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Dear Yellow Jacket Families,

Can you believe the snow we got last week!?  What a fun time!  Your children wrote all about it in their writing journals and shared their experiences with the class!  I, of course, enjoyed hearing all about it!!

Thank you so very much for the books your child donated for our class library!  They are so excited about reading them and so am I!!  Once again, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Just a few notes for this week:  Our class is participating in the Six Flags Six Hour Reading Club.  In order to become a member, your child needs to read for fun for a total of six hours.  They can read books, magazines, ocmic books, newspapers, etc.  Parents need to initial the paper that was sent home last week each time your child reads.  Students need to read for at least 360 minutes in order to be eligible.  The form will need to be returned to me by February 26th.  If your child meets these requirements, he or she will qualify for a free ticket to Six Flags!!  Happy reading!

Just a reminder that there are several events coming up in the near future.  Please check the bulletin board next to the Media Center for details regarding these Family Fun events.  As well, our annual Sope Creek Fun Run will be held March 15th this year.  It's Saturday morning from 9am-12pm.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Christy Palladino at christypalladino@bellsouth.net .

Thank you for attending conferences this week.  I enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to meet with each of you!  You have wonderful children!  Have a wonderful weekend.  Attached is next week's newsletter:  Download jan28newsletter.doc

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Parent/Teacher Conferences next week!  Remember Monday we are all off for the MLK Holiday and school will resume with EARLY RELEASE Tuesday through Friday at 12:20pm.  Please plan to arrive on time for your conference, as we will only have 20 minutes to discuss your child's progress. 

A few other notes:  Your child brought home a letter from the Art Teacher explaining a project on which they will be working.  Please check the form to make sure he or she brings to school the needed supplies.  Mrs. Hopkins will be supplying the weaving looms which will need to be returned at the end of the project.  Children should plan to have their supplies for our next Art class on Friday next week.  She will let them know when the final project is due.

PTA is doing another fundraiser:  an Art Show, on the same day as Art Day.  This is going to be the evening of February 1, from 6-8:30pm.  The children's work will be put on display.  It will be an open house format where families may come, view, and purchase the finished masterpieces!  Wow!  The class with the highest class attendance will receive a Popcicle Party and Free Framed Artwork!  Hope to see you there!

As stated, Art Day will be held February 1.  Flyers were sent home today for the Jenny Holzer art project in which the children will be participating.  They are asking for our children to work on these over the weekend.  They do not need to decorate the flyers.  Children are just being asked to submit phases and statements.

Please return the "truisms" by TUESDAY, January 22nd.  A box will be in the front office for the collection of their ideas.

I did not send home the weekly green progress sheets this week, as I will be meeting individually with you with regard to your child's progress.  Green sheets will resume next week. 

Also, the children complete Daily Oral Language and Dailies (consisting of math problems, analogies, vocabulary and more) each day.  They have been doing this since the beginning of the year.  Almost all of the children, with the exception of maybe an occasional one or two, have more than enough time to complete these during our morning work time.  There are some who are not completing these.  They, however, are asking to do other things during this time.  Some are wanting to take AR tests (which would be okay, when DOL and Dailies are finished).  I am asking for your help to check on this. 

In your child's YELLOW FOLDER next Friday will be the DOL and Dailies from the previous week.  (This is the normal procedure for every week, so you can continue to check to see that your child's is complete.) IF YOU SEE DOL SENTENCES WRITTEN COMPLETELY IN RED INK, THEN THEY HAD NOT COMPLETED IT IN TIME.  WHATEVER THEY GET WRONG OR DO NOT FINISH THEY HAVE TO WRITE IN RED INK AS WE GO OVER IT IN CLASS TOGETHER.  My point is that if you are seeing a lot, or consistent red ink on these sheets then your child is either missing a lot of the problems, OR they are having to write in the answers as we go over them in class.  This should not be the norm.  As stated, they almost ALWAYS have more than enough time to complete before we go over.  Thank you very much for checking your child's papers and for reinforcing this.  If you need further clarification on this, please ask during our conference time and I will explain.

Have a great weekend!  Attached is the this week's newsletter.  Note that Monday's Specials class is noted.  Disregard because of the MLK Holiday.Download jan21newsletter.doc

The children were so excited for our third grade Science Day that they could hardly contain themselves!  THANK YOU, PARENTS, for making this day so great for them!  They enjoyed all of the science-related activities.  Our class enjoyed writing about their day afterwards!

  Penny Wars are coming!!  Penny Wars is a contest between homerooms to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  It is being sponsored by the Sope Creek Relay for Life Team.  Each homeroom class will place a milk jug in the Media Center where each morning between 7:30-7:50, students and adults may come in and deposit money in their class jug.  One point is received for every penny in the container.

                        We can sabotage the daily total of our opponents by putting other coins and paper currency into teh containers of OTHER classes.  Each silver coin or bill reduces the number of points from that container by the amount of the coin.  This is where strategy counts....have fun with it! 

Yearbook sales mentioned earlier end at the end of this month.  Hurry and purchase yours today!

Book Fair pre-order forms home today. 

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very fun and restful holiday break!  As for me, I could not wait to come back and see your children!  Apparently, they could not wait to see each other either!  They have had much to talk about this week as they each caught up with others.

Thank you for continuing to check the blog for weekly updates.  The usual reminders about reading and practicing math facts each night to increase the level of reading comprehension and speed and accuracy of multiplication and division facts.

As stated in the newsletter, conferences are coming up very shortly.  I am looking forward to meeting with each of you with regard to your child's progress.  Report cards will be distributed at that time for the second nine weeks.  Please keep in mind that as the school year progresses, the work continues to be increasingly more difficult.  This means that the students just have to spend more time studying each subject.  Those that do are often rewarded by earning better grades.  I encourage you to check binders and sign each night that you have looked over your child's assignments.  They are given a sticker for each signature they get, as long as it was there when I checked for it that day.  This also helps you to know what he or she is doing in class daily.  Although they will not have homework in each subject, they will have some homework usually every night except for Fridays.  Thank you for your support with this.

Purchasing a yearbook for your family is a great way for you and your child to create great school memories!!  They love to look back from year to year and remember their friends and teachers, along with the unique things experienced that year. 

                        They are on sale now.  The cost is $30.  Please consider purchasing one today.

Please continue to check the dates to remember section in the weekly newsletter, as all kinds of things are in the near future.  Among them is the Book Fair.  Your children will also be singing at a PTA meeting soon.  They are practicing songs daily.  Details to follow....

Have a great weekend.  Attached is this week's newsletter.Download jan14newsletter.doc