Crazy Hat & Crazy Hair Day!

Greetings from Room 10!

     This has been a particularly ambitious week, and the children enthusiastically rose to the occasion. We are in the editing stages of our narrative writing piece, and we began our first book clubs of the year.  Our focus in book clubs initially will be characterization. This is an area of review. However, determining theme is our new concept. They are doing wonderfully!

     Today we celebrated a great start to the new school year with a popcorn party and CRAZY HAT & CRAZY HAIR DAY!  Throughout the school year, we will enjoy special events like this to celebrate.  Speaking of celebrations, Wednesday is our Halloween Party. Our party will begin at approximately 2:20pm and go to the end of the day. All are invited to attend. We will play BINGO and enjoy treats.

      Auditions for A Monstrous Tale are scheduled for November 6^th or 7^th. Be sure to arrive a few minutes before the audition so we can keep the process running smoothly.  Our goal is to make the auditions fun and not-at-all scary. We will take photos of all the children during their auditions.

      For American Education Week, you are invited to join us in the classroom on November 6^th from 11:15-12:00 and then join your child at recess/lunch at noon.

      Our Annual Eat, Shoot & Read event is November 8^th. The fifth-grade class is hosting a snack bar and will sell pizza. If you haven’t already pre-ordered your pizza, you have until November 5^th. Otherwise, we will sell pizza by the slice. Check out the Sign-up Genius to donate food items.

      If you haven’t already done so, please use the Sign-Up Genius link I provided to schedule a conference. I look forward to chatting with everyone!

      I am attaching some photos I took this morning.  Enjoy!!!

                                                                 Have a great weekend!  Lester B. Debbi B. & Class

Off to a GREAT Start!

Dear Students and Parents of Room 10,

      As the title indicates, we are off to a great start in Room 10!! The children are coming together nicely as a learning community, and it is great to see how well they work together as a team.  This week was no exception!

      We are in full swing in our writing unit. We will begin Bend II on Tuesday. We took a short (2 session) hiatus from our narrative writing to compose a letter to each child's favorite teacher.  Each year I have my students write a letter to their favorite teacher to share why she or he is so special. They may include a hand-drawn picture with the letter. I will collect the letters and mail them (or put them in mailboxes if they are still at Slingerlands) to the teachers. In the past, the recipients have been so thrilled to receive a letter from their former student.

      The crayfish unit is going well. We are in the middle of learning crayfish anatomy both by color coding the vocabulary word, definition and body part. In addition, we have a Quizlet for the children to better make the connection. I emailed them the link to Quizlet, although we haven't had time in class to use it yet. Quizlet is a commonly used website at the Middle School.

     In reading we are still in the preliminary stages of working on literacy stations while I individually assess each student. Be sure to ask your child what stations they did this week. Soon we will begin our first book clubs focusing on theme.

      The children seem to love singing around the piano. Although not every day, we try to sing as often as possible. Right now our focus is on The Sound of Music having learned "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," and "Edelweiss." We have also sung "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid.

      Next week I will announce the fifth grade musical and send home a packet of information. An informational parent meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16th at 7pm. Please join us if your child wants to participate in any aspect of the musical.

      There will be no Weekly Reflection this week. But I want to remind you that it is very important that you sign and your child returns the weekly reflection every Monday.

      Have a wonderful long weekend!                          Lester Betor and Class