Spring Conference Information and Learning about Animals

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you had a nice week last week! Since tomorrow is a half day, I am sending home a letter today. There are many things to check out in the folder, so I will keep my letter brief.

What to look for

• Conference sign ups: I am happy to meet with any/ all of you. However, I am told that they are not necessary. For some students I am requesting a conference to check in since our last conference. If I haven’t requested one, you do not need to sign up for one. Please let me know your preferred times on the afternoon of 3/16 or 3/17. I am also available on Wed between 3:30 and 5.

• You will find a progress note on your student to update you on quantifiable measures of their progress. I also included some tips based on my student conferences and assessments of what they should be working on in reading and writing -- these are not all inclusive, but hopefully give you a better understanding. If your child’s reading assessment says “n/a” it is because they did not need to be tested mid year because they were an N or above.

• Their most recent math tests on measurement are in their folders. If you would like these to be filed in their portfolio, sign it and return it. Some students mixed up the minute and hour hands, but I think it was more the fault of how they were drawn than student understanding.

Academic Overview

In writing and reading, we are focusing on non fiction. Students will be writing research reports about an animal of their choice. If you want to do some research at home together, that would be great!

Additionally, in science, we are learning about animals, habitats, and fossils. If students have fossils at home that they would like to share (of animals or plants) we can carefully examine them in class. We explored the idea that the rock under our feet sometimes contains fossils. Those fossils reveal how habitats have changed through time. For example, fossil shark teeth and fossil starfish found in the center of North America are evidence that what is grassland today must have been an ocean in the ancient past. I would recommend a trip to the dinosaur tracks in Holyoke or the Natural History Museum at Amherst College if you are able to do this.

We started fractions in math! This week we are just building the understanding that fractions are equal parts of a whole. Look for examples of fractions in everyday life.

Take care,

Jessica Harwood