y newsletter - matsuk12.us · been 244 years old this . on dol in the mornings. they absolutely lo...
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Date Time Event
10/3 8 am Picture Day
10/25 1 pm Halloween class parties for k-5th grades
10/26 1 pm Early release / Pizza orders filled.
10/29 and 10/30
See slips that will be sent home
Parent teacher conferences
10/31 to 11/2
PD days No school for students
11/21 11:20 Family Feast lunch and early release day
11/22 -11/23
Holiday break
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NEWSLETTER Principal: Barbara Gerard Phone 907-746-2358 Assistant Principal: Peter Olson Fax 907-746-2368 Website http://matsuk12.us/acc
September 28, 2018
Academy Advisory Board meets
the 2nd Tuesday each month at 3:30 pm at Academy. All welcome to attend
Dear Families,
Superb Spalding Training
This week the Spalding International Trainer, Kia Spilsbury, observed in kindergarten thru 8th grade classrooms as teachers demonstrated their Spalding skills. Immediately following the observation, Kia met with the teacher to provide some immediate feedback as well as praise. I am very pleased and proud to share that the trainer was VERY impressed with the strong skills and delivery she observed! She also complimented our terrific and well behaved students. Kia shared her amazement of the small class sizes for language arts. She stated what we already know....Academy ROCKS!
Healthy Snacks and Lunches
Thank you to the many, many families for avoiding the unhealthy processed foods and sugars! Your efforts in providing your child with healthy lunches and snacks helps their brains work better and their bodies thrive!
Change of date: Next Advisory Board Meeting will be on Tuesday, October 16th, 3:30 pm. All welcome!
Thank you for all you do! We care...if you have a question or concern, please do not hesitate to call, email or stop in!
Barbara
Parent jobs…….
o Take home job, papers to cut up
o Check the job counter in the office for teacher jobs
o Organize and clean storage rooms
o Get ready for winter tasks
Mrs. Reals 5th grade class reads,
The Road Not Taken By, Robert Frost
First-Grade Facts . . . [email protected] I hope you have been enjoying the reading strategy information coming home! Since we have begun two-letter phonograms in Spalding … they have really been spying them in their reading (and mine too). the nickname we have for chunking letters together to make a sounds is being a “chunky monkey,” and they absolutely love being one! They have been introduced to the third Daily 5 activity, Read to Someone, and have built their stamina to ten minutes this week with reading to themselves. They are very proud! We read the Native American Legend “The Owl with Big Eyes,” and they enjoyed discussing it making owls to go along with their writing activity. We did a lot of work with combinations of ten because it is what we call a “friendly” number. If they can spy combinations of ten easily, it’ll make math easier for them. We played a little concentration game with Uno cards for that as well as worked with counters to find the missing part for ten. We are looking forward to reading all the books they checked out from The Palmer Library over the next few weeks! Contact me anytime … Mrs. Mayer
Kile’s Kiddos
Johnny Appleseed would have been 244 years old this week. Since he is part of our Core Knowledge curriculum we celebrated this week with apples. Students learned songs, read stories and did math activities all revolving around the tasty fruit. We had a special story shared by Mrs. Gerard about the star in the apple.
Next week we will head to Bouncing Bears as we finish up the last few letters of the alphabet. Bb bounces just like we will! We have enough drivers, but there is no limit, so feel free to join us.
Have a great weekend, and feel free to contact me anytime.
We had a good week. We were busy working on DOL in the mornings. This is new for them. They are catching on for finding errors in sentences. We are practicing Declarative sentences(statements).
The class was excited to be working on their first partner poem. It is called, Windy Nights, by Robert Louise Stevenson.
Our math class learned how to make story problems in addition and subtraction. They were good! We finished the week with patterns in math using a fall theme.
Next week, there will be no spelling test. We are taking our monthly test. There will be a poem and math homework.
Have a good weekend! Mrs. Booth
Classroom News
Holler for Reading! The students have been continuing to hone their skills in writing sentences with correct grammar and punctuation. This week they wrote about their route to school and what makes them happy. The sentences are fun to read and I have enjoyed listening to their excitement as they share them with the class!
Holler for Math! The math students have been cruising through addition strategies and are now applying those concepts to subtraction. We are almost done with Chapter 1 and the class has been working hard to master the new vocabulary. Our next chapter's focus is number patterns.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. [email protected]
Classroom News 3 r d 4 t h and 5 t h grades
Benbow’s Fourth Grade Buzz Our mornings are getting chilly, and students need to have the appropriate clothing to wear out to
morning recess. Please make sure that your child has a jacket before leaving the house in the morning.
Upcoming Field Trip! Our trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is Thursday, October 11. We
will need plenty of drivers for this trip to Portage and back.
Volunteer opportunity! We will need at least four parents to come in and help Wednesday – Friday,
October 24-26, from 8:30-10:30. Please send an email or sign up on the sheet outside the office to let us
know if you are available any of those days.
Language Arts - We continued to discuss spelling rules this week; there was no spelling list sent home. We continued to read The War with Grandpa, by Robert Kimmel Smith, and worked on some comprehension strategies as we practiced writing quality sentences. There is a great description of the main character’s room in the story, and we have started a descriptive writing project based on that idea.
Please watch your child’s backpack for an orange folder; it is a yearlong project called the Home-School Journal.
Math – We continued to review addition and subtraction with regrouping. This included a lesson about inverse operations as we learned to use addition to check subtraction. Subtracting across zeroes is another topic we practiced this week. We also put last week’s review to use this week as we used place value and rounding to estimate multiple digit addition and subtraction. We begin every class with timed multiplication tests because the automatic recall of these basic facts is essential to success in fourth grade math. Please make sure your child has time to practice multiplication facts at home as frequently as possible; all of our work from this point on will use these facts. [email protected]
This week we worked on our first spelling list. The kids did a nice job entering the words into their spalding books. When I grade the books I am looking for 5 quality areas. Ask them the 5 points. The answers are spelling, markings, rules, syllables and handwriting. We will have another list next week. The list was sent home on Friday. We continue to work on our comprehension books by underlining evidence and writing answers in complete sentences.
In math this week we continued our geometry unit. We finished up the 4 triangle problem and then studied attributes of polygons. We specifically focused on quadrilaterals and parallelograms. We will do a bit more next week with right angles in the 4 toothpick problem and then wrap up the chapter. Mrs. Weetman [email protected]
The Manley Minute [email protected] Language Arts: It was another great week of learning in 4th grade! This week we entered 30 words into our Spalding notebooks and took a spelling test on Friday. We continued to focus on sentence structure and self-editing their own work for COPS. Through the Picture of the Day, students made observations and inferences that blew my mind! I was amazed at high level of thinking they put into their inferences.
Spelling and cursive practice is sent home on Monday and due on Thursday. Please note that this should be in your child’s best Spalding cursive and should not be done all at once.
Math: We are half way through chapter 2 and are looking at properties of addition and subtraction. The students are able to define and show an example for the Associative Property, Commutative Property and Identity Property of Addition. Subtraction with regrouping is still a bit of a struggle, so we will continue to touch on that as we progress through the year.
We begin each math class with a 5-minute timed test over multiplication facts. You can help your child succeed by encouraging them to practice multiplication facts at home. Whether it be through an app or old fashioned flash cards, all practice is appreciated!
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Grades are updated weekly on iParent. It is a JOY to be teaching your 4th grader!
Kile’s Kiddos
This week we explored all the uses of silent final “e”. Ask your child what job 1,2,3,4, or 5 “e” does. We continued to add pages to our Spalding notebooks and relate them to our spelling words. I have been asked several times about spelling test. I will sen home a new list every Friday. (if there will not be a list I will let you know in this newsletter). We have a spelling bee every Thursday and the test will be on Friday.
In math, we are having blast exploring shapes. Using 4 triangles, students discovered the many shapes he/she could make. We also used toothpicks and glue to make four shapes. The students were to label how many angles, sides, and to name the shape. We will have a test on Monday identifying shapes. Tamela Kile [email protected]
Battle of the Books: I love that so many showed up to be part of the Battle Team. Wow! Third/fourth grade battle students will be tested on Tuesday on the book names and authors. Unfortunately, any who do not pass will no long be allowed to be part of battle. Tamela Kile [email protected]
The Real Report
Fantastic 5th Grade! Still Looking for a parent who will organize our Scholastic book orders- Email: [email protected] L/A: Our focus this week has been 3 fold. First, we really upped our expectations and focus on Spalding. Students cleaned up their notebooks, spend some time reviewing rules, and even began putting in spelling words. Next, we have been reading Hatchet in class. We are enjoying the artistry of Gary Paulsons descriptions; he really makes us feel like we were stranded. Finally, students have been responding to the text by answering questions on google classroom. They have learned about writing in complete sentences, restating the prompt and adding details.
MATH: Math has been interesting this week. We fluctuated between, “this is easy” to “I don’t get it” when dealing with decimals. We added decimals, subtracted decimals, compared them and put them in order. We even created a 3-d number line and took turns placing cards. We found some confidence and some areas that need work. On Thursday, we took a quiz to see what concepts need refreshing.
REMINDER: It is VERY important for 5th graders to be confident with their multiplication facts, so PLEASE practice, practice, practice at home.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK MY WEBSITE REGULARLY! Have a great weekend!- Mrs. Real.
Mr. O’s Team Language Arts- This week we made our way through our Hank the Cowdog book and read some of the more funny chapters. Next week we should have that about finished up. We also wrote letters to Mr. O about something that we are looking forward to. The class described their future vacation plans and upcoming birthdays that they are looking forward to. They did an excellent job constructing their letters and following the format provided.
Math- We are finished with chapter one and save for a few mistakes out of expediency we did very well. The class spent that last few days tightening up odds and ends and making corrections to some of their homework for the week. Next week we will begin chapter 2 and get closer to topics that are less review and more brand new for the class.
Kiana V.
Passion Poem
The Power of Music I could not begin To describe my lovely violin That was given to me At the age of 13. Never once did I play Until one day Years after When I possessed no laughter. I could hear the host announce my name, Telling the audience how I became, In love with music at a tough hour, And wanted to share its intense power. My heart began to beat, My body wished to retreat, But my head told me, This was meant to be. I stepped on the stand, And, in front of me, looked at the land, Of eyes that stared And the people who glared. I felt unknown Almost alone That the eyes that view Had no clue What I had been through. Slowly, I began, Playing music that I can Proudly say Got me through each day. I played the tune That made me once feel immune, To the harm I faced That could not be erased. I continued to play my song, That had made me feel strong, In times where everything was wrong, And when I felt I did not belong. That transported me to a place Where you could embrace And not feel the need to break Your past mistakes. The music came to a rest. The audience was impressed They all began to applaud And gave me looks of awe. I gave them a bow, Making me feel so proud That my past struggles Had no effect on me now.
Madisen I hear a tune over the mountains, it is soft and sweet, And it calls my name, I have heard this tune before, It is not new to me, Yet, I still have not heard all of the notes, I feel it everywhere I go, Like a branch on a tree, Or a sled in the snow, Do you hear that same tune? That is coming loud and clear? Does it call your name? if you are deaf to that same tune, That is soft and sweet, And frees the soul, Then travel over that mountain, And find the meaning, The meaning of that tune, And once you find it, If, you find it, You too will be free For that tune, Is Adventure
The Secret Garden is proving to be a wonderful book! We have read through Chapter 14 together. We met many new and interesting characters this week.
We completed our first 30 word Spalding spelling test this week. Students can expect to have a 30 word list sent home on Mondays for a test on each Friday. Our class is a group of super spellers!
Grades are being updated weekly in iCue. Next week I will follow up with students regarding missing assignments to be sure they have what they need to do their best.
Please feel free to e mail me at [email protected] with questions or concerns. It is a joy to work with your children!
Reports from our Labs
This week wraps up the rotation for the kindergarteners, first and second graders. We started to move from gathering ideas to organizing ideas. We looked at qualities of our favorite jobs and made sure to use those details in our writing. The kindergarteners made sure to draw their details and dictated the pictures to an adult. I can’t wait to see their growth when I see them again in 3 weeks. Mrs. Weetman [email protected]
The Kindergarten class finished our lab rotation with making World Cookies. Thank you to the parents and grandparents that helped! Thank you to Remi's mom for making all the cookies!
The First and Second graders worked on what is a key. They created maps with keys. They had to include a title, compass rose, and [email protected]
Our intermediate students learned culture and fun facts about Ecuador.
We practiced food conversation and learning about the elaborate weaving work done in Ecuador. For our cultural project this rotation we undertook a very simple weaving project - Friendship bracelets. Students experienced varying degrees of success working with their hands and gained a great appreciation for the skill used in these handicrafts.
Hello Families,
This week in art we studied Joan Miro'. He used shape and line to illustrate animals and delightful images. The students used paint sticks to create their own artwork inspired by this artist. We have had a wonderful three weeks together, and I look forward to our next rotation!
3-5 Science
Fifth grade was introduced to the parts of a microscope and quizzed on labeling the parts. Fourth and fifth grades practiced focusing a stereo or binocular microscope and examined different specimens. Third grade explored buoyancy by designing and testing aluminum foil boats.
5th Grade Science Fair Information
The completed proposal form (with parent approval initials) is due October 24th. Please note that the actual science fair will not be held until the spring, but advanced planning is the goal of this information. Spend some time researching projects online or in the library. Make sure to pick something that has a variable and is not simply a demonstration! [email protected]
Computer Lab- This rotation 5th grade finished their graphing and data collection project. They should be able to use this skill during their science fair projects later in the year. 4th grade also made a word processing document about their favorite things. They manipulated fonts, sizes, formatting, color, and added photos to make a brilliant document. Looking forward to having primary grades back next week. [email protected]
News from 6th, 7th and 8th
The way to say Middle School in Spanish is escuela intermedia 😊😊
6th, 7th and 8th Grades
Español with Señorita Catarina
Sixth Grade Spanish students worked with greeting and learned various flashcard games to help memorize vocabulary.
Seventh graders learned to play Guess Who in Spanish. They also wrote their first basic quick write in Spanish.
Eighth graders reviewed ER verbs and were able to take a small field trip to see the Grammy winning Mariachi band Flor de Toalache at Colony Middle School. [email protected]
Señorita’s Superb Sixth Graders
Our sixth grade readers are starting their mythology unit. We will be emphasizing Norse Mythology this year and practicing and performing a Norse Myth for our first graders. Please expect to see their big book of Norse Myths coming home.
6th Grade Reading –
We continued reading The Adventures of
Robin Hood, as told by Roger Lancelyn Green,
and have been answering comprehension
questions at the end of each chapter. Please
check in with your child to find out what is
happening in the story as it is great practice
for summarizing. In order to allow the
students to focus on the quality of their
written responses, homework each night was
to read the chapters and come in prepared
for a discussion based on the comprehension. I
pointed out the specific paragraph in the
chapter where an answer could be found, read
it aloud and led a discussion about the
correct answer and how to properly support
it with details. We averaged six or seven
questions in our hour long class, so ample
time was allowed to write each response using
quality sentences. As always, if you have any
comments or concerns, please feel free to
email! [email protected]
Vamos con Señor Reilly Spanish with Mr. Reilly)
The key to deciphering new words in any language is knowing their alphabet. So, this week we have been working industriously in gaining fluency and confidence with the Spanish alphabet. When we do the choral response along with the video students are very engaged. Also, they are able to replicate those results when tested. That’s a good thing! Two other areas we were completing were our discussion & video clip about when a young woman is having her fifteenth birthday (quinCecera) and the social significance in the Latin culture as a rite of passage. We discussed this and students articulated their knowledge both in writing and verbally. Also, we are always reviewing our numbers to stay fluent and solid with them! Have a great weekend with your family! Mr. Reilly [email protected]
Sixth Grade
We had a fine week in the sixth grade. Students are researching and writing about Greeks or Romans, observing and timing motion, calculating rates and learning about energy in their classes. Expect a little homework every day whether it is Spanish on Thursdays, reading Robin Hood daily, aleks math mastery topics or social studies Monday/Wednesday. Students will be bring home The Declaration of Independence next week to begin memorizing. Stop in if you have concerns to discuss.
Mr. Schumacher Mr. Titus
Parent notification slips for my grading policy for the rest of the year go home on Monday. It is as follows: assignments turned in on the due date are graded at 100%; one day late - 90%; 2 days late - 70%. Any later and the assignment is zeroed out. Students who are ill are given as many days as they were sick to complete assignments. For planned vacations, work is due the first day of a student's return to school.
7th LA: We worked steadily through two projects this week: our Kennecott newspaper, which students began designing and assembling in Google Slides; and our news site critique research paper. On Wednesday, ADN reporter Zaz Hollander visited our class. She spoke about her job and gave one-on-one Kennecott article critiques to students who wanted them. We're always grateful to have experts in class! Our research was finished Thursday and students learned how to use their bibliography for in-text citations as they credited their work. We also reviewed for the informational unit test on Friday. Next week, we'll begin our unit on propaganda.
7th math: Students worked through the final lessons of Chapter 2 this week and took the test Thursday. ALEKS accounts are up and running - students are expected to complete 5 topics by Monday and 10 topics each week after that for the rest of the year. Grading for ALEKS is done first thing each Monday morning. There are no exceptions for late work on ALEKS.
7th history: Students were quizzed on the Spanish-American war on Monday. Then the Panama Canal was the focus for most of this week. Students completed a web quest and watched clips online about the construction process and how ships move through the lock system. We also examined the labor policies of this time period. Early next week, we'll do a review of what we learned about the Industrial Revolution and test on Tuesday.
All assignments and hand-outs are available on Google Classroom or ConnectEd for math. Have a great weekend! Mrs. Wright [email protected]
RAMIREZ REVIEW
Calling all hunters and farmers! I am developing an intensive class about anatomy and physiology for November and I am in need of volunteers and materials. If you have animals (or animal parts) that you would be willing to donate for dissection, please contact me. Also, if you would be willing to participate in the class and demonstrate the skills of slaughtering an animal, we could use your help. Send me an email if you are interested, at [email protected]. This is a great way to get in some parent volunteer hours. Our intensive will be held November 5-9, but I can store animals in my freezer from now until then if needed.
MATH: This week we are finishing up our chapter on integers and taking the chapter test. Our next chapter will focus on fractions and decimals, but also incorporating our new knowledge about positive and negative numbers. ALEKS is up and running for the year. Your student has a login and will be expected to complete 10 topics each week. These will be due on Mondays.
SCIENCE: We have started a new unit on chemistry. This week we learned about the structure of atoms and created our own 3-D models. Next week students will receive information on their adopt-an-element research project.
It is a pleasure to teach your students. Enjoy your weekend!
Mrs. Ramirez
Write On! We are reading the classic book, Call of the Wild, in class. Students are working on their voice intonation and their punctuation cues of when to be more expressive or when to stop or pause. Next week students will begin brining the book home doing reading and also doing some work with their vocabulary words. Additionally, we are peer editing our 9/11 essays for consecutive criticism from their classmates. Then we will share our essays in front of the class next week.
Around the World in 180 Days:
We have been spending time in the Middle East this past week. After students began to lean about “the Arab Spring,” they were given a map of the Middle East that they had to become familiar with. This involved knowing their political boundaries, mountain ranges, rivers, and bodies of water. Students are becoming familiar with seventeen countries and their capitals in the Middle East. They were given a blank map of the the Middle East and they had to identify all those facets that we’ve been studying, from memory. We also talked this week about latitude and longitude and how to determine it. [email protected]
8th Science
Chapter 3 covering living resources and environmental issues is well underway. We were also able to complete the presentation of our Alaska ecosystem project.
Parents: Please check our Google classroom for assignments and iParent for current grades.
Algebra 1
Chapter 2 is under review and will be assessed next week. As always, please keep current with iParent and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!
Real’s English 1
This week we began The Odyssey. Since it is an epic poem we are reading out loud- in class. It is the original story of a lost hero and the kids are really enjoying it. Before reading, they explored,”the hero’s journey’. they compared other tales they knew, and discussed, “What makes a hero?” They were so excited that they may even write they own epic tale! As they read, they are taking notes and summarizing each book- since there will be a test. Students are also responding to chapter questions via google classroom.
We have some exciting activities coming up in our Odyssey unit. Students have chosen a Greek god/goddess or mythical creature. They will be researching them, creating a “trading card” with a first person story, and then dress up as their character to present their story. This is so much fun, that we hope to share with the whole 8th grade (Cards/props DUE 10/8-PRESENTATION DUE 10/9).
Students are also practicing (daily) for their first POL poem presentation-PRESENTATION DUE 10/4).
Don’t forget to check out Google-classroom for any missing work or extra resources. Also DON’T FORGET TO CHECK MY WEBSITE REGULARLY!
Have a great weekend!-Mrs. Real.
Happy Friday 8th grade families, Phew- we’re already through the final week of September! In math, we’ve continued our unit on exponents, & real numbers. We also finally received our ALEKS subscriptions and the students are “Wowing” me already. Today they all received their ALEKS goals for our first Fantastic Friday incentive. My 8th grade Language Arts has been ROCKING their Spalding work this week and I’ve just amazed at how quickly all of their spelling foundation has come back to them with just a short amount of practice. I’m keeping this week’s newsletter short, as you should have all received a very lengthy email from me yesterday regarding a bunch of 8th grade news. If you have seen it yet, please check your email or the message in it’s entirety is also posted on my Facebook page. Thank you to everyone that placed orders from our monthly Scholastic book order last week. All of the books have now arrived and I’ve never had a group of such voracious readers. This truly makes my heart so very happy. The October order form will go home on October 1st and will be due October 15th. Thank you for supporting our classroom via your book orders. The students are incredibly excited about all the bonus books we receive for our classroom. See you all in October! ;) Mrs. Molina [email protected]