The BIG BOOK BONANZA is this week! Friday, 12/1 (3pm-5pm) and Saturday, 12/2 (10am-Noon) A $5 donation allows you to choose a bag of books to take home. (Each additional bag $3). Hardcover, paperback, fiction, non-fiction – everything must go! Please come out to support your library!
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We had a great turnout for conferences last week!  It is so powerful when parents and teachers work cooperatively together to support our students.  This Thursday we will be taking the final multiplication test for all facts; please review the facts with your child so they will be prepared.  We will be wrapping up...
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Save the date!!! December 9th, we will participate in a practice chess tournament at James John Elementary School.  Players should arrive by 8:45 and we will be finished at 12:00.  All Chess Club Members are invited!  More information will come home with your chess players after chess club on Thursday or Friday.
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It was wonderful to see all of you last week at conferences.  Keep up the wonderful reading and work you have been doing at home! I hope you all had a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving. While the silkworms were home with me over Thanksgiving break, they began to spin cocoons.  This week we have...
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Our 4th and 5th graders are exploring the world of starting this week and continuing till the start of winter break. They will be learning two basic techniques, bass and tone on hand drums. The first class was a lot of fun and there’s more to come. Our Third graders will be learning about...
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It was great to meet and talk with so many of you during conferences last week. This week we will begin a new read aloud book entitled Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. It is a book that my third grade teacher read to me, and it is one of my fondest...
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I hope that the Thanksgiving holiday was a joyous one for you and your family. Thank you! I was so pleased that so many of you took time out of your busy schedules to conference with me last week. You showed that you really value your child’s education. Every parent was so open to...
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It was delightful, as well as profitable, to meet with each of you last week and talk about the growth of your terrific child. Thank you for your efforts to get here. For those who could not come, I will call and set up another appointment with you. This week we are finishing up...
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*Hello everyone! This is Leah Grant and I am Ms. Swan’s student teacher from Portland State University. We recently started a new science unit on habitats. Be sure to ask your child about rainforests and deserts. This week we will learn about arctic lands with an icy experiment. *Thank you to Erin Shroll for...
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TAG Nominations Deadline for parent TAG nominations are Thursday, November 30. Please see  Kathy in the office for forms. Parent and teacher forms will then be submitted to the TAG office by December 6. Parents will be notified about testing after nominations are received.
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We had an exciting time this week watching the snow, feeling the snow, and tasting the snow. We also paid attention to the weather report to see what the days ahead might bring. The cold weather brought out our heavy winter coats. The coats feel very different than our fall jackets. So all of...
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I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday; it was such a pleasure to meet with everyone for Parent-Teacher conferences last week and to tell you about the incredible progress your children have made. Report cards will be sent home the last day of school before winter break, December 15. This week the...
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It was wonderful spending time with you at conferences! We shared current benchmark expectations ,your child’s progress and challenges and all the awesome writing, math and science projects they have been accomplishing! I look forward to the rest of our year together. I hope your Thanksgiving Holiday was excellent! As we get back into...
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I mentioned to your children that they were invited to our conference next week; I find it helpful if your child hears the same information as you, and we can work together to set goals.  If you do not feel comfortable having your child at our conference, that is fine too; the decision is...
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Thank you to Lara Hubschmitt for giving several Walking Sticks to our classroom.  Lara is working at Lewis through Americore and brought these to share from her classroom last year.  The students have already enjoyed observing and holding them.  Several were very calm as a Walking Stick walked up an arm, across a shoulder...
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Please help your student remember to return library books each week. TUESDAY: DiCenzo, Parks, Ross, Davis. WEDNESDAY: Logue, Heinlein, Swan, Crouse. THURSDAY: Lee, Bennett, Gould, Keefer. Progress is being made in making our library more user friendly and preparing for computerization. Great Gobs of Appreciation to Vic Noguerola, Patsy Phillips, Bonnie Von Peggert, Kathy...
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TAG If you would like to nominate your child for TAG (Talented and Gifted), please pick up nominations forms from the office and return them by November 31. Conferences I am looking forward to  meeting with families at conferences to talk about the work we are doing at school, the progress your children are...
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A typical November school day in room five begins with students getting off their buses and, with the help of the staff, putting away their lunches, coats and school/home communication books. While things are being put away, we share updates, interesting events, and other information. This is called ‘current events’. Music lets the students...
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    We started a new writing project this week, one that all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students are working on.  Each student brought to school 3 objects in a paper bag that represent their personality and likes. First, they shared these things with the class, then they began the project of writing about...
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In general music classes this week all classes are working on a version of the Heel and Toe Polka. Students started learning this dance last week and are making great progress. The primary grades are starting new musical pieces that explore the themes of fall, while the secondary grades are playing with multiple meters...
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Last week, Rebecca Sathrum, a student teacher from Concordia University, taught a lesson about tessellations. The students really enjoyed creating a repeated  pattern to cover a given area, which helped introduce our current math unit- two dimensional geometry. They quickly realized that the shapes had to be moved to cover the entire area.  This...
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Thanks to all parents for helping children write a paragraph about the building/structure they are working on.  Most of the buildings/structures are complete.  We are going to begin placing them on the map next week!  Our new math unit is Flips, Turns, and Area.  Students will explore shape, area, and perimeter, as well as...
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