Wednesday, November 7th: All Day Out & About
We will be traveling to Portland for an O&A focused on our new class business.
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.
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
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...
This week, students participated in an “In & About” science lab brought to us by OMSI. Students explored energy options through experiments and engineering challenges. We thought about the following:
• Renewable energy technologies provide sustainable options that support our daily energy needs.
• Fossil fuels are running out and burning them is harmful to the environment.
• We can use energy from wind, water, and sun by converting it to electricity.
• A wide variety of energy options are available.
We also began discussing our ideas for a classroom business!
The Puffins considered our 3 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)
Level 2 students are writing opinion pieces, and supporting their point of view with reasons and information. We are focusing on:
- 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
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.