April+27

=__**APRIL 27**__=

**THANK YOU to our guest visitor this afternoon, Staff Sgt. Justin Koons, dad of Ryder! However, he's not going to be a Staff Sgt. much longer! As of Tuesday, May 1, he will be promoted to Sgt. 1st Class Justin Koons! __Congratulations!__** **We learned about the many jobs and responsibilities that go along with his career in the Army National Guard. The highlight for the 3rd graders (in addition to the bullet-proof vest!) was taste-testing MREs, and those "Meals Ready to Eat" were slicked right up! (So go ahead and feed your kids from little plastic bags...they love it!)** **Thanks again, soon-to-be Sgt. 1st Class Koons, for a great afternoon! And a BIG THANKS to you for your service to our country!**

=== __**ATTENTION:**__ School will be dismissed at 2:30 on May 1st and May 10th due to district track meets being held at our school. They are expecting many schools and visitors to watch the Jr. High meet on the 1st and the High School district meet on the 10th, and they would like our students to be dismissed early to avoid further congestion for our parents, students, and visitors. ===

__** ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING DATES :**__ **Fri., May 4**...Field Trip to Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge **Wed., May 9**...Kids' Club; 2:00 **Fri., May 11**...Puppy Dog Relays; 12:00-3:00 **Tues., May 15**...Country Potluck; Cafeteria; 5:30-6:30
 * Wed., May 23...LAST DAY of SCHOOL! Dismiss at 1:30. **

//**For this final quarter, all of us in Gr. K-5 are adding a 1, 2, or 3 to the Success Charts if a student loses a stamp. We will still write what happened, but the addition of the number(s) will help with our data collection, and will also better inform you of which Bulldog Belief was being misused. 1 means there was a lack of respect, 2 a lack of responsibility, and 3 a lack of safety. **//

**If your child is going to be absent for a few days due to a family trip, please let us know with a note in advance so we may gather homework to send with you. We can't always have //everything// ready to go, but it's very helpful to the teachers and the office to be aware of extended absences ahead of time. Thank you!**

=== Both homerooms will have a "Homework Club" each quarter. We will keep a chart in our rooms, tracking which students return their homework packets on time each week. Students who consistently return their packets each week will be rewarded at the end of each quarter! ===

=== //We have been informed that the kitchen can no longer store items that need to be frozen or refrigerated. You will need to provide a cooler if your child is bringing treats that require refrigeration. Thank you for your cooperation.// ===

Our field trip to Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge is scheduled for Friday, May 4th. Permission slips have been sent home. There are a few students that still need to turn those in...please do so soon! Thank you to our volunteers! You will be receiving a letter detailing the day on Monday. If you find that you are unable to chaperone, please let your child's teacher know so that students can be moved into another group. Thanks

__**LITERACY:**__
We are continuing to introduce the 6-Traits of Writing. We have focused on the traits of Ideas, Organization, and most recently, Word Choice. In reading, we are making predictions and connections. We are using context clues, identifying main events, questioning, inferring and summarizing. Please encourage your child to read at home.

__SCIENCE:__
We started a new springtime unit on "Plants" this week. Students learned how and why plants are classified as living things. They also learned about the main parts of plants, and the functions of those parts. More to come next week!!

__**SOCIAL STUDIES:**__
The Country Project is in full swing! Each student has chosen a country that s/he will research. Some students chose to work with a partner and some preferred to work independently. Please check with your child about their country choice and then visit the following link to find out more! Mrs. Volk's Google Site

The Country Potluck is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. Please visit the above google site for more information. ==== Check with your child about Daily Detective. The purpose of this project is to not only help the students learn about the countries of the world, but also to help them research. Each day a new clue will go up on our 'detective board'. The students will be able to write the clue down and bring it home so that you can, if needed, help your child to identify the country. The clues start out very broad and as the week goes on, get more specific. Please ask your child about Daily Detective and each daily clue. ==== We had several successful detectives last week. Unfortunately, in an attempt to be 'on top of' my responsibilities, I erased their names today before I wrote them here! :( Never again will I be so responsible! (LOL)

__**MRS. VOLK:**__
Your child has been registered for Sumdog.com. This is a site that will help your child practice their math facts. Each student was given a username and password. They are encouraged to use this site at home.

Please continue to encourage your child to complete and return their weekly homework packet. Some students are not returning their packets in a timely fashion, if at all. Please be looking for those each Monday and they are to be returned on Thursday. Thank you to those students who are completing and returning their packets each week. You are showing responsibility when you do so!

I sent home a reading calendar for April but did not specify a reading goal. I want the students to set their own reading goal...not too little, give a bit of a challenge, but not over the top either. :) Your child may opt to talk to you for a little guidance on setting an appropriate reading goal. Thanks for your reading support at home.

**__MRS. SKAHILL/MISS STEPHENS:__**

**New book orders are coming home today. They will be due on __THURSDAY, MAY 3. __** There will be one more book order yet this year. Time to stock up for summer reading!

//** Today was Brianna Walker's last day with us. We wish her well as she moves to Urbandale! Our class is back to 22 members now. **//

Just a reminder: Spelling word lists are handed out at the //beginning// of each unit so they can be studied in preparation for the cloze test. Watch for the word lists glued into the planner. As mentioned previously, we won't be taking a cloze test every week...we work up to tests as we go through the word/phonics lessons in each unit.