Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

Hopefully you have had a wonderful week!  The kids have been working hard this week!

Pumpkin Book Report

• We got our first 2 Pumpkin Book Reports today!  Please remember the pumpkin, book report and book all need to be finished and brought to school by Tuesday, October 23.
• We will share the pumpkins on Thursday, October 25.

Conference Request

• In your student's Friday folder is a conference request form.  Please look over the times and mark your top 3 choices with a 1, 2, or 3.  We offer additional times as we have more students to meet with.  If you want a back-to-back time with another teacher at RBE, please make sure the time is offered by both teachers.  If you have additional students at RBE, but don't need a back to back time, please let us know that as well.  These forms are due back by October 26 and we will be meeting with other teachers on October 30 to schedule sibling conferences.  Conference times will be sent home on November 2.  

Book-It

• We have had a few students earn their Book-It Pizza for October.  As a reminder, students must read for at least 2 hours, fill out the form, have it initialed by a parent/guardian and bring it in to their teacher.  We will then give them a coupon for a free personal pan pizza.
• This is not required at all, just a reminder if your student is working towards a free pizza.  

Homework Bingo

• We have had a group for Homework Bingo each Friday so far.  We enjoy eating with the students.  Please encourage your student to earn a bingo so we can eat with them also.  

Fall Party

• Our Fall Party is next Friday, October 26 from 1:45-2:30.  Below is a Sign-Up Genius from our head room parent if you would like to sign up to send in supplies for the party.
• https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fa5ac2eab9-fall

Weather

• Welcome to Missouri weather!  Some days when students come to school they are needing a heavy coat, but then by recess the weather has warmed up a little.  Please send a light jacket or a sweatshirt with your child.  Some students are getting warm at recess.  Thanks!

Math

• We started Unit 3 this week.  This unit cover subtraction and subtraction strategies.  This week, the students learned about creating fact families.  This group of students has been rocking math this year and fact families was no different!  They were able to take the numbers and create 2 addition and 2 subtraction problems.  YEAH!  One misconception that can happen, especially if they are in a rush, is when creating the subtraction problem, the problems are not always written correctly.  They will often switch the numbers around as you would with the addition problems which makes the subtraction problem not true.  This is a great skill to practice in the car.  You can give the student 3 numbers that can be turned into addition/subtraction problems (example: 4, 3, 7) and then they give you the 4 problems (3 + 4 = 7; 4 + 3 = 7; 7 - 4 = 3; 7 - 3- = 4).  We also learned about counting up and counting back to solve subtraction problems.  Students learned a new game called Salute that can be played at home to practice basic facts.
• Next week, we will continue working on various subtraction strategies.  Often with addition facts, the students are able to quickly add them without a strategy.  The subtraction strategy definitely are used more often as students do not have their subtraction facts memorized yet.  

Science

• This week, students wrapped up their study of birds and their adaptations by creating their own bird.  Be sure to check them out in the hallway if you are at school.
• They also went back to their student of the properties of matter.  The properties are the characteristics of an object that describe it.  This week the students completed a science lab that had them thinking about the color, flexibility, strength, texture and absorbency of an object/material.  The goal of this unit is for students to be given characteristics and be able to pick out the object based on the characteristics and also be given an object and be able to describe it with specific characteristics or properties.  

Reading

• This week, we learned about the theme of a story.  We started with learning about the moral of a story and how to identify it.  Then we moved more into the theme.  We discussed that the theme is the overall message the author wants you to take away from the story.  The theme is often one or two words.  It is not as much something the author wants you to learn, but a skill you could use to be a better person.  
• Next week, we will continue our study of theme and be looking at songs and having the students identify the theme of the songs.  We will also start to focus more on identifying and supporting the theme of the story or song.  

Writing

• Almost everyone finished publishing their first personal narrative!  There are just a few that are finishing up illustrations.  The students have worked very hard on their first piece of writing.  We can't wait to share it at conferences.  
• Next week, we will jump right into our next personal narrative.  We will still be guiding the students through the process, but it will be more independent so the students have an opportunity to show us what they have learned about writing a personal narrative and the components to include to make it the best personal narrative.
• We will also be using some of our writing time to have the students do some self-reflection over the first trimester of school.  These self-reflections will be shared at conferences.

Fundations

• This week, we continued to work on identifying syllables in multi-syllabic words and marking up the syllables.  The students learned about 4 different ways to identify a work as multi-syllabic.  
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• We have also added 10 additional minutes of Fundations practice each day.  During this time, students will be independently practicing either trick words or a skill that way learned the week before.  This week students worked on adding the suffix of s/es and knowing when to use which one.  They also had an opportunity to practice trick words.  Please practice these trick words at home.  Trick words are words that cannot be tapped out and the students simply have to memorize.
• Next week, we will continue learning about multi-syllabic words and other rules that go along with identifying the syllables.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs. Ross