Halloween Parade Today at 2:40 PM

A room 5 student enjoys the Halloween carnival with her sister.

Halloween Parade Today at 2:40 PM
The Halloween parade is today at 2:40 PM--Mr. Solo pushed back the time by ten minutes.  If you want to dress your child before the parade you can come at 2:20 PM.

Parent Teacher Conferences
I will be holding parent teacher conferences the week of November 14th.  I have half-hour time slots open every day that week: 2 each morning and 5-8 each afternoon.  To make things easier I have created an online sign-up form where you can see what slots are available, and put your name down for your time.

To create this sign-up list I used a website called MySignUpGenius.  When you log in you will see the MySignUpGenius logo and header, with my available times below.  When you sign up you do not need to enter in any contact information other than your name.  Try to use this format for entering your name: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Jane).

I allowed for a wide choice of sign up times to better conform to your schedules--the drawback it that there is a lot of times for you to sift through on the site.  If this system doesn't wok for you, email me.  Additionally, the sign up list goes to 5:30 PM, if you or your spouse require a conference time that is particularly late in the evening, email me, and I will accommodate your needs.

Click on this link to sign up for a conference time.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.  Ask your student about Too Many Pumkins by Linda White.

Math - Geometry: 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes and their properties

Writing - Writing about the important concepts and ideas we find in fiction books.

Language Conventions and Word Study - Synonyms and Antonyms

Science - Geology, materials of the earth: pebbles, rocks and silt

Separating Sand and Silt

Last week we studied silt (rock powder).  Students mixed sand with water to separate the silt, which floats,  from the grains of sand, which sink.

Halloween Carnival
The Halloween Carnival is this Sunday, October 30th at 11:00 AM.  We haven't had one for a couple of years but usually there are fun games and activities.  I will be there.  Most kids wear costumes, as do many adults.

TPES Halloween Parade
On Monday, October 31st, TPES will have a Halloween parade.  The parade starts at 2:30 PM and his held on the back playground blacktop.  Parents are welcome to come if they like, but it is not required.  That day students can wear their Halloween costumes to school as long as the costume doesn't make it impossible to work in the classroom and use the restroom.  Mr. Solo has these three rules regarding costumes: 1) Masks should be easily removable and brought to school in a bag.  2) Halloween hairspray canisters should be left at home. 3) Absolutely no pretend weapons should be brought to school.

Also, remember that students will have a normal day with Science, P.E., lunch, recess, and everything else.  In past years I seen beautiful costumes go home soiled with food stains, grass stains, and mud from the playground.  Magic wands and other props have also been broken or lost. I will remind them throughout the day to be careful, you can remind them in the morning as well.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.  Ask your student about Peach and Blue by Steve Johnson.

Math - Using greater than and less than symbols.  Ordering numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least.  Understanding and continuing number patterns.  Understanding how our number system is based on organizing quantities into groups of tens.

Writing - Writing about the important concepts and ideas we find in fiction books.  Ask you student what idea they wrote about for Peach and Blue by Steve Johnson or Julius, the Baby of the World, by Kevin Henkes.

Language Conventions and Word Study - Understanding what makes a sentence complete.

Science - Geology, materials of the earth: pebbles, rocks and silt.

Studying River Rock

Students studied river rocks with magnifying glasses.  Then they used differently sized screens to separate the rock out by size.

Science
The students have really enjoyed the science unit we are currently studying.  Last week we saw how rocks can be part of the earth's features, and then break down into smaller and smaller pieces until they become as small as sand and silt.  This led to a good discussion about how much sand there is in the world, how long this process takes, and how relentless our oceans and rivers are at moving, smoothing, and breaking down rocks.

Homework Journals
I was busy today with different meetings.  I was only able to read and return some of the homework journals.  The rest will be ready to go back home tomorrow.

IXL Math Website
I can see that many of you have logged on to the IXL math website.  If you haven't already, give it a try.  I sent you a link and password for it about two weeks ago.

Mr. Luxon Not On Campus This Friday
Mr. Solo has asked me to attend a district meeting this Friday, the second day of the training I attended about a month ago.  I will not be at school, TPES visiting teacher Ms. Cahill will be teaching in my absence.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.  Ask your student about Swimmy by Leo Lioni.

Math - Understanding how our number system is based on organizing quantities into groups of tens.  10 is ten ones, 100 is ten tens, 1000 is ten hundreds, etc.

Writing - Writing about the important concepts and ideas we find in fiction books.

Language Conventions and Word Study - Understanding what makes a sentence complete.

Science - Geology, materials of the earth: pebbles, rocks and silt.

Students used screens to separate the pebbles, gravel, sand, and silt.

Reading for Important Concepts/Ideas in Fiction Books

We have been working hard to find important concepts in the books we are reading.

Here is the update for this week:

Room 5 Parent Website
Our Room Parent, Ms. Krantz, has created an excellent website. It is linked on the right side of this page as 'Our Room Parent's Page'. The site has additional information about Room 5, Room 5 Families, our school, and the parent foundation. Check it out.

Homework Journals
Thanks for helping your students with those homework journals. Last Monday I put a note, written in green ballpoint pen, in every student's journal. I should be able to do this most every week, but their may be some weeks when I cannot. Overall it looked like the writing students were doing in those journals was great. Thank you so much for your help with that--I could see it in their writing.

I have also been reviewing the math homework, it looks good as well.

Every Monday
This section is just repeated from last week: Monday is a day you need to help your students prepare for. This is what you need to remember:
- Home writing journals are due.
- Wear athletic shoes--we have P.E. on Mondays.
- If you need replacement books for your velcro book pouch, this the best day to exchange them. If your are still working on those books that's fine to.
- If you have a book from the TPES school library this may also be a good day to return those. (Most students do not have one just yet)

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.

Math - Mental computation with addition and subtraction. Understanding how easy math facts can be used to figure out more difficult ones. For example, if you know 14 - 10 = 4 you can also easily see that 14 - 9 will equal 5.

Writing - Writing about the ideas we find in fiction books.

Language Conventions and Word Study - Making sure we understand periods, question marks, and exclamation points.

Science - Materials of the earth: pebbles, rocks and silt.

Room 5 Students Assigned Individual Netbooks

Despite the sharing shown in this photo, Room 5 is lucky to have one netbook for every student.

I know I am repeating myself, but I continue to be truly impressed with the work and attitude of all of the Room 5 students. Please thank your students for their hard work.

Every Monday
Monday is a day you need to help your students prepare for.  This is what you need to remember:
- Home writing journals are due.
- Wear athletic shoes--we have P.E. on Mondays.
- If you need replacement books for your velcro book pouch, this the best day to exchange them.  If your are still working on those books that's fine to.
- If you have a book from the TPES school library this may also be a good day to return those.  (Most students do not have one just yet)

School Starts at 8:55 AM
Many of you may be used to school starting at 9:00 AM.  This year our start time was moved up by 5 minutes.  School starts at 8:55 AM, your student should be here before that.  My goal is to have learning start immediately.

Classroom Netbooks
Last week I set up each Room 5 student with a classroom netbook.  We will use them for various assignments and projects. I spoke with the students about handling them with care and caution.  Thank you for getting your students those earbuds.

Volunteering
I know a lot of you are interested in volunteering in the classroom. Now that I have my schedule set I will begin contacting anyone who asked about volunteering on the Parent Survey. I believe I will set up regular times at 9:00 AM and 12:20 PM each day.

Important Upcoming Dates
October 17 - Monday - School Pictures
October 21 - Friday - Mr. Luxon attends off-campus meeting
October 27 - Thursday - School Picture Make-Up Day
October 30 - Sunday - TPES Halloween Carnival
October 31 - Monday - Halloween Parade, 2:30 PM

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.

Math - Mental computation with addition and subtraction.  Understanding how easy math facts can be used to figure out more difficult ones.  For example, if you know 5 + 5 = 10 you can also easily see that 5 + 6 will equal 11.

Writing - Writing about the ideas we find in fiction books.

Language Conventions and Word Study - Understanding how prefixes affect word meanings, specifically the prefixes pre- and dis- (e.g. pretest, preschool, dislike, disabled)

Science - Materials of the earth: pebbles, rocks and silt.

School starts at 8:55 AM.  These photos were taken at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, September 28th.  Only 14 of 25 students were on-time.

Reading for Important Ideas and Concepts in Books

I have been impressed with the focus on learning shown by Room 5 students.

Thank you so much for coming to open house it was nice to formally meet all of you. If you weren't able to come that night and would like a copy of my presentation just let me know.

Reading for Ideas
This week we have begun reading for ideas or important concepts in our fiction texts. My goal is to have students determine the important themes in the book, and then give them the vocabulary they need to truly express what they are reading.  The first book we are reading is The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.  In the beginning of the book students found the important idea of envy--many smaller fish are envious of Rainbow Fish's colorful scales.  We also noted that this idea of envy is closely related to jealousy and admiration.

Head Lice
There have been some students in Room 5 affected with head lice.  Please check your child and let me know if you have the issue too.  I will keep it private but I want to gauge how wide-spread the problem is.  In the meantime I will cover any pillows I have.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reading for important ideas or concepts.

Math - Addition and subtraction.  Using subtraction to compare to related numbers.  Understanding how addition can be used to solve subtraction problems.

Writing - Writing about the ideas we find in fiction books.

Language Conventions - Understanding how commas are used in the greeting and closure of letters, when writing the date, and when listing a series of items.

Word Study - Understanding how prefixes affect word meanings, specifically the prefix un- and over- (e.g. unlucky, unwise, unlucky, overworked, overcrowded)

Art - A study of Pablo Picasso’s major artistic periods: currently on Surrealism.

Curriculum Night This Wednesday

In addition to reading independently Room 5 students read and discuss books in pairs.

I continue to be truly impressed with all of the students in Room 5.  The effort and attitude of every child has been wonderful.

Open House / Curriculum Night This Wednesday
Curriculum night is the Wednesday, September 21st.  Around 6:35 PM I will give a presentation in Room 5.  Remember, for this first open house, just the parents are invited, unfortunately students need to stay home.

Here is the schedule for the night:

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Supper/Bake Sale in the lunch arbor
6:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Principal Jim Solo and Foundation President Erin Brown speak in the auditorium
6:35 pm - 7:10 pm - Grades K-2 teacher presentation in classrooms
7:15 pm - 7:50 pm- Grades 3-5 teacher presentation in classrooms
8:00 pm - school closed

Mr. Luxon Not On Campus This Friday
Mr. Solo has asked me to attend a district meeting this Friday.  I will not be at school, TPES visiting teacher Ms. Christie Edelson will be teaching in my absence.  Ms. Edelson knows both me and Torrey Pines well.  She will be on campus all week assisting other teachers, and in Room 5 on Friday.

Important Upcoming Dates:
September 21 - Wednesday - Curriculum Night
September 23 - Friday - Ms. Edelson teaches in Room 5
October 1-2 - Saturday and Sunday - La Jolla Art Festival, a TPES fundraiser
October 17 - Monday - School Pictures

Earbud Headphones
I have been getting the classroom netbooks ready for each student.  Can you provide your students with simple earbuds to use with their laptops?  I know the 2nd grade supply list was already very extensive but think each student having their own pair of earbuds will be the best solution for the classroom.  Nothing fancy, uses the ones you already have lying around the house.  They should not be large because they will be kept in your student's desk drawer.  I will get some extras for those of you who cannot provide a pair.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy - Reviewing the vocabulary needed to discuss fiction books: characters, setting, conflict/problem, resolution, climax

Math - Subtraction, interpreting data in graphs and charts, understanding place value

Writing - Writing about our lives with detail and expression

Language Conventions - Understanding how commas are used in the greeting and closure of letters, when writing the date, and when listing a series of items.

Word Study - Understanding how prefixes affect word meanings, specifically the prefix un- and over- (e.g. unlucky, unwise, unlucky, overworked, overcrowded)

Art - A study of Pablo Picasso’s major artistic periods: The Blue Period, The Rose Period, Cubism, and Surrealism.