Updates & Reminders

Scholastic Book Order
A November Scholastic Book Order went home this week! If you would like an order to be placed for you please have your order in by Friday, Nov. 10th. If you are placing any orders online please do so anytime you like. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks so much!

 

Volunteer Sign Up
I do have our volunteer schedule up from now until the end of the year! This has been such a success with all your help! We GREATLY appreciate all volunteers who have helped our book clubs! The students look forward to when they will have an adult visitor guiding their clubs :)
Here is the link to sign up for all remaining mornings and Thursday afternoons.
http://signup.com/go/mhTLeiA

Please also remember, if you are volunteering in our classroom on a regular basis to complete the online application per TCAPS.
online volunteer application form
This ensures that we have all adult visitors in the system for the safety of those in the building.
Thank you!

Winter Wear
Now that colder temperatures and even snow is approaching please remember to send your child to school in layers and with all the winter essentials!
Warm Winter Jacket
Snow Boots
*Please also send a pair of shoes for the school day, so all boots can stay in the hallway.
Snow Pants
Hat
Gloves
Boots
It would also be a great idea to send an extra set of clothing in with your child to put in their locker. This includes socks, pants, underwear and an extra shirt. There are accidents that happen from wet snow, to a fall in a puddle, to other rare accidents. Thank you!

Plastic Bottles
As of today we have 34 bottles for our tornadoes Friday! We would love just a few extras if anyone has anymore plastic bottles lying around the garage or recycling bin. Thank you to all that have contributed! (Any extra bottles we get I will make sure get recycled, if they are not used)
Our science experiment Friday afternoon is something to look forward to and very exciting!

Journeys

This week we are introducing new concepts in Journeys while learning about different types of weather and storms. Very engaging!!

Our new text this week are:

Super Storms

Genre: Informational Text

This text provides facts about a familiar topic: different kinds of storms.

Photos (graphic features) with captions will provide additional details about storms and ways to measure their effects. Students will also be identifying the main idea and details in a selection and discussing the cause and effect of storms.

Weather Poems

Genre: Poetry

Three poems about weather will allow students to compare perspectives, imagery, and the use of repetition. They will learn about how the sound of words can show images and feelings in poetry. They will also discuss repetition as a device used in poetry.

Homework

A new homework packet is coming home today!

Please remind your child to find a quietly place throughout the week to focus on their assigned pages and also to read for 25 minutes each night!

Thank you for your continued support!

 

Bugs vs Bats

Halloween day we added a little holiday sprinkle to our learning. What do you know about bats? Ask and your child should be able to tell you a few friendly facts!
We read the story Stellaluna
http://www.storylineonline.net/books/stellaluna/

After we heard the story we then created a Venn daigram to compare and contrast birds to bats.

Then we watched a short video all about bats to learn more about the only flying mammals, while also hearing a very catching tune on echolocation (how bats find food).
Here are the links if you would like to watch, share and extend more learning experiences at home!
Fun Facts About Bats
https://youtu.be/b3w9ZbRQIek
Echolocation Music Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAvoz_ofoeo

To round out our fun activity we added the art of bats and bugs!
Last week we took a very small chunk of our day to be creative with watercolor! The students created bugs that our bat friends would love to devour!

They can tell you all about the process, with awesome creatures in the end!

Then we created our bats! Knowing they only sleep upside down, we had to find branches to hang our friendly bats from. Students, at recess, found awesome branches that made a perfect sleeping branch for bats.

Here is the final result!

Both you can see when you visit for Parent Teacher Conferences! All other papers came home Halloween.

Great work!

Gallaher's Farm Market

Gallagher's Farm Market for Halloween was a win! Even with the bitter cold the kiddos had a blast!

We visited with the pigs and sheep. Both animals were able to get fed by students and the pigs let of an aroma that will leave an impression on all :)

Then all students ran to find their very own pumpkin to decorate at school. You will see these beautiful pieces coming home on Friday.

To follow the students ran through a monster of a corn maze! And if that wasn't exhausting, we then walked up the hill to find the cider mill. All students were able to grab an apple and throw it into the mill. Two of our friendly farmers crushed each apple to then mill into apple cider!

As we got back on the bus, we carted our tasty doughnuts and apple cider back to school to enjoy!

Great fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your child did an amazing job on the field trip! Not only behaving well and respecting the space we were in, but also not let out a single complaint in regards to the weather, the atmosphere or the fact that our new venture replaced a Halloween celebration at school! Very proud of the students I have!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween evening!! If you can, please send in a picture of your child's costume if you haven't already!