Hello Everyone,

We are all responding positively to the uptick in creating a positive classroom culture.

**Creating a Positive Classroom Culture: In an effort to enhance and support classroom culture this year, Ms. M. will finish meeting with students in small groups of 4 for lunch. She will be reviewing class expectations and supporting students to reflect and see their part in creating and sustaining a positive classroom and playground environment with their teacher and peers. See dates below:

Tuesday, January 14

Wednesday January 15 (12:10)

Thursday January 16

**Mrs. Dudley will be in the classroom in the afternoons as we collaboratively help students with positive approaches to challenges that can occur at school with peers. Our objective is to give students a voice and empower them to make the best possible choices when it comes to their own behavior and the behavior of others.

**Classroom rules and consequences were practiced and sent home with your child so that you can go over them with your child as well. If you have not done so already, please sign the front sheet and return it asap. You may keep the rules and consequences so that you can review them with your child regularly. The objective is to create the best possible environment for learning that we can by holding everyone accountable for clear expectations.

**Important Announcements/Field Trips:

Mountain Science Fair- Wednesday, March 4th:

Your child will bring home a Science Fair packet to read over with you and begin planning for a project today. e will be going over it in class as well.  All students in grades 4-6 are required to complete science fair projects at home.  Clear guidelines and timelines are included in the information. Please help support your child with this project. It is a wonderful opportunity for learning how to complete a very detailed experiment.

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

Tech Museum Field Trip: Friday January 31st at 9:00

Friday January 31st from 8:15-1:45. Drivers needed and appreciated. Please be sure that you have filled out the necessary DMV paperwork with the office if you would like to volunteer.  We are able to bring 7 chaperones this year. Permission slips go home Monday in your child's folder or you may sign up on our blog here.  There is a 20.00 fee this year as there is an IMAX.

Simplicity of Electricity Lab

We leave school at 8:15 sharp so that we arrive at the museum in San Jose at 9:00. We will gather on Park Avenue and then go into the museum as a group. A brief orientation will follow where we will receive our wristbands and tech tags. Our Simplicity of Electricity Lab begins at 9:30 and runs 90 minutes. We will go straight to the IMAX which begins promptly at 11:00 and runs 45 minutes. Students and chaperones may eat their sack lunches during the movie. We will then visit some of the exhibits. Body Worlds Decoded is at the Tech but is optional. Students and/or their parents who do not wish to view this will be grouped accordingly. Please let me know if you do NOT want your child to see this exhibit by writing it at the top of the permission form. We will head back to school at 1:45.

**Please Note: Body Worlds Decoded is now part of the general museum admission. Please view the Body Worlds Decoded flyer here and in the Monday folder so that you are aware of what it is.

For tech parking and info

Parking Information:

The Tech offers $5 flat-rate parking validation at the Second and San Carlos Street garage, a five-story structure (enter from Second or Third Streets), and/or the San Jose McEnery Convention Center garage (enter from Market Street or Almaden Boulevard). Validation is available in the museum lobby during operating hours. Validation may not be valid during any city special event. Limited handicapped parking is available at The Tech’s main entrance on South Market Street.

Santa Cruz County Science Fair: Saturday March 14th @ SC Co. Fairgrounds in Watsonville
(registration deadline: Fri., Feb. 7)

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:

MLK, Jr. HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, January 20th
SCCOE Spelling Bee-- Saturday, January 25th at UCSC

Tech Museum field trip-- Friday January 31st, 9:00
HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 10th

HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 17th
READ-A-THON-- January 17th-31st

SC County Science Fair--Saturday, March 14

Mountain Science Fair-- Wednesday, March 4th

Have a great week,

Heather

Hello Everyone,

    Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation filled with rest, relaxation, adventure, and memory-making experiences.  Thank you for your kind sentiments and generous gifts. I feel very honored and appreciated! 🎉

**Creating a Positive Classroom Culture: In an effort to enhance and support classroom culture this year, Ms. M. will meet with students in small groups of 4 for lunch. She will be reviewing class expectations and supporting students to reflect and see their part in creating and sustaining a positive classroom and playground environment with their teacher and peers. See dates below:

Monday, January 6

Tuesday January 7

Wednesday January 8. (12:10)

Friday, January 10

Tuesday, January 14

Wednesday January 15 (12:10)

Thursday January 16

**Mrs. Dudley will be in the classroom in the afternoons as we collaboratively help students with positive approaches to challenges that can occur at school with peers. Our objective is to give students a voice and empower them to make the best possible choices when it comes to their own behavior and the behavior of others.

**Classroom rules and consequences were practiced and sent home with your child so that you can go over them with your child as well. Please sign the front sheet and return it tomorrow. You may keep the rules and consequences so that you can review them with your child regularly. The objective is to create the best possible environment for learning that we can.

**Important Announcements/Field Trips:

Mountain Science Fair- Wednesday, March 4th:

Your child will receive a Science Fair packet to read over with you and begin planning for a project next Monday.  All students in grades 4-6 are required to complete science fair projects at home.  Clear guidelines and timelines are included in the information.   

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

Tech Museum Field Trip: Friday January 31st at 9:00

Friday January 31st from 8:15-1:45. Drivers needed and appreciated. Please be sure that you have filled out the necessary DMV paperwork with the office if you would like to volunteer.  We are able to bring 7 chaperones this year. Permission slips go home Monday in your child's folder or you may sign up on our blog here.  There is a 20.00 fee this year as there is an IMAX.

Simplicity of Electricity Lab

We leave school at 8:15 sharp so that we arrive at the museum in San Jose at 9:00. We will gather on Park Avenue and then go into the museum as a group. A brief orientation will follow where we will receive our wristbands and tech tags. Our Simplicity of Electricity Lab begins at 9:30 and runs 90 minutes. We will go straight to the IMAX which begins promptly at 11:00 and runs 45 minutes. Students and chaperones may eat their sack lunches during the movie. We will then visit some of the exhibits. Body Worlds Decoded is at the Tech but is optional. Students and/or their parents who do not wish to view this will be grouped accordingly. Please let me know if you do NOT want your child to see this exhibit by writing it at the top of the permission form. We will head back to school at 1:45.

**Please Note: Body Worlds Decoded is now part of the general museum admission. Please view the Body Worlds Decoded flyer here and in the Monday folder so that you are aware of what it is.

For tech parking and info

Parking Information:

The Tech offers $5 flat-rate parking validation at the Second and San Carlos Street garage, a five-story structure (enter from Second or Third Streets), and/or the San Jose McEnery Convention Center garage (enter from Market Street or Almaden Boulevard). Validation is available in the museum lobby during operating hours. Validation may not be valid during any city special event. Limited handicapped parking is available at The Tech’s main entrance on South Market Street.

Santa Cruz County Science Fair: Saturday March 14th @ SC Co. Fairgrounds in Watsonville
(registration deadline: Fri., Feb. 7)

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:

MLK, Jr. HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, January 20th
SCCOE Spelling Bee-- Saturday, January 25th at UCSC

Tech Museum field trip-- Friday January 31st, 9:00
HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 10th

HOLIDAY/ NO SCHOOL-- Monday, February 17th
READ-A-THON-- January 17th-31st

SC County Science Fair--Saturday, March 14

Mountain Science Fair-- Wednesday, March 4th

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

ELA: we will begin our literature book: Lovina's Song.  In addition, we continue to honor our VIP each week and listen and respond to presentations by students. 

Lucy Calkin's: Reading the Weather

SC Symphony: daily musical compositions are introduced and enjoyed every morning.

Mindfulness: best practices in mindfulness are being 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 14.5 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 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: we will continue fractions. Please check your child's planner for specific page numbers. We will continue to review these concepts. POM solving and presentations (problem of the month) continue. Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SVMI) MARS tasks continue all year.

**Keep Practicing: times tables should be rehearsed and memorized. 

Science: we start the Foss module called "Energy" for the New Year. This includes magnets, electricity, circuits and a field trip to the Tech Museum Friday Jan. 31, 2020 with a lab and an IMAX as well as exhibits.

Social Studies: Missions

Writing: summary and informational essays on weather. 

Grammar: Study of various grammar: prepositions, nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and adjective clauses. Shades of meaning vocabulary, capitalization, quotation marks, citing evidence within texts.  Figurative language: simile, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia.

Warmly,

Mrs. Young