Week of September 11, 2017

Teaching~ Mrs. Alexander

Important Dates:

September 11:  Please take time to remember those that were lost on 9-11-01.

        As many of you know, my husband is in the Air Force. Even though we were both still in school on 9/11, the events of that day had an immense impact on how his military career would play out. During one of his many deployments to the middle east, my husband was able to take an American flag with him on the jet and fly it during a combat mission. This week, I will share the significance of this flag with the students, and then we will have the honor of hanging it in our classroom for the remainder of the year. 

September 15: Short day, spirit shirts!

September 18: Cookie Dough Fundraiser ENDS
You still have time to sell some cookie dough! The money raised will help fund school clubs, sports, field trips, and field day. Checks should be made payable to POQA. Online ordering is also an option! Use the following link: Online Cookie Fundraiser Sales, and use the code: 5027545
Do you want to support the school, but really don’t want to have cookie dough in your home? Consider buying a tub or two and donating them to a local soup kitchen!

Classroom needs:

School Supplies: If you have not yet paid the $20 school supply fee, you may still do so at the front office. We hope that, by purchasing and labeling all of the necessary supplies, we were able to take some of the stress off of your shoulders. Unfortunately, if we do not receive enough money to cover the cost of the supplies, we will not be able to continue to offer this option to parents.

Water Bottles: After a few weeks of experimenting with different approaches, we are still having water bottle difficulties. Our classroom is full of technology, texts, and other resources that cannot afford to be wet. Because of continued water spills, it is now necessary that we require SPILL PROOF water bottles. Water bottles with straws, or open mouth pop-tops will no longer be allowed.

This week in class

Reading: We are moving right along in our Wonders program. This week we are starting week 3 of unit 1. We are continuing to learn about traditions, cultures and communities. In writing, our focus will be on composing informational pieces, supported with text evidence.

Math: Addition Strategies are the focus! In class, we will work on learning several different strategies for adding 2 and 3 digit numbers, with and without regrouping. These strategies are important to establish an understanding of the addition process, before teaching students the addition algorithm. I will be sending home a guide that will explain the different strategies that we are using.

STEM: Apple Witches are carved and students will be making predictions and beginning their observations. A big THANK YOU to those that were able to come and help out with this fun activity. It was a busy morning, and the extra help in the classroom kept us on schedule!

Homework: Please continue with 20 minutes of reading each night. Math homework will be continued by using  www.prodigygame.com . Problems correlating with skills we are working on have been assigned to students, and will be incorporated into students’ battles.

Thank you, all, for your continued support. We have an incredible class and we’re enjoying our time with them so much.
Work hard, be kind.