Week of 1/5

Happy New Year to all! I hope that your break from school was restful, relaxing, and full of great memories!

Now it's time to get back into action at school. Who is ready?!

PALS testing begins this week, through next week. I'm excited to see all the progress the children have made since the beginning of the year. 

Important Dates:

• Tues. 1/13 - Math Fest 6 - 7:30
• Fri. 1/16 - Fundraiser begins
• Mon. 1/19 - No school - MLK
• Tues./Wed. 1/20-21 - Reading benchmark test (CPA = checkpoint assessment, which is the "new name" for the benchmark tests)

• Thurs./Fri/ 1/22-23 - 2:20 dismissal
• Fri. 1/23 - end of second quarter
• Mon./Tues. 1/26-27 - No school - teacher work days
• Wed./Thurs. 1/28-29 - Math CPA
• Thurs. 2/5 - Report cards issued

Here's a glimpse of what we'll be working on this week:

Language Arts:

Story: Brave as a Mountain Lion

Phonics: Suffixes -ness, -ly, -ful, -ous

Strategy: Visualizing

Skills:  Realism/fantasy

Grammar: Past/present verbs

Writing: "How to...", complete/varied sentences, transition words

Math:

We'll begin calendar skills this week (SOL 3.12). Students will be able to identify equivalent periods of time - i.e. 7 days = 1 week, 4 weeks = 1 month, 12 months = 1 year, etc. They have to know days, weeks, months, years, hours, and minutes. There will be a quiz on Friday. Keep working on IXL to review skills from beginning of year - place value, rounding, comparing numbers, time, money, adding/subtracting, word problems, etc. And please keep practicing multiplication facts! Math Fest night next Tuesday, 1/13 will be a great way to learn how you can help your child excel in math! 

Science: (with Mrs. King)

Mrs. King is continuing with Earth cycles (SOL 3.8). Students will be finishing seasons and day/night, then move on to moon phases. 

Social Studies:

We're going to finish our explorers unit this week. We'll review on Monday and Tuesday, then take the test online on Wednesday.  Then we'll start a review of North American geography, which is a review from 2nd grade. Students have to be able to locate the following on a U.S. map: James River, Mississippi River, Rio Grand, Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes, Richmond, and Washington D.C.