Wednesday, November 7th: All Day Out & About - Chaperones Needed!
We will be traveling to Portland for an O&A focused on our new class business. More information to come:)
If you can join us, please email Ginny at: g.brown@fgcschool.org
Monday, November 12th: Veterans Day NO SCHOOL for students
A little note about comfort: As our weather is getting cooler and rain is often in the forecast, please make sure that your kiddo is properly outfitted with warm (waterproof) layers and appropriate footwear on Monday and Wednesdays when they will be outside for at least part of their day.
LINK TO: Forest Grove Public Library November Calendar of Events
How's your homework routine going?
Suggested Weekly Homework:
Reading Homework
Spend at least 20 minutes reading (outside of school) every day.
Reading is on the "honor system" and we ask that you help your kiddo to develop a daily reading routine with good-fit books and a well-lit, comfy reading spot away from distractions. At fall conferences, your kiddo brought home the Tower of Books wall poster, which is a fun (and optional) reading genre challenge.
Typing Homework
Level 2 students have typing homework to develop and support important keyboarding skills. Please practice at least 20 minutes per week on: Typing.com
Passwords were sent home at family visits. Please email Ginny if you need help getting into your child's account.
Math homework
It is strongly recommended that your student practice math skills at least 30 minutes (or more) per week.
Our Dreambox math program for homework has started. Passwords and account information were sent home with your kiddo this week.
If you are interested in exploring other ways to practice math at home, take a look at these ideas:
Ideas for math practice:
- 4th graders can get valuable math practice with Khan Academy. Current 4th grade math topics to explore: Addition/Subtraction & Place Value/Rounding
- Online Math Game Sites: ZapZap Math or Prodigy- create your own account!
- Multiplication Facts Practice with a simple dice game. How to Play: Each player takes turns rolling 3 dice. First to break 200 (or 500, etc.) wins. On your turn, you get to choose two dice to add together, then you multiply the sum by the final die. That’s your score for that turn.
- Facts Practice with Free Math Apps: Sushi Monster & Math Hero
- Facts Practice with Purchased Math Apps: Operation Math & Math Vs. Zombies
Fall "Goal Setting" Conferences
Puffins prepared for conferences by setting an opinion writing goal and a citizenship/stewardship/scholarship goal for themselves, and thinking about the steps they can take to meet their goals. Puffins also learned about the Tower of Books reading challenge that they will complete at home. Thank you to families who were able to attend conferences to hear about your student's goals and take home a folder with materials to support your Puffin at home.
An extra special THANK YOU to the FGCS Parent Group and all the volunteers who supplied teacher refreshments for the extra long conference days! The treats were delicious and very much appreciated!
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
This week, the puffins jumped back into their storypath to learn about the costs and profits involved with running a business. Next, the business owners and workers of our Storypath Grove business community were faced with a problem: declining customers and sales. Students worked in groups to discover the causes of the problem and to brainstorm solutions. Business partners focused on a message they wanted to deliver to their customers and the special products and services they could offer to improve sales and foot traffic. Students chose to create a jingle, a commercial or a social media campaign to boost business and presented their advertisements to the class.
On Wednesday, students travelled to our backyard garden for a closer look at the science of composting, and to discover what it takes for our food and organic materials to breakdown into the nutrient-rich fertilizer we rely upon in our garden. Not only does compost return nutrients to our soil to help plants grow, but it removes materials that might be put in a landfill and puts them to good use! Students learned how compost is like a recipe, requiring a few key ingredients and instructions to create a high quality and useable product. Students worked with partners to complete an audit of our current compost system in the Backyard Garden and considered how we can improve our compost “recipe” for a more efficient system.
Read Aloud
We are now reading Kate Dicamillo's: Tale of Despereaux
This engaging book abounds with interesting characters and rich themes.
As we read, students are encouraged to connect the story to their personal experiences and feelings, and to their general background knowledge. To boost comprehension, we are practicing our book club response work, where students express their opinions, make predictions, and ask questions about a text while developing their vocabulary skills, and writing abilities.