MCGHEE'S MESSAGES
SEPTEMBER 21-25
IMPORTANT DATES
Sept 28 Send in All For Books donations
Sept 29 Texas Motor Speedway field trip!!! SACK LUNCH AND WEAR ORANGE SHIRTS
Oct 2-8 OSE Fall Bookfair
Oct 2 Custodian Day--we have 3 awesome custodians, I would love my class to send in little gifts or gift cards for them, I will assemble them into baskets--send in by 9/30 Wednesday
Oct 7 Walk to School Day!
Oct 9 & 10 No School
Oct 16 Walk For Diabetes
Oct 19 Fire Prevention assembly
Oct 23 PTA Reflection projects due
Oct 23 Early Release 12:30
Oct 23 5:00 PTA Hoe Down
A big thank you to Mrs. Haver for being our Mystery Reader. We loved Zathura! It was a great peek ahead to our study of Chris VanAllsburg later in the year. We loved the treats too. Thanks for taking time out of your week for us.
WOWIE WOW WOW! I have discovered the secret to having the best behaved class ever! I started using Class Dojo this week. I sent home the parent links in the blue spelling folders. Basically the kids earn points or have points deleted through out the day. I can choose from a menu how they earn or lose those points. Every morning the kids look at their points from the day before and set a new goal for the day. We also set a whole class goal. The person with the most points gets to pick a prize from the treasure box and if the whole class reaches the class goal everyone gets a little treat. It is fast, I don't have to say a work and it is the most effective tool I have used so far in my career. I was even able to share my class with the fine arts teachers so that they can add or delete points while the kids are with them. I have it on my computer, ipad and cell phone. Awesome! The thing I love the most is how it has fostered a spirit of encouragement and kindness amongst the kids. They are cheering each other on, saying good job and building each other up. Positive attention for making the right choices! Yes! If you ever see little fun items I can put in the treasure box please send them in! Feel free to log into the Class Dojo account and see how your child is behaving each day. The novelty may wear off, but so far, so good.
Please, please, please send in some gifts for our custodians. We have 3, Victor, Bernardo and Maria. Bernardo is who cleans our classroom and Victor is our head custodian. We have had this same team for many years and they are amazing! We have a beautiful and clean school! These workers are so underpaid, underappreciated and overworked. I would love to shower them with gifts to show them we love them. Gift cards to restaurant chains, Target, Wal-mart or other well known store would be great. If you have other ideas that is fine too. Please send them in by Wednesday, so I can put together a gift basket for each of them.
All students need to wear their new orange Texas Motor Speedway shirts on Tuesday! We will be leaving around 9:15. We will be eating a sack lunch that day, so don't forget to send one. It is going to be so fun!
We are looking at a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum possibly Oct. 20. We are waitng on approval for that date. This is one of those fun field trips where I can take some parents with me on the bus but anyone can meet us there! If you have never been in the fall to see the pumpkin village they create, you will want to come. I will give you more details when I know them, but I wanted to give you a little heads up about the potential date.
The FMHS varstiy football players came and read to OSE on Thursday. We had 2 great young men come to our room. You would think they were celebrities! So much excitement. They read, answered questions and even did a little arm wrestling. It was so fun!
Enjoy the little bit cooler days!
April McGhee
WHAT WE'VE BEEN LEARNING
Social Studies-We are still looking at communities, national and local government and laws. We had a lively conversation about citizenship and immigration. WOW! These kids have some real opinions. We also looked at how communities grow and change over time. We focused specifically on Flower Mound and how recently there have been so many changes. I will be sending home a little project for your family to complete to highlight places in Flower Mound and how our city operates and has grown. Look for the details this week.
Reading-We read Teacher's Pets this week and focused on plot, setting and characters. We also worked on our fluency by reading some Reader's Theater plays in small groups. We were able to use the computer and get on Istation for a little one once. Please remember to have your child log on to Istation at least 2 times a week.
Language Arts-We began working on persuasive writing. We will do our final copies and finish that up this next week. We also did our writing samples for the LISD writing portfolios (they do one at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year). We worked on past and present tense and knowing when to use the correct form. They also looked at when to use a and when to use an. We finished up beginning blends in spelling and will be moving to ending sounds.