October 26, 2010

First term is over, and everyone begins this new term with an "A".

Next Wednesday, November 3, we will walk to Cedar High to watch their play, "Wizard of Oz".
November 3: Reflections Contest entries are due.
Ancestor Share Fair is Monday, November 22, 2:00-3:30 in the South Elem. gym

Social Studies:
In their spare moments, students have been working on their Patriot Award, memorizing and passing off important facts, quotes, speeches, etc. that are important in U.S. History. Learning all these may take much of this school year, so I'm glad they are off to a good start. They can work on this at home, if they want. Their prize will be a copy of the Declaration of Independence, awarded in May.
We are still learning about the American Revolution, my favorite part of social studies.

Share Fair:
We will send home an Interview Questions sheet that your child can use to interview a relative. I would like to see this interview sheet so that I know students have fulfilled this part of the assignment. (I'll let you know when this is due). Students need to gather information about an ancestor who immigrated to America, and compile the data on a 2 or 3-fold display board, which will be shown at our Ancestor Share Fair on November 22. Family and friends are invited to this event.
Look for a letter to come home on Wednesday explaining this in greater detail. You can also come in to our classroom and see some examples of some displays from past years.

Science:
Look at Mrs. Williams' blog to see pictures of the volcanoes. (Click under her photo on the school website). It was fascinating to see all the creativity and hard work involved in building these volcanoes. We will finish studying landforms and erosion by this Wednesday, then will begin our new unit on physical and chemical changes. We enjoyed Alex's dad giving us a chemistry demonstration. What an exciting way to kick off this next unit of study. Thanks, Mr. Manley!

Reading & Writing:
Every student has read at least two novels so far. Some have read many more.
Right now students are learning how to write a 5-paragraph persuasive essay, and it's really not as hard as they thought it would be.

Spelling:
I just gave out a new list of words today, and will give a test next week--Thursday or Friday (Nov. 5). We usually "sort" words in class for the first few days, then I let students take them home to study there. However, if you'd like them to bring the words home sooner so you can work with your child, just let me know.


I appreciate you parent and grandparent helpers who come in and offer your time and
encouragement every week. I also appreciate you who can't come in, but support us in other ways. It was good to visit with all of you during SEP week. 100% of you came in! Every year since I began teaching at South Elementary, I have been amazed at the parent support. Not every school has this. It's a rare and wonderful thing. I love your students, and I enjoy going to school every day.