Hero Party a Sucess!

A very special thanks to all of the parents, grandparents, and other family members who helped out and/or donated food items to last Friday's Hero Party!  I was really privileged to see the students in a different way, and to meet a lot of you all who are so important to them.  The day was a great success and the kids were really proud to have you in their school.  Thanks again, and look for information to come home for our Heritage Party in December! 

Mr. Scott

The Week of October 29th

Finally!  MEAP is done and now things can get back to normal!  Thank you to all of you who helped out and/ or donated items for our "Bring a Hero for a Hero Sandwich Party".  I know the kids put a lot of effort in their letters and introductions for their heroes, and it was a privilege being able to read about the positive role models in their lives.  Coming up next week, we will have a half day on October 31st.  The students will attend for the afternoon only, so please make arrangements if necessary.  Please do not let your children come to school on this day dressed for Halloween or have any Halloween items.  Next week is the final week of the first marking period.  I know I have called many of you concerning your child's scores, please have any late materials turned in by Thursday, November 1st.  I need to have report cards completed by the following Monday before the grade book window closes.  You all will receive a progress report on Monday concerning your child's scores and any new missing/ late assignments.    Please sign these and leave a note if you want any missing work.  Conference notes will come home on Friday, October 26th.  Those of you who have signed up for a time at the Parent Night in August, will get a confirmation notice that you will need to sign stating the time still works for you.  Others will get a note asking what time would work for you.  Please also indicate if any siblings are in the school so we can schedule the times close together to reduce your wait time.  Please sign these documents and return them to me by Monday, October 29th.  Conferences will occur on Wednesday, November 14th from 4-7:00 p.m., Thursday, November15th from 5-8:00 p.m., and Friday, November 16th from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  There will be no school for students on Friday November 16th due to conferences.  October Book It sheets are due by next Friday, November 2nd. 

Science News
Congratulations to those who scored 80% or higher on the Scientific Method and Measurement Unit Test!  These students will receive a certificate of achievement for their efforts.  The next unit will be on soil formation and changes in the Earth's surface.  During this unit, students will be doing experiments on erosion and creating soil, studying glaciers and beach erosion in Michigan, and watching a documentary on the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930's. 

S. Studies News
We will be wrapping up our unit on studying social studies, geography, and types of maps this week.  Look for a test next Tuesday or Wednesday.  The next unit will be on the United States, and then soon after in late November, we will look at Canada.  Since both countries were founded and heavily influenced by immigration, the students will be doing an immigration/ citizenship simulation.  This will be followed up with a party the Friday before Holiday Break where we will be celebrating our cultural pasts.  We will be asking parents to create a dish used in celebrations or is traditional to the child's relative's native culture.  This will not have to be a holiday dish, but should be authentic.  Students will also create the flags of their cultural identities to hang up for this party.  More information to come on this in November!   Also during this unit, students will be creating two wiki sites, one for what they learned about the United States, and the second on what they learned about Canada.

Writing News
We have spent the past week working on Hero Letters and Introductions.  Next week we will continue working on using dialogue correctly in our stories, and completing our personal narratives.  There will be a spelling/ vocabulary test on Monday for the list that was handed out last Monday.  The new list for next week will come out on Friday, October 26th for the next test on Friday, November 2nd.  The test on November 2nd will be the first test for the second marking period.

Reading News
This week, we began our unit on Schema and Making Connections.  Students defined what schema is and began working on making connections from the text to themselves.  A new Reading Log will out on Friday, October 26th, and will be due by Friday, November 2nd.  This reading log will be the first grade for the second marking period.

Math News
This past week, the students worked on finding Mode, Median, and Mean, and how to make line plot graphs.  Next week, they will make stem and leaf plot graphs and continue to calculate the mode, median, and mean.

Have a warm weekend and Go Tigers and Irish!

Bring a Hero for a Hero Sandwich Day!

Just a reminder, tomorrow is our "Bring a Hero for a Hero Sandwich Day!"  Any cold items, if you could bring them in around 11:30, that would be great.  If anyone can donate a tray, large bowls, and other items to place the food in for the sandwich and dessert buffet that too is welcomed.  Please be sure to have your name on it so we can get it back to you!  Also, if no one knows what we need and has not committed to donating anything, about 12 helium balloons in the school colors would great!  It would really make the place seem festive!  We would need 6 yellow or gold, and 6 black.  Look for a newsletter later tonight and have an excellent day!  Thanks in advance to all those who donated items, and to those coming in tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. to help us set up!  Could not get this done without you!

Mr. Scott

The Week of the 19th of October, 2012

This week our students will be completing the Math MEAP which they did today.  The Social Studies MEAP scheduled for tomorrow will occur next week because we are trying the new online version of the MEAP.  The students have taken a practice test version of this to acclimate them to the process.  Next week, October 26th, is the day of our "Bring a Hero to School for a Hero Sandwich Day".  I have received a lot of notes back offering to bring items.  I will contact any offers that doubled to see if we can get all of the items covered.   If you did not receive the flier, please let me know and I'll send one home.  Last week upon doing progress reports, I discovered that 21 of my 34 students were receiving a score below a 'C' in at least one subject.  I tested my theory that parents were not receiving my weekly progress reports and found this to be true.  The students know this is the last time late work beyond a week will be accepted.  All parents should know that if a progress report is not sent home on Monday, that a note stating it was not sent home has been handed to your child to give to you.  I have never gone past Tuesday on getting progress reports out, so please expect one by Tuesday if you did not receive one on Monday.  Please sign these and give them back to your child to return to me.  Kids have an incentive for you to do this for them.  Also, please put on the progress report any questions, concerns or requests for missing work to be completed by the following Monday.  The first night your child receives work, it has to be completed by the next day for no penalty, then, every day after that will have a 10% reduction until the work is 5 days late by which it will receive half credit.  After 5 days, no work will be accepted unless it is due to an absence.  I am working hard to help you all keep in the loop so there are no surprises by report card time.  Please help me by looking for these progress reports so we can work together to keep your child up to date and on time.  I am pushing the deadline for the "Learn the Process" project back to November 16th.  Central Office has stated they want to create accounts for your children to develop their pages on and have not gotten back to me on when those will be available.  We also have had a lot of time get disrupted due to testing, especially the MEAP.  Look for that change on the calendar.  Over the course of this week I will be entering new grades for one subject a day starting Wednesday.  I was inundated with a giant stack of late work to grade so new work was set aside temporarily.  Wednesday will be Reading and Writing, Thursday Math, Friday will be Science, and Saturday- S. Studies.  Next Monday, your child may have new missing work, so be sure to check for the progress report then.  Also new to grading, I will complete by Monday, all of the "All About Me" website grading.  Expect those to come home on Monday, October 22, 2012.  Kids can correct the items they were marked down on to boost their score in this project.  Any new project rubrics received are late and will have the 10% deduction for every day late after October 5th.  This is a large writing score and will impact your child's grade severely if it scored a zero.  Half credit will not have as much of an impact.  Please make sure tonight your child has turned this in to me.  Have an excellent week, and if you're like me the past few weeks battling a cold/sinus infection, I will say a prayer for your speedy recovery.  That is no fun! 

Lesson Plans

New Lesson Plans available now.  Homework Log will be up by the end of the day Monday, as well as a new newsletter.

Important Info

There will be no new spelling lists, vocabulary lists, or reading logs for the next two weeks due to MEAP Tests.  However, your child should still read if he/she wants the Book It prize for October, or wants extra credit.  Extra Credit Reading Logs will be available on Tuesday, October 9th.  Progress reports will come out also on the 9th due to me being laid up with a bad cold.  Take care and be sure your child is on time for school tomorrow.

Newsletter for 10-1 to 10-12- 2012

Because I was not in on Friday of last week, and since this is coming out so late, this will be the newsletter for the next two weeks.  On Tuesday of this week, the kids got their spelling and vocabulary lists.  Because we had some network problems with our computers the last two days, I was not able to print this out at school.  Since the list is coming out later that expected, the test will be on Monday, October 8th.  This Friday, October 5th, was our first PBS party.  Those who were on orange, red, or ODR, or those who had three or more yellow cards could not attend.  They will had an educational opportunity instead during that time.  This Thursday, October 4th, was our first time at the PBS Store where students could use Marshall Bucks to purchase items.  We go to the store at 1:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. The school still needs volunteers to work the store during the school day.  If you spare one day a month to help out, that would be great!  Coming home on Tuesday, October 2nd is the form for our "Bring Your Hero for a Hero Sandwich Day" event on October 26th, 2012.  Please get these forms into me so I can pass them on to my parent helper to coordinate who is getting what.  We will also need volunteers to assist in set up for this event.  The more contributions and help we can get, the better the event will be for the students' heroes.  On October 31st, we will be having a half day of school.  Students are to report to school for the afternoon only on that day.  I am handing back many low scoring spelling and vocabulary tests  the last couple of weeks.  Students can correct their spelling by using the words, spelled correctly, in a sentence.  Students can correct their vocab tests by fixing the items they got wrong.  In need of some reading extra credit?  If your child missed getting a reading log into me, just have your child read extra for the remaining weeks.  I give one point for each minute read which could help raise any low reading grade averages if your child reads more than the required 140 minutes.  Also note, that on Wednesday, October 3rd, the students should be getting their Book-It forms.  For each completed form turned in, that has a minimal of 20 minutes read for each day of the month, that student will receive a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

Math News
The students last week were first introduced to variables and working algebraic equations.  This week and next we will be working with algebraic expressions and equations where students have to solve to identify what number the variable represents.

Reading News
We will continue working on monitoring our thinking while reading, this week the students will practice having a conversation with their book.  Next week, we will be doing our Reading MEAP.  Please be sure your child is in bed on time next week and fed a healthy breakfast prior to coming to school.

Writing News
I am still accepting "All About Me" project rubrics, especially from those who had computer issues at home.  I am surprised how few rubrics I received. This is a major project that will have big effects on your child's grade if it is not turned in or turned in on time.  After Thursday, any rubrics not turned in will receive a deduction of 10 points per day.  Our next writing piece will be a personal narrative. 

S. Studies News
This week we will explore the five themes of geography and studying other people around the world.  Students will be creating anchor charts for these sections.  Later on, over the next two weeks, we will be learning how to read and use a time zone map.

Science News
The volume experiment took longer than expected.  It was actually divided into four parts, and given the size of the class, each section is took a little bit longer to complete.  This week the students will measure with a triple beam balance, measure lengths in centimeters, and learn about the metric system.  On Friday of this week, the kids will be doing a fun experiment to practice the scientific method.