February Newsletter
Filled with love on January 31, 2015
News from the classroom
First, I want to celebrate the success of two big things: Reflex Math and nonfiction books. Reflex Math allows students to practice the math facts that they specifically need. Students are working towards addition and subtraction mastery. As a class we have completed almost 30,000 math facts. That is quite impressive especially when you considered that we started the program on January 8. Just about everyday in math students complete 20-25 minutes of Reflex Math and spend 25 minutes with me in a small group getting the normal math lesson.
The next celebration comes from our nonfiction books. Yes, the "All About Shark" book was a key to this celebration but the e-book coming out is priceless. A parent recently asked how is the shark book different from the e-book. As I answered the question I thought this would be great to include in the newsletter. In the shark book, students completed a page on their shark with an illustration. In our e-book, students each created a nonfiction book about their animal from the aquarium. Each book contains a table of contents with four chapters, a fun facts section and an about the author section. We are wrapping up the publication of these books. Most students just have the fun facts and about the author page left to complete. I will email your child's book when they finish publishing.
Looking forward, we have many upcoming exciting things. Just check out the newsletter below to see the events and happenings.
Our virtue for February is loyalty. Loyalty is the way we commit ourselves. To help tie in this virtue we will have read alouds and discussions centering on the idea. Additionally, I am going to help develop the art of loyalty by having students serve the community. On Friday students committed to Ten on Tuesday, a campaign designed to help the community with liter. On Tuesdays we pledged to serve the community and pick up ten pieces of trash. After all in our science classes we learned that liter is one of the ways humans affect the environment.
Academic Objectives
- Reading: Wrapping up our features of nonfiction books and introducing biographies
- Writing: Finishing e-books
- Phonics: Long vowels I ( I_E, IE & IGH)
- Math: Measurement tools and techniques
- Science: Temperature
- Social Studies: Groundhog Project: Focus on communities: rural, urban and surbuban
Art update
Rushmore inspired "soap carvings" with Mrs. Bickley
"Saving our Seas" Traveling Trunk
Built around the concept of comprehensive thematic guides, the Saving Our Seas! trunk provides you with primary and secondary resources, scientific tools, and hands-on manipulatives that allow you to acquaint students with a variety of marine concepts including: diversity of life in the oceans, the role of coral reefs, the water-cycle, human impact on the ocean ecosystem, and the archival records documenting the work of President and Mrs. Bush to conserve our oceans. The goal of the trunk is to provide the tools and activities to ensure students understand the significance of the oceans and to help them develop active conservation plans to ensure their part in saving our seas!
I am still in the works of finalizing a time for the trunk. This will tie in perfectly with our shark book, Aquarium field trip and science discussions.
Go van Gogh with The Dallas Museum of Art
Valentine bags
Music Matters
A snapshot of our music class with Mrs. A
Temperature comparison book
ESD Auction bidding
Wixie
Stop Playing Monopoly With Your Kids (And Play These Games Instead) article
Upcoming events
- Tuesday, February 3- ESD Spirit Dress Day
- Wednesday, February 4- DMA visiting from 9:30-10:30 AM
- Thursday, February 5- Marathon Kids Family Run 7:20 AM
- Monday, February 9- Yoga Skype 1:45
- Thursday, February 12- Valentine celebration in Primer & Noon Dismissal
- Friday, February 13-Monday, February 16- Winer Break No School & Happy Birthday Zaphney
- Tuesday, February 17- School Resumes & Mardi Gras Speaker
- Wednesday, February 18- Ash Wednesday & DSO Field Trip
- February 23- February 27 Favorite Book Week
Primer Pals
Email: hogana@esdallas.org
Website: http://www.primerattheepiscopalschoolofdallas.com/blog
Phone: 214-353-2818
Twitter: @PrimerESD