Classroom Updates

I hope everyone had a relaxing Fall Break! Today got off to an unusual start with the threat of bad weather. I am sure you will hear that the entire school had to be in their tornado safety locations until 10:05 when the storm had passed through and it was safe to return to our classrooms. The students did a great job being patient and quiet!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Today I sent home invitations for parent teacher conferences. Most parents signed up for a time at Meet the Teacher Night back in August. Please make sure the time will work for you and return the form this week. If you need to reschedule, please let me know as soon as possible.

Music Program

Today I sent home letters from Mrs. Dziadosz regarding the music program that is on November 1 at 6:30 p.m. Please plan on attending. All students are expected to be a part of the program. Mrs. Dziadosz would like the students to dress up and wear red, white, and blue. If for some reason your child forgot to bring home the letter (I found one on the floor after school today!) here is the link of the original post I made about the program.

Report Cards

As you know, even the process of report cards has become paperless! Report cards were made available on Powerschool last Wednesday. Please be sure to check your child's report card, if you haven't already! If for some reason you do not know how to access Powerschool, please let me know.

Thank You

A special thank you goes out to Chrissy Nelson. Chrissy volunteered to tie dye all of our class shirts, and she did a great job. The students wore the shirts on our field trip to Connor Prairie and they looked wonderful. We will have more opportunities to wear them throughout the year. I also want to thank all my devoted volunteers that come in each week during math in the mornings. I truly appreciate the help!

Reading

In reading we have started a new class novel, The Island of the Blue Dolphins. This novel has a Lexile of 900, which makes it quite a challenge for some of our readers. I will be reading every single chapter aloud to the students to aid in comprehension. Feel free to read along with us at home, if you are interested. On Monday we read chapters 1-3. The Island of the Blue Dolphins is an award winning novel that pulls together so many things from our curriculum. We will continue to discuss Geography throughout the novel, and we will begin discussing Native Americans. The secret word today is Karana. She is the main character in the novel!

Math

We are plugging along in math. Both groups have worked on addition and subtraction strategies. The purple group (third graders) are working on multiplication and division as well. We are all working on problem solving strategies. On November 4th, Delaware Trail is having a Family Math Night at 6:30. At that time, you can come and learn more about the Everyday Math program. Here is the original post about Family Math Night if you missed it the first time.

Social Studies

We are still finishing up our Geography unit. This week we are reviewing. Students are filling out review packets during our Centers time. On Friday, we will begin our unit on Native Americans. It is really nice that our novels and Social Studies units tie together so easily! This integration of curriculum helps students to make meaningful connections in their learning. We are now finished with our island projects. Five groups of students created their own islands. These islands will be on display either in the library or in the front display cases by the end of the week. Students had to create the island with at least five landforms that we have studied, create a map key and compass rose, and even create a Constitution for their island!

Important Dates

November 1 Music Program at 6:30
November 3 Chick-fil-a Biscuit Sale in the a.m. (Students can bring $2.50 for a biscuit).
November 4 Family Math Night at DT at 6:30 (Click here for details)
November 5 NO STUDENT ATTENDANCE
November 8-11 Parent Teacher Conferences
November 9 Movie Night (Toy Story 2) at 6 p.m.
November 12 NO STUDENT ATTENDANCE