Hello Everyone,

Informational Books: On Monday January 22, we will be embarking on a scientific unit of study about extreme weather over the next 4-6 weeks that requires your student to have a number of informational texts on their reading level that are of high interest. That said, our Mountain class library and school library will not supply the 6 books each child will require. It is important to help your child gather reading material that may come from your home libraries or public libraries. Your child will need 2 informational books that relate to his/her science fair interests this year,  2 informational books on extreme weather (tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, earthquakes), and 2 informational books on their own area of interest to read in class and as nightly reading--these books can range on whatever topic your child is interested in learning about as long as it is informational and not fiction and is on their reading level.

**Important Announcements/Field Trips:

Mountain Science Fair- Wednesday, March 7th:
Signed Proposals are due

All students in grades 4-6 are required to complete science fair projects at home.  Clear guidelines and timeline are included in the information. Please follow the calendar to stay on track with deadlines.  

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ and SC County Science Fair Link provide helpful resources for project planning.  Please contact me with any questions.

THE SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY FIELD TRIP: Tuesday February 20th at 11:00, Kaiser Arena

To inspire our students’ musical talents and aspirations we will participate in this fantastic event.

Thank you to those who have volunteered to chaperone and drive!

Santa Cruz County Science Fair: Saturday March 10th  (registration deadline: Fri., Feb. 9)

SC County Science Fair Link  We encourage students to enter their projects into the Santa Cruz County Science Fair. Please view the website with your child to consider whether she or he is interested in this opportunity.  The website includes helpful ideas as well as guidelines for projects. If your child is interested in participating, he/she is strongly encouraged to begin a project as soon as possible.

Upcoming Dates:
100th Day of School--Friday, February 2
HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 12th

HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 19th
SC Symphony field trip-- Tuesday February 20th, 11:00 @ Kaiser Arena
READ-A-THON-- February 18th-February 28th
Mountain Science Fair-- Wednesday, March 7th

SC County Science Fair--Saturday, March 10th

Typing Club

Typing practice!! typingclub.com

We will be typing in class each week.  Please let me know if computer access is a problem.

Curriculum Updates: January/February

ELA: Book review on The Sign of the Beaver.  Lucy Calkin's reading lessons.

SC Symphony: daily musical compositions are introduced and enjoyed every morning in preparation for our SC Symphony experience on Tuesday February 20th and beyond.

Mindfulness: best practices in mindfulness are incorporated in our classroom this year.

Harmony: best practices school-wide curriculum for building a strong social-emotional community within our classrooms.

AR Reading: Accelerated Reader continues to be an important part of our reading program.  Students are reading appropriate AR books found through the AR book find link and then quizzing on them within 24 hours of finishing their book.  It is critical to support your child in book selection (most books are in our school and classroom libraries) and to remind them to read, read, read whenever the opportunity arises--in the car, while waiting for an appt., to and from school, before bed time, on a Sunday in your jammies, etc.  These books should travel to and from the classroom in a daily fashion for classroom DEAR (drop everything and read) sessions as well as nightly reading homework and beyond.  Students have a goal of 14 points for the second trimester.  Each book has a certain amount of points it is worth.  This information is listed with reading level and appropriateness (grade school, middle school, high school, for example).  Points per book range from 3 to 5, generally, with longer books being worth more points.  On an average this is going to mean your child is reading anywhere from 3-5+ books a Trimester. That said, help your child select books that are on their reading level (their latest DRA2 level), and have high interest for them.  This will allow them to accomplish reading books from start to finish successfully.

Math: Fractions. Please check your child's planner for specific page numbers. POM solving and presentations (problem of the month) continue. MARS tasks.

Science: Soils, Rocks and Landforms; science fair preparation. Please follow calendar timeline suggestions.

Social Studies: History report presentations.

Writing and Grammar: summary writing, book reviews, science research report on extreme weather (expository), spelling, vocabulary, grammar and root word study.

Warmly,

Mrs. Young