Chess Club - Chess club is over for this school year. I have enjoyed working with your children. They have come a long way since the beginning of the year and it is nice to see the growth they have made in their game skills along with the growth they have made in good sportsmanship.
MAP testing and Benchmarking - This is a good week to make sure your child is well-rested and well-fed in the morning. Both the MAP testing and Aimsweb benchmarking are happening this week. We all want to see each child do their best and that can only happen if they feel awake and satisfied.
Summer Reading - It is not too early to begin thinking how you, as parents, are going to keep your child reading this summer. Many libraries have summer book clubs that help to encourage summer reading. If your child is a stubborn reader, it may help to hire an older student to come at a set time to read with your child each day. A junior high student would be perfect for this job, (maybe some budding teacher), and would probably be willing to work for a relatively small amount of money. Another idea is to have a set family reading time when everyone sits down and reads. This can be especially helpful if everyone gets a chance to tell the other members of the family what they have just read about or a favorite part of what they have read. So, I encourage you to be proactive about your child's summer reading program. Think carefully about what would fit into your family's schedule and plan ahead to make reading an important part of your child's summer activities.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
For the Week of April 22nd
Chess Club - This is the final week of chess club for this year. Both Wednesday's and Thursday's chess clubs will meet.
Open House and Book Fair - The open house and book fair has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 23rd from 6:30 to 8:00. We hope that you will be able to join us to see all of the hard work your children have done in school and to enjoy some new books and ice cream.
Summer Reading - It is not too early to begin thinking how you, as parents, are going to keep your child reading this summer. Many libraries have summer book clubs that help to encourage summer reading. If your child is a stubborn reader, it may help to hire an older student to come at a set time to read with your child each day. A junior high student would be perfect for this job, (maybe some budding teacher), and would probably be willing to work for a relatively small amount of money. Another idea is to have a set family reading time when everyone sits down and reads. This can be especially helpful if everyone gets a chance to tell the other members of the family what they have just read about or a favorite part of what they have read. So, I encourage you to be proactive about your child's summer reading program. Think carefully about what would fit into your family's schedule and plan ahead to make reading an important part of your child's summer activities.
Open House and Book Fair - The open house and book fair has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 23rd from 6:30 to 8:00. We hope that you will be able to join us to see all of the hard work your children have done in school and to enjoy some new books and ice cream.
Summer Reading - It is not too early to begin thinking how you, as parents, are going to keep your child reading this summer. Many libraries have summer book clubs that help to encourage summer reading. If your child is a stubborn reader, it may help to hire an older student to come at a set time to read with your child each day. A junior high student would be perfect for this job, (maybe some budding teacher), and would probably be willing to work for a relatively small amount of money. Another idea is to have a set family reading time when everyone sits down and reads. This can be especially helpful if everyone gets a chance to tell the other members of the family what they have just read about or a favorite part of what they have read. So, I encourage you to be proactive about your child's summer reading program. Think carefully about what would fit into your family's schedule and plan ahead to make reading an important part of your child's summer activities.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
For the Week of April 15th
Chess Club - Both Wednesday's and Thursday's Chess Clubs will be held this week. We will be looking at some games and letting the student figure out what move should come next.
Talent Show - Flyers about the annual talent show will be going out next week. Please watch for them to come home in your child's binder.
Good Reads - www.goodreads.com is a web site in which you can keep track of the books you have read, you can write notes or reviews about the books, keep track of books you want to read and can view other peoples posts about books. I have found it helpful. There are times I want to refer back to a book and if I look at my list and reviews, it helps to jog my memory on which book I am thinking of. You might enjoy Good Reads also.
Talent Show - Flyers about the annual talent show will be going out next week. Please watch for them to come home in your child's binder.
Good Reads - www.goodreads.com is a web site in which you can keep track of the books you have read, you can write notes or reviews about the books, keep track of books you want to read and can view other peoples posts about books. I have found it helpful. There are times I want to refer back to a book and if I look at my list and reviews, it helps to jog my memory on which book I am thinking of. You might enjoy Good Reads also.
Friday, April 5, 2013
For the Week of April 8th
Chess Club - There is no chess club this week because of parent-teacher conferences.
Tuesday - Inservice Day
Tuesday, April 9th, there will be no school. The teachers are having an inservice day.
Friday, April 12th - no school.
Reflection
Today, my small group of 4th grade students got finished with their lesson early. They had seen that I had started the 3rd grade students on the books we read together at the end of the year. These 4th graders had read the same books at the end of last year and they were begging me to read them again. I had been telling them that they were too old for these books (although I still enjoy them very much!) But, since we had a little extra time today, I said that we could read one of them together until the end of the period. With great excitement and relish they began to read out loud to each other. What caught my attention was the way they were reading - easily, with expression and confidently. A little progress in reading every day adds to a whole lot of progress by the end of the school year - but it is hard to notice that progress when it is such a gradual thing. I remembered how they had read that same book a year ago, and I was thrilled with their progress.
Tuesday - Inservice Day
Tuesday, April 9th, there will be no school. The teachers are having an inservice day.
Friday, April 12th - no school.
Reflection
Today, my small group of 4th grade students got finished with their lesson early. They had seen that I had started the 3rd grade students on the books we read together at the end of the year. These 4th graders had read the same books at the end of last year and they were begging me to read them again. I had been telling them that they were too old for these books (although I still enjoy them very much!) But, since we had a little extra time today, I said that we could read one of them together until the end of the period. With great excitement and relish they began to read out loud to each other. What caught my attention was the way they were reading - easily, with expression and confidently. A little progress in reading every day adds to a whole lot of progress by the end of the school year - but it is hard to notice that progress when it is such a gradual thing. I remembered how they had read that same book a year ago, and I was thrilled with their progress.
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