Sieracki Sentinel- November 5th, 2009
PARENT NEWS:
Vaughan Elementary Mission Statement
Our mission at Vaughan Elementary School is to work as a community to meet
the diverse learning needs of students in order to prepare them for success
in a global economy.
Yearbooks on sale on line for $25.00 at www.jostens.com
We are excited to provide additional time for math enrichment for our
students. We are reorganizing our schedule to include an additional 45 minute
block. This will allow us to focus on math standards on which our students
need additional support as well as provide extension activities for those
students who are proficient but are ready to engage in activities that
stretch the learning.
SOMETHING NEW: EVERY THIRD GRADER WILL BE BRINGING HOME A MATH GAME TO PLAY
EACH NIGHT. THE GAME WILL BE THE SAME GAME FOR ONE WEEK. WE ARE ASKING THAT
YOU PLAY THE GAME WITH YOUR CHILD, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM OR HER TO PLAY
ALONE. IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH NIGHT. THERE WILL BE A SIGNATURE
SHEET THAT WILL NEED TO BE SIGNED EVERY NIGHT TO SHOW THAT YOUR CHILD HAS
PLAYED THE GAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
New:
We are really focusing on Math Problem Solving in class and we would like the
children exposed to it at home as well. Once a week for math homework you
will find a problem-solving folder come home with your child. The problem
they are to solve will be glued to the page where they will solve the
problem. After your child has made the attempt to solve the problem, please
sit with them and work through the steps/strategies in order to support their
understanding of problem solving.
Class Needs
* Clorox Clean-Up Wipes
* Electric Pencil Sharpener
* Extra Snacks for the snack bin
Reminders:
***Please stress to your child the importance of completing his/her homework
each evening to the best of his/her ability. Homework is the student's job to
complete and return to school. I would appreciate it if you would look over
your child's homework with them each evening for errors in spelling,
conventions, or neatness. We are at a stage that the students do not always
take the time to double check their work independently. Their idea of
checking might be looking to see if all the blanks are filled in, as double
checking means reading over everything that you read/wrote on the page.
*** Please help your child to remember to wear to bring gym shoes on P.E.
days. They are unable to participate in gym class if they do not have the
proper shoe attire.
** Reading logs are due Monday morning. Please look over your child's reading
summary on Sunday nights prior to signing their reading log. Each child
should be writing 3 good sentences summarizing what they have read each
evening. They should also be filling out all the information needed for each
day. Since we have studied elapsed time, I have asked the children to write
their minutes read each evening to the left of the column. We have started
our competition within our room of minutes read each week. The minutes will
be combined together each week and at the end of the quarter we will have
some overall super readers. Each week we will have our " Super Reader" for
the week listed in our newsletter in addition to the child with the most
improvement of their minutes read. :-) Reading minutes are being totaled each
week. If your child reaches his/her goal of 900 minutes for the quarter they
will be attending the Rockin' Reading Pizza Party for Team Sieracki at the
end of the quarter. Thanks Mrs. Pritchett for being our Rockin' Reading
Mom!!!!
Academics:
Our Schedule: ****New to accommodate Math Enrichment****
7:15-7:50: Unpack and begin morning work.
7:50-8:20: Announcements and Daily Math RAP
8:20-9:20: Math
9:20-10:00: Reading Workshop
10:50-11:30: Spelling and Grammar
11:33-12:03: Lunch
12:03-12:10: Check over Morning Work
12:10-12:30: Recess and Study Hall
12:30-1:15: Math Enrichment(Monday, Wednesday, Friday) Content (
Tuesday/Thursday)
1:15-2:00: Writer's Workshop
2:00-2:10: Pack-up and dismissal
** Content is also being incorporated into reading.
Next week at a glance:
Reading:E.Q.: How can I identify a biography? How can I read and comprehend
fictional text? We will be studying Paul Revere, Susan B. Anthony, and
Frederick Douglass and completing flip books on these important historical
characters.
Writing:E.Q.: How do I write a response to literature? We will focus this
week on how we can organize our response to literature. We will be finishing
up our class response to My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia
Polacco. Next week we will write our individual organizers and responses to
Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream. In addition to writing our own responses we will
be evaluating responses written by other individuals using our rubric.
English:How can I identify simple and compound sentences? We will be
identifying singular and plural nouns. Irregular and regular spellings.
Spelling: We will begin Unit 6 next week.
Math:E.Q.: How do I identify strategies to help me multiply? This week we
will focus on the strategies of repeated addition, skip counting, and
building arrays. The students should be practicing their math facts each
evening.!!
Congrats to Will!!!!! He is our first student to finish all 12 addition and
subtraction timed tests with 100%! Way to go Will. Who will be next?
Ask your child about the UNRAAVEL strategy. We have been applying the
UNRAAVEL stategy in reading and have now carried it over to our problem
solving folders.
Social Studies:Look for a student study guide to go home tomorrow over
Greece. Our test will be on Monday. Each child also has papers in their
Social Studies section of their binder to help them study. E.Q: How can I
identify the 3 branches of government? How can I identify the responsiblities
of each branch?
Important Dates:
Chick-Fil-A every Tuesday morning.$2.50
November 5th ~ Preview Book Fair
November 9th ~ New math game to be completed nightly goes home for the first
time.
November 9th ~ Unit 6 words go home in agenda
November 11th ~ End of 4 1/2 weeks
November 19th ~ Progress Notes go home
November 20th ~ November 29th ~ Thanksgiving break. (No School)
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Sieracki
