February 18 Celebrations of Learning
February 20 Lunch Orders Due
February 20 Seed Orders Due
February 23 Library Visit
March 3 4th Grade NAEP testing
Returning Student Form Due March 3rd
Click here to submit a Returning Student Form. Please fill out a separate form for each currently enrolled student who will be returning next year.
Homework Due Friday, February 20th
1. Read for at least 20 minutes every night.
2. Complete Reading Response Letter OR Opinion Paragraph Packet
3. Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice*
*Suggested IXL skills for 3rd grade math practice:
A.6 and A.7 Skip counting
*Suggested IXL skills for 4th grade math practice:
E.1 – E.5 Division
Literature Circles and Book Clubs
More students will begin meeting with book clubs this week for the following books: The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary, George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl, and The Time Warp Trio: Not-So-Jolly Roger by Jon Scieszka. All Plovers will have time in class to read and write about their book, but some students may choose to read at home and complete their book club assignment as extra homework. I do not want this to be an extra burden for families, so if your Plover seems worried about completing their assigned reading or writing, please let me know so I can help their book club figure out a more reasonable pace. Not all students have joined a book club yet, but my hope is for everyone to try it out this month!
Upcoming Out and Abouts
We will use our Out & About time this week to prepare displays for Celebrations of Learning! We hope you can stop by Wednesday evening to test your knowledge about electricity with our interactive quiz boards and check out some cool pieces from take apart day!
Volunteer Opportunities - http://vols.pt/drMimF
We are in need breakfast donations and library chaperones. Thank you for your support!
Math Notes
Last week, the 3rd graders jumped into two exciting investigations to begin exploring multiplication concepts. The first challenge began with the context of a grocery store. Students viewed an illustration of fruits and vegetables arranged in bins, stacked packages of paper towels and six-packs of water bottles. Their job was to take inventory of all the items in the store; although some objects could be counted by ones, the arrangements encouraged repeated addition, skip counting and doubling strategies to promote the development of some of the big ideas related to multiplication. The second investigation involved postage stamps. Students were given sets of stamps and asked to calculate the total price of each set. The total price could be determined by repeated addition, or by using more efficient strategies like doubling (I know 2 stamps cost 14 cents, so 4 stamps would cost 14 + 14).
In order to augment our work with division using Investigations, students began work last week on a "juicy" math problem regarding the division of sandwiches for a Field Trip. The context of fair-sharing submarine sandwiches is introduced to support the development of several big ideas related to fractions and division. Students explore four situations: 3 subs shared by 4 people, 4 subs shared by 5 people, 7 subs shared by 8 people, and 3 subs shared by 5 people. Students work with partners to determine how much of a sub each person in each of these groups receives. They then make posters of some of the ideas they want to share in a math congress, to be held later this week.
4th Grade NAEP Testing
FGCS 4th grade students have been selected to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP assessment will be given at FGCS on Tuesday, March 3. For more information, click here to read a note from our principal, Vanessa Gray. If you have questions, please contact school test coordinator Karen Torry at [email protected] or 503-359-4600.
Weekly Review
Last week, we were able to spend some time with Eva's class - the Barn Swallows. The Plovers helped the Level 1 students with their puppet shows, which will be presented during Celebrations of Learning. While small groups were working on plays in Eva's room, the rest of the Plovers and Barn Swallows worked together on Snap Circuit projects. We now have 8 snap circuits sets, thanks to a grant through Donor's Choose and Chevron, and the students have already built some impressive things! So far, a few of the favorites are a flying saucer, an AM radio and a voice recorder.
Communication
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Parents and students can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message on the class phone, come into the classroom before or after school, or call me before 8PM at home.