Access Issues

Good Morning Everyone-

I have heard from a couple of people that there have been access issues with the link for Parent Teacher Conferences.  I have made an adjustment and it still seems a bit unreliable.  If you would email me with your preferred times I will enter them for you and then send a reply email immediately.

Thanks for your help with the sign up and your patience as I get this issue resolved.  Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

Mrs. D.

Parent Teacher Sign-Up For Spring Conferences

Dear Parents-

Below you will find the link to sign up for Spring Parent Teacher Conference. When the spreadsheet opens, please note the tabs at the bottom of the sheet for each of the conference days.  Once you have signed up for a time I will email you with a confirmation. I look forward to meeting with you all over the next few weeks.


Mrs. DiNardo

Parent Teacher Conference

Savanna 2-22-13

Dear Parents:

            I want to begin this week with a big thank you to Diane McConkle, Scott Parish, Estelle Astacio, Peter Lehning, and Marianne LaValle for all your help as chaperones on the field trip to the Outdoor Lab.  The children came in on Tuesday still excited about the trip and full of great stories about what they did and learned.  The trip would not have been as successful without all your help.  Thanks for making it such a memorable experience. 

Can you believe we have already been in school for over 100 days!  Wednesday was the 100^th day of school, which means we are more that half way through this year.  To celebrate the day the children made sculptures with 100 paper cups.  It was such a pleasure to watch the cooperative brainstorming and creativity as the children planned out their pieces.  We may have some future engineers in our midst.

            We tested out our unit on Ancient Rome on Wednesday and will begin our unit on Mali next week.  In Math this week, we continued to work on area and perimeter.  We have relied upon our knowledge of arrays for this unit to find the area of various shapes.  Overall the children are doing a good job with learning their facts I would like everyone to continue practicing these facts, along with their addition and subtraction facts.  These learning fundamentals are an essential foundation for further math, and they need to be fully mastered.  Practice for ten minutes a day will help greatly.  In Science, the children continue to learn about solids, liquids and gasses as we extend our learning to properties of matter.  This will take us to the study of force and motion and simple machines. 

On Wednesday, February 27th we will be having our annual Curriculum Day.  This will be an opportunity for you to come join your child as we rotate through various curricular activities.  This is a fun way for you to get a taste of some of the different Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts activities your child is engaged in throughout the year.  This school-wide event will be from 9:30-11:30.  There is a separate flyer in your child’s Friday Folder with additional details. 

            As you know Parent Teacher Conferences are on Thursday and Friday March 7-8. I have placed an electronic sign-up sheet on my blog.  Please check your schedules and select a time to meet.  Once you have signed up I will send out an email confirmation.  There are several meeting times next week for those who may like to have an earlier meeting time.  I look forward to discussing your child’s progress with you at these meetings. 

Three years ago, the Third Grade began a garden for the “Plot for Hunger” project.  This community service project helps to grow fruits and vegetable for the AFAC food bank.  As a grade level we will be planting our garden again this year.  We will be planting seeds for some of our vegetables on March 6th.  These seeds will be germinated inside, under the grow lights in the hallway near our room.  Once it is warm enough, we will move them to the greenhouse and then transplant them in the beds outside.  We will need extra hands in the coming months to help make this service project a success.  If you are interested in helping please let me know.  (There is no need for any garden experience to help!)

            Enjoy the weekend.

                                                                                   

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, February 27th- Curriculum Day

Thursday-Friday March 7-8- Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday March 15- Disco Dance

Monday March 18-22- Book Fair

Monday March 25-Friday March 29- Spring Break

Monday April 1- Teacher Work Day- No School for Students

           

                                                           

A Few Updates

Good Afternoon Everyone-

I have a couple of updates to share with you.

1. As you know we will be going to the Outdoor Lab on Friday, February 15th along with Ms. Coffman's class.  We will leave the school as close to 9:00am as possible, so please make sure your child will arrive on time that day.  The children and chaperones will need a bag lunch, including a drink.  There is no food service available at the lab.  The lab is located in Marshall, VA which is approximately 45 minutes west of Arlington.  The temperature at the lab is usually 10 degrees cooler than in Arlington.  We are asking all children and chaperones to dress in layers.  Pants, shirt, sweater, coat, hat, and gloves.  Closed toe shoes with warm socks is also advised.   The morning will be spent outside participating in a variety of hands on activities and we want to be sure everyone is warm enough to enjoy their time at the lab.  It is easier to take a layer off than not to be able to put one back on.  At this point the anticipated temperature for Friday in Marshall is in the 40's.

2. We will be exchanging Valentine's on Wednesday, February 13th.  The children will conduct a Valentine's Day experiment that will result in a small treat for them all.  If your chid would like to decorate a box or bag to put their Valentine's in, they should bring them in on Wednesday.

3. I will not be at school on Thursday and Friday of this week.  My daughter Sarah is swimming in her last NCAC Conference Meet in Canton, Ohio.  Julie Hennessey-Nilan will be my sub for both days.  She is very familiar with the children and I am confident that all will go well.

If you have any questions about activities this week, please let me know.

Mrs. D.

Savanna 2-8-13

Dear Parents,

            I hope this note finds you at the end of a good week.  In class we continue our studies of multiplication and division, Ancient Rome, weather and writing about the life of an ice cube.  We will be testing out our Math and Social Studies Units next week.  Please have your child continue to practice their multiplication facts for a minimum of 10 minutes each night.

            I have several housekeeping items to share with you this week. 

1.     You will receive a note about our planned Valentine’s Day activities in your child’s Friday Folder.

2.    We will have our annual Curriculum Day on Wednesday February 27^th from 9:30-11:30.  This is an opportunity for you to rotate through several learning activities with your child.  I hope you will be able to join us. 

3.    Our Outdoor Lab Trip is scheduled for next Friday, Feb. 15^th.  Please see general information coming home today in the Friday Folder.

4.    Parent Teacher conferences will be March 7th and 8th.   I am working on an electronic sign-up for these meetings and should have this available to you next week. 

I hope you and your family have a relaxing weekend.

                       

           

 

           

                                                                                   

            

Savanna 2-1-13

Dear Parents,

            What fish we have in our class!  All the children had such good week swimming.  The reports back from Mrs. Angethal and Mr. Corkins were all very positive about the children’s skills as well as their behavior at the pool.  Everyone has done a great job remembering all the items for their swim bags this week.  Please remember that the children will be swimming on Monday and Tuesday of next week so they will need these items next week as well.

Even with a shortened daily schedule we have been able to move forward with our learning.  We continued investigating the life and times in Ancient Rome.  In Science our focus has been on weather and again, the children are demonstrating their knowledge of the water cycle through their stories tracing the route of a raindrop.  In math we continue to explore multiplication and division.  The children have done a nice job demonstrating their understanding of arrays and how to take a given number of objects and break them into equal groups.   Everyone is coming along with mastering their multiplication facts and we have enjoyed practicing these with several online games.  As I have told the children, to remember these facts they all need to practice every night.  This can be done with flash cards, verbal quizzing, worksheet problems, or with online games.  Another good site for games is www.multiplication.com.  We have used this one in class and the children have enjoyed it.  Overall we have had a good academic week.

            As you know report cards for the second quarter will go home next week.  As I told the children, this reporting period began all the way back in November and their grades are a reflection of growth over that time. Overall, I was quite pleased with the improvement each child has made.  We talked as a class about what we can do this quarter to take on a bit more responsibility for getting homework in on time, completing assignments, remembering supplies, following the school rules, getting to school on time, and not being so sleepy in class.  The children came up with several good suggestions.  We will have a chance to discuss this report card and the progress of your child, at our Parent-Teacher conferences on March 7th and 8th.  I will be sending information about conference times home shortly to schedule these meetings.

            We have a field trip coming up this month as well.  We will be going to the Outdoor Lab on Friday the 15^th.   The permission slip for this activity went home with your child today.  Please let me know if you would like to join us for this fun learning experience. 

            As always, thank you for all you do to support your child.  Good luck to all the basketball teams tonight!  Enjoy the weekend           

                                                                       

Upcoming Events

Friday 2/15- Outdoor Lab Field Trip

Wednesday 2/20- Full Day of School- No Early Release

Thursday and Friday 3/7-8- Parent Teacher Conferences (no school for children)