Off to a Great Start

Off to a Great Start

It's only been a few days of school, but we are off to a great start! I am impressed by this group of students. It's going to be a great year!

Save the Dates!

Back to School Night- Tuesday, August 30th

• 6:00pm-6:45pm    Kinder-3rd Grade Classroom Presentations
• 6:45pm-7:15pm    Principal's Message
• 7:15pm-8:00pm    4th-6th Grade Classroom Presentations
• 8:00pm-8:30pm    6th Grade Outdoor School Information in MPR

Movie Night -  Friday, September 9 @6pm
Picture Day - Friday, September 16
Run for Rio- Sunday, October 2 
Harvest Festival - Friday, October 14 @ 5-9pm

Reading:

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White 

The Third Graders are in the middle of reading Charlotte's Web. This classic will be our inspiration for the first set of Third Grade reading and writing standards. The students will write a letter to a character in the book, Mr. Zuckerman, persuading him to save Wilbur the Pig. We will also focus on character and plot development, along with the many enriching vocabulary words and thought provoking reading comprehension.

Math: 
Rhymes 'n' Times is a multi-sensory multiplication program we are using in Basic Skills to help students conquer their multiplication facts. Ask your child about the silly rhymes. Students came home with a booklet of rhymes today. They will need to save this booklet for the year so they can refer to it at home. 

4 x 7              28 Spiders are Webbin’   

7 x 8              Golly Gee, 56 Dollars- All for Me!

6 x 6              36 Lollipop Licks

7 x 7              Bugs in a Line, Creeping and Crawling- All 49

9 x                 Use your fingers...

3 x 6              Pick up 18 Sticks

4 x 6              Count Those 24 Kicks

8 x 8              Clips Fell on the Floor, Pick Them Up- All 64

3 x 7              Spin 21 Tops, Watch Them All- Till Each One Drops

0                    Zero Is Always the Hero

1x                   The “other number” is always the answer.

2x                  Count by two’s when multiplying by 2!

5x                  Count by five’s when multiplying by 5!

3 x 3              9 Cuts on My Knee

4 x 8              Bubbles are Fun, Pop 32- Then You Are Done

3 x 8              24 Flies on My Plate

4 x 4              I Heard You Snore, 16 Times and Not 1 More

3 x 4              12 Knocks on the Door

6 x 7              Rings for You, Put Them on-All 42

Writing: Writer's Workshop is well underway and students have been having a lot of fun learning about what writers do to "gather" ideas for writing true stories. Students have gathered ideas by recalling "first times" in their lives, writing about moments they experienced strong emotions such as sadness, happiness, embarrassment, and fear. They also generated ideas based on things they love. This week they will choose two of their ideas to take to a quick write, share those quick writes with partners, and then select one of those ideas to begin drafting their stories. We love the ownership this process gives them in their writing. One student told us that, "I feel like Writer's Workshop is like our own secret club!" It's so wonderful to hear that kids call out, "Yay!" when we announce it's time for writing. They have been so open and willing to share their ideas for writing as well (and boy did we hear about some VERY embarrassing moments). It's really a happy time in our classrooms.

Accelerated Reader 

Each student has been assigned an "AR Goal." The goals were calculated according to each student's performance on the computerized AR star test.  The Accelerated Reader program ("AR") is a computerized program that tests reading comprehension. Students select books on their reading level, read independently, and take an independent comprehension test on a school computer. Each book is worth a certain number of points based on its length and reading level. Students get a percentage of these points based on how many of the test questions they get right. The program tracks their progress over the course of the school year. You may track your student’s progress inHome Connect. Here is a link to the Parent's Guide to AR. Accelerated Reader Hopefully, this will answer your questions.

PVUSD requires teachers set AR goals for students starting in 3rd grade.

The goal dates are as follows:

 Sept. 23- Nov. 10

Nov.11- Mar. 8

Mar.9- June 9

Welcome to Room 24

Dear families,

Every year, the first day of school gets me as excited as when I was a child.  I pick out my clothes, get my lunch ready and wake up super early. I remember one year getting new purple knickers to wear on the first day of school. I couldn't wait for the the year to begin. Things haven't changed much since then (except no purple knickers). I'm ready for a wonderful school year and a positive learning environment.

I look forward to communicating early and often with you this year. The easiest way for me to make sure you see the blog is to send you an occasional e-mail when the blog has been updated. I will include a link to make it easier to get there. There is also an option to Subscribe to e-mail updates. Signing up for this will ensure that you get an e-mail notifying you that the blog has been updated.

Please take the time to send me a quick e-mail (virginia_nosky@pvusd.net) so I can start making a list of all your e-mail addresses. Please include both your child's name and yours in that first email to me.

I look forward to meeting each child and seeing his or her special talents. 

Mrs. Nosky

First Day of School August 17th

Optional School Supplies-not required

• 1 table top (hard plastic) pencil box
• 1 dozen sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils for the class to share
• 1 box of 16-24 count Crayola crayons
• 1 package of glue sticks
• reusable water bottle-labeled
• 1 marble composition books
• 1 12"X12" canvas board (flat canvas on cardboard, no wood frame involved)

Donations
Class supplies are always much needed and greatly appreciated.

The Basics

• Kleenex
• Baby wipes for washing hands
• Clorox wipes for cleaning desks
• Hand sanitizer (pump bottles)
• Paper towels
• Stickers 
• Mod Podge (32 oz containers) – matte 
• Ziploc bags (assorted sizes)
• Reams of paper, white &/or colored
• Gift cards (Staples, Target, Beverly’s, Palace, etc…) 
• Donations to class funds (write a check to Rio del Mar Parent Aliiance, RDPA, Teacher Name in the memo)

 Hi Families,

Here are some brief notes from the Parent Alliance meeting from Tuesday.
 

• Wednesday, June 3 is a FULL DAY of school. Dismissal at 2:10 p.m.
• Last day of School is June 5.  Dismissal is at 10:50 a.m.
•  Staff Appreciation Luncheon – Wednesday, May 20 in the MPR.  Sign-ups have gone home via handouts or you can sign up online.  We need everyone to contribute to help say “thank you” to our staff and teachers at Rio.  Please bring one of your “family favorites” to share.
• Sixth Graders going to AJHS on May 19.
•  International Games on May 21 at Soquel High School
• Awards Assembly June 4, for 4-6 grades
      Gold Award = All 4s, no Ns
      Silver Award = All 3s and 4s, no Ns
      Principal’s List – children who embody good work ethic.  4 students from each class selected by teacher     
• Sixth Grade promotion is June 5, at 8:30 a.m. in MPR.  Seating is limited, please limit attendees to immediate family.
•  RDMPA board elections were held for 2015-16. There are still a few vacancies on the board.  Contact Desiree Stilwell at dstilwell@girlscouts.org if you’re interested in serving.  
•   Jogging for the Arts was a big success.  Thanks to all who supported the event.  JFTA raised $10,000 for Rio’s art programs.  Without this money, we wouldn’t be able to have art & music at the school.  If you see Nina Kinkead or Carole Anne Kessler around campus or town, be sure to tell them thanks!

 

Fairy Tale Adaptations

The Writing Process in Progress

 

Future Engineers at Work- Third graders learn about simple machines.

Welcome Back! 

The Famous American speeches were amazing. I am so proud of each child. Thank you for your support. We couldn't have done it with you.

SBAC testing begins Monday morning.
Since the testing is in the computer lab, the testing times vary. We will test as follows:

Sun	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	13 Math Nosky 8-10 Chromebook  Math Classroom Activity 12:15	14 Math   Nosky 12:15-1:15	15 Language Arts - Lab Nosky 8-9:40	16 Language Arts- Classroom Activity 10:00- 10:30	17 Language Arts Nosky  8-9:40

Please have your child get a good night's sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and send them off with encouraging words. Because we still have almost two months of school left, there WILL be things that your child has not yet seen on the test. We have talked about that as a class and your child knows what to do in order to make their best educated guess.

Homework will be very light--continue to look at the moon each night and fill out the observation log. Continue to read, but I will not require a reading log this week. We will have some math homework this week, but it may not be nightly. The students will be my guide as I see how they are hanging in there with all our testing. 

Writing:

We will begin our unit on fairy tales this week. We will first be reading the classic versions of Cinderella, Little Red Writing Hood, and Three Billy Goats Gruff. We will then be examining several adapted versions of these stories and spend time discussing why the authors have chosen to adapt the story, and students will work to identify the purposeful changes and consequential actions the authors have made. We will also be examining the plot structure of the fairy tales. Students will then choose to adapt Little Red Riding Hood or Three Billy Goats Gruff using their own imagination and creativity.


Grammar: We will be focusing on the proper use of quotation marks this week, as our fairy tales have a lot of rich dialog within them. We will also be working on building simple sentences into rich, descriptive ones that create an image in the minds of readers.

Math: Fractions on a number line.

Module 5- Lesson 14

Science: We will begin our study of the solar system!

We will continue with our engineering class-Simple Machines- on Friday. We will not have math centers, but feel free to help support 10:30-11:30. Thank you!

Field Trips:
Agricultural History Museum - Friday, May 8th 
Agricultural History Museum 

Museum of Art and History- Tuesday, May 12th  
Museum of Art and History


Welcome back! Let's have a great week!