Week 7

Weekly Greetings!

It is hard to believe we are already starting into October! I hope you all were able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather over the weekend before we get snow. In addition, there was a lot of activity at the school with the Volleyball tournament to keep folks busy. As a reminder for this week, there will be school photos taken this Tuesday, October 2. On Friday, I sent home a notice and form with your child's finished work to notify parents. Hopefully, you all received it.

We had another busy week, last week. The class continued to progress in the Lexia reading, MyMath, and Redbird programs. During our writing time, they shared what they liked best about school in a brief paragraph. It seems that the STARS pods and the G.A.P. after school program are favorite activities for many in the class. Also on Wednesday, there was a special safety presentation put on by D.O.T. to alert the students to stay clear of snow removal equipment when they are plowing this winter. The students also got reflectors for their jacket zippers, and a tour of the plow trucks. All the elementary kids loved being in control of the loud horn when they were sitting in the truck caps.

Have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 6

Weekly Greetings!

It will be good to get back to a normal, five day week after so many short weeks and MAP testing. There will be an early release on Friday, though, at 2:15pm.

Most of the students have completed all three Fall MAP tests, but there were a lot of students absent on Friday that will have to make up that test, and a couple of students absent for all three tests. With three more weeks to test, I should be able to get them through the make-up process.

After everyone finished testing, we played a silly game of "Eraser Tag" to celebrate everyone's effort. The person who is the "It", and two others move around the room with erasers on their heads until someone is tagged or the erase falls. Then it is another student's turn. Many of the kids were really good at keeping the eraser on their head.

On Wednesday, we also had a time slot in the STEAM room. Making robots was a big hit with most of the class, though a few others chose to show their creativity in other ways with the variety of resources available in the room.

There are a few third graders in the Alaska Native and Local Culture STARS pod class that I am teaching, and we did two afternoon field trips to Tanacross last week. Through the A-CHILL program, we were able to visit two different dog lots. In addition to learning a about dog mushing, the students were able to set and pick fish out of a net in the river. It was a little early for a large amount, but a local community expert was still able to show the group how to clean and cut the fish for
smoking. Then the fish were placed in a smoke house.

Have a great week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 5

Weekly Greetings!

With Monday off for moose hunting, this will be another short week. Even so, this week is the start of the fall MAP (Measure for Academic Progress) testing that we do three times a year. The testing will cover reading, math, and language arts over a three-day period. Since the students will be returning from a long weekend, I will be starting the testing on Wednesday and go through Friday morning. The test window will be a total of four weeks, so that will allow time for any make-up tests due to absences. Please make sure your child is at school and on time those days, as we will be starting first thing in the morning each day.

Also due to the MAP testing each day in the morning, there will not be a Spelling test this Friday. I will be sending the Unit 3 words home to practice, but we will have the same words next week so there is time to go through the Spelling workbook lessons during our normal schedule next week. The program that I am using is "Spelling and Vocabulary Words for Readers and Writers" published by the Houghton Mifflin company. It is the same series used in second grade last year. Unit 3 words will be long a and e words using vowel combinations.

Now for some highlights from last week! On Tuesday last week, the students in the afternoon STARS pod of Alaska Native and Local Culture made traditional Athabascan chokers. They all did a great job, and each one had a unique blend of colors and pattern.

With the STARS pod schedule, Wednesday is the only day I have all the third graders in the afternoon. Last Wednesday we concluded our look at healthy habits, and discussed good foods. Then we made a trip to the greenhouse to view all the fresh vegetables the students are fortunate to eat through the lunch program at Alaska Gateway School District. It was pouring rain, but we were dry and cozy as we enjoyed the tour.

After taking the Chapter 1 math test on Friday, it was time to celebrate. I will occasionally use foam Frisbees and music to acknowledge the class accomplishments. They had a blast tossing the soft Frisbees around the room, and I am sure we will do this again soon!

Enjoy the beautiful fall colors, and have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown

Week 4

Weekly Greetings!

To start with, I want to make sure you know about some important things to remember this week. On Thursday, there will be an early release at 2:15pm, and then no school on Friday or the following Monday for moose hunting days. That makes for a four-day weekend from September 14 through 17. The week that the student return from the moose days, we will start the fall MAP testing Wednesday through Friday. I will share more about that in next week's parent letter.

Starting last week, the students have been focused on individual progress in reading by using Lexia® Core5® Reading. It is a fun computer-based program that is focused on developing reading skills in six areas: phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

In addition to the computer reading program, we are continuing with grade level spelling and vocabulary. Also, we started a book unit and will be reading Stuart Little in small groups. 

On Wednesday, we checked our germ experiment and found that the potato handed with dirty hands last week was much more brown and beginning to mold. The potato handle with clean hands had less spoilage. Then we discussed the best way to keep germs and sickness away by washing our hands well. The students each made a poster for the steps in washing hands properly. 

The STARS pod classes have been a highlight for all the students. There are a few third graders taking the Alaska Native and local Culture class that I am teaching in the 1st Quarter pod. Amanda Attla joined us again. She showed the class how the brackets for competing works as the class competed for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place positions.

Then on Friday, the pods group made cranberry nut bread from the low-bush cranberries we had harvested a couple of weeks earlier. 

The class will continue in much the same way in core subjects this week, with a Math test on Thursday closing out Chapter 1 in MyMath. 

Have a wonderful week!

Kind Regards,

Julie Brown