Sharpen the Saw Night Was Tons of Fun!

A Room A-2 student oversees a giant game of Jenga.

It was great seeing so many of you last week at the Sharpen the Saw Family Night.  It was a lot of fun participating in those games and activities with you and your kids.  Here is the update for the week:

Halloween Recap
I wrote a full summary of the Silver Springs Halloween parade plan in last week's blog post.  Here are a few important reminders for that day:
-Students will bring their costumes to school, we will change into them before the parade.
-The parade starts at 2:45 PM.  We will parade through the hallways of the school, there is a special viewing area for parents.
-Make sure costumes are elementary school appropriate--if it might scare a kindergartner please don't wear it--no fake weapons as well.
-We will have a classroom party with cider and donuts at 2:00 PM, students will change during the party.
-If you come to the parade and want to take your student home early you need to sign them out with me when you leave.

Parent Teacher Conference Sign Ups
As I wrote last week, Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for November 12th, 13th, and 14th.  I have created a online sign up form at SignUpGenius.com where you can choose the time that works best for you.  It is important that I meet with all of you, if the times posted don't fit your schedule please let me know.  You can access the sign up page by clicking here.

Box Top Contest
We are having a school-wide Box Tops For Education contest.  If you have any box top cut-outs bring them in this week with "Mr. Luxon, Room A-2" written on the bag.



Curriculum Overview
Literacy - Making connections with fiction books.  The Art Lesson by Tommie dePaola.

Math - Addition of three-digit numbers, understanding how and why to regroup

Writing - Writing about our lives, stretching out small moments into fantastic writing pieces.  This week we will begin publishing and perfecting one of our favorite stories.

Science - Earth Science, understanding that when it rains some rainwater soaks into the earth while other water flows downhill forming streams and rivers that eventually flow into the ocean.

Social Studies - In Social Studies we are continuing to learn about maps.  We learned how to find approximate distance using a map scale last week.  This week we will be learning about coordinate graphs.  We will also review maps to prepare for an upcoming quiz.  Please look for a review sheet to come home soon.
 
Word Study - This week we continue to work with words, discussing the many patterns that students are learning.  ALL students are introduced to all of the various word sorts for each group, each week.  They then focus on their own group's sort to practice with many activities.  We have also begun introducing and working with new vocabulary words.  The first 5 words are: ultimatum, demand, strike, impatient & neutral.  Students have learned how to pronounce the words and have been introduced to the definitions.  This week they will begin their vocabulary journals, writing each word, synonyms & antonyms for each, as well as illustrating each word and writing a "7-Up" sentence for each word (a sentence with at least 7 words.)  See if your child can talk to you about what these words mean!

Leadership – Setting our learning and personal goals for this marking period.  Look for a copy of your student's goals to go home soon.