Savanna

Dear Parents,

            We have covered a good amount of ground this week.  The children learned about the homeless population here in Arlington and participated in the annual Mini-Walk for the Homeless on Tuesday. The children were able to walk several laps of the sidewalk adjacent to the school to show their support of this worthy cause.  In addition to helping those here in Arlington, the children are also being given the opportunity to help children throughout the world through “Trick or Treat for Unicef” this Halloween.  The children are bringing home a letter from Mrs. Brown today, outlining the program.  They will bring home their collection box next week.  I would like to encourage all the children to bring their boxes with them as they go trick or treating and collect for children around the world.  In the past Tuckahoe students have collected more than $7,500 in pennies, nickels and dimes. 

 Back in the classroom, we are about to complete our first unit in Math, have practiced the Scientific Method in Science and worked on where to find information when reading and how to identify and use common and proper nouns.  The children also were introduced to the new online typing program.  We are asking that the children spend 10 minutes per night on this program.  Our goal is to have the children become proficient at two-handed typing by the end of the year.  In addition to the work at home we will be typing in class as well.  All in all we are moving along well.  As I mentioned before, I would like your continued help with going over your child’s assignments with them when they get home and have them explain what they need to do that evening.  If it is a long term project, use a calendar and help pace out the project.  Once your child has completed their work, review it with them, and then have them put all their work and supplies back in their backpack. 

There are several “housekeeping” items I would like to bring to your attention.  First, I would like to encourage everyone to reach out to Deb Schueren (Aya’s mom) to see how you might help with the Halloween party on Thursday.  We will need some help with costume changing around 1:30 pm and setting up the party.  The parade is at 2:00 pm and we should be back in the classroom around 2:45.  This is a fun afternoon for the children and your help is greatly appreciated.  Deb’s email is bdbloomer@gmail.com.  Please also review the Mid-Week Update on the blog if you have not had an opportunity to do so as of yet. 

Below are some important October/November dates to place on your calendars.  If you could please let me know if your child will not be at school on Monday or Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving I would appreciate it. 

 Fri. 10/25- Harvest Fest- 7:00pm

                  Thurs. 10/31- Halloween Parade- 2:00pm

                  Sat. Nov. 2- Tuckahoe/H-B 5K and Fun Run

                  Mon. 11/4- Outdoor Lab Field Trip/End of 1^st Quarter

                  Tues. 11/5- Election Day- No School for Students

                  Wed. 11/6- Full Day of School- NO EARLY RELEASE

                  Mon. 11/11- Veterans Day Observation- No School

                  Fri. 11/22- Report Cards Issued

                  Wed 11/27-Fri 11/29 Thanksgiving Break-No School

            As always, I want to thank you for all you do at home to ensure that your child comes to school each day ready to learn.  I hope everyone stays warm over the weekend and good luck to anyone running in the Marine Corps Marathon!

           

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Mrs. DiNardo

Mid Week Up-Date

Good Afternoon Everyone-

I have a couple of housekeeping items that I would like to bring to your attention prior to the Savanna on Friday.

1. I have gotten back most of the permission slips for our Field Trip to the Outdoor Lab on MONDAY NOVEMBER 4th.  At this time I have 5 parents who have indicated they would like to chaperone which is my limit for this trip. I appreciate your willingness to help out the class in this manner.

2. A gentle reminder that as you are filling out permission skips for your child, please be sure to write your child's name at the top of the form. 

3. We began a new typing program today in class.  The program is accessible from the Tuckahoe website and can be done from home.  We are asking that each child practice their typing as part of their evening homework for 10 minutes each night.  Our goal is to have the children become proficient typists by the end of the year.  Your child's user name is their student id # that they use for the library as well as the cafeteria.  Their password is their birth date (mmddyy).  Most the the kids have this memorized so it should not pose a problem.

4. Now that the children are learning recorder, Mrs. J our Music teacher will be assigning 5 minutes of practice each night on the recorder.  While this new skill may be a bit challenging for some at the beginning, I am always amazed at the progress the children make by the end of the year. The music and the songs that the children are learning each week will be in their binders and need to be brought back to school on Thursday mornings along with the recorders.

5. As you might imagine the end of our day at dismissal time can get quite confusing with 25 students going in 25 different directions.  I am asking for a bit of help to reduce some of the confusion.           1. When your child has a change in dismissal, please send me a note.  2. If your child is going home with another child who rides a bus, please include the bus number of the child they are going home with.  This will help with getting bus passes from the front office.   3. If your child is going to an enrichment class after school, I need a note each time they go to a class.   I know this may sound repetitive, but it is your child's safety that I am concerned about.

5.  Please remember that Harvest Fest is this Friday evening, October 25th.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs. D

Math Test Unit 1 10/25/13

In your child's assignment notebook this evening you will see that there will be a math test on Unit 1 next Friday.  Below are the different areas that will be covered in this test.  Over the weekend if you would like to spend 5-10 minutes with your child reviewing any of these area that would be helpful.  Please know there will be review work over the week to ensure the children are ready for this unit test.  The math test will cover the following topics:

1. Place Value- ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten, thousand, hundred thousand.

2. Greater than, less than and equal to.

3. Ordering numbers from greatest to least, and least to greatest.

4. Adding two and three digit numbers.

5. Fact Families of three numbers.

6. Subtracting numbers with and without regrouping.

7. Vocabulary:

Addend:  The number that you add together in an addition sentence.

Sum: The answer you get in an addition sentence.

Difference: The answer you get in a subtraction sentence,

Commutative Property of Addition: The property of addition that tells us that the order of the addends does not change the sum. (2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 2 = 5)

Identity Property of Addition:  The property of addition that tells us that any number added to zero remains the same. ( 5 + 0 = 5 and 3 + 0 = 3)

Friday 10-18-13 Update

Dear Parents-

       Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend.  The children have done a good job getting backing into the swing of school, and working. As we have had a couple of shortened weeks of school, there is not much new news to report.  I have updated the monthly calendar of events. Please note the full day of school on Wednesday, November 6^th.

       Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

              Tues. 10/22- Mini-Walk for the Homeless

              Fri. 10/25- Harvest Fest- 7:00pm

              Thurs. 10/31- Halloween Parade- 2:00pm

              Sat. Nov. 2- Tuckahoe/H-B 5K and Fun Run

              Mon. 11/4- Outdoor Lab Field Trip

              Tues. 11/5- Election Day- No School for Students

              Wed. 11/6- Full Day of School- NO EARLY RELEASE

              Mon. 11/11- Veterans Day Observation- No School

              Wed 11/27-Fri 11/29 Thanksgiving Break

Math Homework This Evening

Dear Parents-

I wanted to give you a heads up that for this evening's homework. The children are missing a piece of paper for the first 5 questions.  As this assignment is not due until Friday, I would encourage the children to do the other problems this evening.  I will give them the missing sheet tomorrow, and they can finish their work tomorrow night.

Hope this doesn't cause too many difficulties for you this evening.

Mrs. D.

Savanna 10-11-13

Dear Parents,

       I would like to begin this week with a big thank you to the parents who accompanied us today to the National Building Museum.  From the hum of excited voices as we left, through the morning of instruction and building everyone seemed to enjoy the day.  The city we built was both fun and functional.  Who knows, maybe the next generation of city planners will include one of our students!

       As you may know from your child’s assignment notebook, we wrapped up our first unit in Social Studies on Tuesday.  We are in the middle of our first unit in Math, and I would expect to test this out in the next two weeks.  I also plan to introduce the Scientific Method in Science next week.  In Language Arts we have been working in our Word Study Groups, and discussing how to identify important information in non-fiction text.  All in all we are getting into full swing.

       I would again like to remind everyone to take a few minutes each evening to go over the assignments your child has for the evening.  They should be able to complete these assignments with little assistance from you, but a bit of help from you to go over the pacing of the work will help.  I will say for the most part assignments are coming back on time and well done. 

The leaves are beginning to change outside out window and the temperature is fluctuating with early signs of change.  This signals me to take a moment out to remind everyone that the children do need to be dressed appropriately for the weather each day.  The children do go outside each day for recess and we want them to be warm enough to enjoy their time on the playground.

       Below you will find a list of some of the upcoming events at school.  Please mark the dates on your calendars.

              Mon. 10/14- Columbus Day- No School for students

              Tues. 10/22- Mini-Walk for the Homeless

              Fri. 10/25- Harvest Fest- 7:00pm

              Thurs. 10/31- Halloween Parade- 2:00pm

              Mon. 11/4- Outdoor Lab Field Trip

              Tues. 11/5- Election Day- No School for Students

  As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

                                                 Sincerely,

                                                 Mrs. DiNardo

Friday, October 4, 2013

Dear Parents,

            Welcome to the end of another week.  We have had a solid week of learning in all areas.  In Math we continue to work on place and number value, identifying addition strategies, using mental math, and working with larger sums, including money!  In Social Studies we are just about finished with our first unit on Maps and Globes.  As you know our first test will be on Tuesday, October 8^th.  The children have completed their study guide and should do a little (10-15 minutes) of review over the weekend.  We also began Word Study groups this week as well as continued to do additional word work.  All in all, it has been a good week. 

            As you know our first field trip of the year is scheduled for Tuesday, October 8th.  We are fortunate that the National Building Museum is privately funded and the government shut-down will not effect our day of building.  I appreciate everyone who volunteered to help out with chaperoning as well as with all the lovely supply donations.  Please know there will be another opportunity to chaperone this fall, as we are headed to the Outdoor Lab on November 4^th or 6^th.  Information about this trip will be sent under separate cover. 

            Enrichment classes are slated to being next week.  In order to help me get your child to the right location, I will need a note each day of the enrichment class.  For those children who attend Extended Day, they will go there first, and then will be escorted to their class.  Please let Dana Weber, Extended Day Supervisor, know if your child will be attending any classes.  On a related note, should your child have a change in dismissal and will not be attending Extended Day, please let both Dana and me know of these changes.  These notes help us to ensure your child’s safety at the end of the day.

            I look forward to meeting with everyone during our Parent-Teacher Conference next week.  I enjoy these conversations as it helps me to understand your child a bit better.  From the conferences I have had so far, it is good to hear that the children are adjusting to the new routines fairly well, and they seem to like the class.  Much thanks goes to you for all the work you do at home to ensure your child is ready for school each day. 

            I hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Mrs. DiNardo

                                                                                    kim.dinardo@apsva.us

Upcoming Events

Tues. 10/8- Building Museum Field Trip- 9:00am-12:30pm

       Thur.-Fri. 10/10-11- Parent Teacher Conferences

       Mon. 10/14- Columbus Day- No School for students

       Tues. 10/22- Mini-Walk for the Homeless

       Fri. 10/25- Harvest Fest- 7:00pm

       Thurs. 10/31- Halloween Parade- 2:00pm