October 15 Picture Day
October 15 Book Orders Due
October 18 No School
October 24 - 25 Conferences
October 25 Lunch Orders Due
October 31 Pumpkin Book Project Presentation
Homework
Regular homework assignments will begin after conferences.
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This week, the Washington County Mobile Museum Touching History program will visit our classroom for an "In and About" presentation. Next week, there will be no Out and About because of conferences.
Volunteer Opportunities - Sign up on our VolunteerSpot page: http://vols.pt/drMimF
Thank you to all our classroom volunteers, donors and chaperones! All spots are filled for this month, but you can sign up for future dates on our VolunteerSpot page.
Take a look at the FREE books I was able to get for the classroom library with our first Scholastic order! There was something for everybody. Thank you to everyone who placed an order; it really does make a difference! You can view this month's selections and submit your order online at https://orders.scholastic.com/L79X9. I also created an online Wishlist if you would like to make a donation to our classroom library! October orders are due Tuesday, October 15th (I will submit the order Wednesday morning), and books should arrive in time for Halloween (in case you want to purchase any special holiday books).
Level 2 students will be starting an exciting literature project this week in class. Each student will select a high quality picture book or chapter book to study. They will choose a character from their book to write about and represent on a pumpkin! We will be designing and decorating the pumpkins either in the classroom or in Art next week. Parents are invited to see our pumpkin display on Thursday, October 31 at the end of the day. After the presentation, pumpkins will be sent home with students.
Pumpkin donations: If you are able to donate a pumpkin (or more than one pumpkin!), please drop it off in the classroom or send it with your student by Monday, October 21. We would appreciate small or medium-sized pumpkins or squashes that the students can carry on their own. Because we are turning the pumpkins into a variety of our favorite characters (Frog and Toad or Captain Underpants, perhaps!), weird-shaped pumpkins and squashes are welcomed. We also had a lot of success with foam pumpkins from the Dollar Tree and other craft stores last year!
Weekly Review
I am reading Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley to the class. It is a funny and whimsical novel about an ordinary girl named Jane Doe. Everyone in Jane's hometown of Remarkable is talented or gifted, except for her. But when a strange pirate captain appears and puts the whole town in danger, it's up to Jane to save the day! During read alouds, I model strategies that good readers use to help with comprehension, accuracy, fluency and vocabulary. We have talked about two comprehension strategies so far - Make a Mental Image and Use Prior Knowledge to Connect to Text. Students also practice using these strategies during their daily Read To Self time.
Even though we had to cancel our Out and About to Fort Clatsop last week, students were excited to continue their study of Lewis and Clark in class. They started a project designed to capture the spirit of adventure, curiosity, and exploration that the Lewis and Clark Expedition embodied over 200 years ago. Students worked independently or in small groups to begin planning their own extreme adventure! Some groups picked real places that they have never visited, such as Yellowstone National Park, Alaska, Hawaii, the North Pole or New Zealand, while other students planned to visit fictional worlds like Hogwarts and Hotel Transylvania! They must research the places they would like to visit and make plans for their imaginary journey. Students will then create posters and present their proposed expeditions to the class.
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.