Dear E4 Families,
Our first full week has come to an end, and we have much to celebrate. Although the focus has been on setting expectations, getting to know each other, creating classroom culture, and developing good habits, we have already jumped into some academic learning, and that train is preparing to leave the station. A few notes and updates:
Marshmallow ChallengeEarlier this week, our class participated in the Marshmallow Challenge. It's an 18-minute activity that puts architectural design to the test in a group setting. After completion, one of our takeaways was that it's beneficial to test multiple iterations of a product than to put all of your effort into one iteration that may fail. You can see our classroom gallery to see Room E4 in action, or visit the official website of the Marshmallow Challenge for more information. Congratulations to Tatiana, Clay, and Oliver for having the tallest standing structure! We'll see if they can defend their title next time.
Classroom Website
I have made some informational, organizational, and design changes to our classroom website this week. I invite you take a quick scan through its sections and let me know if there is additional information you would like to see there.
Classroom Scheduler
Please give a warm welcome to Courtney Finnegan, our Classroom Scheduler! We met this afternoon, and I can assure you we are in good hands. She will be supporting the class by coordinating volunteers for field trips, classroom activities, and class parties. You will receive your first communication from her in about two weeks when we have the dates and times confirmed for these events.
Homework & "Hip Pocket"
5th-grade homework policy is Monday-Thursday: 30 minutes reading, 1 math assignment, and 1 other academic assignment. The 5th-grade team sends home the same assignments to all 5th-grade students. On Wednesdays, students receive a blue folder called the "Hip Pocket," and you are to simply initial the yellow attachment saying that you saw their green behavior slip. There is no homework issued on Fridays. You can always view our Homework Calendar for nightly assignments.
Materials
There sure were a lot of them!
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader officially begins next Wednesday. All but four students have taken the online test and have received their independent reading level (IRL) and zone of proximal development (ZPD). On Tuesday we will visit the library for the first time, and students will have 40 minutes to find interesting books at their level. They can begin taking AR quizzes for points the next day.
Laptops & iPads
Students logged-in to their laptops this week, and we have been told that our iPad cart will be delivered on Tuesday. There are always a few complications during the initial stages of launch, so if your child had a poor experience (there were a few logins that did not work properly), please assure them that Mr. Devoto promises the problem will be resolved quickly. We are excited to begin using these tools to bring our learning to new levels!
Parent Conferences
It pays to read through the whole Friday Newsletter! If you would like to reserve your date and time for our parent conferences in November, sign-ups are now available online at my classroom website.
Have a great three-day weekend!
Sincerely,
Paul D.
Our first full week has come to an end, and we have much to celebrate. Although the focus has been on setting expectations, getting to know each other, creating classroom culture, and developing good habits, we have already jumped into some academic learning, and that train is preparing to leave the station. A few notes and updates:
Marshmallow ChallengeEarlier this week, our class participated in the Marshmallow Challenge. It's an 18-minute activity that puts architectural design to the test in a group setting. After completion, one of our takeaways was that it's beneficial to test multiple iterations of a product than to put all of your effort into one iteration that may fail. You can see our classroom gallery to see Room E4 in action, or visit the official website of the Marshmallow Challenge for more information. Congratulations to Tatiana, Clay, and Oliver for having the tallest standing structure! We'll see if they can defend their title next time.
Classroom Website
I have made some informational, organizational, and design changes to our classroom website this week. I invite you take a quick scan through its sections and let me know if there is additional information you would like to see there.
Classroom Scheduler
Please give a warm welcome to Courtney Finnegan, our Classroom Scheduler! We met this afternoon, and I can assure you we are in good hands. She will be supporting the class by coordinating volunteers for field trips, classroom activities, and class parties. You will receive your first communication from her in about two weeks when we have the dates and times confirmed for these events.
Homework & "Hip Pocket"
5th-grade homework policy is Monday-Thursday: 30 minutes reading, 1 math assignment, and 1 other academic assignment. The 5th-grade team sends home the same assignments to all 5th-grade students. On Wednesdays, students receive a blue folder called the "Hip Pocket," and you are to simply initial the yellow attachment saying that you saw their green behavior slip. There is no homework issued on Fridays. You can always view our Homework Calendar for nightly assignments.
Materials
There sure were a lot of them!
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader officially begins next Wednesday. All but four students have taken the online test and have received their independent reading level (IRL) and zone of proximal development (ZPD). On Tuesday we will visit the library for the first time, and students will have 40 minutes to find interesting books at their level. They can begin taking AR quizzes for points the next day.
Laptops & iPads
Students logged-in to their laptops this week, and we have been told that our iPad cart will be delivered on Tuesday. There are always a few complications during the initial stages of launch, so if your child had a poor experience (there were a few logins that did not work properly), please assure them that Mr. Devoto promises the problem will be resolved quickly. We are excited to begin using these tools to bring our learning to new levels!
Parent Conferences
It pays to read through the whole Friday Newsletter! If you would like to reserve your date and time for our parent conferences in November, sign-ups are now available online at my classroom website.
Have a great three-day weekend!
Sincerely,
Paul D.