14 Days - Make them COUNT!!!

It is hard to believe that the Holiday Season is upon us! There is a lot going on around the school and the community. It is EVER so important that we don't lose focus- Attendance is crucial, as well as, completing homework and READING nightly to an adult.
This week we will take county benchmark exams that will measure our progress from the beginning of the year. These tests are crucial for determining how students are progressing.

12/8 - Students will need to bring in a bag lunch and can drink. We will be traveling to the Cummer Museum for a showing on Florida History. After viewing we will have lunch in Memorial Park.

It's all about FLUENCY and COMPREHENSION in reading! I know that many of you were concerned about grade that came home right before the Thanksgiving break. Students have to spend time in text to understand text. Many students are only working in school, and this is creating a lot of hardships when tests roll around. They should be reading out of their reading book 2 - 4 times a week reviewing the story of the week. In addition, they should be reading texts at their level nightly!!!

In Math, it's all about KNOWING FACTS- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division!! These should be known in a "snap"- Please work with your students on these skills. Flash cards are a great way to practice, as well as, simply calling out problems for them to respond to immediately.

We have a long way to go and a lot of curriculum to cover before the end of the year. Please -- Please help your students succeed by working with them at home daily!!

Enjoy your holiday season!!

Seven Habits of a Good Reader: Strategies for What Good Readers Do

We are working on these strategies in class. I will be going over 1 a day for the next several days. Students should be demonstrating how they do this during their 30 minutes of nightly oral reading.

* Visualizing - Forming mental images or pictures about what they are reading such as characters, settings, or events in a text help students connect new information to previous experiences. Visualizing aids in comprehension.

The Holiday Breaks are Upon Us

and... that means now more than ever students need to be working on Compass Odyssey at home.

https://odyssey.duvalschools.com

Students that master all their multiplication facts by January 19th will be treated to a pizza party!

There will be no school next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday for the Thanksgiving Holidays.

Have a great week!

NO MORE HALLOWEEN CANDY PLEASE!!!!

Please,

do not allow (or send)

any more candy to school!!!

It creates quite a distraction-

A snack is fine- however

CANDY IS NOT!!!

Need Your Help!

Sleepy Heads

A BIG PROBLEM

in ROOM 45-

Parents- students are reporting that they are not going to bed until well after 10:00pm! This is not giving them enough sleep at night. They are very sleepy in class. Today we have had 4 students attempt to take a nap because they are tired- This IS A HUGE PROBLEM!!! Sleeping kids do not get the instruction that is being taught!!!

Lack of SNACK is also a problem- Hungry kids are not able to maintain focus! They need a SNACK... a bag of chips, an apple or banana, vegetables, crackers, etc. can go a long way!!!

Please make sure your child is prepared for school-

Start of the Second Nine Weeks

Welcome to the start of the Second Nine Weeks! It is hard to believe that the first grading period is over. We have been working hard, and student report cards will reflect that.

Enclosed in student report cards will be your student's SDMT and SDRT scores. Please pay close attention to the grade level they are functioning at. This will play a significant role in the promotion they receive at the end of the year. We will take a second series of these test at the end of the year, and students will need to show AT LEAST one year's growth. This can only happen if you are working with them at home.

Please make sure you are checking homework each night. I have several students who are not completing homework. This is causing them to fall behind when we start our next lesson the next day. Homework is a continuation of classwork, and is usually a springboard for our next lesson.

Make sure your student has a snack each day. We do not eat lunch until 1:15 and many students are hungry by that time. A great snack is pretzels, fruit, chips, sandwich, etc. I do not have a daily snack for your child.

Planners - Please make sure you are signing each night.

Our next field trip will be in December. We will be going to the Cummer Art Museum and having a picnic at Memorial Park.

Have a great week!