Such an exciting week in room A210! Our time was filled with Halloween activities, dancing, and even traveling to the high school to hear our fantastic marching band. Oh, and we did some reading, writing, and math too. Promise. ;)
Fundraiser items were delivered to Jeffers Thursday. Thank you for your efforts in getting those items home in a timely manner. A great big loud shout out to all families and friends that made our Jeffers Jive the success it was!!! Your donations of time, talent, and treasure do not go unnoticed by us at Jeffers. Our children are so very lucky! Here are some talking points from our week:
Here are some upcoming dates for your calendars:
0 Comments
Our class will celebrate Halloween next week Tuesday at our Jeffers Jive Monster Mash. Third and fourth grade celebrations will happen in Jeffers cafeteria between 2:35 and 3:25 and you are welcome to join us!
We will begin getting our costumes on at 2:15. If your child will need any assistance, feel free to come and help them out at that time. You are welcome to take your child home after the Jive at 3:25, but if anyone other than a parent is bringing your child home, I must have a note or email. This week we received an email from our Jeffers Parents Organization telling us that Jive pledges are down $1500 from last year and $2600 from two years ago. Please know that we at Jeffers are all so very grateful for the myriad of ways you support our efforts to partner with you in educating your children! Some talking points from our week are:
Thank you, thank you, thank you to any and all who donated to our Donors Choose project!!!! It was fully funded and soon our classroom library will be gaining several new titles.
The Jeffers Jive is in full swing and pledges are (slowly) coming in every day!!! Every $10 means a ticket for your child to redeem at the Jive for prizes. Xtramath.org is a great tool for your child to use in their efforts to increase math fact fluency. Hopefully all are able to access this site and encourage their child to practice as part of a daily routine. Let me know if you're having trouble accessing it. So far, two of our classmates have earned certificates. Congrats Gordon and Evan!!! Please continue to have your child complete their reading log each night as they read. I am so thankful for your support in this sometimes tedious task. Here are some talking points from our week:
It was truly a gift to meet with so many of you at your child's conference. Every single child in room A210 had at least one parent attend their conference. YOUR support of your child's education is what makes my career such a blessing.
Thanks also for all the cardboard! We will be using it to do a science activity soon. The annual Monster Mash/Jeffers Jive kicked off this week. You should have received information explaining how you can support the JPO through this fun event. Thank you for encouraging your child to do their daily 20-30 minutes of reading each day and fill in their log. I would now recommend adding Xtramath as a part of their daily homework routine. Takes no longer than 10 minutes to do and is a great way to increase your child's math fact fluency. I have created a crowd-sourcing request with the purpose of purchasing more books for our class library. If you are interested in donating, please click here. Here are some talking points from our week:
Cannot begin to put into words how grateful we are for temperature controlled classrooms. It might've been miserable and humid outside, but it was a comfy 70 degrees inside!
As I look over reading I am pleased to see many of the kids are being diligent in keeping them accurate. I will share those with you at conferences and discuss what information I am gleaning from them about your child's reading habits. We have learned our multiplication facts for 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10. I would appreciate any daily reviewing of these facts at home. The sooner those facts get memorized, the easier your child's math life will be. Here are some talking points from our week:
I'd like to share with you some research-based facts about reading:
And please, please, please make sure the log is completed. Thank you! As a parent, I know these are a pain in the butt. As a teacher, they offer me invaluable information about your child's at home reading habits. It's also never too early to have your child start memorizing their multiplication facts. So far, we have covered 2's, 5's, and 9's. Here are some talking points from our week:
It was nice to experience a "normal" week in third grade. I am enjoying getting to know each of these kiddos and learning what makes each one so special and unique! How lucky am I to spend my days with YOUR children!?!?!
Our class received a charging cart this week for our iPads. That means iPads will only come home once per week (if insurance money has been paid ;-) for a short homework assignment. If your child's iPad is NOT insured, other arrangements will be made. The Jeffers fundraiser kicked off on Thursday. Your child should have brought home a packet of information after school that day. If you have not seen this packet, need a new one, etc., etc., just let me know! Is your child interested in running for student council? Please know that all deadlines are final, so be sure you know when petitions are due. Class pictures will be taken on Wednesday, September 20th. Bring those smiles!!! Some talking points from our week:
On Thursday afternoon I checked in with the students & shared with them what I shared with you last week; no learning can take place if you don't feel safe & comfortable. I was encouraged by what the kids shared with me, but realize they might not share EVERYTHING with me. Don't hesitate to let me know if I can do more to make YOUR child feel secure here at Jeffers.
Our Jeffers Parents Organization (JPO) will begin meeting next week. The first meeting is Wednesday, September 13 at 5:30. JPO is truly an AMAZING group of parents that do tremendous work to support Jeffers. We are so grateful for their efforts! We will kick off our Jeffers fundraiser on September 14th. Look for information to come home that day. The Watch DOG program officially kicks off next week with our first father-figures. If you're interested in participating, more information is available here. Talking points for this week:
And just like that, week 1 is in the books!!! That of course means it is time for my first weekly(ish) class update. You will receive blog updates at the end of almost every week. Thanks for taking just a brief moment to read these posst.
My main goal for this first week of school was to make YOUR child feel comfortable coming to school. Without a sense of comfort and safety, learning simply cannot take place. So if your child ever expresses any feelings of anxiety or fear regarding school, do not hesitate to contact me. You won't hurt my feelings. Promise! Many of you have asked to join the Facebook group. Please feel free to share with family and friends, but let me know when you do. I have had 1 or 2 requests from names I didn't recognize, so I did not grant them access. Also, if you'd rather NOT have your child's photo added to this private FB group, just let me know. Thanks to those of you who have turned in all paperwork, etc. If you are in need of extra copies of anything, just ask & I will send them home! Finally, I would encourage each of you to watch this TED Talk video. It contains some interesting insight into how to help your child succeed. Enjoy your nice, long weekend! Did you know that research shows that on average, students lose 2 months of reading skills over the summer? Did you know on average 2.6 months of math skills are lost over the summer? Summer learning loss is a real thing and I want to help you as parents promote learning all year long.
Of course, I know and agree that summer vacation should be a vacation, but there are ways you can incorporate and promote learning all summer long. The first thing I would like to do is dispel some myths about summer learning. Please click on the link to read more. Our classroom has a subscription to www.Mobymax.com. that runs throughout the summer. This site is very familiar to your son or daughter because they have used it throughout the year to practice specifically targeted reading and math skills. The students have used them on their iPads but they can be used on any computer or personal device at home. What makes these sites different than others is that they have been tailored to address each student’s reading level and the specific math skills needed for next year. Your child will know how to navigate through the website but you might need to help them get there. Moby Max: 1) – Go to www.mobymax.com from your Internet browser 2) – at the top of the page please click on sign-in 3) – sign in as a student – 4) – enter the school code MI1932 5) – Your child should know their username & password |
AuthorMrs. Ortquist Categories |