Weekly Update for February 6-10

Monday, February 6^th, 2012

Dear Families,

I hope you had time to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend! Thank you for taking the time to read our update and stay current with school and classroom happenings!

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

Wednesday 2/8 – Viking Test

The Medieval Faire is February 18^th. Our class booth is now entitled “Marvelous Madame Marie’s Fantastic Fortunes”. The 4 classes with the most volunteer participation will receive a monetary reward for classroom materials! You can sign up to help at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050445ACA6229-medieval

I would also like to get reading groups back into full swing! I would love to open the opportunity to as many interested volunteers as possible. So if you are interested in coming in to host readings groups, please send me an e-mail letting me know when you are available during the day. I will adjust the schedule to accommodate the greatest number of people possible!

Our new Recycling Contest is for Plastic Lids (water bottles, milk jugs, Gatorade, etc.) and the metal soda can tabs. The class that collects the most wins an ice cream party.

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: In Riggs we are working on some vocabulary from Science and The Wise Woman as well as the spelling rule, “All, till, and full, are spelled with only one “l” when added to another syllable.” In Writing, we are publishing their versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I have been really impressed with the quality of these stories. Please take a chance to look over your students stories! The Wise Woman is going well! I am continually thrilled by their eager participation in class discussions. Please encourage your students to summarize, explain, and discuss the story with you as you are able. These added opportunities to consider the content, particularly in such a casual manner, will really build their comprehension.

History & Geography: We are wrapping up our unit on the Vikings. We will do a review on Tuesday and the Unit Test on Wednesday. They should understand where the Vikings came from and ended up, what their culture was like, how they made their living, and their religious beliefs and myths. Then it is on to Earliest Americans!

Science: Our next unit is on The Eye! It builds nicely on what they have just learned about light. Again, their note-taking skills will be crucial. I cannot teach and simultaneously track each student to ensure that they are taking notes. The natural consequence of failing to take notes will be having to get the notes from someone else on their own time. This week we are talking about what vision is and the anatomy of the eye. The will learn the name, location, and function of each major structure in the eye.

Thank you, again, for your continued support! Have a wonderful week!

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana

Weekly Update for January 30 - February 3

Sunday, January 29^th, 2012

Dear Families,

I hope you had time to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend! Thank you for taking the time to read our update and stay current with school and classroom happenings!

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

Friday 2/3 – Half day! Students should be picked up at 12:15 and 12:30. They will not have lunch so they should definitely bring a snack!

Friday 2/3 – Light and Optics Unit Test

The Medieval Faire is February 18^th. Each class has been assigned a booth to plan, set-up, man, and tear down. The 4 classes with the most volunteer participation will receive a monetary reward for classroom materials! I am finalizing the plans for our booth and you will be receiving a sign-up genius invitation within the week for supplies and volunteers! Keep a wary eye! 

I would also like to get reading groups back into full swing! I would love to open the opportunity to as many interested volunteers as possible. So if you are interested in coming in to host readings groups, please send me an e-mail letting me know when you are available during the day. I will adjust the schedule to accommodate the greatest number of people possible! 

Collections of box tops, ink cartridges, and used cell phones are continuous, so please feel free to send them in any time. We do seem to have a great many receptacles for various odds and ends, so if you find yourself afraid to throw things away, don’t hesitate to e-mail and I’ll let you know if we need it. 

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: We are bringing Riggs back to content vocabulary. Please encourage your students to practice chanting and explaining the rules at home with you as well as defining the words. I will remind students that they can bring their spelling notebooks home if they have trouble copying the words into their planners clearly and so that they will have definitions handy. In Writing, we are finalizing their versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I have been really impressed with the quality of these stories. Please take a chance to look over your students stories! The Wise Woman is going well! I am continually thrilled by their eager participation in class discussions. Please encourage your students to summarize, explain, and discuss the story with you as you are able. These added opportunities to consider the content, particularly in such a casual manner, will really build their comprehension.

History & Geography: We are coming near the end of our unit on the Vikings! We are finishing our study of Eric the Red and Leif Ericson. The students will be creating their own Viking names on Monday. Then we will be learning about Viking religious beliefs and myths. The students have really been looking forward to this as they so enjoyed learning about Roman gods and goddesses. We will also be doing a great rune carving activity towards the end of the week!

Science: We are wrapping up our unit on Light & Optics this week as well. I carefully created a set of notes to help them study for the Unit Test on Friday. We have been diligently filling them out as a class since the unit began. I have gone over each page more than once and made the expectation clear that they must follow along in order to have the information later! We will have an in-class review on Thursday. It might be wise to begin reviewing the notes earlier in the week to give them sufficient time to be ready for the test. We have had experiments and demonstrations every day, so I anticipate they have given full attention to the content!  Let me know if you have any questions once you see the notes!

Thank you, again, for your continued support! Have a wonderful week!

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana

Weekly Update for January 17-20

Monday, January 16^th, 2012

Dear Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful break and are enjoying getting back into the swing of things! We have a busy week of all brand new units, so your students should come home with plenty of exciting news! 

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

We begin The Wise Woman tomorrow, Tuesday 1/17! Please send students with their books!

Collections of box tops, ink cartridges, and used cell phones are continuous, so please feel free to send them in any time. We do seem to have a great many receptacles for various odds and ends, so if you find yourself afraid to throw things away, don’t hesitate to e-mail and I’ll let you know if we need it. 

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: We are really focusing our Riggs words on spelling rules over the next few weeks. Please encourage your students to practice chanting and explaining the rules at home with you. I will remind students that they can bring their spelling notebooks home if they have trouble copying the words into their planners clearly. In Writing, we are working on story telling. We will be examining the structure and elements of the story this week through multiple versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This will lead us into our writing project next week wherein the students will do their own retellings. I am thrilled to say that we are beginning The Wise Woman. This book is written at a very high level of language, which creates wonderful opportunities to build reading comprehension skills. The actual content of the story, however, will be genuinely and profoundly relatable. I will be reading aloud to the students with lots of class discussion as we go to ensure comprehension. Rather than doing reading group discussions, we will be doing more journaling activities. I will still utilize any and all reading group volunteers either for reading for other subjects or for doing writing workshops. 

History & Geography: We are beginning our new unit on the Vikings! This week we will be learning about who the Vikings were, when and where they lived, and their unique skills as craftsmen and sailors.

Science: We are beginning our new unit on Light & Optics this week as well. This week we will be talking about sources of light and what light is. We will talk about how it travels and creates shadows. We will look at transparent/translucent/opaque objects and examine the reflection of light in mirrors and other reflective surfaces. As we do not have a text book, it is really important for the students to participate in the experiments and discussions whenever possible. 

Thank you, again, for your continued support! Have a wonderful week!

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana

Weekly Update for December 12-16

Dear Families,

Happy Holidays! This week is always one of the most challenging as our minds wander just a few days ahead on the calendar. As we will be having treats here and there throughout the week, it would be wise to pack extra healthy snacks! J

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

Monday is a FULL day! Lunch and Dismissal are routine.

Early Dismissal: Tuesday through Thursday (12/13-16), at 12:15 and 12:30. There will be no lunch

Tuesday, 12/13 6:00pm: Mallet Masters/Treble Makers- CPA Theater

Wednesday, 12/14:      Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Party!

                                      Rome Topic Choices due

Thursday, 12/15:         Nervous System Test

                                      2^nd/3^rd Grade Concert – Dayspring United Methodist

Friday, 12/16:              Kingdoms Meeting

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: We will not be teaching new Riggs words this week due to the shortened week. We will continue to test on the words taught last week, but will not be assigning spelling practice. There WILL be reading logs assigned. We will be practicing Reader’s Theater scenes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. For writing, I will be asking the students to reflect on aspects of this semester each day: what topics they enjoyed, what challenged them, what they find themselves curious about now, how they feel about their performance this semester, and goals they have for next semester.

The Main Event: Wednesday 9:30-11:30- Alice Party! A big thank-you to all the volunteers who are bringing supplies or giving their time to make this event possible! It is going to be an absolutely magical day, bringing literature to life! You are still welcome to come by and see the fun, even if you aren’t able to stay and help.

History & Geography: This week we will read Chapter 13 and 14 of the History Text. The directions and timeline for the Ancient Rome Project went home on Friday. Students must make their top 3 topic selections, get them signed by an adult, and return them by Wednesday, 12/14. I will assign topics on a first-come basis, with the goal of having as little overlap in topics as possible.

Science: We are wrapping up our study of the nervous system. We will have in-class review on Tuesday. On Thursday’s Unit Test, the students are expected to be able to recall the functions of the nervous system, distinguish between the central and peripheral nervous system, identify the parts of the nervous system, identify the parts of a neuron (nerve cell), and identify the parts of the brain and their functions. I will send home a list of important terms for this unit to help the students focus their studying at home.

Have a wonderful week. Thank you for all that you have done to make this semester such a success!

Again, Happy Holidays!

With Gratitude,

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana

Riggs Words for Nov 28 - Dec 2

Weekly Update for November 28 - December 2

Sunday, November 27^th, 2011

Dear Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! As your students will probably tell you, we are right back in full swing!  

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

We are still collecting empty ink cartridges for the cartridge contest. The last day for collection is Nov. 30^th!

We are also still looking for Green Team members. These members would stay after school on Tuesdays to help collect the recycle bins around the school. If your student is interested in participating, please e-mail abecerra@archwaychandler.org for more information.

We have begun preparations for our Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Party! It will take place on December 14^th. If you are interested in volunteering to come in please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4AADAA2E5-alice. We will also be accepting donations of supplies. If you’d like to take a look and see if you have any of these supplies lying around  please visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4AADAA2E5-donations. 

Nov. 30^th – Soccer Registration Deadline

Dec. 3^rd – Parents’ Afternoon Out- CPA’s senior class will be joined by Archway Staff Members in providing an afternoon of games, snacks, crafts, and wildlife to give parents a free afternoon! This is to raise funds for the senior class trip to Washington, D.C. Contact Ms. Bettis at dbettis@archwaychandler.org for additional information.

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: Our Riggs words this week (while still being pulled from content in Alice, Ancient Rome, and Science) are focusing on the rules for forming the plurals of nouns. This exercise can easily be extended to other words at home. We will be reading and discussing Chapter 10 and 11 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. We will be having another Touchpebbles discussion on Friday, so please ask your children about their discussions and, as Mrs. Fawcett mentioned, let me know if you want to join us!

History & Geography: This week we will read Chapters 6 – 9 in the History Textbook. Because we are moving so fast, I am assigning this to be their reading log choice each night. Please feel free to discuss the information with your students and encourage them to share any connections or revelations they might make in your discussions. 

Science: We are now beginning our final (and my favorite) body system – the nervous system! We begin with an overview of the functions and structure of the nervous system. Then we will take a closer look at the brain for the remainder of the week.

Virtue: This week we are focusing on the virtue of courage. If you or your students encounter any stories of great courage, please bring them in to share with the class! 

Warmly,

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana

Weekly Update for November 21 - November 23

Sunday, November 20^th, 2011

Dear Families,

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this update finds you with rising excitement for a long weekend of family and gratitude! 

A Few Reminders/Important Dates:

Family Fun Night: Monday, November 21^st. 3^rd Grade teachers will be gathered in the Multi-purpose room for a very exciting game of croquet, played Wonderland style of course! 

Muscular System Unit Test: Tuesday, November 22^nd.

Early Dismissal: Wednesday, November 23^rd, at 12:15 and 12:40.

NO SCHOOL: Thursday and Friday November 24^th and 25^th.

This Week at a Glance

Language Arts: We will not be teaching new Riggs words this week due to the shortened week. We will continue to test on the words taught last week, but will not be assigning spelling practice. There WILL be two “words of the week” and reading logs assigned. Your students have written their own (slightly improved) versions of the Princess and the Pea. We will be “publishing” final copies complete with illustrations which they can bring home and share with family on Thanksgiving! We will be reading and discussing Chapter 9 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Time permitting, we will be having another Touchpebbles discussion on Wednesday. Last week, the students blew me away as we discussed why dogs are man’s best friend, related the life of a dog to the life of a slave in Rome, and explored the meaning of freedom. We even questioned if there was such a thing as being completely free (the students noted that even the wild wolf was mastered by his hunger.) We usually have our discussions on Fridays, so please ask your children about their Touchpebbles Discussions and, as Mrs. Fawcett mentioned, let me know if you want to join us!

History & Geography: This week we will read Chapter 5 and discuss the life of Julius Caesar and the transformation of Rome from Republic to Empire! 

Science: We are wrapping up our study of the muscular system. We will have an in-class review on Monday. On Tuesday’s Unit Test, the students are expected to be able to recall the functions of the muscular system, label muscles with their scientific names, recognize and describe the types of muscles (skeletal, cardiac, and smooth), and understand and describe how muscles produce movement. I highly recommend a game or two of Muscular Simon Says at home this week (where Simon indicates the scientific names of muscles to locate, i.e. “Simon says flex your tricep.”)

Virtue: While it is not indicated as one of the Core Virtues for Archway, we will be talking this week about gratitude. 

Again, Happy Thanksgiving!

With Gratitude,

Miss Smith and Mr. Sultana