May+2

=**MAY 2**=

Happy Mother's Day!

= **CONGRATULATIONS to Nick and Amber Schenck and big brother Landon!** = = **Dawson Thomas Schenck arrived at 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, May 5 and weighed 7 lb. 8 oz.!** = = **We welcome Mrs. Melanie Smith, who will be finishing the year for Mrs. Schenck.** =

=// **Thanks so much to Chris Coppinger, who talked to our classes today about his job in the printing and communication business. We learned all about the paper-making process and what happens before the printing even begins. And now we're ready to make our own paper, because he gave each of us our own little tree to plant! Thanks again to Mr. Coppinger for a fun and interesting visit!** //=

Our field trip to the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge is scheduled for May 18th. We will be needing chaperones for this trip. Please consider spending the day with us! Contact you child's teacher if you are interested or indicate you are interested on the permission slip. You may need to drive yourself, or carpool with other chaperones. The cost is free, but you might want to bring money for the store located at the center. You, along with the students, will need a sack lunch. We are responsible for disposing of our own garbage so if you don't want to make a 'completely disposable' sack lunch, feel free. However, it will be your child's responsibility to be sure his/her lunch box comes home! :) A permission slip has been sent home. More information will be coming home closer to the date.

REMINDER: Please begin sending in your country recipes. The sooner the better. The **__deadline for turning in your recipes is May 13th__**. Remember to label your recipe with the country from which it originates and your child's name. Thanks

=== //Parents...Grandparents....Neighbors...Aunts and Uncles... The year is winding down! We have time for one session (1:00-1:45) on May 13, and May 20 is also open. __That's it!__ We would love to hear about your job, your hobby, or a special area of interest. The students are SO proud when one of their parents come to visit, and we are learning so much! Contact any of us and we'll set you up! // ===

==**__IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES: __ ** == **Friday, May 13**....Kids' Club; 2:00 **Wednesday, May 18th**...Field Trip to Neal Smith **Thursday, May 19**...Country Potluck; 5:30-6:30 **Monday, May 30**...**No School.** Memorial Day **Monday, June 6**...**Last Day of School!**  **Third grade awards are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. in the activity center.**

==**__Math:__ ** == ===** Please encourage your child to practice their basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. We are currently working on our geometry unit. We will begin our fraction and decimal unit in a few weeks. ** ===

==**__Social Studies:__ ** ==

We continue to hear from our friends' adventures. Please ask your child what states and/or countries we are hearing from.
=== We are starting a new unit. This unit covers Native Americans and Newcomers, Moving from Farms to Factories, Immigration, and The Age of the Automobile. We have finished our research and your child will be writing their report in Language Arts with Mrs. Smith. ===

**<span style="color: #0006ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">COUNTRY INFORMATION...PLEASE READ... ** The students picked out their country for their project. Please ask them what country they chose. Please see my personal google site for country information. (<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[] ) <span style="color: #6200ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The potluck is scheduled for Thursday, May 19th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. Thank you to Mrs. Rhoads for volunteering to create and assemble our Country Cookbooks! Please be sure to send a copy of your country recipe in ASAP so that we can have those ready to distribute by the end of the school year. Please include your child's name and country so that we can label each recipe. Feel free to send in a recipe to be included in our book even though you may not be able to attend the potluck. Your child also brought home a hard copy of the country information. Please ask to see it if you haven't yet had the opportunity to read it!

==<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Science:__ ** == ===**Our plant unit continued this week as we learned about germination, how plants travel, and the process of photosynthesis. We studied the insides of bean and pistachio seeds, identifying the plant embryos. We were amazed at the number of seeds we eat! Don't be surprised if your child picks apart their green beans at your next meal! (I did it myself the other night!) The kids also enjoyed eating sunflower seeds at recess! :)**===

==<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Language Arts/Writing:__ ** == Students are finishing up editing their papers and are now beginning to publish them. We will be sharing these with the class next week.

Encourage your child to bring home their author's notebook to share a few of their stories with you. Just remember to bring it back.
=<span style="font-size: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__MISC:__ ** = =<span style="color: #0000ff; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> Attention Parents: If you email one of us regarding changes in your child's dismissal procedure and you do not receive a reply acknowledging that we received the email, please call the office and have Soni notify your child of the changes. Our email has been known to go down, and sometimes we have subs that are not able to check our email or phone messages. Therefore your child may not find out about the change of plans. The safest route is to just always let the homeroom teacher AND Soni be aware of any important messages for your child. Thanks! =

Some students are stopping to play in the creek on the way home. We have had some parents concerned about the dangers of playing in the creek, especially without adult supervision and without parents' knowledge. Please remind your child that he/she should not stop to play, but instead head straight home.

// Please remember to send birthday invitations through the mail if the entire class is not invited. Also, the school requests that presents, sleeping bags, etc. be taken directly to the birthday girl/boy's house instead of coming to school with the students. We want to avoid hurt feelings. Thank you for your cooperation. //

The town bus and bus 3 (Ruth Erdman's bus) are full. These buses are not able to take many extra students home. Please be aware of this when requesting bus passes for extra students to come home with your child.

** Mrs. Comer has been working on a 2nd and 3rd grade art wiki - website to showcase project information, student examples, etc. Please feel free to check it out! [|http://vmelem-art-comer. wikispaces.com] **

** The students are starting to practice keyboarding skills in computer class. You may access this link so your child can practice keyboarding at home!! ** **<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">[] **

===<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Mrs. Volk:__ ** === I sent out the final book order. The orders are due on May 13th. If you order on-line there are many more choices, including some for e-books. Remember to stock up on summer reading books. (on-line ordering code is GXPY2)

Please visit my personal site to view our Best School Year Ever powerpoint. Thanks!

We have been using a computer program in school called Skills Iowa. This program allows students to work through specific skills in reading, math, language arts, and vocabulary at their own pace. Your child can access this program at home by typing in ac.corek12.com or by clicking on the SkillsTutor link on the Van Meter Elementary Voice and Tech site. The students have been given a personal username and password to use.

www.multiplication.com is a great site to help your child practice math facts. My math class visits this site in school and they love it.

I have signed the class up on a numeration website called SUMDOG. Your child has been given a username and password. They are welcome to access this at home.

Our class is participating in the Scholastic reading program this year. Students are encouraged to read at least 10 books this year at their level. Once all the students in our room have met the 10 book goal, Scholastic will donate books to needy schools in all 50 states. Information about this program came home with your child. Please continue to encourage your child to read, read, read! Remember to also keep track of the minutes your child is reading and record them on our reading calendar.

Our class blog can be found at: <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[] e

Please help your child to remember to have their success charts signed weekly. We have students missing stamps and points because the chart is not signed. I remind them almost daily in class, but sometimes a reminder from home works better. Thanks

We recently had an opportunity to do an activity that required students to write down their home address. Many students did not know their address. Please check with your child to be sure that they know their home address, home and/or cell phone numbers. This is an important piece of information that your child should know. Thanks!

Please look over your child's homework packet before he/she returns it. We are seeing a number of careless errors. Our goal with the homework packets is to encourage responsibility by (1) having the packets returned on time and (2) having them accurately completed. This is the year when it's okay for mom and/or dad to help with the homework packets. Don't do it for them, of course, but do help your child learn to proofread and correct mistakes.

==<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Mrs. Skahill/Miss Stephens:__ ** ==

//Please look over your child's homework packet before he/she returns it. We are seeing a number of careless errors. Our goal with the homework packets is to encourage responsibility by (1) having the packets returned on time and (2) having them accurately completed. This is the year when it's okay for mom and/or dad to help with the homework packets! Don't do it for them, of course, but do help your child learn to proofread and correct mistakes.//

On our wish list: Ream(s) of colored copier paper; HP black ink cartridge #98 and/or color #95.

===<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"><span style="font-size: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Mrs. Schenck:__. ** === I have signed your child up for a website called Sumdog. The students have user name and password.

Continue reading and working with your child. Parental support at home plays a large role in the success of your child here at school.