This year is all about history. Over my years as a student and now a teacher, I have come to see history as less of a series of dates and events and more of a story; the story of humans throughout time, the things we got right and the things we got wrong, and all of the crazy, mad, wonderful things we’ve done in between. I see history as a way to realize who we are and where we come from, to show us how even one person can make great changes. I see it as a way to learn from our ancestors and make wise decisions as we step forward in time. It’s going to be a great year for making connections and I cannot wait to begin.
News to Know
- Will Rester is this week's snack helper.
- Lunch menus / money for August and student forms are due on August 15. If you have any questions, please let me know.
- In order to include more hands-on centers and in-depth activities with the text during language arts, students will now be required to read some of our novel during the week. Our set reading homework night will be Tuesday, and a short quiz and activities will follow on Wednesday. We will begin next Tuesday, August 23, and I will put the required pages on the homework sheet.
- Students will need a shoebox of any size for our first reading activity by August 24.
- Please remember to set up a Gmail account for your child. We will be setting up student blogs the first week of school.
- Don’t forget to sign up for email updates to my blog. This is the easiest way for you to know when I update.
Monday will be a meet and greet from 9-12. Students and parents can meet the teachers and drop off supplies. Tuesday is our first day of regular school, and we’ll begin with some fun “getting to know you” activities and learn how to use the Smart Board.
Language Arts
We will begin reading our novel for this unit and making some connections with our history theme. Please send it with your child on Tuesday. We will set up our blogs and talk about the steps of the writing process. In grammar, we will discuss what separates sentences and fragments, and begin discussing the types of sentences.
Math
We will begin with a few brainteasers about numbers. On Wednesday, we will take a placement test to show some of our strengths and weaknesses. We will then begin Topic 1: Numeration and participate in place value centers. Please encourage your child to look for numbers of all sizes this week!
Conceptual
I can’t say much just yet, as it’s still a secret. Just know that it happened a very, very long time ago and we have some exciting things planned for this week!
Science
We will discuss the steps of the scientific method and participate in some fun experiments to get us thinking like scientists.
