Greetings

            Thanks for coming out to goal setting conferences. I am really proud of the way the kids discussed their strengths and areas for growth. I enjoyed getting to know each of them bit more. I will be sending home copies of my notes from the conferences next week as reminders. Some of the most common goals for students were the mastery of math facts (a MUST to be successful in 4th/5th grade math), learning to type, and setting aside daily reading time. Some students also need help mastering organizational and time management skills.  Thanks for helping your child move forward toward these goals!

Curriculum Highlights

            The students are really enjoying the Native American "Honor" simulation. Ask your child to describe each day's activities to you and their "travels" for the day.

         This week we will begin our class novel Racing the Sun and well as begin our USA Weekly newspapers. The USA weekly will be started in class each week and finished as homework. The students will learn how to read and highlight important information in each article. It would be great if you could read and discuss the articles with your student. We are trying to get better at reading and retaining the information we get from text. I will be giving the students a review quiz on the material each week and they will be able to use the newspaper to go back and locate the information.

        We will begin writing our own Native American legends this week. These will be done mostly in class. Each student will first decide what aspect of nature they would like to explain through his/her story and where the geographic setting will be.   In conjunction, we will begin making salt/flour landform maps of the United States. Thanks for the pizza boxes and salt!

Homework

The students should all be starting to get the hang of our homework routine. Please remember to check and sign their assignment sheet/reflections each day. If they get in the habit of using this binder/folder system, then the communication and organization skills should take hold.  Also, reminding students to pack up all homework and notes into their binders (and into the backpack) the night before school really can help a lot. In addition, please see that your child is recording the title of his/her nightly reading book each day. Thanks for your help on these matters. The students now all know that the consequence for forgetting homework is a loss of recess.

Pencils

Pencils disappear like magic in Purple Forum!  Please make sure your child has an adequate set of sharpened pencils and erasers in his/her cubby or pencil pouch.  I try to keep enough in the room, but at the rate we are going we go through dozens every other day or so!   Thanks for you help.

King Tut Exhibit

        You may have heard by now that we are planning a trip to the LA county Museum to see the traveling King Tut Egyptian exhibit. White, Purple and Green forums will be going by charter bus on Monday, Nov. 14th. There were very few group spots left, so we feel fortunate to have gotten these. The approximate cost of the trip per child will be $40.00. I am working with Tina Soloman on some fundraising ideas for those who would like to participate.  We have 5 extra tickets per class for parents. Let me know if you are interested. This would be an all day trip, coming home in the evening. If for some reason your child cannot participate, please let me know ASAP. I will need to redistribute his/her ticket;  we purchased one for each student.

Parent Volunteers

Thanks for all the help last week.  We still have a few open spots for helpers in the morning during math time 9:00- 10:30. let me or Mary Olson m=know if you are interested.

New Student Teacher

 Sheila Chako has joined us in Purple Forum as our student teacher. Sheila is coming from the Cal Poly Education Program and will be with us until Dec. 9th. Sheila has lots of experience and energy. She is doing a great job and the kids love her!  She loves it here at BSFCS and has a lot of great ideas to share. Because this is her advanced placement, Sheila will be doing a lot of lessons and group work with the class. Sheila is responsible for deigning several units of instruction and will eventually do her "takeover" (assuming most aspects of running the classroom) in late November.  It will be great to have her energy and enthusiasm to add to our program! Welcome Sheila!

 

Thanks again for all you do!

- Betsy Schaffer