September 19th Post

Hello Families,

     If you're like me then you received a few phone call this weekend about our fantastic Hunter Readathon celebration.  Please make sure that you have returned your son/daughter form.  They were due by this past Friday but as long as you turn it in by tomorrow I am sure we can make sure that your child is recognized for their hard work.  Aside from that I hope that you all had a happy weekend and enjoyed the extra few hours on Friday.
     This week your child will be receiving their 2nd Fundations Homework Packet.  Remember to please keep this homework at home so that they can continue to practice the skills while we practice them in class.  This week there is also a writing assignment coming home which will be due on Monday (the 26th).  Aside from that we will continue to have a math homework sheet most nights.  Don't forget that our Immigration Project is due on October 7th which is also our next Early Release.  If your student needs any supplies please let me know as soon as possible.  Every student will complete a project either at home to receive full credit or at school during recess for half-credit (if a student does not turn in a project by October 7th).   Hunter Elementary has high expectations for all of its students. 
     You have probably noticed that the student behavior contracts have been coming him with HR's written on them to signify "Home Runs."  This is due to my baseball stickers having disappeared.  The bad news is that Stones School Supply is sold out of them and they are on back-order.  The good news is that I have gotten some smiley face stickers that say "Awesome" on them.  Until the baseball stickers come in I will be using the smiley face stickers to signify "Home Run."  Thank you for being flexible!
     On Friday, the Harvey's Heroes celebrated Constitution Day with a visit from Thomas Jefferson himself!  The class examined the Harvey Heroes Constitution written in 2008 and repealed some amendments while creating others.  It was an incredible time that helped your student really see how the Constitution of our great nation is a living document.   Our next learning experience will be on October 14th which will be our celebration of "International Talk Like a Pirate Day."  Technically, ITLaPD is today (Sept. 19th) but we can't celebrate more than one thing a month or people would talk;) so we will observe ITLaPD on October 14th.  That entire week we will be reading Pirate Stories, researching famous pirates (men and women) as well as creating some pirate art and stories.  If any parent would enjoy coming in and reading one of my pirate stories or leading a craft please just let me know.
     In Reading this week, your student will continue to read some fiction stories independently and with me in our small reading group.  Your student will also be able to go on RazKids this week.  You may remember this from last year.  The Second Grade has ordered this with some of the start up funds you were asked to pay.  Your child has a password (which is their lunch number) so that all of their work is protected.  Just like last year, this website can be accessed from home (for any days that your child is sick but still eager to be busy) as well as from school.  In Writing, we have been working or writing "Mashed-Up Fairy Tales."  We will continue to work on those this week and then if we have time we will try to turn them into skits.  (If we run out of time we can try next quarter).  We are still working on number fluency in Math but this week we are using Number Lines as well as Drawing Pictures and Writing Equations to solve problems.  In Social Studies we are wrapping up citizenship as explained through the Colonial Period so that we can get ready to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly.  As you can see, there is a lot of excitement left in this quarter. 
    
Wrapping Up... 
  
     *Math Tiles starts this Friday (September 23rd) from 1:40-2:20 so if you are available to help out I would LOVE to have you!
     *The Radical Reader Assembly is next Tuesday, September 27th at 9:30 am.
     *Friday, September 30th is a Teacher Workday so please don't send your student to school.
     *October 13th is the One Hunter Family Fall Picnic at 5:30pm.  It will be unforgettable so please mark it down on your calendar!
     *Don't forget that all Parent Volunteer's should have renewed their volunteer registration by October 31st or you can't chaperon any field-trips.  Please go ahead an renew now!
   
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know.  Have a terrific week!

               Sincerely,

                             Mr. H