January 20, 2015

 We had such a busy week, we definitely needed a 3 day weekend!  Everyone is feeling more settled and have worked so hard on their weekly requirements and lesson follow-ups.  Every day this week the students were busy working together or by themselves to complete as much work as possible.  Many happy students were so very proud of their achievements this past week.

Both Ms. Carol and I are doing lessons with everyone on clocks and telling time.  We have excited students who are loving these lessons and practicing telling time.

Third graders have also started having weekly Informal Writing lessons with Ms. Nicole and the Upper Elementary.  The students really enjoyed thinking creatively about different subjects and are going to have extra practice to improve their writing skills.

This week, students teamed up with another student in a different grade and chose a continent they were interested in and conducted research on it.  Students learned how to use encyclopedias, non-fiction books, and other reference materials to answer questions about their continent.  Some students even made small projects, like a map or a poster, based on what they learned.

In Life Science, students also chose different animals to research on and have been working hard on developing projects for their animals.  Many creative ideas and a lot of really detailed research has been going on about their animals.

During Talk-About this week, we introduced the Zones of Regulation.  The Zones separate emotions and feeling into 4 colors, red, yellow, green, and blue.  Extreme emotions like fury are red, feelings of uneasiness like excitement or worry are yellow and feelings like boredom, sadness, and tiredness are blue.  Green is being okay, happy, or relaxed.  The Zones are a reminder that the best way to stay focused at school is to be in the green zone and if you are feeling other ways you may need to take a break or do something else to help get back in the green.  We implemented the Zones of Regulation last year in the classroom, and it worked well in helping students describe their feelings and better understand the feelings of others.

Don't forget that we have a field trip on Friday, January 23, to the Cedar River Watershed.  We still need a couple more drivers to join us from 9:30 to 2:00.  Please let us know if you are interested as soon as possible.  There will be a more detailed email in a few days that will specify what your child needs to bring on Friday's outdoor adventure.

We will also be sending out an email to sign-up for a time for conferences on Friday, February 6.  It will be similar to the conference sign-up in the Fall.  You will give us 3 times that will work for you, and we will respond back with the confirmation as soon as possible.

We hope you had a great 3 day weekend!
Ben & Carol​