Tornado Talk

11 - PTO Meeting

12/13/14 Pumpkin Patch (schedule to come) K-5

17-20 Book Fair

20- DCHS Color Guard will preform 1:45 in gym

21 - No School PD/Work Day

24 - DCFD will visit K-2 classes 9:00-? Smoke house a 1:00

24-28 Red Ribbon week/Bully Prevention month

27 - Fifth Grade Program 6:30

31 - Halloween/Character Parade

Kindergarten is hard at work! We are continuing to work on our letters. We practice forming the letter correctly, the sound, and making words with the letter. We are learning how to tap out or sound out words and learning new words each day. We are reading stories and learning about the illustrations and key details.

In math, we are working on the numbers 0-10. We are building number sense and an understanding of the number. We will begin working on shapes soon. We are so busy!

September has flown by for 1st grade and we are preparing for October.

Math- We are coming to the end of our first Module. We have worked hard on decomposing numbers and exploring different strategies.

ELA- We will also be finishing our first Unit and taking that test in the next week or so. We have worked hard on Narrative stories and writing. We have also explored informational text and finding facts when we read. We will continue to explore these two areas in the next unit.

We will have some fun and exciting times in October. We are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch again this year as well as our Story Book Character parade on October 31.

Be on the lookout for more information from Northwest as well at your 1st grades.

Thank you!

First Grade Teachers

Ms. Barrientos, Mrs. Doussa, Mrs. Falcon

Reading update

Finishing Unit 1 Understanding Communities

· Main topic

· Understand that characters in stories have unique point of view

Start Unit 2 Module A Making Decisions

· Understand that knowing the structure of a story helps comprehend the text

Math update

Module 3- place value, counting, and comparison of numbers to 1,000

Second Grade Goals

Fluently add and subtraction numbers within 100

Read fluently with accuracy at appropriate rate

We can hardly believe that it is already October! There is a lot of exciting stuff coming up this month in third grade. We recently finished our first module in math learning the beginnings of multiplication and division. We are moving on to telling time and rounding this module. We are starting a new module in reading as well. We started the new unit by reading about the moon and learning several new and exciting things about the phases of the moon. We will continue the unit by reading a book titled “Treasure in the Trees”. Our writing this unit will be focused on researching a topic and doing an informative writing over that topic.

The most exciting part of the month of October is our social studies unit. We are beginning our economics unit where students begin to learn about different topics having to do with money, buying, and selling. At the end of the unit, we will be doing a market day where students will create and sell products. Students will be earning money daily in class, and will be using this classroom money to buy products at market day from their friends and classmates. A note will be going home soon with exact dates and other information.

We are excited for all of the fall festivities that are also taking place in the month of October!

~Mrs. Stefan, Mrs. Carmona, Ms. Connolly

Math: -In our unit this month, we are working on Module 2 and starting Module 3. In Module 2 we will be covering Unit Conversions and Problem Solving with Metric Measurement. This is a shorter module that will cover 2 topics. Topic A: Metric Unit Conversions and Topic B: Application of Metric Unit Conversions. Module 3 is a much longer module that will continue through December. Module 3 covers multi-digit multiplication and division. We suggest practicing multiplication and division math facts at home now to help this module be more successful for them!

Reading: This month we will continue Unit 1 Module B. In this module, READERS will use information presented in different ways and from different sources to understand a topic. WRITERS will use organizational structure, specific word choice, and evidence when explaining a topic. LEARNERS will understand that multiple sources and evidence can be used to build ideas and information. Our performance based assessment will be creating an infographic over an animal of their choice. They will then write a supporting introduction and conclusion telling more about the animal.

Social Studies: We will continue our unit over Civics and Government. In this unit, students will recognize and evaluate the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Students will examine the individual’s role as a citizen of the community and state. They will determine how people can participate in government and analyze why choosing to participate is important. Students will investigate ways that responsible citizens can fulfill their civic duty, such as, engaging in one or more of the following opportunities: serving the common good, being law-abiding, showing respect for others, volunteering, serving the public in an elected or appointed office, and/or joining the military.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, students will research Hispanic leaders. Their research will include their leader’s life information, legacy, important events, and information on why we celebrate this person.

Science: In our unit this month, students will investigate structures and functions of the human body. Students will explore how our bones and muscles are interconnected, how our eyes interact with light and impact our vision, and how our brain responds to stimuli in our environment.

Thank you for your continued support at home!

-4th grade team (Mrs. Egger, Miss Blankman, and Ms. Gleason)

The month of October is already looking to be a busy month for our 5th graders. We will be having our first Title 1 event for this year, a trip to the Pumpkin Patch that will be filled with fun activities, the book fair, red ribbon week, and our 5th Grade Music program.

In the month of October, we will be working on multi-digit multiplication and division. This will include an introduction into decimals as well as mental math strategies to help us solve problems quicker. We cannot stress enough the importance of each child knowing their multiplication and division facts. Please continue working on these skills with your children at home.

For ELA we will continue with our unit theme of “Depending on Each Other” with a book called Washed Up. In this book we will follow the lives of three families in their journey to survive on a remote island. We will then read Rain Forest Food Chains and Pale Male. These stories will guide us towards our next writing project where we will be writing an informative essay about one of the environments from our stories.

In Social Studies we will begin learning about exploration, focusing on 5 European explorers and their journeys. In this study we will review the paths they took, the struggles they encountered, the Columbian Exchange, and Slave trade. In Science we will continue learning about the web of life. We will get to do a fun experiment with worms, then head on to ecosystems where we will use what we have learned about plants, animals, and decomposers to see how they interact in an ecosystem.

We are excited as Fall brings changes to the outdoors and many opportunities for learning.

-Your 5th Grade Teachers

For music:

In kindergarten we do a lot of moving and the students have been playing on unpitched percussion instruments, working on steady beat, understanding the difference between fast and slow, and singing focus songs.

In 1st grade and 2nd grade we do a lot of movement activities and the students have been playing on unpitched percussion instruments, identifying how many beats are in a measure listening to songs, identifying if a song is fast or slow, learning the different voice types: whisper, talk, shout, and sing, and singing focus songs.

The 5th grade class has been working very hard practicing and preparing for their music program on October 27th themed “On Broadway”!

We are Falling into Books in the Library! All classes are checking in and out and learning all kinds of interesting things. All students have learned about Internet Safety - ask your children what they know about online safety. Hopefully they can tell you some things about personal information and password safety! We are also gearing up for our Fall Book Fair - to be held the week of October 17. Look for more information to come on this exciting event! Parents - ask your students what books they are reading and read with them - it’s a great way to show them that reading is important to everyone!