The Cloud Connection
September 15, 2014
Literacy: I hoping that students will be ready to present their Greek Mythology plays on Wed. We'll have a quiz on theme and characterization when we've finished presenting our plays. We'll read a short story and discuss it towards the end of the week. We'll use the socratic seminar method so students have an opportunity to ask their own questions and provide feedback to each other's thoughts.
Students will take one piece of narrative writing through the writing process. We'll be Peer Reviewing this piece and students will have the opportunity to rewrite their piece more than once.
This week we'll do a review of vocab. words based on last year's greek/latin root words. Students new to the class will have an opportunity to learn these words over the next month or so.
Math: This week we'll begin our unit on multiplication. I'll be reviewing some of the concepts students missed with their place value unit. We'll focus on prime factorization this week. Homework: Mon. pg. 65-66, Tues. pg. 85-86, and Thurs. 91-92.
Social Studies: This week we'll finish reviewing map skills.
Analogies are due Fri. Reading logs are always due on Mondays.
Band will begin Monday, Sept. 15th.
The first Early Release day is scheduled for Wed., Sept. 17th. Students will be excused at 1:45 that day and buses will run on their normal routes an hour and 1/2 earlier.
School pictures are Friday, Sept. 19th.
Student Council sponsors spirit days throughout the year. Sept. 26 is Duct Tape Day. You might want to start putting those outfits together early :) Student council elections for the 2014-2015 school year will be held the first Tues. in Oct. Paperwork for students interested in running for representative or senator will be available Sept. 15th.
We are busy planning our fall trip to Ageya for Oct. 9-10. Please look for more information soon. We will be soliciting help for our fundraising. If you have any great ideas or want to be involved please let me know.
The PTO school-wide fundraising is underway. Our class is shooting for 100% participation either in donations or orders. If you can help out please do. Orders need to be turned in the 17th of Sept. An informational flyer went home today reminding you of the upcoming events.
I'd like students to send their book orders in by Tues. Sept. 16 if they'd like to order books . If they have earned a "free" book from me they need to fill out their order form and mark free on the form.
Youth Court will begin a week from Monday. If your child is interested please have them return the necessary permission slips before then.
I have to be at meetings in Kenai regarding curriculum on Monday. Kelllie Bollin will be our guest teacher. I expect students to be on their very best behavior during my absences. I'll be at WHE on Tuesday, but we'll be meeting to set up the new class configurations to organize the procedures and protocols we want to adopt as we get ready to join our classrooms.
Constitution Day Assembly
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2014, 01:00 PM
West Homer Elementary School, Soundview Avenue, Homer, AK, United States
Early Release
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2014, 01:45 PM
KPBSD
School Pictures
Friday, Sep 19, 2014, 08:45 AM
West Homer Elementary School, Soundview Avenue, Homer, AK, United States
Duct Tape Day
Friday, Sep 26, 2014, 08:30 AM
West Homer Elementary School, Soundview Avenue, Homer, AK, United States
Letter to 5th grade parents
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As you are well aware, our 5th grade classrooms are very full this year, so the district office has allocated West Homer Elementary an additional teacher to remedy the issue. We are thankful for the additional teacher.
In these first few weeks of school, teachers work hard to build classroom communities and relationships with individual students – this is part of the magic that great teachers do to create a vibrant learning environment for all students. We have heard from many parents who would like their children to remain in their current classroom. We have looked very hard to find a teacher who is the caliber of professional you have come to expect from our staff and who will complement our educational team. Additionally, we have worked to create a solution that will add value to your child’s educational experience at WHE, without separating them from the learning communities that they have fostered.
Our solutions is as follows:Kellie Bolin will join our educational team. She is a highly qualified educator in the content area of general science at the middle school and high school level (7-12), and she has a strong background in mathematics education. Mrs. Bolin will team teach with Mrs. Cloud and Mrs. Bynagle. We plan to utilize three classrooms; however, in the next couple of weeks we will open the wall between two classrooms to create one large classroom in which we can offer grade level/large group lessons and then utilize the regular sized classroom for smaller group lessons, remediation and acceleration. We will combine both classes for portions of the day with all three teachers and we will break the whole group down into smaller groups to facilitate the needs of individual students. Grouping of students will be fluid to meet students’ needs. Students will remain in their current classroom assignments for PE, music and library classes. We will continually be assessing the success of this plan and make adjustments, modifications and/or changes accordingly.
Raymond Marshall
Katherine Bynagle
Melissa Cloud
West Homer Elementary School