Poetry Resources

Here are some links to poetry resources for you:

Kenn Nesbitt
Poems for Children
Poetry Archive
Types of Poems

Enjoy!

Family Recipes

We are collecting family recipes which we will use in various ways throughout our curriculum in the coming weeks and months. We'll write about our memories of these recipes and write how-to essays giving instructions on how to prepare the recipes. Hopefully, we'll end up with a potluck to celebrate our different backgrounds. Stay tuned!

Reminders for Parents

Just a few upcoming events:
Remember we have parent coffees every Friday in the Parent Center at 10am.

There is a PTA meeting on October 18 at 6:30pm in the Lounge.

Fall Field Day for 5th Grade is on Friday, October 28, 1-3:00pm.

Book orders for October are due October 28. Remember that when you order books through our class, Scholastic donates books to our classroom.

Timez Attack

Many of our kids are into playing video games.  While they're playing, they could also be practicing their multiplication and division skills. Timez Attack is a fun way to practice those skills.  Being able to quickly recall multiplication facts is a vital skill for many of the concepts that we will be studying this year.

Timez Attack has revolutionized multiplication games.  It's as polished as a high-end real video game, yet as effective as a top math tutor one-on-one. The built-in assessment, adaptation, and post-test research data guarantee total mastery.

Choosing Books with Your Child

Parents often ask how to choose books for their child. For reading at home, the books should be ones that kids are interested in reading.  We're talking at school about how to choose a book that is at the right reading level. Here's how we do it at school:

1. Read the first page.
2. Every time there is a word you don't know, put up one finger to keep track. 
3. If at the end of the page, you have four or five fingers up, the book is too difficult. If at the end of the page, you have two or three fingers up, the book is just right. If at the end of the page you have one or no fingers up, the book is too easy. 

You can also ask your child to re-tell the story after reading a few pages. If they can re-tell the story, then the book is not too difficult for them. 

Advanced Academic Programs Information

Josie Mani, the Advanced Academics Resource Teacher at Annandale Terrace, invites you to come to a Parent Information Session about Advanced Academics in October:
Wednesday, October 19th at 6:30 in the Library
Friday, October 21 at 9am during the Parent Coffee.

Reminders for Parents

• Don't forget to sign up for parent-teacher conferences on November 7 and 8.  Email me at swhanson@fcps.edu to discuss a time. 
• Spirit Wear orders are due October 5. 
• Picture Day is Friday, October 7. 
• September Scholastic book orders are due September 29.