Field Trips, 2nd Trimester Report Cards, 3rd Trimester Preview

Good afternoon,

I would like to share a few important upcoming items with you so that we can plan ahead for the third and final trimester.

FIELD TRIPS

Thursday, March 24 - Chabot Space and Science Center.

Update: So far, we have 4 drivers and 19 seats. We need 13 more seats. I can bring 7-8 chaperones, so while I have 3 other parents willing to chaperone a group, unless they can drive and take the 13 remaining students, I am going to have to ask that we find more seats in cars for students to ride in as a first priority.

The drivers I have listed so far include:

• 5 seats: Ester
• 5 seats: Esther
• 6 seats: Elena
• 3 seats: Brendon
  

The parent chaperones that did not specify whether or not they could take students by car include the following:

• Gissele
• Ryan
• Bailey
  

If either of these families are willing to drive, or if another parent is willing to drive, that would be VERY helpful.

The trip is scheduled for Thursday, March 24. We leave by 9am from the Proctor parking lot. We will return to Proctor by 2:50pm. Please bring a bag lunch.

I am looking forward to the trip, but we need to make sure we have all the drivers we need for the day. RSVP ASAP!

Thursday, March 31- CV High School Performing Arts Center: "James and the Giant Peach."

Update: The CVHS Intermediate Drama Class has invited us to enjoy a special presentation of "James and the Giant Peach." This is scheduled for 10:15am-11:15am on Thursday, March 31.

I will send home permission slips tomorrow. I think we can simply walk down Redwood Road to the high school to enjoy the performance. We can leave around 9:30am and we ought to make it in 45 minutes. I will need parents to join however.


Thursday, April 7 - Chabot Elementary School - "Little Orphan Annie."

Update: This trip requires a $1 donation to help with the costs of the production at Chabot Elementary. I will need drivers for this trip. A permission slip will go home this week.


MAY - SUPERIOR COURT MOCK TRIALS.

Update: Our final field trip before the picnic comes up in May with the mock trials. More details will come soon.

So ... no real field trips for two trimesters. Five field trips in the third trimester. I tried!

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STATE REPORT DUE FRIDAY

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I have brought home the rough drafts of the State Report this weekend to read and review. The final drafts are to be typed or neatly written this week and should include:

• cover / title page
• table of contents
• report written or typed
• pictures of state symbols
• bibliography
• poster board

Students will receive back their rough drafts from me tomorrow so that they can get started putting together the final draft this week.

I have attached the poster board guidelines with this e-mail address. All students were given poster boards over a month ago by myself.

Thank you for all of your help, parents!

The State Report 3-D model is due on Tuesday, April 12. That is a model display of a place of interest in your child's state that can be made with at-home materials. We will use these for our Open House presentation.

2ND TRIMESTER REPORT CARDS

I appreciate all the parents who I spoke with over the phone and/or conferenced with in person in the closing weeks of the past trimester. I also appreciate the many parents who have come in to help with small group work during our center time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have had Mrs. Punzel, Mrs. Lazares, Mrs. Trujillo, and Mrs. Garcia coming in regularly to help out over the past trimester and it has really helped a great deal.

There are still a number of students struggling academically and so we will continue to work hard and find creative ways to kindle an interest in learning this final trimester. We have our hands full as we prepare to finish elementary school on a very positive note.

For now, I am reviewing, analyzing, and marking grades for the 2nd Trimester this week. My report is due to Ms. Garcia on Friday, and then the following Friday, students will take home their report cards for the 2nd Trimester in the Friday folder. Not this Friday, but on March 25.

That is mainly why not too much work went home in the Friday folder this weekend. But next weekend, before the report cards go home, you will receive a Trimester Progress Report so that you will know what to expect on the actual report card come March 25.

3RD TRIMESTER PREVIEW

MATH - The final trimester includes our current chapter (17) on geometry, which we are now midway through. The kids have completed the following:

• draw and measure angles (right, obtuse, acute; isoceles, straight, equilateral, scalene) using a protractor
• identify and classify polygons

We will be also cover the following this trimester:

• graph ordered pairs (X,Y)
• graph an equation using ordered pairs (i.e.; X = 3 + Y)
• using graphs and charts
• find the mean, median, mode
• probability
  

In addition to covering chapters 17-24, I will also have to provide remedial instruction in fractions, decimals, and percents. I am working with Ms. Garcia and Mrs. Pisciotto at this time to develop an effective strategy for covering those concepts over the next two months.

LANGUAGE ARTS- We are covering Theme 5 ("Making a Difference") and Theme 6 ("Feats of Daring") in the 3rd Trimester. I have attached planning guides for you in this e-mail so you can review the reading comprehension skills and strategies, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar lessons we'll be covering.

SCIENCE- We are covering Physical Science (Ch 3 & 4) this trimester. Right now we've been learning about plant and animal cells. We've studied the transport system in plants (xylem and phloem) and learned about photosynthesis and how plants use energy.

We'll be studying the different systems in the body (respiratory, nervous, circulatory, digestive) and in plants.

That is a peek at the curriculum for the 3rd trimester.

Parents, I encourage you to make sure your child is completing the 2 or 3 short homework assignments I send home each night. I try not to overdo homework at all. I feel the assignments I send home are focused, brief, and are designed to reinforce what we are doing in class. I find no value in sending home excessive amounts of homework.

If anything, I would highly recommend your child spend 20-30 minutes every night reading (aloud, if possible).

WARM-UP PACKETS

I am going to begin sending home what we call our "Warm-Up Packets" each night for homework so that we can devote more time early in the morning to our math curriculum.

This covers Daily Geography (2 questions), Daily Math (5 questions), Daily Paragraph Editing (4 paragraphs; 1 per night Mon-Thur), and Daily Language Review (5 questions).

This will be particularly helpful review as we work our way up to the spring STAR testing as a cumulative study of 5th grade standards.

That's all for now.

I look forward to hearing back about the upcoming field trips. They will be fun, but we all have to be able to get there. We need the seats for the 13 kids on March 24 soon!

Thanks,
Mr. McMurray