1G Weekly News
April 10th, 2016
Notes and Updates
Dear Parents,
Welcome back! Last week was a short but wonderful week. We are currently helping Mrs. Diana learn our classroom so it may take us a bit longer to get materials back to you. Thank you for being patient with this transition.
Last week we reviewed many routines and procedures. We continued writing poetry and thinking of ideas to write about through our poetry doors. We made new book clubs to be able to read across genres and practiced our stamina. We focused on defining our shapes and introducing 3-D shapes. Finally we introduced liquids and properties of liquids.
Scroll down to read about what we will be learning next week and important dates and information for next week.
Cheers,
Shannon Keane
Special Announcements
Service Learning from Upper Elementary
April 5- 21: Art Competition
Students in LES and UES can enter an art competition for the chance to win one of three grand prizes, or a certificate of participation. Students can visit Ms. Stephanie (Room 1515) to pay 10qr to enter, with funds going toward Hugo and Victor, two worthy high school students who need help to pay for college! (Ms. Willcott and Ms. Boisaubin taught them in Paraguay when they were elementary students). The artwork must be one of three themes and can be submitted until April 21st. All pieces will be judged and displayed at parent/ teacher conferences.
April 11-13 @ snack/ recess: Soccer Shoot Out
Students in LES and UES have the chance to shoot goals against high school students and UES teachers! It costs 5qr for 3 attempts, and anyone who makes 9+ goals has the chance to win a fancy, new soccer ball! Find us on the soccer field. All proceeds go to Qatar Red Crescent.
April 14 @ snack/ recess: Dance-a-Thon!
LES (Prek to grade 2) students can come to the MPR to dance along to fun music videos! It costs 5qr to attend; all money raised will go to Syrian refugee children.
Give me Five!
We are encouraging all parents, students and staff to support ASD's strategy to inspire and empower positive, active global citizens by donating to the 'High-Five ASD' fundraising campaign. During the week of April 17th High-Five stickers will be provided to show why we love being a part of the ASD community.
Our goal is to have 100% participation for this service work fundraising campaign. What do you want to give ASD a high-five for? Funding Will Support the ASD Strategy to Inspire and Empower Positive, Active Global Citizens! ASD has dedicated this year's annual fundraising campaign towards service work to inspire and empower positive, active global citizens (Global Citizenship).
ASD receives funding requests from students, teachers, and parents to support service in Qatar and abroad. Since 2011 ASD has been able to help 55 community groups with funding of over 230,000 QR towards service projects. This year participating is easier than ever with the option of using your DragonCard to make a donation! Fill out the pledge card and return with your child by April 14th! We will add your message to a High-Five sticker!! The ASD Annual Fund is the school’s annual campaign to heighten the student experience.
While tuition covers the basics, funds raised through the Annual Fund are used to augment every aspect of a student’s life: in the classroom, on the playing fields, and in the global community. "High-Five ASD for cool robotics programs”
In the Elementary all teachers will be given High-Five ASD stickers to create awareness before the campaign. The class in each division with the most creative hand display outside of their classroom will win a popcorn party.
Library Used Book Sale
Once again it is time for our library annual used book sale. Beginning April 10th, we will accept any gently used books (clean, no pages missing) for this annual sale. The sale will be April 26, 27, and 28, including the Student-led Conferences. For every donation of three books, you will receive a coupon for one free used book.
Dragon Bands
Dear Parents,
Over the past few months, we have been keeping track of the amount of Dragon Wristbands that are coming back to us, broken. We have also been looking closely at the normal wear and tear of the wristbands and the actual damage that is occurring.
Closer inspection of the broken wristbands and observation in the classroom has revealed that a high amount of wristbands are being intentionally damaged. This happens when a student has been playing with it, chewing/biting it, picking at the back of the wristband where the magnetic disk is and removing it, cutting it with the clasp part of a lanier, cutting it with scissors, picking the top part of the wristband so that the magnetic disk pops out, stretching it until it snaps, continually snapping it or pulling it, playing with it with friends – a ‘tug of war’ type of scenario, etc.
With the sheer amount coming back to us damaged in this way, we have come to the decision to start charging QR 50.00 to the student’s Dragon Wristband account for a replacement. Of course, we will pre-inspect all bands prior to issuance to verify no faulty or material design flaw is present that has contributed to the wristband being torn or broken. And of course, if a wristband has simply stopped working, the wristband will be replaced at no charge.
The Dragon Wristband needs to be regarded and treated as school property – the same as a library book or school-issued computer/camera, etc. Students have been issued a first wristband at no charge and are expected to treat it with the same care as a library book or classroom property. We would like to ask you, as parents, to have a conversation with your child about the importance of taking care of their Dragon Wristband.
Thank you for your kind cooperation and understanding with this matter.
New Math Resources
Our Math Coordinator, Carol Little, has been working to develop a site to house parent resources for math. In particular, it has the videos, parent packet, and parent packet answers for the parent sessions she has been hosting. She also has posted parent strategy letters for the individual units and a packet of Common Core aligned fluency games.
This is a new site and definitely is a work in progress. Mrs. Little started the site in January and is working forward with the units as we complete them. Therefore, materials from Units 1 and 2 may not be available until later this year. In addition, videos can be a little tricky to upload and may or may not always work! Here is the link to that site.
Snack
This is just a reminder to please send students with a snack everyday as they are not allowed to buy snack. We recently have had a few students without snacks and it is a long morning before lunch. Also please make sure to send healthy snacks. We have asked a few students not to eat the sweets until they get home. As a school we teach healthy choices and snack is a good way to reinforce the message to your child.
Lower Elementary Math Parent Drop-in
Our Math Coordinator, Mrs. Carol Little will be holding a Lower Elementary parent drop in / office hour every Wednesday from 2:00 – 3:00pm. Mrs. Little will be available at this time every week to assist parents who need further information about our Math program or who would like help / suggestions with how to support their children at home. It will be held in Ms. Mindy Martin’s office.
Upcoming Dates
April 11 AMA Bake Sale
April 17-21 Annual Fund - High Five Campaign
April 22 Military Appreciate Day
April 26-28 Used Book Sale
April 27-28 Student Led Conferences - Portfolio Day
A Peek at the Week Ahead
Reading
Asking Questions to Determine the Author's Message
- Readers check the information they find in one book by reading lots of other books about the same topic.
- Readers ask questions about facts in fiction books
Writing
The Craft of a poet
- Line breaks
- Repetition
- onomatopoeia
Math
Halves and Quarters of Rectangles and Circles
Students should be able to:
Name equal parts (halves, fourths or quarters) and wholes
Partition rectangles and circles into 2 or 4 equal parts
Identity when shapes do and do not have equal parts
Review
Assess
Science
How Can Matter Change State?
- Melting
- Reviewing how properties change when in different state
Word Study
said, over, don't, our, what, with
Homophones
Whole Child
Shannon Keane
Email: skeane@asd.edu.qa