Week 22!

We had such a fun time at the Arizona Science Center last Friday! From a riveting tour of the solar system at the planetarium to various engaging exhibits, a wonderful time was had by all. Thank you to all the chaperones who joined us and helped ensure that the day went smoothly.   

Here is the class in front of the Science Center:

We have some more exciting experiences coming up in the near future, including athletic field day. Please read the information below regarding important information and action items.

Announcements

*Field Day: Athletic Field Day is Friday, February 2nd from 8:30-11:00 for K-2 classes and from 12:00-2:30 for grades 3-5!  Each year classes are assigned a Greek City State for their team.  This year, your child’s team is Sparta and our team color is red. There will be no school lunch offered on Athletic Field Day.  Please send your child to school with a lunch. 

Volunteers for Athletic Field Day

In order to have Athletic Field Day run smoothly, we need your help!  Coach Gethings & Coach Warren need volunteers setting up and running the event.  Please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4aaeae2fa0ff2-athletic to help with the all school events.  We need a few volunteers for class to help with donating a cooler and snacks. Please sign up here to volunteer for 1A http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4ea5a72da7f58-1aathletic

Athletic Field Day Attire:

Please have your child wear a red color t-shirt on filed day.  Students may decorate their shirts with their team name and/or symbol of our class’s Greek City State, Sparta.   Students should wear athletic clothing free of pop culture references.  Sports team and brand logos are acceptable on clothing.  Athletic shoes are mandatory (any color).  Hats and sunglasses may be worn.  Sunscreen must be applied at home.  Please see pg. 52 in the family handbook for more detailed information.

*A Bargain for Frances: Please have your child bring in their copy of A Bargain for Frances  by Russell Hoban by Monday, February 5^th.  Books can be purchased from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble if needed. 

*Spalding Homework Update: You may notice that the Spalding spelling homework looks a bit different this week.  We have included a checklist at the top to ensure accuracy and neatness.  We also ask the students include a sentence containing 2 spelling words and correct conventions. 

Academics

Literature:  This week we will continue to enjoy the genre of fairy tales as we read and respond to Puss and Boots, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Princess and the Pea. Students will also use these stories to help them practice the skill of making predictions.

*Please have your child bring in their copy of A Bargain for Frances  by Russell Hoban by Monday, February 5^th.  Books can be purchased from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble if needed. 

Poem:  I Know all the Sounds that the Animals Make          Idiom: Let the cat out of the bag 

Writing:  Students will be able to understand the basic conventions of a proper sentence and rewrite a model sentence.  We will read sections of "The Reluctant Dragon" by Kenneth Grahame and "Winnie-The-Pooh" by A.A. Milne. 

Grammar:  We will continue to review action verbs and linking verbs. We will also learn about a third type of verb this week called the linking verb. A linking verb connects two words in a sentence together, such as a noun and a describing word: Ben is hungry. Examples of linking verbs are: Am, is, are, was, and were. 

Math: On Monday we will take our unit 12 test on graphing. Before we take the test we will spend ample time together as a class reviewing. Throughout the rest of the week we will begin learning about and using bigger numbers, through 40 and beyond! We will count within 40 by making tens first and we will compare and order numbers based on their size. 

History: We will continue our ancient civilizations unit as we study the Aztec and Inca cultures.

Science:  This week our scholars are moving on to an exciting part of our body, the Digestive system! Students will be able to describe the functions of the digestive system and complete a fun experiment in which we will use crackers to see how this system works. Scholars will also be able to see an interactive version of the digestive system at work!