Local food chain discoveries and thanks for great conferences.

Dear Families,  

Thanks for the conferences.  I felt like I was connecting with old friends. We laughed, we cried, we set some goals!  

One key goal for every student was working on an expert topic presentation.  For some students this will mean teaching a lesson on how to do something, for others it will mean presenting on a topic they know a lot about.  This week I am sending home a presentation planning form to help your student get started.  Please take some time to help your student start planning their presentation.

I know it is odd but the planning day for conferences was scheduled after conferences so there is no school on Friday, 10/30.  

We are bringing our study of how energy flows through ecosystems by trying to put together the pieces of the food web of our school terrain. We grabbed clipboards, paper and pencil and set out to see what we could bind in action. A notable and exciting discovery was the beetles boring into our wooden play structure (this is, of course, why we are replacing the play structure). I was thrilled that the students immediately called out "The beetles are primary consumers and the wood in the play structure is a producer!"

October Goal Setting form link

http://goo.gl/forms/4AmvUzfzeG

Everybody's doing something different!

We are very much coming together as a class even though our mixed grade group requires students to be coming and going at all times!  As hard as it can be to have students travelling and working on different projects at the same time, kids shouldn’t always be doing the same thing at the same time.  Each child’s curiosity and particular needs can only be truly satisfied when a classroom offers multiple options at once.  On Friday we had some Catch Up/Clean Up/Exploration time and it was fascinating to watch as students found their way into different projects.  If you are not already following our class on social media, I regularly post on Twitter and Instagram as @LewisRoom24 and you can see them at work.

A few upcoming events to know about

• Please consider coming to a Lewis PTA meeting.  This Tuesday, 10/13 at 6:30.
• There will be a two hour late opening this Wednesday, 10/14, for a staff training.
• Run for the Arts will happen on Thursday, 10/15.  Our class is scheduled to run at 1:30 if you would like to join us or help out.
• Fall conferences will be on Wednesday and Thursday, 10/21 and 10/22, which means no school those days.  School will also be closed that Friday 10/23.  There will be no homework that week.

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:   Due Friday 10/16

• MATH: math practice and review.
• READING: Please read every day and write one reading response in your journal.
• SCIENCE: Food chain questions.

Be in touch!

Dear Families,  

I want to re-extend an invitation for you to come by our class whenever you have a chance.  We love classroom visitors, guests, and helpers.  I am grateful to all of the family members who have had time to stop by.  I realize you lead busy lives so dropping by is not always an option, but I just want to make sure that you know we would love to have you.  Likewise, please be in touch by phone or email if you ever have a question, concern or just want to share some happy news.

This week we did some great problem solving as a group.  We noticed that lunch time had gotten a little too rambunctious and the class was having a hard time settling back into our afternoon work.  We met in a circle on the carpet and figured out what was going on and how we might deal with it.  The next day things went really smoothly.  It is always so gratifying when I turn a problem over to the students and they step up to figure it out or solve it.

Again, thanks for supporting your kids in writing fantastic reading reflections last week.  I am thrilled with the level of thinking and effort that went into them.  

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:   Due Friday 10/8

• MATH: Math practice sheets and KenKen puzzle.  
• READING: Daily reading and one Reading Journal Response.

Check out these KenKen resources.