October Newsletter

The winning table group of the 25-25-25 Project.

Here’s a look at what we’ve been working on and what’s coming up here in the Basecamp of the Pathfinder Team.

In our Reading & Writing Workshops we are continuing to get our daily routines established. Students are focusing on choosing just right books, looking out for unknown words, and paying attention to their thinking while reading. We are getting started on a unit of reading informational (nonfiction) text and writing expository pieces.

In Math we have been using multiplication and division to solve word problems. It is so important that students know their multiplication facts! Homework will take students a lot more time if they don't know their facts by memory.  

In Science we are getting started on a unit entitled The View from Earth. We'll be looking at relationships between the Earth, Moon, and Sun and how those impact our life here on Earth.

In Social Studies we began looking at the four types of social scientists: historians, geographers, political scientists, and economists. We'll be digging in deeper as geographers ourselves looking at the United States in relation to other places in the world and then the specific features that can be found here. 

Odds and Ends...

• MEAP Testing is around the corner. Testing begins on October 9th. I'll send a testing schedule home soon! Also, be on the lookout for a snack signup.
• Just Right Library will begin next week. Students will be required to read their Just Right Library book for their at-home reading each night. If they want to read more than their 20 minutes they may read a book of their choice. 
• Thanks for continuing to sign and return weekly "How did I do this week?" forms and Homework Reports. 
• I had 14 students apply to be Team Techies. I'm going to choose 4 of them to get started and then will rotate students to give others a chance later in the year. This is a new thing for me so I'm going to need my techies to be patient while I figure things out. :>)
• I've created a new website for parents and students this year - still located at http://mr.hollandanderson.net. There is a suggestion box on the Contact page for you to tell me what you'd like to see there. 

If you ever have a question or comment about what is happening in our classroom, please feel free to contact me either by phone, e-mail, or by sending in a note.  I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m able!

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