Friday, April 12, 2019

April 8-12

Charlton Park Field Trip
The Charlton Park field trip is scheduled for May 6th.  Here students will experience the activities of a typical 19th century community.  More information about Charlton Park can be found here. This is an all-day field trip and students will need to bring a sack lunch that day and arrive at school at 7:45 a.m. The bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. sharp so we can enjoy a full day!  

Limited chaperones are allowed due to space in the park.  If you would like to volunteer, please fill out the bottom portion of the note sent home with your child this week.  Please return by Monday! 

Reading Camp
Reading Camp is scheduled for Friday, May 31st.  We will need a great deal of volunteers for that day in order for it to happen. Activities are very easy to run as a volunteer and all materials will be set up and provided by teachers. If you only have a half day to volunteer, feel free to split the day with another parent. We can help with that if you can't find anyone to share the day with. Please watch for the volunteer sign-up note to come home soon.



St. Joseph Elementary Track Meet
Track Meet volunteers are needed for May 10th, 10am-2pm. This will take place at Upton Middle School on the track and field.  If you are able to help out that day, please e-mail Beth Lehner at bclehner@sbcglobal.net.

End of Year Testing
Just a reminder that the M-Step and NWEA testing window opens on April 29th. We will provide more information later about specific dates and times. Please remember to be sure that children get plenty of rest and a good breakfast on those days. Specific information about the tests was in last week's blog if you want to look it over.

Remember this message as well...
While it is important to keep students relaxed and stress-free about these tests, we also want them to put forth their best effort. In the classroom, we will be discussing strategies for keeping yourself calm during testing as well as having perseverance and grit when things feel tough. Reinforcing these ideas at home will benefit your child during these testing sessions.

Reminder: Calling All Colors
All third grade classes will participate in their 2nd session of Calling All Colors this month. The dates are as follows:
Knuth: April 22nd
Deis: April 25th
Covert: April 15th



Next Week's Schedule:
Monday: D Day
Tuesday: E Day
Wednesday: F Day
Thursday: A Day
Friday: B Day (1/2 day)
Upcoming Events:
April 15: Mileage Club Begin
               Covert to Calling All Colors
               Deadline to submit Technology Projects
               Dress Rehearsal for Creative Arts Festival--H.S. 5:30
April 16: Creative Arts Festival at H.S. 6:00 p.m. for evening performance
April 17: 1-hour Late Start
April 19: 1/2 Day (12:05 dismissal)
April 22: Knuth to Calling All Colors
April 24: 1-hour Late Start
April 25: Deis to Calling All Colors 
               PTO at noon
May 10: Tech Fest @ HS and Track Meet @ Upton

What we've been up to:
Reading: We are doing Reader's Theater this week!
Word Study:  We've begun soft c and hard c words this week.  Test on F Day.
Math: We've started Unit 7 and focused on fractions thus far.  Our math WINN time is focused on 2-step word problems. Please remember that multiplication is the focus in 3rd grade and the facts need to be memorized. If your child is struggling with this, please continue to practice a few facts each night until your child can recall the facts without counting or using strategies to solve.
Science: Before spring break, our unit on Force was completed.
Social StudiesAs we continue with Michigan history, we will learn about key people that helped us to become a state as well as the process that led us from a territory to a state.
Writing: We are finalizing our informational books on BookCreator (due Friday 4/12) and will be submitting to the technology fest by Monday!