Hi Everyone!

We all survived the first full week of school!  Hopefully the kids will be able to catch up on some rest this weekend.

I am sure by now most of you have heard from your children that my husband and I will be expecting our third child in early February (the 12th). I will be taking 6 weeks of maternity leave after I have the baby and plan to be back before April break.  Mrs. Benay and I are currently in the process of discussing my long-term sub and will be sure to keep you updated.   

Here are some things happening in our classroom::

Math- We are currently working on place value, rounding and estimating numbers through the hundred thousands.  Next week we will work on multi-digit addition and subtraction in word problems and continue practicing skills from this week. We also practiced logging into our dreambox accounts.  Students know their usernames and passwords and can get to dreambox from our class blog under useful links for students.

Writing- We have been learning about ourselves as writers and have practiced building our writing stamina by doing short free writes.  Students created expert lists in their notebooks and also had a chance to personalize their notebooks with pictures, stickers and cutouts. Next week we will move into our genre writing and will work on narratives.  

Reading- Much of our time in reading has been spent around setting up our reading workshop guidelines and building our reading stamina.  I was able to complete fluency assessments with all students and get to know each of them a little more as readers.  Next week we will begin talking about literary elements in fiction texts.  

Science- The scientific method has been our focus this week.  Students have learned the steps in the scientific method and learned about different types of variables.  Yesterday we did a lab that practiced the importance of following a step by step procedure.  At the end, if the steps were followed correctly, students created gak and were able to take some home with them! We will continue with the scientific method next week.

Upcoming Dates and Other Announcements-  

Open House- Malletts Bay School's Open House will be on Thursday, September 22nd from 6:30-7:30pm.

Early Release Day- A reminder that on Tuesday, September 20th students will be dismissed from school at 12:45.

Remind.com- If you haven't signed up to receive text message notifications and updates from our classroom and would like to stay connected, follow the link and sign up! https://www.remind.com/join/carneycrew

Homework- Next week we will start our regular homework routine.  Please click the Homework Expectations tab above for more homework information.

Whew...I think that is it for now!  As always, please do not hesitate to call- 264-6909 or email kari.carney@colchestersd.org with any questions.

Mrs. Carney