It is that time of the year for our school-wide kick-off of “Resolve to be Well”!!!  Once again, we have partnered with Mrs. Lassell in promoting wellness in our instruction as well as tracking our progress.  Our class has created a Wellness Window with the following wellness categories; movement, flexible brain, nutrition and character.  Stafford’s Wellness Revolution is all about expressing our intent in creating goals, charting and measuring these for success.   On Tuesday, January 3rd, we have started tracking nutrition and movement.   Our movement goal is to exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 20 minutes and our nutrition goal is to eat fresh fruit, veggies and protein daily.  Our Flexible Brain topic is something we have been learning about all year during community as well as character.  These are great topics for family conversations during meal time.  I look forward to hearing  how each family Resolves to be Well!

For specifics on math, reading & writing, please feel free to email me directly on what your student is currently working on as each student is working on their individual level.

3rd graders: We have just started our new social studies unit on Native Americans.  Students will be learning about Native American culture as well as their storytelling. 

4th graders: We are continuing to work on our US region unit.  Students have been gaining back ground region knowledge which will support them in their upcoming research project.

Community: We are making progress in our Stop & Think Unit!!!  Students have been challenged to pay attention to their behaviors by slowing down to STOP and think about their next move; will it be a good choice or a poor choice? We are learning if we make a good choice then there will be positive consequences and if we make a poor choice, unfortunately, there will be negative choices.  I encourage you to continue this conversation at home to support your child as they make good choices, have them identify what the positive consequense.  An example may be, if I clean my dinner plate, my tummy will be full and get me through till breakfast.  I would love to hear about their examples from home!!!

Math: 4th graders are clicking along and have finished their first unit on factors, multiple and arrays.  Parents: please continue to quiz your student on their multiplication facts as homework.  Additional facts sheets will be sent home to study.  3rd graders are also clicking along as they continue their work in skip counting, writing & solving equations and word problems.  Parents: please continue to support your child with their nightly homework of math facts.  They should be able to answer their problems automatically.

Daily 5: This Monday we will start the week with our Art Literature Project taught by Mrs. Edens and then begin our book reading groups.  The students have been focusing on how their reading promotes their independent thinking as they track their thinking by the following phrase starters; “This makes me think of…”, “I wonder…”, This reminds me of …”, Why/how did…”, “An idea I have…”, or a “WOW!!!” statement which reflects an interesting thought/fact or a new learning idea. 

Science/Social Studies: The whole class recently finished their Bridge units and brought home their projects of bridges make craft sticks as well as their Portland Bridge Class Book.   This past week each grade level has started their new unit; 3rd grade = bones/muscles and 4th grade = geography.

Notes to remember:

Please email Snapp to set up conferences for week of Oct 10th.

Picture Re-takes: Thursday, October 20, 2011 @ 8:00 for my class.

Vision Screening: Monday, October 24, 2011 @ 7:55 for my class.

On Wednesday, October 18th, we will begin our 8 week Spanish study.   We will be having Senora Melody come join us,  just as last year, for 8 Wednesdays from 8:10 – 8:40 as we learn the basics of Spanish, study the culture and have fun!!!

Fall News!!!

Curriculum Night is this Thursday, Sept 22nd starting in the gym with our principal Mrs. Freeborn’s welcome speech and then to our classroom, Room 1, to hear all about what our year has in store for us!!!  Please come and join the fun!

Field Trips: 3rd grade – Willamette Jet Boat rides – Thursday, Sept 29th from 8:30 to 1:30.  5th grade – Columbia River Gorge – Thursday, Sept 29th from 8:30 – 3:45 where parents need to pick up students.  Permission slips were sent home.  Please see Snapp with questions/concerns.

Community Lunch: It is going well.  We are using this time to continue building our learning community with a variety of activities.  Also, please bring in any snacks to stock up if you don’t want to bring one every day.

It’s the first week of school and the students are transitioning beautifully!!!  We are in the process of establishing our learning community with great thinkers.  Each child offers unique thinking & contributions which leaves me thinking what a wonderful year which is ahead of us!!! 

Here are a couple of class/school news items:

Scholastic Book Orders: our first order was given to the students today as they are very excited about their reading.  Book orders are due Friday, Sept 16th.

Stafford Stamede: our annual fun time fare is Friday, Sept 9th from 5:00 – 8:00 pm.  See you there!

Water bottles: I am encouraging each child to bring a water bottle from home to keep on their desk so they can stay hydrated throughout the day, especially with our “heat wave”. 

Friday Pancake Breakfasts: we still are in need of plastic plates & utensils.

Students and parents are invited to our Sneak Peak to Room 1 on Thursday, Sept 1st from 12 – 1pm.  We are very excited to share our new classroom and have you drop off your school supplies. 

Students: please be thinking about sharing 3 highlights of your summer when we see you. 

See you then!!!

I trust you all had an enjoyable and restful summer and are heading down the stretch for the finish line.  During the past couple of weeks, I have been enjoying having conversations with my twin boys and discussing the great time we have had this summer.  I think we all agreed, this has been the best! 

But as we know, all things must come to an end and I am so excited to start this new year with many new & exciting changes.  The biggest change for my class is that it has moved!!! My new class has re-located to Room 1, formally Mr. Minor’s office.  HGTV here I come!!! I am thrilled to have this new classroom and set it up for all of our great activities to come this year.  The next change this year is the beautiful construction in our school.  I can’t wait to get lost in the books in our wonderful new library.   Lastly, we have a new principal, Jen Freeborn, you all will love her!  I have worked with Jen in the past and look forward her leading Stafford Primary and getting to know all of my students.

Supply Lists

Supply lists are posted on our school website but I want to highlight a couple of additions/adjustments.  Please refer to the 3/4 grade level list for our class which are similar.  Below are the changes:

Adjustments:

anti-bacterial wipes instead of baby wipes

fine tip or wide tip colored markers

zipper bag for pencils/pens or school box

Additions:

Folders: 2 each – green, red, blue, yellow & white

Head phones – I have extra sets of head phones, but if your child has a favorite style please bring it in

Personal music player – if it is permitted by parents, personal music players (IPOD, ITouch, shuffle, etc.) – students use this as a calming activity

High Lighters – green, yellow, red (pink) & blue

Open House

We will be having an Open House for our classroom the week before school begins.  Please see our school web site for the exact date and time.  Students are able to bring supplies at that time or the first day of school.  I look forward to seeing all of you during this time as we introduce our new classroom! 

Enjoy your last couple of weeks of summer and look forward to seeing you soon!

Toni  snappt@wlwv.k12.or.us

The finish line is within our sights!!!  Wow, what a fast year, but hold on, we have lots to do.  I think  I have been saving the best for last  

State Benchmark Testing: we will finish up our testing next week in the area of math for the 3rd graders and science for our 5th grader.

Field Trip: Our last field trip will be May 24th visiting OMSI to end our unit on the Solar System.  See my email that was sent May 11th.

Music Production: Mark your calendars for June 7th as our class will be preforming for our end of the year Music Production and Parent Pancake Breakfast.  The music production will be @ 8:00 and then parents are invited to join us for our last pancake breakfast!!!

Field Day: June 8th

We want to thank Senora Boyce for a wonderful Spanish class over the past 8 weeks.  Our students loved her enthusiasm for the language and culture and have been able to continue practicing Spanish in the class room.

Yellowstone National Park: as mentioned at the beginning of the year, we will be ending our year integrating curriculum standars  by studying Yellowstone National Park!!!  For the last few weeks, we will be learning about the wildlife, plants, geothermal features, physical features and creating our last investigation of the year. 

Phillip Foster Farm: Thanks to all parents joining us on our last field trip as it was quit a success.  Please enjoy our class pictures.

Is it spring yet?  Well, the weather may not be cooperating, but inside our classroom, we are busy.  Here’s what’s going on…

Field trips: Our class will be visiting the CREST Center on Wednesday, April 27th for a couple of sessions with Bob Carlson.  We will be exploring water sheds as well as food chains.  We will be leaving Stafford at 8:45 and returning by 11;00.  Please help students to dress warm (boots or waterproof shoes, rain coat) and bring a snack.  Parents are welcome to join, please let Snapp know.

Friday, May 6th we will be visiting Philip Foster Farm in Estacada to study Pioneer Life.  We will be departing at 10:15 and returning by 1:00.  Students again will be asked to dress accordingly to the weather as well as bring a sack lunch.  We will be eating lunch on site before heading back to school.

Upcoming Events – I am in the process of scheduling 1-2 more field trips to support our curriculum for the year.  Stay tuned…  Also, we will be putting on our class musical performance the first week of June.  Parents will be our audience members as well as joining us for our final Pancake Breakfast.  Details to come…

Science – 3rd graders have been busy studying the Solar System as the 5th graders are studying Ecosystems and Food Chains/Webs.

Math – we will begin our math benchmark assessments in the next week.

5th graders will begin taking the Science and Social Studies benchmark assessments mid May.

Literacy – we have started discussing family traditions and customs as it will be incorporated into our final personal narratives for the year.  The class project will be completing a “Class Quilt” to be passed on to Snapp’s future AIM classrooms.  Students will be asked to interview family members about traditions and memories to share with the class.

April is here and hope all are enjoying the sun while it sneaks out!

I think March came and gone with a blink of an eye and with spring break behind us, we are heading for the finish line.  But, we have lots left to do and new things to learn   Here is what is up next.

Science:  3rd graders finished up their bones and muscle units as 5th graders completed their review units of the circulatory, digestive and respiratory systems.  Last week each group participated in our school lab times while the 3rd graders studied volume and will finish this upcoming week, the 5th graders reviewed the body systems and have started learning about the reasons for seasons.

Daily 5 – our students have been very busy learning about personal narratives and publishing 6 sentence paragraphs.  Some of their projects have been sent home, while others are on our school bulletin board. 

This next week, we will begin our state benchmark assessments in the areas of reading.  Math will come at the end of the month and the 5th graders will participate in science at the end of May. 

Social Studies: we will begin our next unit just as soon as we wrap up our science labs this week.  3rd graders will study Portland Bridges as 5th graders will study American history. 

Field trips: We will not be going to Ft Clatsop this year.  I am working on finalizing some closer field experiences for the class so please stay tuned.  I will get this information out to you in the next couple of weeks.