Savanna 2-21-14

Dear Parents:

This has been a week of celebrations.  To start the week we took time to exchange Valentine’s and conduct an experiment to learn about solutions and mixtures.  The results of the experiment were lemonade, a cookie with frosting and trail mix.  Curriculum Day was held on Wednesday.  Thank you to those of you who were able to joining us as we rotated through the different classes.  The children enjoyed learning about the three branches of government, how to make inferences when we read, played the game of 24 in math, reviewed simple machines, and created biography cubes.  I hope those of you who were able to join us enjoyed the morning as much as the children did.   In addition to these special activities, we also worked on our Wax Museum note cards, continued to work on our Ancient Rome writing piece, and a bit of multiplication and division.  All in all it has been a full week of learning. 

There are a couple of housekeeping items I would like to bring to your attention.

1.                   We have been able to reschedule our field trip to Imagination Stage.  We will now be going on Friday, May 16^th.  We would like to give our previously scheduled chaperones the first opportunity to come with us on this day.  Please let me know if this change will work into your schedule as soon as possible.

2.                   Schoolyard Stewards will be needed again for the spring.  If you are able to help on Tuesday’s from 12:00-1:00 for this program, please go to the following link and sign-up. http://tinyurl.com/DiscoverySchoolyardVolunteers

3.                   Please remember to send in notes when there is any change in your child’s dismissal.  This is a safety issue to make sure your child is properly dismissed each day.  Your help with this is greatly appreciated.

4.                   Please remember to sign up for a Parent Teacher Conference if you have not done so already.  The link to the Sign-up Genius form is on my previous post.

5.             Early Release Wednesday schedule for the remainder of the year.  In order to “bank” instructional time in the event of additional snow days this year, the following Wednesday’s will now be full days of school- Feb. 12, Feb. 19, Mar. 19, Apr 2, April 9, April 30, May 7,

May 14, and May 21.  In addition to these make-up days, Monday March 31^st will also now be a full day of school. Please mark these changes on your calendars.

Important Dates

Saturday March 1- Tuckahoe Auction

Wednesday, March 5- Wax Museum- 11am to 12 noon

Thursday/Friday March 6-7- Parent Teacher Conferences

Mon-Fri. March 24-28- Book Fair- Volunteers needed

Mon-Fri- March 24-28- Swimming (more information to follow)

            Enjoy the weekend.

Spring Parent Teacher Conference Sign-Up

Good Afternoon-

I have created a Sign Up Genius form to help everyone sign up for a Spring Conference time.  Please click on the link below and sign-up for a conference.  Please let me know if you have any difficulty accessing this site.

Thanks-

Mrs. D.


Spring Conference Sign-Up

Thursday Update- 2-13-14

I hope everyone has had a fun day of sledding!  As you all know school will be closed again tomorrow, which means our field trip to Imagination Stage has been cancelled.  We will work with the theater to see if we can find another date to see a performance.  I will let you know more as we get information from the theater.

As you know, the children all came home with work to be done over the weekend.  The deadline for completing the reading of the Wax Museum book is Tuesday.  As the children are reading their books they should also be taking some notes about their person.  These notes should be written in the Wax Museum Packet.  When we return to school, we will work on taking the notes and writing them out on note cards.  Our unit test on Multiplication and Division will be on Tuesday as well.  To help with studying, the children have both a study guide as well as practice quizzes that are to be completed over the weekend.  Our Valentine's Day card exchange and "experiment" will now be held on Tuesday when we return to school.

I appreciate all your help as we deal with the snow days and the interrupted learning days.  Let's hope the plows can get into all the neighborhoods so we can get back to a regular schedule next week.  I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the weekend.


Mrs. D

Savanna 2-7-14

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, grammar and writing about the life in Ancient Rome.  We will be testing out our Social Studies unit on Rome next Tuesday.  The children have all the information they need in their binders for review.  I have been stressing the need for the children to practice their multiplication facts each night for several weeks.  While many of the children are making good progress in mastering these facts, I would strongly encourage those who may still be struggling, to be more vigilant in their practice.  The goal is to have automatic recall of all facts 1-12. 

            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 19^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 Imagination Stage Field Trip is scheduled for next Friday, Feb. 14^th.  Thank you to those who have volunteered to chaperone, and who have sent in the permission slips and the money for tickets.  If you have not done so as of yet, please send them on Monday. 

4.    Your child brought home information about our annual Wax Museum project earlier this week.  There are several due dates for this month long project.  Please help your child pace their work at home.

5.    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. 

6.   There has been a change in the Early Release Wednesday schedule for the remainder of the year.  In order to “bank” instructional time in the event of additional snow days this year, the following Wednesday’s will now be full days of school- Feb. 12, Feb. 19, Mar. 19, Apr 2, April 9, April 30, May 7,

May 14, and May 21.  Please mark these changes on your calendars.

Important Dates

Wednesday, February 12 -Full Day of School

Friday, February 14- Imagination Stage Field Trip

Monday, February 17- President’s Day Holiday- No School

Wednesday, February 19- Curriculum Day (Full Day of School)

Wednesday, March 5- Wax Museum- 11am to 12 noon

Thursday/Friday March 6-7- Parent Teacher Conferences

I hope you and your family have a relaxing weekend.

                       

Savanna 1-31-14

Dear Parents,

            What a pleasure it was to have an almost “normal” schedule this week.  Wednesday’s two-hour delay was just a blip, but with the added time at the end of the day it felt like a regular week.  We were able to get out for recess at the end of the week to release some of pent up energy.  While the warmer temperatures are not expected to last to long, it was nice for everyone to get out and enjoy some sunshine.

This week we continued to learn about the life and times in Ancient Rome, multiplication and division in Math, and paragraph writing in Language Arts.  We did a quick review of how to properly use capitalization in Language Arts as well.  Overall we are moving along nicely.   An area where the children do need a bit of additional practice is with mastering their multiplication facts.  As I have told them, 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.  A good site for games is www.multiplication.com.  Any additional help you can give with this will be appreciated. 

            As you know, report cards for the second quarter will go home next Thursday.  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, 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 scheduling meetings home shortly.

            We have a field trip coming up this coming month as well.  We will be going to the Imagination Stage in Bethesda on Friday, February 14th.   The permission slip for this activity will be coming home in the next few days.  We will be limited to no more than five (5) parents per class.  If you have already assisted with a trip, we ask that you allow others to come along with us this time.   

            I have had a couple of inquiries about what we will do for Valentine’s Day in the classroom.  The children will have time in the afternoon to exchange cards with each other.  I will be sending home a copy of the class list to help with this.  Also, they can bring in a small box or bag to collect their cards.  In addition, I have planned a small science “experiment” about mixtures and solutions that will result in a small treat for the end of the day. 

            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

Thursday, February 6- Report Cards Issued

Friday, February 14- Imagination Stage Field Trip

Monday, February 17- President’s Day Holiday- No School

Wednesday, February 19- Curriculum Day

Wednesday, March 5- Wax Museum

Thursday/Friday March 6-7- Parent Teacher Conferences