ROOM 12!

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013

NEWSLETTER
August/September Calendar
8/18 - First day of school 8/29 - Back-to-School Night 9/2 - Labor Day (no school) 9/20 - Sta Learning Day (no school) 9/19 - Safety Night @ 6pm 10/3-10/11 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

Room 12 is ready for an exciting year ahead!

You may not realize it, but teachers feel just as much excitement and anticipation in the fall as the students! The three days before the rst day of school was spent cleaning, setting up, and organizing Room 12. While lesson-planning, putting things away As a reminder as we start a new year, please practice safe drop-off and pick-up procedures in our small parking lot. NEVER leave your vehicle when in either of the two lanes. It is important that we avoid trafc jams and unsafe driving. It is also Every other week you should expect your child to bring home their Thursday Gator Folder full of completed work. An assignment sheet will be included, listing all of the graded assignments and corresponding grades. If your child is missing a grade it indicates that I ! and straightening desks, I wondered about my new class. Would I recognize any of the students? Would they be a fun-loving and positive group? Would we have a great year together? I am full of jittery excitement as I look towards the fun days ahead! quite disruptive to the upper grade classes when schoolwide announcements are made to parents who have exited their vehicles during primary student pick-up times. Thank you very much for your help in this important matter. have not received the assignment and that the child has received a zero for that piece of work. Please review the packet of work and sign the assignment sheet to indicate that you are aware of their current grades. These signed sheets are due back the following Monday. PAGE 1

ROOM 12! ENGINEERING CONTEST Each fall, fourth and fth grade students participate in an engineering contest. In order to maintain complete secrecy I cannot reveal what this contest entails, but as returning students know, it involves a great deal of ingenuity and cooperation! EXPOSITORY WRITING We w i l l b e w o r k i n g o n expositor y writing in our Writers Workshop. Students will spend the next several weeks learning and practicing proper paragraph format (ask them about those reds, yellows, and greens!). Students will be learning how to cite materials and will put this skill to use when they write their rst bibliographies. Soon they will type their reports on the fth grade wiki and receive feedback from other students. In this way, the resulting reports should be thoroughly edited and free of errors upon turn-in. Once they have mastered the ins and outs of report-writing, they will have the skills to take on upcoming Social Studies and Science research reports. TYPE TO LEARN In September, fth graders participate in Type to Learn lessons. This computer program allows students to practice and hone their keyboarding skills. This allows for more expedient and focused work while in the computer lab, as well as more efciency while working on typed assignments at home. ! O C TO B E R PA R E N TTEACHER CONFERENCES A s yo u r c h i l d m ay h ave informed you, students will be leading the Parent-Teacher Conferences this year. Students will have the opportunity to share their strengths, the areas needing improvement, and personal goals. They will also share samples of their work, talk about their personal types of intelligence, and engage in discussion with parents about the topics presented. In Se ptember, students will be diligently preparing for this conference and will be more than ready to present come conference time. This year, conferences will be held October 3-11. Sign-ups will take place towards the end of September. BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT Our 2013 Back-To-School Night will take place on Thursday, August 29. This information session is meant for parents only, so please nd child care for your student(s). Teachers will cover curriculum, expectations, standards, grade-level events, and more. Please view the schedule below: Grades 3-5: 6-6:45pm (classroom) GLC: 6:45-7:00pm (whole school) Grades K-2: 7-7:45pm (classroom) I hope to see you there!

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013

VOLUNTEERS ARE INVALUABLE! As always, parent volunteers are an integral part of our students classroom experience. Volunteers help to keep things running smoothly as well as to head important programs that our students couldnt do without. Please consider volunteering for any of the following jobs. The sign-up form is located on the Parent Survey. Click on the survey link at the top of this page. REMEMBER: I f yo u w o u l d l i k e t o volunteer in the classroom or on eld trips, you must have a current TB test on le with the ofce. Please make arrangements and be sure to bring documentation of clearance before beginning volunteer work.

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