September 4 through September 8

Keenoy’s Pups Newsletter                                           9-8-17

Dear Families,

     Thanks again for the great start to the year!  I really feel like our classroom community is coming together nicely.  Students genuinely seem to enjoy each other and we have a lot of fun together. 

     Mrs. Patton (principal) has asked me to represent Paxton Keeley by serving on a District Committee.  This committee will meet five full days during the year and a substitute will be needed.  I am thankful that a former Paxton teacher, Ken Welty, has agreed to sub for our classroom on four of the five days.  Tomorrow (Friday) is the first district meeting.  This is the one day that Mr. Welty could not cover for me, but I'm confident that our class will do a nice job for the substitute. 

     I plan on sending home the red Friday folders with our newsletter and handouts from the week.  I'm not very confident that I will get all my comments/work study habits completed due to time spent this evening preparing for my absence.  If the green work/study habit sheets do not go home on Friday, I'll send them home on Monday.  Thank you for understanding and do not hesitate to email with any questions/comments.

Book Orders

Scholastic order forms are being sent home today.  If ordering, please include an order form and a check made out to Scholastic by Friday, September 15th.  You can also order online, and an informational form is attached to this newsletter.

Comet Carnival

Thank you…Thank you….Thank you!  I noticed that most of the Comet Carnival game volunteer slots have been filled for our classroom.  The only spot that I saw open was the last time slot (clean up) from 7:30-8 p.m..   Please consider volunteering 30 min. of your time that evening.  Our class is responsible for filling ALL of the volunteer slots for the game, School House Toss. The link is listed below.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4faea82ba75-comet1

Classroom Party Coordinator/Volunteers

Also, our class is still in need of a class party coordinator and a few more volunteers.  Classroom parties are not possible without the help from parents.  The time, preparation, and donations are VERY much appreciated!  The sign up link for this volunteer work is also listed below.

  

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e4ca9ad23a1fd0-room

Math

I have enjoyed exploring the idea of area and volume with our class.  The “area” lesson ideas have sparked several amazing math conversations.  Many of the story problems have focused on different quilt patterns.  Students seemed to really enjoy a story about a special family quilt that was written by my grandma.  Next week we will focus primarily on volume.   By the end of the week, students should be able to measure volume by counting cubes, layers, and using formulas. 

Reading

Students really seem to enjoy listening to the book, Jackie’s Wild Seattle, by Will Hobbs.  I’ve continued using this book to model my own comprehension strategies when I read.  I will then ask students to practice these skills during independent reading time and at home.  We will be focusing on Story Elements for the next few weeks, and the standards that I will teach include:

*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

Writing

Students are starting to show good understanding about what personal narratives are.  We analyzed the similarities and differences between memoirs and personal narratives by reading, Up North at the Cabin, by Martha Chall.  Students realized that both genres are written about past experiences, but personal narratives focus in on a specific moment that stands out.  We have continued working on collecting ideas in our writer’s notebook.  The list of collecting strategies that we have covered so far are listed below:

1)         Listing special people and moments with them.

2)      First times, last times, and a moment they realized something important.

3)      List of Special Places and Moments at the place.

4)      Recent Moments That Stand Out

5)      Other authors’ ideas helping spark my own

Next I plan to have students analyze several past student writing samples of personal narratives.  We will score these 5^th grade narratives by using a rubric.  This is the same rubric that their own narratives will be graded from.   I enjoy these activities because they give students a much better understanding of how their own papers will be scored. 

Social Studies

Next week we will continue learning about North America in chapter 1.  Students will be learning about the regions in the United States.  We will also spend time discussing how the climate and resources affect the population and how people live.    

Science

Students started learning about the Earth’s 4 major systems: Hydrosphere, Geosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere.

Upcoming Important Dates

Sept. 12 PTA Fundraiser Ends

Sept. 25 No School / Teacher Collaboration

Sept. 26 Paxton “Get the Scoop Night”

Sept. 30 Pumpkin Fun Run (flyer is in the Friday Folder)

Oct. 6 Comet Carnival (5pm-8pm)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dan Keenoy