Friday, 4/11 Newsletter Updates

Report Cards Today
Report cards are coming home today, again in sealed envelopes. The grades are for you, your child, and me. I especailly dislike when kids are comparing at school - "What'd you get?" "I got four A's. How many did you get?" Ick.

Find where your child's strengths are and offer encouragement. Notice areas of improvement and encourage there too. Overall I think we slipped a bit in Quarter 3. Let's change that in Quarter 4.

Reading Journals and Reading Conferences
Students received a new checklist for their reading journals. Some topics are the same, some have changed slightly, and some new ones are added. One new thing students are doing is connecting characters, events, and settings in their books to real people, events, and places. It's interesting to see how they bring their personal knowledge into books and how that influences how they understand what they read.

The class has been broken into 3 groups. Each week one group will not write in their journal. Instead, their journal entry will be a reading confernece with Mr. Wilhorn. This week's have gone well. I'm able to ask specific questions immediately and see if students are understanding what they've read. Students also seem more willing to offer details if they are talking rather than writing. (Go figure! This class likes to talk! How about that?) :-)

Iowa Tests of Basic Skills - Nearly There...
We're still plugging away, but with rehearsals for Bugz! and Spanish class and all the other things we do on a daily basis, we're not as far as I had planned. Ah, well. No big deal for these tests. We may get them done this afternoon, or we'll finish them up early next week and be done with them. You've probably noticed the lack of daily assignments recently...students sure have.

Bugz!
We've been rehearsing, reciting, decorating wings, finding antennae, and getting all ready for the spring program, Bugz! All the fourth graders have spoken parts, the third graders have some songs and dances, and all the younger kids will be participating too. It's one week away! Friday, April 18 is the night at 6:30. (There's also a 1:00 performance on Thursday.) The choir and the bell choir will also perform, and the upper graders will have academic displays available in their rooms. Come for a great night!

Coins for Computers
Just like last year we are collecting Coins for Computers. All proceeds go towards the Technology Fund. This year the competition is between grades K-4 and grades 5-8. Here's the rules: Put pennies in our container. They count +1 point. Put silver coins and paper money in the upper grades' container. These count -5, -10, -25, -50, -100. -500, etc. The winner will be the team with the most points, not the most money. (Actually, the winner will be the Technology Fund.)

And One Personal Note ... It's Trivia Weekend
This weekend my family and relatives and many friends will be playing in the World's Largest Trivia Contest. You can listen too at 89.9 FM, WWSP, UW-SP's campus radio station. The contest starts tonight at 6:00 and lasts until 12:00 midnight Sunday night. I can't guarantee all the content obviously, but the music is basically oldies with some 80's and 90's stuck in sometimes and the questions are pretty fun. Our team name is "Special Rx Fossiloprin Fuelochloride." (We are always Fossil Fuel. It's a long story.) You won't hear us announced with any of the leaders, but we have fun. More information is located at www.90fmtrivia.org if you are interested. One warning, however...watch out for some of the team names. Yikes.

The Upcoming Week
Hopefully we'll get back into our normal schedule! Wow!

Religion - Back to the workbook.

Memory -At Home: Q4W2 Slip At School: Mr. Wilhorn's favorite hymn, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less verses #1-4. Students need to say the chorus only once. By the way, how is the CD? Are the kids using it to help with the memory?

English - Adjectives

Reading - We are starting a new novel.

Math - Continue in book...which I don't have in front of my right now.

Science - Remember your branch observations! Finish chapter 1 on plants.

Social Studies - Finish the Pacific States.

Spelling - Unit 27 woman, even, urban, seven, kitchen, reason, human, season, burden, wagon, oven, dragon Extra words: horizon, orphan, canyon, eleven, written, children Bonus words: transportation, education