Dear Parents and Families,
As the holiday season draws near, I want to extend season's greetings from all of us here at Glencairn Elementary. Your children are truly the greatest gifts to us and it is a blessing to be able to come to work and see them question, learn, grow, and create each day! They are amazing!
As the winter months are upon us, please remember to send your child to school with appropriate clothing. Snow pants, boots, hats, and mittens are a must if children plan to play in the snow. Additionally, warm coats are necessary for waiting outside before school and for being comfortable during the 20 minute recess periods. Remember to label your child's warm clothes with their name and be sure to check the lost and found by the library if any items go missing!
Important Upcoming Dates
-Thursday, December 6th 2:30-3:30 Hour of Code with Mr. Collison
-Monday, December 12th through Friday, December 16th Glencairn Spirit Week (Check your child's folder and other school e-blasts for more specific information)
-Tuesday, December 13th Permission Slip due for NCG Movie Field Trip
-Thursday, December 15th 9:00-12:00 All-school Field Trip to NCG Theatres
-Thursday, December 15th 2:30-3:00 December Birthdays/Holiday Party
-Thursday, December 15th 3:00-3:30 Winter Sing-a-long in the gym, hosted by Mr. Berry
-Thursday, December 15th 6:00-7:30 Taste of Glencairn
-Friday, December 16th 2:30-3:30 Goodbye Party for Ms. Hedin
Ms. Hedin's Goodbye Party
The 3rd grade teachers and students are so sad to see Ms. Hedin go! We wish her luck in her job search and we know that she will be an incredible teacher wherever she chooses to teach! Ms. Hedin's goodbye party will take place on Friday, December 16th from 2:30-3:30. The students are working to write letters of recommendation for Ms. Hedin. We also plan to give Ms. Hedin a class gift of two file boxes full of materials that would be helpful for a first year teacher. The students made a list of ideas. Any idea is a good idea and any items sent in will be of great help to her! Some great ideas were:
-Gift cards for books/school supplies
-Staplers, electric pencil sharpener, hole punch, scissors
-Paper/pens/pencils
-Books (new and gently used)
If you are willing to send in items for this gift, you are welcome to send them in at any time! The sooner the better! Thank you for your support!
Reading
Your child took their second Reading Street assessment this past Friday. Most of the students improved greatly on this test. One of the most important things that you can do with your child at home to help support good test taking strategies is to review the test with your child. Have them go back to questions that they scored incorrect and have them see if they can figure out where they made a mistake or what the correct answer is. We will also be reviewing the Unit 2 Reading Street assessment in class and reviewing test taking strategies as well.
Math
The students also took their second math assessment on multiplication and division on Friday. I was very impressed with how the majority of the students performed on the test! Thank you to those families that took time to review the practice test at home. It makes a big difference in your child's confidence on test day! As with the Reading Street assessment, please take some time to review the questions that your child made errors on with your student. This reflection on their learning is extremely helpful in remembering for the next assessment and practicing test taking strategies! Our next unit of mathematics covers all kinds of measurement. To support your child at home you can try some of the following:
-Allow them to experiment with measuring cups
-Allow them to experiment with a scale
-Encourage your child to read an analog clock instead of digital
-Ask your child elapsed time questions (ex: If your soccer practice begins at 5:30 and ends at 7, how long is your practice?)
-Use a tape measure or ruler to measure objects around the house
Writing
The students have been working hard on writing informational books about their animals from the Big Zoo Lesson. We will be finished with the instructional portion of the unit next week and beginning in January will begin editing and revising the books to get ready for publishing. With Ms. Hedin leaving and with 24 students in our class, I could use some help editing students' writing! If any parents are available Monday-Thursday 2:45-3:30 or Fridays from 10:45-11:25, I would love to have you come in and help edit student writing to prepare for publishing after the first of the year! I will be giving the students the option of taking their books home to work on over the holiday break. Please encourage your child to remember to bring their book home so that they can get some important work done during the two weeks off from school.
Social Studies
We have finished up our Michigan geography unit and have moved on to Michigan economics. Some important vocabulary that your students have learned so far are: scarcity, entrepreneurs, natural resources, capital resources, human resources, opportunity cost, goods, and services.
Science
The students are focusing on force and motion in the current science unit. The students will be doing many hands on experiments exploring the properties of force and motion!
Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the incredible support you have shown Ms. Hedin, Mrs. Talamonti-Burgee, and myself. This job is not always easy, but it is always rewarding, especially when we have such amazing, supportive, and wonderful families working with us! Again, I wish you a safe, warm, and cheerful winter break!
See you in 2017!
Ms. Bean
As the holiday season draws near, I want to extend season's greetings from all of us here at Glencairn Elementary. Your children are truly the greatest gifts to us and it is a blessing to be able to come to work and see them question, learn, grow, and create each day! They are amazing!
As the winter months are upon us, please remember to send your child to school with appropriate clothing. Snow pants, boots, hats, and mittens are a must if children plan to play in the snow. Additionally, warm coats are necessary for waiting outside before school and for being comfortable during the 20 minute recess periods. Remember to label your child's warm clothes with their name and be sure to check the lost and found by the library if any items go missing!
Important Upcoming Dates
-Thursday, December 6th 2:30-3:30 Hour of Code with Mr. Collison
-Monday, December 12th through Friday, December 16th Glencairn Spirit Week (Check your child's folder and other school e-blasts for more specific information)
-Tuesday, December 13th Permission Slip due for NCG Movie Field Trip
-Thursday, December 15th 9:00-12:00 All-school Field Trip to NCG Theatres
-Thursday, December 15th 2:30-3:00 December Birthdays/Holiday Party
-Thursday, December 15th 3:00-3:30 Winter Sing-a-long in the gym, hosted by Mr. Berry
-Thursday, December 15th 6:00-7:30 Taste of Glencairn
-Friday, December 16th 2:30-3:30 Goodbye Party for Ms. Hedin
Ms. Hedin's Goodbye Party
The 3rd grade teachers and students are so sad to see Ms. Hedin go! We wish her luck in her job search and we know that she will be an incredible teacher wherever she chooses to teach! Ms. Hedin's goodbye party will take place on Friday, December 16th from 2:30-3:30. The students are working to write letters of recommendation for Ms. Hedin. We also plan to give Ms. Hedin a class gift of two file boxes full of materials that would be helpful for a first year teacher. The students made a list of ideas. Any idea is a good idea and any items sent in will be of great help to her! Some great ideas were:
-Gift cards for books/school supplies
-Staplers, electric pencil sharpener, hole punch, scissors
-Paper/pens/pencils
-Books (new and gently used)
If you are willing to send in items for this gift, you are welcome to send them in at any time! The sooner the better! Thank you for your support!
Reading
Your child took their second Reading Street assessment this past Friday. Most of the students improved greatly on this test. One of the most important things that you can do with your child at home to help support good test taking strategies is to review the test with your child. Have them go back to questions that they scored incorrect and have them see if they can figure out where they made a mistake or what the correct answer is. We will also be reviewing the Unit 2 Reading Street assessment in class and reviewing test taking strategies as well.
Math
The students also took their second math assessment on multiplication and division on Friday. I was very impressed with how the majority of the students performed on the test! Thank you to those families that took time to review the practice test at home. It makes a big difference in your child's confidence on test day! As with the Reading Street assessment, please take some time to review the questions that your child made errors on with your student. This reflection on their learning is extremely helpful in remembering for the next assessment and practicing test taking strategies! Our next unit of mathematics covers all kinds of measurement. To support your child at home you can try some of the following:
-Allow them to experiment with measuring cups
-Allow them to experiment with a scale
-Encourage your child to read an analog clock instead of digital
-Ask your child elapsed time questions (ex: If your soccer practice begins at 5:30 and ends at 7, how long is your practice?)
-Use a tape measure or ruler to measure objects around the house
Writing
The students have been working hard on writing informational books about their animals from the Big Zoo Lesson. We will be finished with the instructional portion of the unit next week and beginning in January will begin editing and revising the books to get ready for publishing. With Ms. Hedin leaving and with 24 students in our class, I could use some help editing students' writing! If any parents are available Monday-Thursday 2:45-3:30 or Fridays from 10:45-11:25, I would love to have you come in and help edit student writing to prepare for publishing after the first of the year! I will be giving the students the option of taking their books home to work on over the holiday break. Please encourage your child to remember to bring their book home so that they can get some important work done during the two weeks off from school.
Social Studies
We have finished up our Michigan geography unit and have moved on to Michigan economics. Some important vocabulary that your students have learned so far are: scarcity, entrepreneurs, natural resources, capital resources, human resources, opportunity cost, goods, and services.
Science
The students are focusing on force and motion in the current science unit. The students will be doing many hands on experiments exploring the properties of force and motion!
Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the incredible support you have shown Ms. Hedin, Mrs. Talamonti-Burgee, and myself. This job is not always easy, but it is always rewarding, especially when we have such amazing, supportive, and wonderful families working with us! Again, I wish you a safe, warm, and cheerful winter break!
See you in 2017!
Ms. Bean