News From the Jungle

Welcome back! The children did an excellent job getting back into the routine of school! All the children remembered the rules and procedures in our classroom and throughout school. I was very happy with our start to the new year!

**** I sent home the homework packet for next week today because we have no school on Monday. I thought this would help you all to get a jump on the spelling words and math facts, as well as completing the packet.

Next week, I will be out of the building for training on Tuesday and Thursday. Due to my absence, the children will not receive new books in their book pouches next week. Please continue to practice the current books which are in their book pouch.

Please do some NWEA practice with your child over the next few weeks. I had posted a few weeks ago some links for practice, but it looks like all of them except for Prepdog are no longer usable. Please find the Prepdog link below:

https://www.prepdog.org/

Homework has changed a bit. If you need help on how to support your child in completing the packet, please refer to the homework packet instruction video at the link below:

https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/dimitriou/2017/12/08/homework-packet-instructions/

PLEASE PUT YOUR CHILD ON READING EGGS AND MATH SEEDS EACH NIGHT!!!! This will be a great way to supplement their learning during the winter break!

If you misplaced your child’s login and need the information again, please email me at dimitrm@dearbornschools.org

Upcoming Events

1/15 No School!!! – MLK Jr. Day

1/17 Late Start – 9:35am arrival

1/17 PTA Meeting 6:00 – 7:00pm

1/18 Haigh School Store

1/19  Spelling Test – is, go, we, big, dig, pig, wig, zig, jig

1/19  + 3 Math Facts Quiz

1/19 Order forms and money due for PTA pizza kits

1/22 SPIRIT WEEK – Pajama Day

1/23 SPIRIT WEEK – Career Day

1/23 Scholastic Book Order Due

1/24 SPIRIT WEEK – Sport/College Wear Day

1/25 SPIRIT WEEK – Crazy Hair Day

1/26 SPIRIT WEEK – Haigh Spirit Wear Day

1/26 Half Day – 11:40am dismissal

1/26  Spelling Test – for, up, look, hop, pop, top, cop, mop, stop

1/26  +4 Math Facts Quiz

1/26 PTA Pizza Kit Delivery Day

1/29 PBIS Celebration – Winter Carnival

1/31 PTA – Magical Wonders of Michigan Assembly

Agenda for the Week

Spelling Words for our next spelling test on 1/19: 

is, go, we, big, dig, pig, wig, zig, jig

Plus a bonus word which will be one of the following words: fig, rig

The purpose of the bonus word is to assess whether the children understand the word family pattern of each word ending in the same two letters -ig.

These words will be in the homework which came home  today!

Please remember the spelling booklet will come home on the Monday after the children take the test and will be expected to be reviewed, signed, and returned to school on Tuesday. This will be the protocol for the test booklets each week. At the end of the year, the test booklets will be sent home for you to keep.

Reading and Writing: This week we practiced opinion writing a little bit more. I tell the children an opinion is something they think or feel.  We also practiced narrative writing while working on our book for the start student of the week. Next week we will work on informational writing. We practiced our spelling words in a variety of ways through writing, reading, and games.

Math: The children took their +2 math test today! Next week, we will focus on learning +3 math facts. Our test will be on Friday, January 19th.

In preparation for NWEA testing, I quickly introduced subtraction. The children will practice this a little bit over the next few weeks, but we will come back to subtraction after we finish our addition facts.

The scope of our math curriculum for the rest of the year will be addition, subtraction, and greater than or less than concepts.

Here are some addition and subtraction videos to support your child’s learning:

Here are some addition videos:

Science: We began learning about polar habitats! The children are very excited for this new unit! We completed a R.A.N strategy (Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction Text). The children talk about what they think they know about the topic (polar habitats). Next, we read books to learn more about the topic and confirm facts that were correct and write down new facts we have learned. The children also learned about many different animals that live in polar climates and completed a few cut, color, and glue activities and crafts.  This unit will last the rest of the month. The children will use this unit during their writing to learn how to write informational papers. We will be learning about moose, polar bears, penguins, puffins, arctic foxes, arctic hares, snow geese, walruses, and more!

Social Studies: This month our focus is history. The children will be learning about the past, present, and future. Today, I sent home a note about a timeline project. This is to be completed and sent back to school on January 23rd. Please do not send in the project early as we do not have space in the classroom to store projects. You may choose to create the project however you and your child decide. This is a fun way for them to better understand the past by relating it to their own life and experiences. The children will practice talking about their past through sharing their timeline projects with their peers.

Housekeeping Items:

Snack Time

**** Due to a peanut allergy in our room, please do not send in any snacks that contain nuts.*****

Folders

Please make sure to empty the green folders each night! It is very difficult and time consuming to locate homework or important notes when the folder is full of papers from the day before. Remember to initial the communication log and feel free to add any notes to me!