For the Week of September 30th

Chess Club

Both club's first meeting went well this past week. We will be meeting again this week. We will be working on making sure we understand check mate and how to win the game.

Reading at Home

Many parents ask me for tips on what they can do at home to help their child with his/her reading. The best advise I can give is to read! Just like practicing an instrument or an athletic skill, practicing helps. The student should spend time reading to themselves, reading to a parent/guardian and listening to reading. Discussing what the student read will also help them build their comprehension skills. The books your child reads to themselves should be very easy for them to read. They should be able to read almost all of the words on each page and understand what they are reading. Those books that he/she reads to you can be a little bit harder (but not too discouraging) because you can help him/her with some words. The books that you read to him/her can be even harder, because that will increase vocabulary and help him/her to understand the way good writing sounds. Please do not underestimate how important reading with your child is for improving your child's reading skills.

For the Week of September 23rd

Chess Club

Chess Club begins this week. Both the Wednesday and Thursday clubs will be meeting. Please make sure to pick up your student by the 3rd grade door by 3:30. Thank you!

Friday is Half Day!

Friday, September 27th, is a half day of school. Children will be dismissed at 11:00 AM.

For the Week of September 16th

Chess Club

Chess Club is full! It was great to see the enthusiastic response that I received right away to join chess club. Slips will be going home the week of the 16th saying which club your child is in.

Daily Five

When your child comes home talking about the Daily Five, they are talking about a system that the teachers use to help students become better readers. The Daily Five includes five areas of reading that the students work on. Read to themselves, read to someone else, listen to reading, word work, and writing. The goal of the Daily Five is to foster literacy independence so that the teacher is free to work with small groups or individuals. Every student is engaged in literacy activities at the same time. They know what they are to be doing and they have a sense of urgency that what they are doing is important and meaningful.

For the Week of September 9th

MAP and Aimsweb Testing

The majority of the MAP and Aimsweb testing is finished. The teachers are now reviewing the data to decide how best to meet the academic needs of each student.

Chess Club

Chess Club sign-up sheets will be going home this week. There will be a cut-off of 20 students per club and there will be two clubs. One will meet on Wednesdays after school and the other on Thursdays. Students who want to do more than one activity on the same day should be encouraged to decide which activity they would most like to be involved in.