October 3rd Newsletter

Hello Parents and Students,

     October is upon us and there a several things in store for your student.  To start with, your son or daughter has their Immigration Project due THIS FRIDAY (October 7th).  Any student that does not turn in a project will be encouraged to complete a project during Recess for reduced credit.  Please make sure that your student is well prepared for their presentation as that is what determines if they earn a 3* or a 4.  I know that all students are capable of earning a 3* in Social Studies this quarter.  Other big events for the week may include your student receiving an Progress Report/Interim this week.  Normally this would have gone home today however due to my absence it will be going home on Tuesday.  It's easier for all parties involved if I can verify that the Interims/Progress Reports have gone home and not simply been left in the hands of a very capable substitute teacher.
     In the classroom this past week our Butterfly larva arrived.  Thus far, your student has discussed what a butterfly larva eats (mallow leaves in the wild-just mushed up mallow in class) as well as their basic body structure.  The hardest thing for many students to understand is how during metamorphosis the larva loses several of its legs and ends up with only 3 pairs (which are the true legs).  This is perhaps one of the most exciting science labs of the year for your student so please be sure to ask them each night that they have done.  We will continue to study the life cycle of the butterfly for the next few weeks as well as analyze the life cycle of the silk worm, frogs, and spiders.  Please encourage your child to learn the life cycle of other insects and animals that spark their interest.
     In Reading, we continued to work on making connects between texts as well as the world and ourselves.  We also began researching animals from our small reading groups.  Researching hens/chickens, pigs, and alligators can be tough using the internet and even harder using encyclopedias but rest assured that we will continue doing research from time to time this year in order to build your students stamina for research.  Being able to locate information about a topic is integral toward making your student a life-long learner.  This week in reading, we will continue to work on understanding setting through a variety of books as well as continue making connects.  We are also going to begin analyzing how authors use specific word choices to help the reader understand how the story is flowing. In particular, we will begin listing various transition words that we find in stories so that we can begin to use them in our writings.
     Which brings us to writing for this week...your Hero is going to be wrapping up their "Heart Story" and should be able to bring it home in their Monday folder next week.  When you read it please look for examples of what we have been studying in class such as your students use of transition words, descriptive details, and capitalization.  The work may have some misspelled words that slipped through our editing process.  At this point in the year, the main idea is to build your students confidence in their writing ability and to look for the above mentioned items.  As the year progresses your student should begin to improve the finer mechanics of their writing.
     As far as math is concerned, your son or daughter has taken several math quizzes which will be used my me to generate their math grade for the quarter.  My main goal in giving these assessments is to monitor their understanding of the concepts I have taught as well as to reteach your child any concepts that they missed.  This week we are working with measurement.  Yesterday we began a mini-unit on centimeters (cm) and using rulers.  We will be discussing standard and nonstandard forms of measurement as well as how to switch cm to inches.  Next week we will move on to a different concept but we will continue to come back and explore measurement.  Please encourage your child to measure items at home in standard measurement (inches/centimeters) as well as nonstandard units (paperclips, handspans, etc).  The more work your child does with this concept the better they will be able to grasp what they are doing.
     There are only a few more weeks in the quarter (it ends on October 29th) so please be sure to encourage your son or daughter to bring their best behavior to school each day.  It's hard to believe that we only have about another 150 days of school and there is still a lot of ground to cover.  As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email me at gharvey@wcpss.net.  Be sure to look over some very important dates at the bottom of the newsletter.  Have a terrific week!

               Sincerely,

                               Mr. H

 *Our Field Trip is coming up (October 12th) to the NC Museum of Life and Science!
 *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!
     *ITLaPD (International Talk Like a Pirate Day) Literacy Unit and Celebration is coming up the week of October 10th thru the 14th.  Please be checking your email in-boxes for volunteer information/supplies from our amazing room moms Mrs. O'Brian & Mrs. Jones.  It should be a legendary time!