Friday, August 23, 2019

Friday, August 23rd
Next week we have PE on Wednesday.  Please make sure your child has gym shoes on these days.  Thank you!
Dear Parents,
Thank you for joining us on Tuesday night for our Back to School night presentation. It was great to meet so many of you. If you were not able to attend, your child has our back to school letter and survey in their Friday folder today.  Please look it over and let me know if you have any questions. Return the blue student information sheet as soon as possible. Also, please pay your school supply fee if you have not had a chance to do this yet. Thank you!
Volunteers: Thank you to those of you who were able to sign up to 
volunteer for our classroom.
Room Parents: Nancy Hedberg, Regan Kalish, Andrea Minnich, and Cortney Kraham
Friday Folders: Kim Dahl
Reading in the classroom- M-Th from 12:30-1:00.
(Start the week of September 9th if you have completed your background check)
          Monday: Kim Dahl and Andrea Minnich
          Tuesday: Deyanna Lambert
          Wednesday: Cortney Kraham
          Thursday: Open
Clerical help: Deyanna Lambert (Tuesdays)
Homework: We will begin sending homework home next week.  Students will get a mystery state on Monday, which is due on Friday.  They will also get short math assignments Monday through Thursday. These assignments are due the next day.
Math: This week we were able to get all the math screeners completed. 
This information gives me a snapshot of where your child is in math.  We also started our first math unit, Multiplication and Division 0-5, 9 and 10.
Literacy: This week we worked on writing “seeds/small moment ideas” for personal 
narratives. We are getting those writing muscles warmed up and in shape for a lot of
writing this year! We also started reading some books that help students investigate the importance of kindness. Next week, students will complete a reading assessment 
using i-Ready. We started using this reading assessment a few years ago Kohl, so 
your child should be familiar with the format. After the testing is complete I will have an
 assessment report, which shows me how your child is reading, their strengths, and areas to work on. I will share this information with you at Parent Teacher Conferences in October.
Social Studies: As we get ready to begin our first unit on Communities, we have been
working to build our classroom community. This week we continued to get to know each
other better and to understand the expectations in third grade. 
We are also working on building our stamina for third grade and beyond by talking about Growth Mindset. This is the idea that anyone can learn anything with the right frame of mind. We have talked this week about thinking positively and about what to do when we get frustrated when something is hard. Ask your child how they think having a growth mindset can help them in school and in daily life. 
Reminders:
Snacks:
Students can have snack each day in the morning, and they can have another snack in the afternoon if they would like. I do not provide snack so please be sure to send a healthy snack with your child. Water bottles are encouraged.  Please label bottles with your child’s name. Thank you!
Birthday Treats:
Your child is welcome to bring birthday treats to share with classmates if they would like.  It is helpful to know when they are bringing treats, so please email me with a date if possible.  We have 26 kids in our class. Please keep the following allergies in mind when you are selecting a treat: nuts, dairy, and eggs.  
Important Dates for Your Calendar:
Monday, September 2nd - NO SCHOOL- Labor Day
Friday, September 6th - Picture Day
Friday, September 13th- Assessment Day- details to follow later 
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me by email aisha.galt-theis@bvsd.org or by phone 720-561-8616.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

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Friday, August 9, 2019


Friday, August 9th

Welcome to a new school year at Kohl Elementary!  I am looking forward to our year together.  Please join us for the Kohl Teacher Meet and Greet on Tuesday, August 13th from 3:00 to 3:30. PTA is hosting a popsicle party after the meet and greet.   Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 14th.    Back to School Night is scheduled for Tuesday, August 20th from 6:00 to 6:30.

Go Colts!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha

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Friday, May 3, 2019

Friday, May 3rd

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday.

Dear Parents,

Our trip to the Morrison Natural History Museum was a success!  Our paleontologist guides captured our attention with a wealth of information.  Thank you for supporting our field trips this year.

We still have a bit of end of year testing to complete for the district. We completed our end of year math assessment, and next week we will complete the final iReady reading assessment.

On Monday, May 6th we have a guest author, Patrick Hodge, visiting our class.  Patrick is one of the teachers at Thorne Nature Experience, and he recently published his first children’s book.  He will be reading the book to students and talking about his writing process. You can preview the book and order a copy for your child via this link:
 
Literacy:
We started our poetry unit, and students are reading and writing different types of poetry.  We will continue this unit through the end of the school year. Today, we met with our sixth grade writing buddies.  Students revised and edited chapters one through three of their story and made a plan for chapter four. Our third graders will be working on writing chapter four early next week. Third graders will receive a published copy of their book during our last meeting with our sixth grade buddies on Friday, May 17th.

Math:
We are working on Unit 5: Write Equations to Solve Word Problems.  Please remind your child to continue studying their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. All of these operations will be used in this unit.

Science/Social Studies:
Our current science unit is about Earth Materials. So far, your children have explored the difference between rocks and minerals. Students also investigated identifying minerals by completing a scratch test and referencing the Mohs Scale of Hardness.


Homework for next week:
  • ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
  • Complete nightly math assignments, Monday-Thursday.
  • Read at least 20 min nightly.
  • Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
  • Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and subtraction and addition facts through sums of 20 daily.
Important Dates to Remember
May 6th-Author Visit
May 13th-Coffee at Kohl 8:30
May 14th-3rd Grade Field Daze 12:30-2:15
I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

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Friday, May 3rd

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday.

Dear Parents,

Our trip to the Morrison Natural History Museum was a success!  Our paleontologist guides
captured our attention with a wealth of information.  Thank you for supporting our field trips this year.

We still have a bit of end of year testing to complete for the district. We completed our end of year
math assessment, and next week we will complete the final iReady reading assessment.

On Monday, May 6th we have a guest author, Patrick Hodge, visiting our class.  Patrick is one of the teachers
at Thorne Nature Experience, and he recently published his first children’s book.  He will be reading the book
to students and talking about his writing process. You can preview the book and order a copy for your
child via this link:
 
Literacy:
We started our poetry unit, and students are reading and writing different types of poetry.  We will continue
this unit through the end of the school year. Today, we met with our sixth grade writing buddies.  Students revised
and edited chapters one through three of their story and made a plan for chapter four. Our third graders will be
working on writing chapter four early next week. Third graders will receive a published copy of their book during
our last meeting with our sixth grade buddies on Friday, May 17th.

Math:
We are working on Unit 5: Write Equations to Solve Word Problems.  Please remind your child to continue
studying their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. All of these operations will be used
in this unit.

Science/Social Studies:
Our current science unit is about Earth Materials. So far, your children have explored the difference between
rocks and minerals. Students also investigated identifying minerals by completing a scratch test and referencing
the Mohs Scale of Hardness.

Homework for next week:
  • ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
  • Complete nightly math assignments, Monday-Thursday.
  • Read at least 20 min nightly.
  • Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
  • Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and subtraction and addition facts through sums of 20 daily.
Important Dates to Remember
May 6th-Author Visit
May 13th-Coffee at Kohl 8:30
May 14th-3rd Grade Field Daze 12:30-2:15
I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha Galt

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Friday, April 19, 2019

Friday, April 19th
Next week we have PE on Wednesday.
Dear Parents,

It was great to see so many of you at our Inspiration Exhibition yesterday.  I was reminded of the special community we have a Kohl. Your children worked very hard to complete their informational state slideshows and were excited to share them with our school community.  

Our first day of CMAS testing is complete. I am proud of the hard work your children put into the test. Please continue to encourage your child to do their best!

This week we completed part one of the ELA (English/Language Arts) and Math test. Next week, we will complete part two and three of the ELA and Math test. We are testing on Monday and Wednesday of next week. Due to the testing, we will not be sending home a Mystery State or math homework again next week. Students should continue reading nightly and practicing their math facts.

We are planning our last field trip for Thursday, May 2nd to the Morrison Natural History Museum. Thank you to those of you who have returned the permission slip and money!This trip will be a great supporting activity for our Earth Materials science unit. We will only have one bus for this field trip, so we do not need parent chaperones. If you would like to join us for this trip, you are welcome to drive and meet us there. Thank you!

Hopefully your child has told you about the writing project that we are doing with Mrs. Eaman’s 6th graders.  We had our first meeting last week!  Each third grader is partnered with a sixth grader together they will write, illustrate, and publish a book. This is an exciting and rewarding creative writing project.  We have participated in this project for many years now, and our third graders have loved the process. Sixth graders will return on Friday, May 3rd and Friday, May 17th in the morning. Please make a note of the dates and add them to your calendar. It is important that our third graders are here on these dates to work with their sixth grade buddy.

If your child would like to do some more practicing at home for the CMAS tests, follow this link: http://download.pearsonaccessnext.com/co/co-practicetest.html?links=1
Here are some test taking tips that you can share with your child.
  1. Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test. Avoid eating sugary foods. High-protein foods are often best for aiding concentration and minimizing fatigue.
  2. Get a full night’s sleep before the test.
  3. Wear comfortable clothing.
  4. Don’t panic. If you start getting anxious, take slow deep breaths. Don’t worry about other people finishing early. It is good to use all available time to double-check your work. Students can bookmark questions that they are stuck on and come back to them later.
  5. Check to make sure you have answered all parts of each question.  Many questions are multi-step and/ or require more than one answer.
  6. On a multiple choice question, eliminate any answers that you know are incorrect, especially on questions where you are having trouble arriving at the answer. Eliminating a few wrong answers can increase the chances of a random guess being correct.
  7. Consider all the answer choices before selecting your final answer.
  8. If you have time left over at the end of the test, review your answers.
  9. Do your best!
Homework for next week:
  • Read at least 20 min nightly.
  • Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and subtraction and addition facts through sums of 20 daily
Important Dates to Remember
April 22nd and 24th-CMAS testing
May 2nd-Field Trip to the Morrison Natural History Museum
I hope you have a peaceful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Thursday, April 11th
Next week, we have PE on Tuesday and Friday.
Dear Parents,
Well, we certainly experienced Colorado spring weather this week.   I must say that I am ready for consistent warmth and sunshine.
We are excited to begin a collaborative writing project with BHMS sixth graders in Mrs. Eaman’s classes. We had our first meeting today!  Each third grader is partnered with a sixth grader. Together they will write, illustrate, and publish a book. This is an exciting and rewarding creative writing project.  We have participated in this project for many years now, and our third graders have loved the process.

We are planning our last field trip for Thursday, May 2nd to the Morrison Natural History Museum. Thank you to those of you who have returned the permission slip and money!This trip will be a great supporting activity for our Earth Materials science unit. We will only have one bus for this field trip, so we do not need parent chaperones. If you would like to join us for this trip, you are welcome to drive and meet us there. Thank you!
Our third graders will begin the CMAS test next week and will test on April 16th, 17th, and 18th.  Students will complete the Language Arts test each morning and a math assessment in the afternoon. During the testing days our lunch time will be from 11:15 to 11:50 and our specials time will be from 11:55 to 12:40.
We have spent time familiarizing ourselves with the testing format and practicing answering standardized test questions. If your child would like to do some more practicing at home for the tests, follow this link: http://download.pearsonaccessnext.com/co/co-practicetest.html?links=1
Here are some test taking tips that you can share with your child.
  1. Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test. Avoid eating sugary foods. High-protein foods are often best for aiding concentration and minimizing fatigue.
  2. Get a full night’s sleep before the test.
  3. Wear comfortable clothing.
  4. Don’t panic. If you start getting anxious, take slow deep breaths. Don’t worry about other people finishing early. It is good to use all available time to double-check your work. Students can bookmark questions that they are stuck on and come back to them later.
  5. Check to make sure you have answered all parts of each question.  Many questions are multi-step and/ or require more than one answer.
  6. On a multiple choice question, eliminate any answers that you know are incorrect, especially on questions where you are having trouble arriving at the answer. Eliminating a few wrong answers can increase the chances of a random guess being correct.
  7. Consider all the answer choices before selecting your final answer.
  8. If you have time left over at the end of the test, review your answers.
  9. Do your best!
Homework for next week:
  • ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
  • Complete nightly math assignments, Monday-Thursday.
  • Read at least 20 min nightly.
  • Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
  • Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and subtraction and addition facts through sums of 20 daily.
Important Dates to Remember
April 12th and 15th- No School
April 16th, 17th, and 18th-CMAS testing
April 18th-Inspiration Exhibition 4:00-6:00
I hope you enjoy the long weekend.
Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

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Friday, April 5, 2019

Friday, April 5th
Next week, we have PE on Tuesday.
Dear Parents,

 I hope you had a wonderful spring break! Students did a nice job of getting back into our school rhythm this week.  Today, we enjoyed the talent show. It is always exciting to see our Kohl students share different strengths
We are planning our last field trip for Thursday, May 2nd to the Morrison Natural History Museum.  This trip will be a great supporting activity for our Earth Materials science unit. Please return the field trip permission slip and money as soon as possible. We will only have one bus for this field trip, so we do not need parent chaperones. If you would like to join us for this trip, you are welcome to drive and meet us there. Thank you!
We completed our work with Blue Sky Bridge on Tuesday.  Your child is coming home with a bookmark and a parent letter from the program in their Friday folder.  
As you know, third graders will be taking the CMAS tests on April 16th, 17th, and 18th.
The websites below have have some good practice problems, if you would like to use them at home too.  
Mathematics
Language Arts
Literacy:
We continued our nonfiction genre study.  We are reading expository nonfiction texts and discussing common characteristics of this genre.
We also started an informational state research project.  We will be sharing these with you during the Inspiration Exhibition on Thursday, April 18th.
Math:
This week we continued Unit 7 in our math books- Fractions. By the end of this unit, students will understand:

 How to write a fraction and a unit fraction for a part of a whole and for a number on a number line Write equivalent fractions including fractions that are equivalent to whole number
Compare two fractions with the same denominator OR the same numerator
Solve real world problems involving fractions

The unit test for Fractions is scheduled for next Wednesday, April 10th.
Social Studies/ Science:
We completed our social studies unit about the regions of the United States. Our next science unit is about Earth Materials. So far, your children have explored the difference between rocks and minerals.  
Homework for next week:
ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
Complete nightly math assignments, Monday-Thursday.
Read at least 20 min nightly.
Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and subtraction and addition facts through
sums of 20 daily.

 Important Dates to Remember
April 10th Class Pictures
April 12th and 15th- No School
April 16th, 17th, and 18th-CMAS testing
April 18th-Inspiration Exhibition 4:00-6:00
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

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