Week 9

Our second month comes to a close. We are within two weeks of our first (gasp) report card! Please note that report cards will be given out on Nov. 14 and Parent Teacher Conferences will take place the next day. A notice will be sent home next week with sign up slips.

Here are some other events to look forward to this upcoming week:

• We have begun our second Social Studies unit, Native Americans of New York State. The focus of the unit will be on two groups: the Iroquois and the Lenape Algonquins. We have already read an article introducing us to the Algonquins and looked at some artifacts. We also enjoyed a short film about the life style of the native people. At the end of the unit, students should recognize the contributions of the Native Americans to our history and culture.
• The third Math unit will include work in Multiplication and Division through number sentences and algebraic equations. Students will review multiplication/ division facts and fact families, then solve multiplication/ division problems in different formats such as the In and Out boxes.
• Monday is Halloween! Alex's mom, Mrs. Lewandowski, will teach us how to make pumpkin bread. 
• Monday is also Wacky Wardrobe Day. Your child has the following note explaining the event: On Monday, October 31,  we are observing Halloween with some odd wardrobe choices. This can be:
  ·    clothes worn inside out
  ·    mismatched shoes or socks
  ·    interesting color combinations
  ·    pajamas
  Please be aware that Monday is our gym day, so footwear has to be comfortable for physical activities.  Also, students might be asked to remove any pieces that can be distracting (ex. a hat, loud jangly jewelry, etc.).
  
  
  We discussed in class that this also means that there are no masks or costumes, in compliance with school policy. 
  
  
• Our First Friday on Nov. 4th will be led by Mrs. Treinen, Stella's mom. Students will construct False Face masks, an important item in the Native American culture. These masks have deliberately exaggerated features intended to scare away evil spirits.
• We are also finishing our Realistic Fiction and Character Study work in our reading and writing work this week. Students will publish their short stories. At times during the week, your child will bring home the piece to work on. Please encourage your child to look over his or her work for capital letters, punctuation marks and clear paragraphs. While some children will resort to inventive spelling for challenging words, basic sight words should be spelled correctly.
• Finally,  the median in this set of numbers: {23, 18, 16, 23, 25, 15, 11} is 18. All voters were correct! Great job!!! Please check out the new poll question.

I appreciate all the positive support the class and I have received over this first two months. What a great class and great families we have!
Have a fantastic weekend!