September 15 Picture Day
September 21 Library Visit
September 25 Lunch Orders Due
Homework Due by Thursday, September 17th
1. If you haven't done so yet, bring in or email a family photo to display in the classroom.
2. Read for at least 20 minutes every night.
3. Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice.*
Optional: This week in class, Plovers will work on completing applications for classroom jobs. Students may want to take their application home to work on it. Click here for an extra copy of our Classroom Job Application and Plover Job Postings.
*Suggested IXL skills for 3rd grade math practice:
S.1 and S.2 Telling Time
For more practice telling time, try 2nd grade skills Q.2, Q.3, Q.4, Q.5, and Q.6)
*Suggested IXL skills for 4th grade math practice:
D.1 Multiplication facts
Math Homework Expectations
- Every week, the math homework will be to complete at least 30 minutes of math practice. We will be using IXL this year for math practice.
- If your family would prefer to practice math skills in a different way (practice books, worksheets, flash cards, math games or other online resources), please send in your student's work OR send me an email before Thursday morning letting me know how they completed their 30 minutes of weekly math practice.
- I will suggest skills for students to practice each week in the newsletter. If the suggested skills are too challenging or too easy for your student, please help them choose more appropriate skills to practice at home.
- Teachers will check for homework completion every week, but we would like parents to monitor your student's progress on IXL by clicking on "Reports" at the top of the page.
- If homework is not completed by Thursday morning, students will need to complete it during Academic Choice, which is a weekly project time for students to pursue their own interests.
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This Wednesday, we will walk to Tom McCall Forest for team-building activities and readers theater practice. We had to reschedule our trip to Tillamook Forest for October 28th.
Volunteer Opportunities
1. Out & About Chaperones - Sign up to join the Plovers on an Out & About! On our VolunteerSpot page, you'll be able to find out more about each Out & About, including locations and times. You can sign up now to join us this Wednesday afternoon at Tom McCall Forest!
2. Breakfast Donations - The Plovers will enjoy a breakfast together every Friday morning. You can sign up now to help provide snacks. There are 2 spots available each week, so one family can donate cereal (or bagels, muffins, granola bars, etc) and another family can supply fresh fruit. We would like to avoid sugary treats and candy.
3. Mystery Readers - Parents, relatives and other Plover friends are invited to surprise the class by being a Mystery Reader in our classroom this year. Mystery Readers send in 5 clues about themselves, but their true identities are not revealed until they arrive! Readers are asked to bring a picture book to read out loud to the class. I have 2 spots available each week for mystery readers, but I can add more if those times do not work with your schedule. Please email me to schedule an additional time.
4. Library Chaperones - The Plovers will visit the Forest Grove Public Library every 3 weeks on Monday afternoons. The library requires classes to have additional adult supervision. Chaperones will walk with the class from FGCS to the library, help students locate and check out books using the self scanner, and accompany pairs of students to the restrooms and water fountain.
Weekly Review
Last week, we continued our study of storytelling and fairy tales. I read another Cinderella adaptation to the class, called Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella. Students also chose a fairy tale adaptation to perform as a readers theater play: Slurping Beauty (based on Sleeping Beauty), Little Late Riding Hood (based on Little Red Riding Hood), or The Ugly Woodpecker (based on The Ugly Duckling). Readers Theater is a chance for student to work on reading with expression and fluency; there are no costumes or props. Groups will perform their plays during our Out & About to Tom McCall Forest this week. I also started reading a chapter book, Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin, to the class. This story incorporates many Chinese folk tales told by the main character's father, which makes it a great fit with our focus on storytelling!
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 or come into the classroom before/after school.