Winter Celebrations

Happy Holidays Team Soar Families,

Thank you to all of you who came last week to our Winter Concert. As you are aware, we have a little problem solving to do! Ms. Wall has posed the question to our students as a math computation where they are asked to come up with solutions so that everyone in our Jefferson Family has an enjoyable time at our future gatherings. This is a great topic of discussion for you and your child!

Yesterday we took our literacy MAPS test; this will be the only winter MAPS test that students will be taking. We will be sharing this information at our upcoming parent teacher conferences on January 22, as the focus for these conferences will be literacy. 

We will be sending home a half sheet today about our upcoming holiday party on Friday, December 19. Please return the slip as soon as possible if you choose to participate.

Next week Tuesday through Thursday (Thursday after school only), students will have the opportunity to shop at a PTA sponsored holiday shoppe. This shop allows students to purchase Christmas items for family members. Slips have been sent home regarding this holiday event.

 

December Already!

Brrr! It sure does feel like winter outside! It is VITAL that students come with warm winter weather attire as students go outside, even when it is cold for recess. Not only do they go outside for recess but they must wait outside until the morning bell rings, and again for parent pick up at the end of the day. If students come unprepared, they will still go outside. We have a limited number of extra supplies for the elements. If you are a family who is in need of warmer clothing, please let us know so we can assist in any way possible.

The Winter Concert will be taking place tomorrow, Thursday, December 4, 2014. The first concert will be a dress rehearsal at 2:30pm which families are welcome to attend. The second concert will take place at 6:00pm the same day; students are to report to the gym at 5:30pm in order to get ready. We ask that families please review the concert etiquette sheet sent home last week.

We have noticed many illnesses being circulated within the Team Soar classroom. Please be sure to review with students proper hand washing and when it is appropriate to stay home from school. As much as we want students to be at school everyday, when they are truly ill (fever, pink eye, throwing up, diarrhea) we ask that you please stay at home until medication has been taken for 24 hours or fevers have subsided for 24 hours. If you choose to send your child with cough drops, please send a note!

Book orders are due Friday, December 5. We have created a link on the side of the blog if you choose to order directly on line. Starting now we are collecting items for our military members and veterans. If you choose to donate, please send your items into school this week!


 

Happy Monday

We would like to send a shout out to the Woppert Family, Wolf Family, and Gahagan Family for their donation to our classroom tissue supply; even the smallest donation is appreciated! Thank you!

We have also collected a significant amount of non-perishable food items for the Student Council Canned Goods Food Drive already. We will continue collecting until the end of this week; Friday, November 21. The class that has the most donations will win a special prize!

As we say EVERY WEEK, reading is your child's homework and responsibility. Research has proven that a mere 20 minutes a day can significantly improve students reading abilities and comprehension. This reading counts towards the PTA reading log as well which can earn them prizes!

We have added a link to the Scholastic website, this gives you the opportunity to order books whenever you choose. The link should send you directly to our team page however if it does not and asks for our code, it is as follows: GNG28

Hello Winter!

Good Morning Team Soar Families,

Well it may not be Winter just yet, but it sure does feel like it! Some students were dressed in clothing that did not keep them warm enough for the elements; shorts and capri pants are not sufficient during the noon hour. Students need to come to school with hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, and warm jackets. Students will have an outside noon hour regardless of the warm clothing that they bring; keeping an extra set of warm weather gear in your students back pack may come in handy! As this cold weather sets in place, we need families to be punctual in picking up students when the school day ends at 3:30pm. We will only wait outside for 5 minutes, after that point, students will be sent to the office and it will be up to you to pick them up from there.

As many of you have started to see, students have been requested to complete additional work at home. The work we send home is to reinforce the work that we have been working on in school. We are seeing inconsistent work from students in the work that we are sending home; students should be completing this work independently. The due date is typically within 2-3 days and is written on the top of the paper.

If your pick up plans have changed for your child, please be sure to not only contact our school, but also the SAFE desk as these students get paged after school.

Right now we have 48 out of 54 report card envelopes returned; 8 more! If you have not returned your report card envelope, please do so as we will use them for report cards throughout the rest of the year.

Some families have asked if Team Soar is in need of any items, well we are! If you have any gently used board games, books, and small items for our prize bin they will be put to good use. Also, we are starting to run low on tissues. If anyone is willing to donate tissues, they will be greatly appreciated.

November update

Good Morning Families,

We have had a busy month so far. We have launched a new inquiry unit on geography and studying different aspects of the world we live in. In writing, we have finished our personal narratives and are now learning how to write like a scientist for our informational unit. Math has shifted from numbers and base ten to operations and algebraic thinking. 

Just a few reminders! If you choose to call Team Soar we request you please call with ext. 1308. Although we have three rooms, room 324 is the teacher's main room; we have more teacher time in this room and are able to check messages faster. Please keep in mind that during the hours of 8:25 until 3:40 is instructional time; it may take us up to 72 hours to respond to phone calls and emails. We cannot take instructional time away from students valuable learning at the sake of responding immediately to phone calls and emails.

Recently we have had several students bring in glass containers and bottles. Pease keep them at home! This is a safety concern as we have had glass break already in the hallway; the process to completely clean the glass up is tediuous and takes away from instructional time. 

Lastly remember to keep report cards at home! They are yours to keep! We just ask that the envelope comes back signed, to school, so we can reuse them throughout the year.

Kids at Work

Ms. Sterkel lead the kiddos in a very creative activity this morning. Ask your student about it, and take a peak below! The last day of MAPS testing is tomorrow!

End of October

Good Morning Team Soar Families,

We would like to remind everyone that students do not have school next week Thursday and Friday, October 30 and 31. We know this can be an exciting time of year and we wish everyone a safe weekend!

Yesterday Team Soar had the opportunity to read to K5 and K4 classes for Read For the Record Day. Students modeled what good readers do and how they read!

Report cards will be sent home next week, please be on the lookout! Also please be sure to sign and return the envelope as soon as possible. 

We a wrapping up our inquiry on communities and will be starting a science inquiry within the next few weeks. With the quarter ending we are also concluding our first math unit, numbers and base ten. Please continue to work with your child on this topic at home! 

Ms. Wall had the opportunity to sit down and recieve personal training on Achieve 3000; which means we were able to sit down and also recieve updated information on this very helpful program. Students who are on Achieve 3000 are reading independently at a level "K" and have demonstrated that skill through their small group instruction as well as their beginning work on Achieve 3000. Even though there are students who are independently reading at that level they may not be on this program because they require additional support and is not an appropriate independent tool for them to use. Students who do use this program should be completing 2 articles within a week; students are given ample time in class to complete these activities, however we encourage carry over at home. These articles are meant to take several days as they are lengthy and require students to think critically when they respond. The goal and expectation is for students to score a 75% or better the first time on the quiz they take at the very end of every article. Please encourage your student to take their time and use this resource to further their own knowledge.

Last but certainly not least, Bear Wear order forms are due this FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24!!!!!!! There are no exceptions and late orders will not be placed. 

Below are several pictures of Team Soar members reading to younger Jefferson Bears yesterday!