Friday, October 28th

Dear Parents,

Thank you to our room mom, Renee O’Lear, and all of the parents who helped make our fall party a success.  The kids had a fantastic time.

Literacy:

We are busy with our writing unit about adapting fairy tales. The kids and I read many classic and adapted fairy tales to get familiar with their style. We looked at how and why writers of adapted fairy tales might have decided to make the changes they did. Each student selected a fairy tale to adapt.  They completed plans for their stories and have started writing their first drafts. 

Next week, students will work on revising and editing their fairy tales so they can be published.  I am looking for some parent volunteers to help with editing.  We will edit stories for spelling and complete sentences.  Please let me know if can help edit during our literacy block on Thursday, November 3rd and or Friday, November 4th from 11:45 to 12:45.  Thank you!

Some children are bringing home an important letter about the Reading Plus program in their Friday folder. These students are familiar with Reading Plus and should be comfortable using this resource.    If you child does not have a Reading Plus letter, they have an i-Ready membership.  They should know their login information. I would like students to use Reading Plus or i-Ready at least once a week for their reading log. I will be able to monitor their work on Reading Plus and i-Ready.  If weekly computer access in not possible for your child, please let me know.Thank you!

Math:

Unit 2 has been a lot of practice with all of the multiplication and division facts and how to use them in one and now two step word problems. The class is doing a great job using a step by step method to find the important information, think about what the problem is asking them to do and then writing and solving the equation. We even started using order of operations (ask your child about PMDAS Please Make Dad A Sandwich). I am impressed with their hard work. We will have our Unit 2 math test on Wednesday of next week. Then, we will begin our Measurement, Time, and Graphs unit.

Science

Our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit is coming to a close.  It has been amazing to watch and learn about the life cycles of frogs, ladybugs, and pea plants in our classroom. We will begin a social studies unit about regions the week of November 7th.

Important Dates:

Monday, November 11- NO SCHOOL VETERANS DAY

Have a wonderful weekend with your families. 

Oh I almost forgot, I am not going to assign reading minutes or a mystery state on Monday.  Happy Halloween!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, October 21st

Dear Parents,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day!

Thank you for coming to your child’s parent teacher conference.  After meeting with all of you I understand why we have such a wonderful class.  You are a group of very supportive parents.  Please continue to talk to your child about their goals at school and let me know if you have any questions or concerns as the year progresses.

I spoke with many of you about the importance of studying math facts with your child.  Please check out the math links on our classroom website http://mrsgalt.blogspot.com/

You should have your child’s Prodigy username and password.  Students seem to love this site, and it is a good way to support our math work.

Reviewing your child’s math homework and reading log with them is also a great way to support your child’s academic growth.  Thank you!

I am excited to announce that we are beginning our Wetland Life Cycles lessons with Thorne Nature Experience on Thursday, October 27th .  A teacher from Thorne will be working with students during three progressive visits to extend our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit.  Please ask your child about what they learned and did during these lessons on October 27th, November 3rd, and November 10th.  Thank you to our PTA for funding our work with Thorne!

Important Dates to Remember:

Saturday, October 22nd: Kohl Carnival

Friday, October 28th: Fall Party 1:30-2:30

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, October 7th

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday!  We had a fantastic and busy week.

The online sign up for parent-teacher conferences is open. https://sites.google.com/a/bvsd.org/kohl-conferences/  Thank you to the many parents who have already signed up. I am looking forward to sharing your child's progress and setting some goals for this year. If for some reason these dates do not work for your schedule, please let me know so we can arrange another time to meet. It is important that I communicate with all my families during conference time.  Your child is welcome to come to the conference.

We completed all of the instruction for the multiplications and divisions facts 0-10 and will begin our math dashes on Tuesday. These are short quizzes testing students recall of multiplication and division facts. Students will take a dash almost each day until they complete all of them. When they are finished with all 32 quizzes, they will get an ice cream sandwich! Please have them continue to study everyday! It is so important to build a strong foundation in math for the upcoming years ahead. Studying overnight for at least 15 minutes will have your child feeling strong in their math facts.

Our first field trip is next Friday. If you have not returned the permission slip and fee, please do so no later than Thursday. If you need help with all or part of the fee, please let me know. Your child will need to dress nicely, as we are going to the theater, and bring a sack lunch and drink.

There is NO SCHOOL on Monday. It is a teacher professional development day.

Our Fall Party is scheduled for October 28. Please watch for an email from our room mom regarding this event.

Our room mom is also in charge of the 3rd-grade basket for the Kohl Carnival, which is on Saturday, October 22nd

.  Please watch for that email as well and consider donating to the basket. Our basket theme is SPORTS. Thank you!

Please continue to support your child with regular math fact practice. The following websites are great resources for fact practice.

www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/default.htm

www.mathfactcafe.com/

www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html

The following free iPad Applications are also great for math practice:

Flash To Pass, Counting Money, Rocket Math, My Math Flash Cards.

Important Dates to Remember

Monday, October 10th NO SCHOOL Teacher Professional Development

Wednesday, October 12th Jog-a-Thon pledges due

Thursday, October 13th-October 18th Book Fair

Thursday, October 13th Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 14th Boulder Dinner Theater Field Trip (Sack lunches needed)

Tuesday, October 18th Parent Teacher Conferences

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt