Monday- Friday Nov. 19th - 23rd: NO SCHOOL
Thanksgiving Break (All Week)
Have a Wonderful Week!
Wednesday, November 28th: O&A to the backyard garden
Wednesday, December 5th: Toy Take Apart Day! 12:20-2:30pm
Volunteers & Donations Needed! (see below)
Wednesday, December 12th: Toy Reuse/Rebuild Day 12:20-2:30pm
Toy Take Apart Day:
We will continue our study of electricity with a Toy Take Apart Day on December 5th, and a Reuse/Rebuild Day on Dec. 12th. Students will work in small groups to safely dismantle and learn about the "guts" of their toys! Next, students will attempt to recreate and rebuild working sound, lights and motion from the materials.
DONATIONS NEEDED:
Volunteers: We will need parents to help with safe tool use in the classroom.
Electronic Toys Needed: donations of old/broken mechanical toys(stuffies with batteries or switches, dancing Santas, remote-control cars, etc).
Tools Needed: Smaller sizes of standard and Phillips head screwdrivers, pliers and wire cutters. Please label tools with your student's name so they can be returned.
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
- Multi-digit Multiplication
What's Happening in the Puffin Nest...
This week, Puffins wrapped up their Storypath “business community” project with a celebration. The Puffins decided to turn our classroom into a sidewalk sale and street fair. Each business created a booth with items for sale and an activity or special event to draw in customers. Students used realistic "money" to purchase materials for making their sale items and determined their total costs (booth rental and materials) of operation for the event. Students enjoyed taking turns running the business booth and shopping at the sidewalk sale. Our project reflection included the final counting of money made and calculating profits or losses for the event. Students also considered the skills they learned and practiced during our project work, challenges they faced and what they are most proud of.
In project work over the next few months, level 2 students will be working to create their own class business. The Puffins will use our 3 criteria (listed below) as a guide as they create a mini golf course out of recycled materials to share with our community.
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 completed their graphic organizer plans and finished a first draft for an essay about 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!