know about the three branches of government at the state level. The class will cast their ballot. Thursday, our class governor will be revealed.
Math:
We are beginning unit 2 in Bridges "Place Value and Multiplication with Larger Numbers." Having a strong foundation in place value will be especially important as students begin multiplying with larger numbers. The Bridges curriculum is encouraging students to understand what is happening to the numbers that we are multiplying instead of memorizing steps to get the right answer. For this reason, next week's activities will focus heavily on re-familiarizing ourselves with place value.
Reading:
After working so hard to set up our 90 minute reading block, we are officially diving into our reading series. We will be starting with unit 2. The reading comprehension strategy we will be working on is identifying sequence of events. We will look at a variety of texts and practice identifying the sequence of events within them. There will be a short test covering the skill on Friday.
Writing:
We are continuing to work on our personal narratives. We will look at features of personal narratives and begin mapping out our personal narratives.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Woods
Spelling: Long and Short "a" Patterns
Students will be tested over the Core Words and 10 words from "Test Words." They will need to study ALL 25 words because they do not know which of the test words I will choose.
Spelling homework will be assigned on Monday to give them practice on their spelling words. They will be able to choose 1 out of the 5 activities to complete. If they want to complete additional activities at home for more practice, they may.
The spelling test will be on Friday morning.
Core Words
labor
sayings
railroad
invalid
engrave
betray
happen
sustain
estate
sacred
Test Words
contain
insane
delay
later
basket
ashtray
detach
stainless
handstand
cascade
asterisk
catnap
glacier
daisy
- traitor
Important Dates to Remember:
October 10th: Color Run 2 pm
October 21st: Panera Restaurant Night 4-8 pm
October 22nd: End of the first grading period
October 23rd: Fall Break/ No School
October 30th: Harvest Fest
Specials and Lunch/Recess Schedule
Tuesday: Music and Gym
Wednesday: Music and Gym
Thursday: Computers
Friday: Art
Lunch: 12:20-12:50
Recess: 12:50-1:20
Conferences
Contact Information
Email: jkras@valpo.k12.in.us
Website: http://misskrasclass.weebly.com/
Location: 305 Franklin St, Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone: 219-531-3030