February 8-12th Newsletter
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, February 10th- Level 2 Out & About to the Oregon Historical Society
Chaperone sign ups are on the Volunteer Spot page
Friday, February 12th- Valentines Day Brunch. Donations needed: visit the “Puffin’s Valentines Day Brunch” Volunteer Spot page.
Monday, February 15th- NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, February 16th- Puffins to Library, (make-up visit) Chaperones needed! Please join us in our room at 1:45pm if you can walk with us to the library!
Wednesday, February 17th- Celebration of Learning (School-wide Open House) 5-6:30pm
Friday, February 19th- All School Meeting and Spirit Day. Theme: Neon Rainbow!
CHESS CLUB!!
4th graders, Level 3 & Level 4 students are welcome to join a new chess club
Level 4- Chris' classroom
Mondays after school from 3:30-4:30pm
VALENTINES DAY
FGCS will be participating in the Great Kindness Challenge next week (Feb 8-12). As a culminating celebration, the Puffins will show appreciation for their classroom community with a Valentine’s Day Brunch on Friday, February 12th. I've created sign ups for food donations we will need (juice boxes, crackers, cheese, fruit and veggies) on the “Puffin’s Valentines Day Brunch” Volunteer Spot page.
Please note:
- If your student would like to bring in cards for their classmates, they MUST bring one for every student.
- Puffins can make cards or buy them.
- Please be aware of our school policy of not bringing in sugary treats or candy. If your kiddo wants to add something to their valentine cards, consider gum or small toys.
- Instead of candy, we will enjoy food snacks at the brunch!
Thank you for your support!!
Class List (25 students in class):
Avery Marcus Natalya
Camden Bella Max
Daniel Elsa Rebekah
Daphne Zenzo Mason
Cameron Chloe Kaiden
Adikini Payton Justin
Andi Skyler Ozilline
Hailey Tristen
Walter Lachlan
The Great Kindness Challenge
Last week, we started the The Great Kindness Challenge and we will continue it next week (Feb 8 - 12). The Great Kindness Challenge is dedicated to creating a culture of kindness on campuses nationwide. Last week, we brainstormed ideas for things we could do to show kindness to others. Students read kindness quotes and selected one that resonated with them. They included their quotes in beautiful artwork for our hallway. Next week, the Puffins will have time to plan and perform more kind deeds for the school community. You can also encourage your child to practice extra kindness at home and show the world that KINDNESS MATTERS!
Homework will be due on Thursday, February 10th:
1. Writing: Reading Response Letter- Notebooks due Thursday morning
- Writing Homework Home Support: Ask your child to read the letter they have written out loud. Take a look at the letter and provide them with feedback about what they have done well and how they might make it better. Give reminders about proofreading and working on neat handwriting.
- Directions for completing the Reading Response Letter can be found inside the front cover of the writing notebook. Sentence starting ideas can be found on the last page of the notebook.
2. Reading: Read for at least 20 minutes every night- track at home
3. Math: Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice per week-(more is recommended)
Suggested IXL skills for 3rd grade math practice:
- E.1 Count Equal Groups
- S.6 and S.7 Elapsed Time
- Fractions Worksheet: Fractions Week 5 Homework
- Practice saying multiples (skip-counting) for numbers 2-12
- Multiplication facts up to 12: IXL (D.2)
- Division Facts up to 12: IXL (E.1)
Our Week in Review:
Reading Workshop:
Novel Study:
Students follow up sessions of focused, independent reading with a four part reflection. In their novel study journals, students list and define new words. They note examples of figurative language. They summarize the chapters they read, pose questions and make predictions about what might happen next in the story.
Literature circles:
These small group book clubs engage students in rich conversations about shared readings. Students can express their opinions, predictions, and questions about a text in a productive, structured way. Students take on specific group roles which are designed to develop reading, speaking, and thinking abilities.
Class Read Aloud
We are currently reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Writing Workshop
Students continued our work with persuasive writing by considering the following structure:
Develop an Idea
- Problem/solution
- See people, places, things that are noteworthy
- Check that your thesis is BRAVE and BOLD
- Find EXAMPLES, FACTS & DETAILS to support your thesis
- Name and talk back to the worries or concerns the audience might have about your idea
Ask your student to tell you what they have been writing about!
For the culminating writing piece later in the year, students will work on grant applications to create a change in the community related to our study of emergency preparedness.
Project
On our last Out and About, we joined Lewis and Clark on their exploration by navigating a choose-your-own-adventure style orientation course. Students had to successfully follow compass directions to make it across the continent to Oregon! Our adventure took place at Roger's Park.
Geography Bee
Congratulations to Rebekah - our brave Puffin class representative for the FGCS GeoBee! Over the past several weeks, Puffins participated in the preliminary rounds of the National Geographic Bee. There are 7 rounds of competition and each student individually answers a question in every round. The questions are about US and World geography. In some rounds, students receive multiple answers to choose from and in other rounds, the questions are open-ended.
For more information, please visit: www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee. Only 4th-8th graders are allowed to participate in the National Bee, so Puffins who are 3rd graders just play along for practice! Next year, they'll have an opportunity to represent our class. Another congratulations to Daphne, who is only a 3rd grader but correctly answered 6 questions!
4th grade Math:
FRACTIONS CC 4.NF
BIG IDEAS: Adding fractions with DIFFERENT denominators & Multiplying a fraction by a whole number