September 18th through 22nd

Keenoy’s Pups News                              9-22-17

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week.  Overall the Keenoy family is doing well and staying busy as always.  Jessi just finished up with a very large project at work, so it will be nice for us to have “mom” services back. 😊  Again, thank you for all the BBQ donations for our carnival basket.  Have a wonderful week!

Get the Scoop Night

Tuesday, September 26th is Paxton Keeley’s “Get the Scoop” Night.  For this event, you’re invited to attend a brief PTA meeting at 6:30 and then visit your child’s classroom to learn about upcoming curriculum and information about our classroom. 

Each classroom will offer three fifteen minute sessions to share information with parents. Parents that have multiple children attending Paxton will have the opportunity to visit each classroom for one of the sessions. This also gives new Paxton families another opportunity to check out our school.  If you are unable to make one of the sessions, I will be happy to send home the information that I share. 

T-Shirt Orders

Forms were sent home last week.  They will also be available during the “Get the Scoop Night.”  If ordering, please return the form with payment.  I will make sure that the order gets placed in the office.

Vocabulary Day Hat Parade-October 16th

This will be a fun activity to help us celebrate the power of words and Dictionary Day. Students will be selecting a word and creating a hat.  The hat will match the meaning of the word and students are asked to design this at home.  Students can use ALL of my art supplies and parents should not have to buy ANYTHING!  More detailed information will be sent home soon. 

Math

Students took an assessment over Unit 1 (Area/Volume) on Friday.  These will be scored and shared with you next week.  Although I would love for each student to have mastered all the Unit 1 concepts, our new math curriculum spirals.  This means that many of the concepts taught will show up again later in the year.  It is okay for students to not have each of these skills mastered yet.

We will begin Unit 2 next week.  This unit will focus on: place value, larger digit multiplication strategies, exponents, and larger digit division strategies.

*Knowing their basic facts fluently is essential for this unit.  Please encourage your child study these facts each day at home.  Each student should have a “focus number” that they are working on.

Writing

I was happy with our writing progress this week.  They have a lot of great personal narrative ideas that they want to get down on paper.  We spent the end of this week analyzing papers and focusing on three aspects of the rubric (craft, elaboration, and beginnings).  Next week, students will create a story arc for several story examples shared.  The purpose will be for them to see the importance of slowing down in the heart of the story and speeding up during less important parts. 

Reading

I will continue to read aloud, Jackie’s Wild Seattle, by Will Hobbs each day.  We will continue discussing/modeling:

*how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges

*compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story

*explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals

*compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g. problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts

I have really emphasized quality student reading responses this week.  During a recent notebook check, I realized this is an area for us to continue working on.  It will be important for students to keep their notebook organized and completed each day.  A portion of their reading effort grade is based on this work. 

Social Studies

We just started learning about the Native American Regions in chapter 2.   Students will be researching information about these regions: People of the Northwest, The People of the Southwest, The People of the Plains, and The Eastern Woodlands.

My uncle hunts for arrowheads.  We texted him a few questions that connect with what we are reading about.  The class enjoyed looking at the picture of a 10,000 year old lance point that he found.  This tool was used to kill the mammoth during the “Ice Age.”  These pictures sparked great conversations and peaked a lot of student interest.

 Science

Continue learning about the 4 spheres and how they interact (geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere). 

Our next science unit will focus on Earth and Space Systems.

Upcoming Important Dates

Sept. 25 No School / Teacher Collaboration

Sept. 26 Paxton “Get the Scoop Night”  (6:30 p.m.)

Sept. 30 Pumpkin Fun Run

Oct. 6  Comet Carnival (5pm-8pm)

Have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy