Mrs. Loppnow's News & Notes
Week of September 11, 2017
A Note from Mrs. Loppnow:
On Monday, our classmate Matt visited us with his Mom, Heather. Many of you know Matt and follow his story on Facebook as he battles brain cancer. We were thrilled to have Matt stop in to say HI and are all rooting for him as he faces his last few rounds of chemotherapy. We can't wait for him to get stronger so he can join us in the classroom. In the meantime, I would love to collect letters, pictures, photographs, ANYTHING, to help us connect with Matt as he is home recovering. You may send items to school at ANY time!
I hope you all enjoy your weekend! I will be running (OK...walking, fast) the Vikings 5K tomorrow. I'm super excited to see the Vikings locker room and have a chance to actually run on the field! Will any of you be there??
Enjoy your time together!
Mrs. Loppnow
A Peek into this week and next!
We will continue these lessons next week as well as begin talk of identifying MULTIPLES of 2, 5, and 10.
Writer's Workshop: Our focus in writing has been on grammar with the use of Mentor Sentences. Each week this month we will read a mentor text and focus grammar instruction on one sentence from the book. This week's mentor text was Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. Our focus was on identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions, as well as learning how to use commas in a sentence. Our hope is that these lessons will carry over into the student's own writing as they begin exploring their own voices.
Next week we will continue mentor sentence activities as well as take time to "free write" in our notebooks.
Content: Mindset...Fixed or Growth? We are working hard to teach the students the power of YET! Instead of saying "I can't do it!", we are encouraging them to say, "I can't do it...YET!" Having a positive mindset means taking risks to make mistakes, being open to feedback, and knowing that "failure" is an opportunity for growth. In addition, we have been working hard to change our reactions to certain words such as TEST ("cringe"!!!).
Reader's Workshop: Our main priority this week has been getting to know our classroom library, understanding Independent Reading expectations, choosing "Just Right" books (see below), and learning to record our pages read, In addition, we have been using the novel Please Write in this Book by Mary Amato to discuss "Building Community" within our classroom. The students have had a lot of fun getting to know the characters in the book. It is interesting to see which character they connect with the most. Ask your child, "Are you a Lizzie, a Luke, a Milton, a Yoshi, a Tyrone, or a Keesha?" They will know what you are talking about...their explanations should make you chuckle!
REMINDERS:
- HOMEWORK for this weekend: Your child is bringing home their Growth Mindset journal this weekend. They have been asked to interview someone they admire. There is a script in the notebook to follow and a place to record the answers. The homework is to ONLY COMPLETE PAGE 5. Our discussions in class have been about failure and understanding that sometimes failure helps us on the road to great successes! I hope this opens up some great conversations with you and your child!
- STUDENT COUNCIL speeches will be on Monday and Tuesday with voting to take place on Tuesday. If your child is "on the ballot", please be sure they come to school prepared to talk in front of our class. Speeches may be written out on paper and can be read.
- PROJECT GO will be on October 10th. Students are asked to bring an "old favorite" t-shirt to school for this project. They will be turning it into a pillow with the help of our Project Go sewing experts (NOT Mrs. Loppnow!), and the grandparents who are able to join us. Please do not send adult-sized shirts! **Information sheet coming home today!**
- I really am trying to encourage healthy snacks during our snack time. Please save chips and cookies for lunch or after school.
- Although we do not celebrate birthdays in the classroom, students may choose to donate a book to our classroom or share non-treat items such as pencils.
- If your child has a change of plans for after school, please let me know via email ASAP.
- In addition, if your child is riding a friend's bus home, he/she MUST have a handwritten note to be allowed on that bus.
Upcoming Events:
- 9-19: Picture Day! Bring Your SMILE!
- 9-19: PTO Meeting 6:30 in the Media Center
- 10-2: Wendy's Night
- 10-5: T-shirts for Project GO! due at school.
- 10-6: Red Rock Pride Day
- 10-10: Project GO! Grandparents are invited to join us!
- 10-10 to 10-18: Scholastic Book Fair
- 10-12 & 10-17: Conferences
- 10-19 & 10-20: NO SCHOOL