January 9th Savanna

Dear Parents,


         Happy New Year!  What a wild way to welcome everyone back from Winter Break.  The children were so excited to see the snow on Tuesday and all shared their adventures in getting to school.  Thankfully, all the children who came to school were able to get home safely as well.  The delays due to ice and cold created yet another buzz among the children.  It also gave us the opportunity to talk about the serious need to dress appropriately for the weather.  Overall, we enjoyed getting back together, catching up on what we did over the break, and settling back into our school routines.

         As we look toward the coming weeks, we will continue our work in multiplication and division.  In Social Studies we will wrap up our study of Ancient Greece and will have a unit test on what we have learned.  In Language Arts we will continue with our writing, word work and grammar studies.  As we close out the second quarter, I will be looking for the children to continue to take responsibility for their work and supplies.  In addition, I will continue to urge the children to figure out a solution, should they leave their assignments at school.


         I hope your weekend is enjoyable.

    
                                                               Sincerely,

                                                               Mrs. DiNardo



Upcoming Events



                           Friday, Jan. 16- End of Second Quarter
                           Mon., Jan. 19- Dr. King Holiday- No School
                           Tues., Jan. 20- Teacher Work Day- No School
                           Wed., Jan. 21- GT Information Night- 7pm
                           Fri., Jan. 23- Disco Dance- 6:30pm

12-19-14 Savanna

Dear Parents,


         It has been a whirlwind of activity in our class this week.  The children have worked to wrap up several activities so we can all leave for the break without thinking too much about school.

As we look towards the coming weeks, I would like to remind everyone to practice his or her multiplication facts each night. While everyone has made progress, these facts are not yet rote for most.  Practice each day is the best way to learn these facts.

I hope you and your family are able to relax, and spend time with loved ones during the break.  I look forward to hearing about vacations when we return on Monday, January 5, 2015.  Thank you for entrusting your children to me each day.

I hope you all have a nice holiday.



                                                             Upcoming Events



                           Monday 12/22- London Brass Rubbing Centre Visit

                           Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

                           Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

Friday December 12th Savanna

Dear Parents,

         We have had a very productive week this week.  We were able to finish up our unit on plants and animals on Thursday, have practiced our multiplication facts in a variety of ways, learned about line plots, and finally have done some writing and grammar work.  All in all, a full and active week of learning.  We also were able to read the book Snowflake Bentley and learned how Wilson Bentley taught himself to photograph snowflakes and capture their unique beauty. We then enjoyed making our own unique snowflakes.  It was a nice way to celebrate the few flakes that fell on Thursday afternoon.

Last week I mentioned our annual visit from the London Brass Rubbing Centre on Monday, December 22nd.   This program will begin at 9:30 with a 30-minute explanation of the art of brass rubbing and who would have had a rubbing made for them.  From 10-12:00 pm all the children will have an opportunity to make their rubbing as well as complete several other craft projects.  I appreciate the offers I have gotten to lend a hand that morning.  We can always use more hands if you would like to help out for all or part of this special project.  Just let me know.   Please also remember to send in the $7.00 fee as soon as possible. 

        

         I would like to end this week’s note with a reminder to have your children dress appropriately for the weather.  This time of year this includes wearing coats, hat and having a pair of mittens or gloves.  The children do go out everyday and we want them to be warm as they play outside.  If you child is missing any of their outerwear, please check the lost and found.

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

                                                               Sincerely,

                                                               Mrs. DiNardo

Upcoming Events

                           Monday 12/22- London Brass Rubbing Centre Visit

                     Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

                           Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

             

December 4th Savanna

Dear Parents,

We got back into the swing of school after the Thanksgiving break this week.  Everyone shared what they had done over the break, and all the yummy dinners that were shared with family and friends.  We also spent time this week reviewing the rules and expectations of our class and school.  Once we got reacquainted with classmates it was time to get back down to our daily routines.

We began our study of multiplication this week in Math.  The children have been asked to practice their facts for 10 minutes each night. This can be done with flash cards, on an app or on the computer.  I shared the website www.multiplication.com with the children this week as well.  There are several fun games for the kids to play that will help with learning their facts.  In Language Arts we worked on determining fact and opinion, as well as learning about analogies.  The children also had fun rotating teachers for a week of review of homophones, vowel sounds, past tense verbs, titles within a text and how to use glossaries, indexes and table of contents.  In Science we are about to wrap up our unit on animal life cycles and physical and behavioral adaptations.  There will be a test on this unit on Thursday, December 11^th. 

In the Friday Folders today you will find a note about our annual visit from the London Brass Rubbing Centre on Monday, December 22nd.   The program will begin at 9:30 with a 30-minute explanation of the art of brass rubbing and who would have had a rubbing made for them.  From 10-12:00 pm all the children will have an opportunity to make their rubbing as well as complete several other craft projects.  If you can lend a hand for all or part of this special project, please let me know.   Thank you for considering volunteering during this busy time of the year.

         With the basketball season in full swing, several of the children have asked me if I can come to their games.  I would enjoy the opportunity to fit some of these in, but will need schedules to coordinate the dates.  If you would be kind enough to forward me your child’s schedule, I would appreciate it.

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

                                                               Sincerely,

                                                               Mrs. DiNardo

Upcoming Events

                           Wednesday 12/10- Early Release- 1:26 Dismissal

                           Monday 12/22- London Brass Rubbing Centre Visit

                     Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

                           Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

             

November 21st Savanna

Dear Parents-

The first report cards of the year came home with your child today.  As I have told the children, this is a snapshot of where they are academically today. This snapshot has the ability to change all the time.  I have also told the kids, the most important grade, to me, on this report is their work and effort grade.  Please remember that an “S” and a “C” indicate that your child is doing work at grade level.  Overall, I am pleased with how well all the children are doing.  The blue card included in the envelope goes into further detail about the Arlington County grading policy.  Please sign and return both the blue card and the white comment sheet in the envelope on Monday, November 24th. 

As we are in the second quarter, the children and I have discussed the need to take pride in the work they are doing.  This includes always putting forth their best effort on all assignments.  I will be holding the children accountable for reading the directions carefully and to follow them throughout any assignment.  Taking the time to be sure words are spelled correctly, punctuation is correct, and work is legible and neat, are all part of this effort.   In addition, homework assignments are to be handed in on time.  If an absence occurs, the make-up work (including class-work) also needs to be completed within a couple of days of coming back to school.   

As a gentle reminder, I would also like to ask that you let me know of any changes in dismissal in a note, particularly if your child needs to leave class early.  Having information about early dismissals in the morning allows your child to get all their assignments, books and other supplies into their backpack prior to leaving.  Any help you can lend in this regard is most appreciated.  

         I hope you and your families enjoy the holiday break and the time together.  I want you all to know how thankful I am to be your child’s teacher.   Each child has touched my heart in a special and unique way. I am grateful to be part of their lives.  To all of you, thank you for sharing them with me each day.

                                                                       

Important Dates

Wednesday 11/26- Friday 11/28- Thanksgiving Break- No School

         Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

         Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

November 14th Savanna

Dear Parents,

        

This week I have a couple of housekeeping matters to share with you.

1.The children need to wear proper clothing to school  (coats, hats, mittens etc) as the weather gets colder.  Please know we do go outside everyday and that the children need the proper clothing in order to be comfortable as we do so.  Your help with this matter is greatly appreciated. 

2. If your child is missing any clothing items, water bottles, or lunchboxes, PLEASE CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND.  There are many items that have gone uncollected.  Please take a few minutes to see if any of your child’s items may be there.

3.  If your child forgets books, binders or assignments at school, please help them to come up with a plan to make up this missed work.  Remember it is their responsibility to pack there supplies up each night and bring them back the next day.  These are the baby steps towards becoming an independent worker/learner that we stress with the children all year long.

Below are a few important dates to put on your calendars.

        

Friday 11/21- Report Cards Issued

         Wednesday 11/26- Friday 11/28- Thanksgiving Break- No School

         Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

         Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

11-7-14

Dear Parents,

This week has been full of “teachable moments.”  The Outdoor Lab began our week with hands-on-learning about simple machines.  We had a fun time hiking through the woods to the various learning stations.  Ask your child how many third graders it takes to lift up an Outdoor Lab staff member with a lever.  You may be a bit surprised by the answer you get.  After lunch, the children learned about different animals at the Animal Lab.  We talked about the difference between omnivores, carnivores and herbivores as well as adaptations and camouflage for survival.  Thanks to all of the parents who joined us.  On Wednesday we continued our learning as we discussed democracy and how the voting process works in our country.  It was nice to hear that so many of the children went to the polls and watched as you voted.   Finally, we collected Unicef boxes, opened them, separated the donations into coins and bills and estimated how much money was collected in one night.  All in all, it has been a very good week of learning.

 As you know, Monday was the end of the first quarter.  Overall the children have adjusted to third grade well.  They are taking responsibility for their assignments and their books with ease, and are able to demonstrate what they have learned in a variety of ways.  The pace of our studies will increase (just a bit) during the second quarter. Areas of particular focus as we move forward will be reading and following all directions, spelling, capitalization and neatness of work.  I am confident that the children will be able to meet these expectations if they keep doing the good job they have done to date. 

         Below are some important 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. 

Tuesday 11/11- Veteran’s Day- No School

         Friday 11/21- Report Cards Issued

         Wednesday 11/26- Friday 11/28- Thanksgiving Break- No School

         Wednesday 12/24-Friday 1/2/15- Winter Break

         Monday 1/5/15- School Reopens

         Enjoy the weekend!