Dear parents,

We are now over the first quarter and the classroom tends to take on more of a fixed routine, with usually some assembly, or activity going on each week as well. Firstly, we are very fortunate to have one of our parents, Jane McAdams, teach our students the art of writing. Jane has a over 15 years experience teaching writing in college classes, High School, Junior High and elementary. This takes place every Wednesday morning for about an hour and at the moment focuses on parts of speech as well.

In the classroom, we have been looking at narrative and opinion writing and we use Scholastic News magazines to focus on reading comprehension. We have independent and small group reading going on, as well as looking at figurative language (for example: similes, metaphor, hyperbole and personification).

We alternate weeks of vocabulary practice with spelling and you should see your students’ spelling words recorded in their planner, so that they can practice at home. Please make sure that you sign your child’s planner each day and if time allows, help them with their spelling.

Regarding math, the 6th graders have been focusing on and reviewing fractions, multiplication, division, factors and multiples, and decimal operations, before moving on to rational numbers (the positive and negative number system). The 5th graders have been building on their multiplication and division skills, before moving onto decimal operations. The 4th graders are also developing their multiplication and division skills, before going on to fractions.

In social (or cultural) studies, we are continuing with our examination of the causes of the Revolutionary War. On Friday, the students were exposed to a simple taxation system in the classroom, but without any (political) representation of how their studies or routine could be structured.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week and we will be having an assembly on Tuesday morning, door decorating on Wednesday and judging on Thursday. There will also be lessons catered to the theme of Red Ribbon Week.

A reminder that our projects are due the following week. I originally said November 13th, but as the school-wide cultural festival has now been moved to November 16th, that due date is now November 14th. The theme of the project is, “what do we celebrate about America?” Presentations have to be on a tri-fold poster board.

Lastly, this Monday November 5th is an early out. Please make arrangements to pick up your child at 1 pm.

Thank you and enjoy the extra hour!

John