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The Shakespearean Sonnet

November 17, 2008

 

Hello all,

 

At last a full week of school!

 

Important Date Reminders

In case you missed it, our Multicultural Thanksgiving Feast is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  I’ve reattached another notice on the event, as I have received little response from you so far. 

 

Also, I mentioned to many of you at conferences that I will be hosting a Parent-Only meeting for those of you who are interested in some skills and strategies to use with your children at home in order to better prepare him or her for the CMT’s and middle school.  I’m attempting to distill my ideas into five specific strategies in reading, writing, and math that you can use help your child at home. 

 

This meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 2, at 6:00 in my classroom.  If you plan to attend, please let me know on the attached slip so I know approximately how many people to plan for. 

 

Many thanks as always for all of your amazing support. 

 

Student of the Month

Congratulations to November’s Student of the Month, Alper!  Alper is our newest student, though he has been with us for quite some time, and he has thoroughly impressed me with his ability to integrate himself into our classroom and our community almost seamlessly.  He is a hard worker, a focused student, and a wonderful addition to our family.  Bravo, Alper, on a job very, very well done.    

 

Congratulations!

Congrats to Team 2, as yet unnamed, for their victory in the team competition for last week!  Each of them will receive DEAR time aboard this week, allowing them to read anywhere in the building that they so choose. 

 

Congrats to the class as well, for defeating me in the class-wide competition.  As a result of their win, the kids will enjoy a bonus DEAR time on Friday while I must sit and do something boring and painful. 

 

So annoying. 

 

Charlie Award winners!

Congratulations to Emma R., our Charlie Award winner from two weeks ago.  Emma was chosen by me and Dr. K after we spent the class’s extra recess watching students for sportsmanship.  Both Dr. K and I felt that Emma’s support for her teammates, her excitement over their success, and her willingness to accept decisions that went against her without complaint made her more than deserving of the Charlie Award. 

 

Congratulations to our current Charlie Award winner, Riley!  Riley was chosen because of his remarkable effort and focus on the editing and revising of his own writing.  Though he may hate to admit it,

Riley is developing into one of the class’s most serious and respected authors, and the time that he spends on his work is a symbol of his love for the written word.  Way to go, Riley!  A job very well done!

 

Homework

There is more homework than usual this week, as we have our first full week in almost a month.  The assignments are as follows:

 

Geography:  Students will study a new kind of map this week and answer questions

about the information presented.  They will be quizzed on Friday regarding the material in this packet. 

 

Reading:  Students will complete an open-ended question and a Cloze assignment.  The open-ended question should address the book that they are reading at home. 

 

Math:  Students will complete a math packet with questions pertaining to the measurement unit that we completed last week.  There is also multiplication and division practice to complete, but the division is a skill that we begin on Tuesday, so the kids will not be able to start this part of the assignment unless they have some prior instruction in division.

 

In addition to this math packet, I have also sent home three more logic puzzles for the kids to attempt.  For some, these are proving to be surprisingly easy, but for others, it’s trickier.  As long as an honest effort is demonstrated, I won’t be too concerned about accuracy. 

 

I also sent home a checklist that the kids can use to monitor their progress on their essay of the month and science fair project. 

 

That’s it for today!  Thanks, all! 

Warmly,