Happy New Year!  I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays.  I know they can be hectic and stressful at times, but I trust you worked in some time for relaxation as well.

Firstly, I want to thank all of the generosity you and your children showed Ms. Kari and me.   The gifts, though not necessary, were much appreciated.  Thank you.

Secondly, the start of a new year always brings with it many resolutions or goals to improve.  As such, we will be reviewing the goals your children set prior to our first parent teacher conferences and re-evaluating where we are in terms of reaching those goals.  In addition to goal setting, your children will be cleaning and organizing their three-ring binders.   It is my expectation that your children will bring these binders home with them nightly, in order that you can see what they are working on each day.  The use of the binders as an organizational tool for the children’s daily work is nice, but I have found that they are becoming a dumping ground for incomplete work.

In bringing home the binders each day, my hope is that you can work with your children to help them organize their work.  It will also give you a better idea of what your child is doing on a daily basis and also see if there is unfinished work that needs to be completed. We will be discussing this new expectation on Monday and you can look for your child’s binder Monday evening.

J.A. Biztown, an annual 5th grade field trip (and new 6th grade students), is taking place January 29th.  Biztown is a wonderful experience that your children will not want to miss.  More information will be coming home the first week of January.  As a heads-up, Biztown is located at Discovery Gateway in SLC and transportation to and from this field trip will be the responsibility of the parent.  We will need 2 parent volunteers to help during the day at the location.  The parent volunteers will be responsible for helping the students run the business they have been assigned to.  This is a wonderful way to fulfill some of your volunteer hour requirements, as well as being a part of a great business experience with the students at our school.

The link below will give you an opportunity to read more about the Biztown experience.  http://ja-utah.org/programs/jacity/

A view of Town Square at JA Biztown

Looking ahead:

Cultural: We will star out the new year with a botany unit followed by geography.

Math/Language: Our mornings will consist of continued work in math and language with dedicated work on our writing skills.  Although we have worked on our writing skills in the classroom using paper and pencil, and Utah Compose was introduced to the students in November, it very quickly fizzled out.  We will be spending renewed attention on writing in order to be prepared for the SAGE writing assessment taking place in February.   This means that your children will be required to complete an essay (outline, rough draft, peer review) each week.  This will require your children to spend time on the computer each night at home.  Writing assignments will be given Wednesdays and all steps are expected to be completed Tuesday night in order to facilitate group discussions Wednesday mornings.  After the peer review and discussion during class, they will be given until the following Tuesday to complete a final draft.

As a reminder, the book report for the month of January is a Biography.  The expectations can be found under the Book Report page at the top of the blog.  The due date for this is January 30th.    For those students who have not begun the experimental process for science fair, we will be discussing this on Friday, January 9 in order for your children to be adequately prepared for science fair the 3rd week of February.

Enjoy the last few days of the holiday break!  I look forward to seeing all your children on Monday.

~Cheers