Last week of 2014

   Well, tomorrow starts the last week of school for this calendar year.  It is so hard to believe.  This past week we finished up our project on Sun, Moon and Shadows and the City of Ember.  The students did a great job presenting and we appreciate the help from the parents who were able to attend and hep up out.  On Thursday, we kicked off our new project dealing with Native Americans. Our students will be writing and illustrating books for first graders at Washington.  They are going to work with a parter on this one and we hope to have this project finished by The first week back after break.  The students have already been learning about these groups during Humanities so this should be a quick project.
    On Friday, we will be having a Holiday party.  Students will be allowed to bring in a snack to share with their homeroom that afternoon.  Look for a paper to come home and talk to your student about if you would like to volunteer to send something in for the party.  We are going to watch a Christmas movie together and then have snacks with our homerooms.
    Our new "Pink Slip" discipline system has been going pretty well for most students.  We are really working on making students responsible for this on a daily basis.  If your student gets their pink slip signed it is their responsibility to get it signed by a parent and brought back to school.  We appreciate your help with this system.
     This is the last week of the grading period and we will be finishing up lots of things this week.  Students need to continue to read daily and record it on their reading calendars.  Also, Achieve 3000 needs to be completed weekly (75% on two articles each week with Thought Questions).
    Have a great week!

December Already??

    It is hard to believe that there is only two weeks until the start of Christmas Break!  This school year is flying by so quickly.  Hopefully, your student has shared the letter about the family we are adopting this Christmas season.  We will be having the students draw tags for items they wish to bring in to help this family.  There are a wide range of items.  This is a fun project each year and a very rewarding one as well.  This is an optional activity.  Mr. Hunter is going to have a big jar of candy and students my purchase "guesses" for a quarter and the money we raise will go towards a gift certificate for groceries for our adopted family.
     We are wrapping up our latest project on Tuesday.  We could still use some more parents to come in and listen to the students presentations on Tuesday afternoon from 1:30-2:40.  Please let us know if you are available and willing to help us out.  (We have 5 and would really like 12).  The students have been working hard and are excited to share their presentations.
      With this busy time of the year please help your students remember that there are only 2 weeks left of this grading period and they need to make sure they are getting their work done.  If  they want to have fun they have to have their work done!  Achieve 3000 each week and reading 30 mins and recording on the reading calendar are things that should be routine by now.  We really appreciate any help and encouragement you can give.
      Students will be going out to recess much of the time this winter so make sure they are dressing appropriately for the weather.
      Photos this week are from science class where they are working on measuring volume through water displacement of various objects.  Have a great week!