December+17

=December 17=

= This will be our final newsletter until after Christmas vacation. Have a happy and blessed holiday with your families and friends! We'll be ready for lots of Christmas stories on January 3, 2011!! =

**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! **

==// Parents...Please consider joining us on a Friday in January or February! 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 up a date!! //== = = ===**IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES: ** ===

=** Monday, Jan. 3...Classes resume **= =** Monday, Jan. 17...NO SCHOOL....Staff Development **= =** Week of Jan. 24...Iowa Tests of Basic Skills **=
 * Wednesday, Dec. 22...Last day of school before Christmas vacation (full day) **

** __Math:__ **
Please encourage your child to practice their basic addition and subtraction facts. === We are continuing to work on chapter 2 which covers time, money, and calendar skills. ===

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

Our friends have been sent. We'll try to keep you updated on their adventures. We will be starting our unit on Native American communities after break.

===**__Science:__ ** === = We watched a fascinating video on the Earth and saw all of the habitats we've been studying! We did a "cool" (ha ha) investigation on icebergs and their properties. After vacation we will begin studying freshwater and saltwater habitats. =

===**__Language Arts/Writing:__ ** === Our third graders continue to write their fiction stories. It is very exciting to listen to all of their ideas. We also have been working on organization of our stories and expanding our sentences. We also wrote letters to Santa!

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.
==**__MISC:__ ** == ==== //**Want to help our students become life-long learners? Then become a model for life-long learning by sharing! The third grade teachers are looking for individuals to share their passions, talents, and/or careers with our students. We would love for you to volunteer to come in and share with our third graders. If you are interested, or know of someone who would be willing to share, even via skype, please contact your child's teacher.**// ====

==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; color: #810081; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[] __ ====

==<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. Volk:__ ** == Your child may have brought home a skills packet or two in the past weeks. They may need your help with this. There is not a due date on this packet. I simply wanted to send home some practice skills that may go along with the goals they set after viewing their MAP scores. Please feel free to work on the packet during times that are convenient for your family. Also, your child is able to access Skills Iowa from home. This program will also help them with reading, vocabulary, math, and language arts. Please see a few paragraphs down for further information on the Skills Iowa Program.

I sent an email to all the Christmas party volunteers. If you believe you signed up and haven't yet heard, please let me know. Our party is schedule for the 22nd from approximately 2:15-3:10 ish. This will allow for clean-up time and a quiet book activity before we dismiss. (I know...quiet?!?! I'm dreaming! :0)

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.

Wish list: sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, other small prizes to use for our PBIS rewards, dusting clothes, and an age appropriate game that addresses vocabulary words/skills. Thank you to those of you that have already donated! We appreciate it!

Our class will be 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.

===<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="font-size: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">__Mrs. Skahill/Miss Stephens__ ** ===

<span style="font-size: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">Thank you in advance to our Christmas party volunteers: Michele Beschen, Dawn Coppinger, Becca Wiederholt, and whomever else they may have recruited! It'll be a very calm party, I'm sure! haha We'll plan on starting about 2:00 on Wed., Dec. 22.

On our wish list:
<span style="font-size: 1.1em; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">//Ream(s) of colored copier paper; HP black ink cartridge #98 and/or color #95.//

<span style="font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> __Mrs. Schenck:__
===<span style="color: #0000ff; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"> I have placed the Scholastic book order and will send it home with your child when it arrives. If you stated that these were a "surprise", I will give you a call when the order arrives. Please remember to have the gift for a classmate wrapped with a "to and from" tag. Have these placed under our tree before Friday, December 17th. ===

I will be placing another order on Monday, if you forgot to send it to school with your child. (These should still arrive on time.)