Monday, November 12th: Veterans Day NO SCHOOL for students
Thursday, November 15th: Puffins to the Forest Grove Public Library
Friday, November 16th: All School Meeting and Spirit Day: Tie Dye!
Friday, November 16th: Empty Bowls Dinner 5-7:00pm
Monday- Friday Nov. 19th - 23rd: NO SCHOOL
Thanksgiving Break (All Week)
Have a Wonderful Week!
Community School Calendar 2018-2019
Forest Grove Public Library November Calendar of Events
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.
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 are listed below.
- 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
- Place Value and Rounding
- Multi-digit Adding and Subtracting
- Factors & Multiples
- Prime and Composite Numbers
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
Our Storypath “business community” project is wrapping up with a celebration. The Puffins decided to turn our classroom into a sidewalk sale and street fair. Each business will create a booth with items for sale and an activity or special event to draw in customers. Students are currently working on a plan for their booth and the items they will present at our culminating project day next week.
Moving forward, level 2 students will be working to create their own class business. This week, Puffins and Plovers visited a mini golf business to see if a putt-putt golf course would be a good fit for our class business. Students came up with a question (e.g., What is the putting surface like?) to investigate at the course. They also observed the course layout, sketched their favorite obstacles and had fun playing the game! The Puffins considered our 3 criteria (listed below) and decided that creating a mini golf course out of recycled materials will be a good fit for our class business.
Our Class Business Criteria:
- Wise use of resources (reduce-reuse-recycle)
- The production of goods or services must include everyone in our class
- Incorporates the big ideas we learned from our Storypath business community and from our Out & Abouts (using resources wisely/ considering the wants and needs of customers/ thoughtful advertising/ problem solving)
Writing Workshop: Opinion
Level 2 students are writing opinion pieces, and supporting their point of view with reasons and information. This week students considered the 4 seasons and took an opinionated stance on their “favorite” season. We are focusing on the following:
- Introducing a topic, “hooking” the reader, and stating an opinion
- Providing at least 3 reasons that are supported by details
- Ending with a concluding statement
- Sentences have correct capitalization and punctuation
- Neat handwriting and proper spacing between words
Reading Workshop: Book Clubs
These small group "Literature Circles" engage students in vocabulary study and rich conversations about shared readings. Students can express their opinions, predictions, and questions about a text in a productive, structured way while developing their reading, speaking, and thinking abilities.Ask your kiddo to tell you about the book they are reading!