Room 114 News
October 27, 2017
Important Dates
October
10- 27- Make a Difference Drive (canned goods, boxed Goodes, personal hygiene products)
13- PTO Family Movie Night @ 6 PM (Admission: 10 box tops or $1)
17- PTO meeting @ 7 PM
20- Wear Blue or Teal for Tourette Syndrome Awareness
23- 31- Red Ribbon Week
- Monday- Mustache Day
- Tuesday- Peace Out Day- tie dye and peace signs
- Wednesday- Unity Day- wear orange for anti-bullying
- Thursday- Mismatched Clothes Day
- Friday- Team Day- wear your favorite sports team gear
24- Warwick Fun Run
26- REA Safe Trick or Treat
27- Picture Retake Day
27- End of Make a Difference Day Collection
31- Halloween Parade at 1:30 PM (Party to follow)
November
6- 10- Used Children's Coat Collection
10- Veteran's Day Celebration
10- Wear Red, White, and Blue!
11- PTO Craft Show and Gift Fair 9am-3pm
13-17- Scholastic Book Fair (In School)
20-21- Scholastic Book Fair (Open to Parents)
20-21- 1/2 day for students; Parent-Teacher Conferences
22- 26- Thanksgiving Break
Upcoming Homework
Monday
Read for 20 minutes
H.L 3.5
Fact Practice
Rewrite words and discovery in notebook
Tuesday-
Read for 20 minutes
Fact Practice
Sort words and practice discovery
Wednesday-
Read for 20 minutes
HL 3.6
Fact Practice
Sort words and practice discovery
Thursday-
Read for 20 minutes
H.L. 3.7
Fact Practice
Blind Sort
Friday-
Read for 20 minutes
H.L. 3.8
Fact Practice
A Bitter Sweet Day
Thank you again for all of your support this year!
I will have Mrs. O'Donnell send the picture we took today before we all said good-bye. I took it on a class iPad but forgot to bring it home so that I could share it with you. What a great group of students Mrs. O'Donnell is inheriting...and what a great teacher they are getting as well!
Thank you!
Halloween Reminders
**HALLOWEEN Notes**
When planning your child’s costume for school, remember that NO weapons (real or fake) are permitted in school. Also consider a costume that your child can bring to school on the bus and one that is easy to put on and take off. Children will not be permitted to wear costumes to school. Since we want to provide a safe and fun experience for everyone, costumes which reflect violence, excessive gore, or “look alike” weapons will not be permitted. For safety reasons, roller blades, skateboards, “heelies,” or costumes that may cause a student to trip or fall may not be worn. Masks are also not permitted.
The parade for PM Kindergarten – 6th Grade will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31, around the outside of the school- weather permitting. When the parade is over, the children return to their classrooms for their parties.
Note: If you choose for your child not to participate in the festivities, alternate activities will be taking place in the library.
We ask that preschool age children not attend the parties. As per the OJR Elementary Student/Parent Handbook, each classroom is limited to five parent helpers. Parents helping in the classroom have been pre-registered and are to report to the school lobby for a visitor badge. There is no need to register with the office if you are just watching the parade. Parents are required to leave the campus by 2:45 pm to make way for the busses.
Volunteering on Tuesday? READ THIS:
If you are volunteering and are able to stop into the office on Monday or early Tuesday morning to have your license scanned before you come in to volunteer, you may be able to avoid LONG LINES while Mrs. Snyder checks volunteers in. The system that had your license previously loaded was updated over the summer which means badge-printing could be a long process if you are unable to check in ahead of time.
Upcoming Specials Schedule
Monday- Day 3- Library
Tuesday- Day 4: Guidance
Wednesday- Day 5: Art
Thursday- Day 1: Gym
Friday- Day 2: Music
What are the kids working on in Specials?
Guidance- Students are continuing to work on identifying feelings. They have been distinguishing between comfortable and uncomfortable feelings.
Art- Students are continuing to study the American Artist Elizabeth Murray and working on creating a collage painting based on the her work.
Gym- Students began their physical fitness testing this week.
Music- Third grade students are reading and performing quarter note, paired eighth note, quarter rest and half note rhythms. They are practicing these rhythms on non-pitched percussion instruments. Also, they are learning a pentatonic song and accompanying it with Orff instruments.
Library- In Library, the students are working on ways author's create the element of suspense- cliff hangers, descriptive language, onomatopoeia, jumps, scares, foreshadowing, appropriate settings, plot twists. Once they have read and discussed how the author used these elements in their stories, students will take part in candlelight reading.
Reminders
Library on Mondays
Several students have been forgetting their library books at home, which makes sense due to the fact that we now have library on Mondays. Please do your best to help remind your kiddos to pack his or her library books for Monday's library class.
Reading Log Calendar
EACH night the students should be recording their reading time on the October calendar page in their agendas. They know where this page is and should be able to record it themselves. An adult just needs to initial it each night :).
Planners
Please check and sign your child's planner every night.
Snack
Please remember to send a healthy snack with your child.
Math
In Math this week, we began Unit 3, which focuses on multi-digit arithmetic.
On Monday, we reviewed "What's My Rule?" tables by find missing numbers and rules. They had to apply an addition, subtraction, or multiplication rule to complete the input/output sections of a table and then describe the pattern.
Tuesday and Wednesday we worked on an open response problem involving estimating costs. They had to make estimates for problems they solved by using mental math and then use their estimate to determine whether or not an answer was reasonable. During this open response, as with all others, students were encouraged to explain their thinking clearly and precisely. On Wednesday, they examined each others' explanations using a rubric as a guide, and then revised their work to improve their response.
On Thursday, students used partial-sums addition to add 2- and 3- digit numbers. Students used estimates to ensure their answers made sense.
Friday, students were introduced to the traditional addition algorithm and then given the opportunity to select either partial sums or the traditional algorithm as their preferred method of multi-digit addition.
Reading
Later we learned that the only way mystery readers can predict, or think forward, to figure out who did the crime, is to think backward- considering all they know about each new character that is introduced. Mystery readers think back to earlier parts of the text to consider if a character might be a suspect. Students learned to not only consider what they've learned about each suspect but also to consider whether or not the suspect has a motive and/or the opportunity to commit the crime.
Finally, students learned that when mystery readers come to tricky parts of books or start new books that feel tricky, they take action and use strategies to deal with the problem.
Writing
Word Study
All groups will receive new words on Monday.
Green group will be tested on their words on Friday, November 3.
Blue and White groups will be tested on their words on Friday, November 10.
Science
In Science this week, we continued to explore more simple machines.
We started the week learning about two different types of pulleys- the fixed pulley and movable pulley. We learned that a pulley is composed of a grooved wheel that spins around a stationary axle with a rope or chain attached. Though a fixed pulley does not reduce the amount of force needed to lift a load, it still makes work easier by changing the direction of force required. It is easier to pull down to lift a load than to lift up since one's body weight can be used. A movable pulley, on the other hand reduces the amount of force required to lift a load. However, as with all simple machines, there is always a tradeoff. A movable pulley reduces the amount of force needed to lift a load but the force has to be applied over a greater distance. We had to lift our hand almost twice as far as the load moved!
We ended the week by taking a mini-assessment of the content learned thus far.
Technology
Students have continued to post various reading and word study activities on SeeSaw.
We have also continued to use Google Classroom. We've been using this to keep track of our mystery book club work as well as to access additional resources for math and science. Additionally, some students used Book Creator to publish their narrative stories after they finished writing their final drafts.
Cursive
Contact Me
Email: bbillstone@ojrsd.com
Website: mrsbillstonesclass.weebly.com
Phone: (610) 469- 5105