Week 3

Weekly Greetings!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend and the beautiful fall weather we have been having! This will be a very short week, as there are only three days. We will have this Friday and the following Monday off for hunting. I will still send home two days of enrichment homework, as the students continue to settle back into a school routine. The homework will not be graded, but the students can earn prizes for returning the weekly assignments, and an additional prize if they do all the assigned work during the whole month. A spelling list will be included, but the test will not be until next week on Friday, September 16. In addition, most of the class took home a Reading Log on Friday, and can return it each Thursday for a party incentive per season. For example, the fall party would be the first week of December.

Another important piece of information is that we will be having a class bake sale as a fundraiser on this Thursday, September 8, at Three Bears from 4:00pm to approximately 6:00pm. Please help out by baking with your child and bringing the items to the store that day.

Now, on with some highlights from last week. The week started off with the first Cross Country meet of the fall. All the students participated and did their personal best. I had trouble snapping pictures as they crossed the finish line because they went by so fast! Though, I have posted some before and a few after pictures below.

As a closing to the Six Keys unit from the start of the year, and a growth mind set of persevering when things get hard, we made Turtle Bread to remind us of who won the race in the old traditional folk tale of the Tortoise and the Hare.

 The students even carried the concept over into their monthly Art visit and made clay turtles with Shauna Lee.

 In Science, we have continued to learn about healthy habits and did an experiment using a peeled potato that was handled with dirty hands, and hands that were washed. The potatoes were bagged as shown below, and placed in a dark closet.

 At the end of a week, after looking at things that Scientists do, we looked at the potatoes again. Even in a zip-locked bag, the potato with germs smelled so bad and had molded terribly! We hand to get rid of it quickly, because some students were starting to gag a bit. I think they understand how important hand washing is to remaining healthy!

 After looking at the potatoes, the class also looked a slide of germs under the microscope.

 During the first week of school, everyone started a poster to share about themselves with the others in the class. Most were completed last week and as they have gotten done, each student has shared with the group.

All the students seem to love to read, and when it is silent reading time, they get very comfortable in the "Book Nook".   When I took the picture below, it was so quiet that I though they might be asleep! When I checked, they were deep in their books and just relaxed while doing so!

As for this week, we will look at good foods to stay healthy in addition to our regular math and reading materials.

Have a wonderful week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown