One more week....

Dear families,

Thank you ALL for the help and donations for our winter party! Being on the e-mail chain and seeing all the quick responses was simply amazing! You are such a caring and generous group of families. I see it in things like this and in your children's actions each day.

Next week, we have some fun things to look forward to. On Tuesday, we will be wearing our ugliest holiday sweaters. On Wednesday, we will be wearing our craziest socks. On Thursday, we will be wearing our jammies. And finally on Friday, we will wear our bling for the holiday sing!

I've been asked to let you all know about some public forum meetings regarding the boundary changes as well. On January 6th, there will be a meeting at Gentry from 6-8 p.m. and on January 7th, there will be a meeting at Smithton from 6-8 p.m.

Next week, we will have PE on Monday, Music on Tuesday, Art on Wednesday, Media and Library Check-out on Thursday, and PE on Friday.

Read below for a quick review of our week by Tamia!

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Dear Parents,

This week we learn are times 11, 7, and 12. This week we did a door decoration. We did a tiger.  Then we are reading Frindle. This week we went to a 5^th grade quar with   Mr. Witter. We had a fire drill after recess. We did a review over our times facts that we learned. In cursive in we learned B, P, R.

sincerely

Tamia

LOTS of NEWS!

Whew! A very busy five day week after a two day week... Two more very busy five day weeks before our winter break.

Please check your child's Friday Folder for some important papers including one final book order before winter break. I am asking for a very FAST turnaround on the book order to ensure delivery before break. Scholastic has verified that all orders placed before the 12th will be delivered by the 19th. I am asking for book orders to be returned by WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10th just to be on the safe side. There is a coupon for one free book valued at $5 when $10 or more is spent for each family! You can claim this offer either by sending in your order and a check made to Scholastic with your child to school OR online at www.scholastic.com using our class code (L922Y). Books make GREAT Christmas gifts! ;) Just send me a quick e-mail and let me know if your order is intended as a gift. I can wrap them up in paper, place them in a grocery sack, and send them home with your student discreetly or you can come get them from school when the order arrives.

On Monday, our class will be shopping at Cody's Snowball Shop. It is filled with little gifts for students to purchase for their loved ones. An envelope was sent home awhile ago, but feel free to use any old envelope to send money with your student IF you wish for them to shop. The students had a chance to preview the shop today and are bringing home a price list in their blue take home folders.

Just a friendly reminder that students should not arrive at school before 8:05, but should be here by 8:20 when the starting bell rings.

Our student council is currently sponsoring a hat, glove, scarf tree in the office for donations of those items to go to those in need.

Boxtops! We are collecting them. Please check your packages for them, cut them out, and send them in with your student.

We've been working hard on multiplication. I will be sending home a packet of fun multiplication games for students to play over winter break to help reinforce the concept and the facts. For writing, we have  been working on informational writing and examining the features of nonfiction writing and books. We are not publishing yet, but will be after winter break! To go along with that and science, we are starting a "genius hour" project. Each student has selected an area they are interested in, and have begun asking questions they would like to know the answer to. We will spend a little time each week researching and learning about our self-chosen topics. Here is a little more information (that I copy and pasted from my good friend Ms. McClelland) about genius hour and WHY we're doing it! She says it better than I could... :)

"Genius Hour is designed to engage kids in learning, then share that learning with others.  As my friend Mr. Villasana puts it, "It's all about teaching the processes of quality research driven by their natural interests."   .... Here are a few things I hope the students get out of Genius Hour:

• A chance to pursue their own passion
• Learn to ask and answer questions
• Become self-motivated
• Use 21st Century research skills (and I don't just mean Google)
• Become confident about a topic so they can teach others
• Start to become better, deeper thinkers"

I think that's about it. Please feel free to email or call with any questions! Keep reading for specials for next week and a student wrap up of our week written by Tess!

Specials next week: 

Monday: Media and Library Check Out

Tuesday: PE

Wednesday: Music

Thursday: Art
Friday: Media and Library Check Out

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Dear Family’s                                                                                                           12-5-2014

This week we has been a very busy but we made it. Monday we went to KMIZ thank you to all the parents who helped we rely enjoyed going we learned and had a ton of fun. Today we watched our 4^th and 5^th grade friends do the spelling B. Abby the 5^th grader won the spelling B we hope she does her best! Miss Baxter made us new pillows with her new sowing machine.

Book orders came have fun with those books. We did multiplied 3, 4,6,8,9.  In gunis hour we are doing What do we wonder? This week we started a book called Frindle it is good so far. Morgan was couprating cougar this week YEA Morgan.

Sincerely

Tess

Weekly Update

Hello, 

What a week! You can read all about it below... or in your kiddo's Family Communication Journal!

Tuesday the 25th is our Get Stuffed for Thanksgiving day. Everybody can bring ONE stuffed animal that can fit in his/her backpack. 

Book orders are due that same day.

Thank you to the volunteers for our fieldtrip. I will be getting more information to the three who are going with us soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

PE on Monday, Music on Tuesday, NO SCHOOL on WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, and FRIDAY!

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November 21, 2014

Dear family`s,

                                 This week in cursive we learned capital cursive A, C, H, and K. Everybody thought the h would be the hardest but it actually turned out to be pretty easy once you got the hang of it.

                                                   In reading we finished the book Small Steps by Peg Kehret. In the bibliography it turned out Shirley died of polio a few years after Peg was discharged from Sheltering Arms. Dorothy graduated from high school, was married and had 7 children and lived a happy life. Renée finished high school and for many years wrote a weekly column in her local newspaper. Alice also graduated from high school too and moved to a center for people with disabilities. Sadly Alice died of cancer in 1993.

                  In math we had to take a test of multiplication facts. Ms. Baxter said not to think of it as a test but of what we already know.

              On Friday we had pajama day. It was really fun because we got to wear our slippers around the room. We also got to go to a share fair in Ms. Mathes room. They had published their personal narratives. Also everybody in their class got a miniature book with everybody’s personal narratives in it.

                                                                                                  In specials on Monday we had library. On Tuesday P.E. On Wednesday music. Thursday art and Friday we had library again.

                                                             Sincerely,

                                                                                     Connor

Weekly Update

Hello!
At the time of writing, I have been able to meet with 17 families for conferences! 17 for 17 scheduled conferences! I can't wait to finish up the last 10 conferences tonight and tomorrow morning :)

A few quick notes and reminders:
If your student is interested in participating in PTA Reflections, please check the office or contact Heather Myers (hmyers@cpsk12.org) to find out more! Categories include dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts. The deadline for entries is December 5th.

Book Order for November is coming home today! Contact me for the class code to order online or if your order will be a gift for your child. Orders are due by November 25 (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving). As of now I AM planning on an order in December, too.

November 25th is a student council sponsored day: Get Stuffed for Thanksgiving. Students may bring one stuffed animal to spend the day with. Their animal must fit in their backpack.

Specials next week are:
Monday - Media and Library Check Out
Tuesday - PE
Wednesday - Music
Thursday - Art
Friday - Media and Library Check Out

I think that about covers it on my end. Don't forget to read your student's Family Communication Journal to learn about the things we've done in school this week! Below is our student update submitted by Braden.

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Dear parents,

This week we got a new student and her name is Lisa she is rely nice and she is from Texas. We started all capital letters for cursive.so we’ve learned O ,A ,E ,C . IN math we started a project with recete paper and a marker and cubes. In riting we started efrmashin riding.  

Braden                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Weekly Update

I can't wait for next week! I get to meet with all of you parents and brag about how awesome your kids are and share about the great things they are doing in class... so exciting! Please let me know if you will be unable to make your conference time. I will send out an e-mail with the link to the google doc that has my conference schedule.

Next week is also our Scholastic book fair! That's why I haven't sent out a book order yet this month. I will send home November book orders after the book fair concludes. If you are interested in giving a little of your time to help run the book fair, please let me know and I can put you in touch with Kim Dampier, our book fair chair person.

We have a couple of other exciting things going on next week, too (conferences, book fair, AND MORE)! All week, student council will have bins set up in the commons to collect shoes (new or used) to donate to the Shoeman Water project. Shoes must have a match and should not have any holes, but they can be any kind of shoe... even flip flops! Check out www.shoemanwater.org for more information about this philanthropic project.

On Tuesday, the 11th, we will have a celebration for students who did not receive any office referrals for the first trimester. Students may bring a non-electronic, quiet game to play with friends on the 11th if they did not receive an office referral through the first trimester.

Reminder: There is no school for students on November 14th (Friday) due to conferences.

Specials next week will be Media and library check out on Monday, PE on Tuesday, Music on Wednesday, and Art on Thursday.

I think that about covers it... as always, let me know if you have any questions or if I can help with anything. I'm excited to chat with you next week!

Below is our weekly update from Sydney.

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Dear reader,                                                                                                   November 7, 2014

This week we had a whole bunch of fun!

Pretty much everyone got new reading books, they are so cool. Gaines got cooperating cougar because he must have done a good job this week! Our personal narratives are done and they are hanging up on the wall. OHH! This week we did a lot better on our talking and self control.

Our whole class did a 100 no excuse word test .Don’t forget we had school off on Tuesday.

In cursive we started capital letters. And on Thursday we got a lot of cougar compliments.

Well that’s all the fun things we did this week that I remember.

-          Sydney K.

Weekly Update

Whew! What a fun day! Thank you everybody for treats and guest reading! I think the kids really enjoyed it and it was a nice break from our routine :)

Your child should be coming home with three new books! One from Scholastic (for placing a book order this month, they sent a class set of books!), one from our amazing PTA, and one as a special gift from me. After a lot of trading around, I think everybody wound up with something they were happy with!

In your child’s Friday Folder is a note with your scheduled conference day and time. If, for some strange reason, this note doesn't make it home, please let me know ASAP so we can confirm your time!

Next week: No school on Tuesday! It's a teacher work day. Don't forget to get out there and vote!

Specials:
Monday - Media and Library Check-Out
Wednesday - PE

Thursday - Music

Friday - Art

Below is Eddie's update for the week!

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Dear family’s,                                                                                               Oct. 31, 2014   

It was a great week. On Monday it was normal. Morning work, handwriting, math, recces, lunch, and writing. But we started word work. On Tuesday it was normal except that for math we started inches and centimeters. We didn't do too bad.  On Wednesday we were almost finished with our personal narratives. It was very exiting. We also had a no talking day. On Thursday we got assigned seats at lunch. For science we did a cool science project about mucus. We spread fake mucus on a plate to see how many fake germs it could catch. It caught a lot of them. Today we had a reading assemble. We are going to have a couple of parent readers. At the end of the day we will finally be able to go home and wait for Halloween to strike.       

Weekly Update

Hello,

The kids did a great job this week! Amazing what a difference being able to be outside made. Today was Mizzou Black and Gold day. I didn't get a chance to get a picture. We were working hard to get things done all day! Most of us finished our Graphing Posters. They are currently on display in the hallway. We also are almost ready to publish our personal narratives! We have been working hard editing and conferencing. We did a lot with the iPads and laptops this week. And we started our health unit. Ask your child about germs, viruses, bacteria, and infectious diseases. Maybe they can tell you about what white and red blood cells do, too!

Next week is our big celebration of reading on Friday! I am so excited! We have a lot of parent volunteers coming in to read to us throughout the day. Don't forget to dress up like your favorite book character! I have my costume all ready to go... but it's a secret! 

Don't forget to sign up for a conference time with me if you haven't done that yet! 

http://goo.gl/forms/K6vSJtCt9u

I've had 19 responses already! You guys are amazing! I hope to confirm times with everybody next week... but it will depend on if I get a chance to coordinate times with other teachers for siblings' conferences, too. 

We will have a DABCD week next week, so specials are Art, Media (and library check-out), PE, Music, and Art (in that order). 

Below is our student post this week so keep on reading!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

                                                                           10/24/14             

Dear Class,

              We had a magnificent week! We had two drills.

Brandon got corporation conger. We got iPads.

       We ordered books. We will start multiplication .We are starting small steps. We played four corners. 

We started health.    

       Small steps is a girl that has polio. In health we learned about germs and disease.

      

From,

Andrew      

Our Week

Hello!
Specials next week are...

Monday - Music
Tuesday - Art
Wednesday - Library Check Out and Media
Thursday - PE
Friday - Music

Don't forget to be getting your book character costume ready for the 31st!

Student blog post is below!

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This week was ruff  but werd. On Monday we  had a sub Mrs.mucalend .on Tuesday we celibate Makala’s birth day.

On  Wensday  we had a math test.                                                          

On Thursday  we had the worst day ever!   

Today we had heavenly hats day. We also watched a video about preschool kids

Eating  marshmallows.

                                                 Then we started math.

It was awesome!

__________________________________________

Back to Makala’s’ birthday, her treats were donuts. That was my favorite.             

We did around the world.

Around the world is a game we play. HOW YOU PLAY

Is with flash cards and a race who can beat the most people out of the flash cards .

I hope you like this.

Sincerely, Bode  

Lots of Notes and News

Dear families,

There is a lot of important information this week! 

I’ve discussed with the kids a few times this week, but wanted to let you know also that I will not be at school on Monday. Our substitute will be Mrs. McClelland; she has worked in our building for many years and may be a familiar face to some! 

Book orders are due on Monday, but I will also accept them on Tuesday. Don’t forget that you can order online, too! The class code is L922Y to order online. Hopefully you saw the $5 coupon for a free book if you order $10 or more. This was a wonderful gift from Scholastic.

In Blue Take Home folders this week, there is a copy of the 100 No Excuse words. Words that are circled are words that your child missed back in August. Please help your child practice these words. We will reassess three more times this year (before each conference time and at the end of the year). It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to share this information with you, so I apologize for the delay in getting it to you. 

Last week, there was a paper in Friday Folders explaining how students could log into www.pearsonsuccessnet.com with their computer log-in and a password. The password was handwritten on the paper. I apologize for any illegibility or confusion about the password. I have taken some time this week to change all the passwords to cougars01. This will be easier for the students to remember and much easier to read and type! 

Every Friday we take time to reflect upon our week and write in our Family Communication Journal. Each week one student gets to reflect upon our week in a  more public forum on our blog (www.missbaxtersnews.blogspot.com). Please take a few minutes of your time to respond to your child’s letter to you, demonstrating proper friendly letter format. I read each one before it comes home and have students fix some mistakes or rewrite for clarification, but please keep in mind that these are pieces of writing that have been conferenced on, revised, and rewritten. 

I also wanted to take a couple minutes to let you know my process in checking over papers. If it is completed in class, I usually check it over and look at it to provide as immediate feedback as possible. This allows me to see if a student is struggling with a particular task and help them on the spot. I also typically check homework the day it is due. There is no point in assigning work if I don’t plan to check it and use the information to adapt my teaching to the needs of the students. That said, I wanted to let you know that we don’t pass papers back and send them home everyday due to the amount of time it takes to pass papers out. I don’t want you to think they are sitting in a pile ungraded on my table though! 

Next week, there is a non-perishable food drive being held at school sponsored by Student Council. Ending the week on the 17th, there is a Student Council sponsored Heavenly Hat day. For $1, students may wear a hat at school on Friday the 17th. Donations will go towards the Heavenly Hat Foundation. More information on these two events can be found in Friday Folders this week!

One more thing… there is a flier in Friday Folders about PTA Reflections. The theme this year is “The world would be a better place if….” What a fun theme! Check the flier for more information about PTA Reflections!

As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you with or if you have any questions.

Please read below for Matthew's summary of our week!

Monday - PE
Tuesday - Music
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Library Check Out and Media
Friday - PE

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Friday October 10, 2014

Dear parents,

I am 9 years old. I was lunch tub this week.

I had fun at school picking my friends for lunch tub this week.

Lucy was my best kid to pick for lunch tub. She was also our

Cooperating couger this week. My class also started a new read aloud called, NO TALKING. I hope you have a great day. We learned how to subtract by regrouping. In specials today I did fast math.

We did the pacer test in p.e.  IN writing we learned how to use paragraphs.

We did reading buddies with ms. Reinkemeyers class.

Love,

Matthew

Notes and News

Hello!
We are really moving fast through the year! In Friday Folders today are more book orders. I will have a faster turn around time for them this month. Please place your order online or send it in with your child with a check made to Scholastic by October 13th. It is a MONDAY this time. I will place the orders on the 14th by the end of the day, and hopefully books will arrive by that Friday.

A lot of important upcoming dates:
Wednesday the 8th: Walk to School day! Details in the school newsletter are coming home today! The 8th is also the flu clinic day if you have given permission for your child to receive a flu vaccine. Wednesday the 15th: picture retake day
October 31st: Celebration of Books! Students may dress up as their favorite book character (more details are in the school newsletter).
November 7th: Non-referral Party. Students who do not receive a bus or office referral before then will be allowed to participate.

I think that's about it for now... though I am probably forgetting something. Oh, and I hope to see you at fun fest tonight! Hopefully the sky stays clear! I will be working selling tickets  between 6:00 and 6:30.

Specials next week are:
Monday - Library Check-Out and Media
Tuesday - PE
Wednesday - Music
Thursday - Art
Friday - Library Check-Out and Media

Congratulations to Delaney for being Cooperating Cougar this week!

See below for our student update submitted by Lola!

Dear parents,                                                                                                          October 3, 2014

        In school we did lots of things! On Tuesday Lucy brought in treats which were donuts! Tuesday afternoon we (our class) went to assembly about the blues! J  On Wednesday we did our normal morning runten. We are doing a fun feast tonight and it is going really fun and you parents come! We did fast math this morning and streach and they were both were fun for some people. We had indoor reaces for three days in a row! L we had a realy realy realy fun time!!!J Have a great weekend!                                                                                            

-Lola

Weekly Update

Whew... another week already gone?!? Where is the time going?
Thank you all for the wonderful donations for the Water Fun basket for Cougar Fun Fest... we had three boxes worth of stuff for the basket! Our fabulous PTA has already collected the items and will be putting the basket together. I can't wait to see all the baskets for raffle at Fun Fest next week!
Thank you for everybody that helped to cover books for the classroom library. I feel very blessed to have such wonderful caring helpers! Hopefully this will help our classroom library books hold up to the everyday wear and tear that comes with students loving to read!
ANOTHER big thank you to the parents that came in to help us get our Cooperation Flag ready. You ladies absolutely ROCKED! It was a quick and smooth process getting all 130ish Third Graders' hands painted and stamped on the flag. I will post a picture once it is hanging in the commons. It looks amazing!
If your child sold the Passport books, those are coming home today.
Fun Fest is Friday, October 3rd. Check your e-mail for a volunteer opportunity (sent out on Wednesday, I believe).
Please return Friday folders to school each Monday (or Tuesday if no school on Monday). Also, be sure to respond to your child in their Family Communication Journal.

NO SCHOOL on Monday!
We will have library check out and Media on Tuesday, PE on Wednesday, Music on Thursday, and Art on Friday.

See below for an update of our week from our student blogger: Morgan!

Dear Parents,

     

         This week was a really great week. We did some sience observations for our classroom ecosystem. We also started work on writing in daily 5 so know we can do read to self, read to partner, and work on writing (in work on writing we get to do school mail, free write, and story writing). This week we got our pass port books and I hope we got our total of pass port books so we can have a special party! We have read a lot of The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate Dicimillo and suprisly we haven’t used our Yacker Tracker witch is a stop light that can hear you making sounds and if you are too loud it makes a siren noise and you go to red. We also made work on writing posters to hang up on our Writer’s Way bored witch by the way has a lot of posters, we have 9 posters on it so far and when Miss. Baxter covers them we will have 2 posters and 1 blue piece of paper that shows how it should a letter look like. On September 25^{th 2014} we moved table spots. There is 1 group of 10 and 2 groups of 8. If you doughnated money for Change For Change THANK YOU it was do on September 26^th 2014  . In consiler we traced Louis (or Louie) and drew words that you want a friend to have and Eddie, Tess, and Connor cut it out and we named it Louie Jr. As you can see this week was really, really, really good!

Your Writer,

Morgan

Student Update

This week are class learned how to if a number is like 65 it goes to 70 if a number 43 it goes down to 40. We also did a round the world round the world is a math game that you try to answer as fast as you can to move on to the next person and when you get back to your seat you win. In writing we did show not tell. At reassess we had to walk a round the black top be cues in the cafeteria we did not stop talking when we were a post to and the lunch lands told the reassess super viziers that we had to walk for five minuets. Then we did better the next day I thank.

By: Zackary 

Homework Explained

Want to know about my view on homework? Aside from daily reading, I do not assign much homework, but when I do, it has purpose.

The purpose of the homework is two-fold: extra practice on tricky concepts and becoming more responsible citizens. A student must be responsible enough to not only complete their homework, but also responsible enough to turn it in. But when should they turn it in?

My expectation is homework should be returned the following day unless stated otherwise. I know kids are busy in the evening with extracurricular activities, and I encourage that involvement! That  is why I do not assign homework often. Students that do not have time to finish their homework at home may finish it before the start of school bell at 8:20 or during their recess time. There simply isn't enough time in our jam-packed day to do homework at school. And that is kind of the opposite of HOMEwork, anyway.

At home, you can give your child as much or as little help as needed as they complete their homework. I will only take a completion grade on homework which will later be reflected on the Work Habits part of our report card.

Another important comment I should make about homework: I do not send home homework ahead of time. Homework should be a reflection and expansion on something done in class. Not new information. If I haven't taught it yet, I do not expect kids to do homework on it yet. If I send home a sheet on adding three digit numbers in a packet on Monday, but we spend more time than planned on another concept and don't even get to three digit numbers in class, then the homework isn't truly extra practice on something we've learned. My schedule and plans are flexible to go with the learning flow of the students. Assigning homework before the week doesn't work for us.

Thank you.

September 12, 2014

Good afternoon!
Please read below for a student update of what we've been up to this week! I have a couple of reminders for you, too.

If your student is still selling the Passport coupon books, please make sure they turn in their orders next week.

If you care to make a donation for our Water Fun themed Fun Fest raffle basket, we need all donations by Friday the 19th. The Fun Fest committee members will be collecting items from classrooms to begin assembling the baskets. Thank you to the Hauser, Adams, Frerking, Cockrell, and Schulte families for donating already!
If you were at Mill Creek last year, you may remember our Change for Making a Change United Way campaign that we had. Students may bring in change on September 26th for this philanthropic fundraiser. More information will be coming. Please do not send in change before September 26th as I do not have anywhere safe to keep it.

Specials for next week:
Monday - Music
Tuesday - Art
Wednesday - Library Check Out and Media
Thursday - PE
Friday - Music

As always, please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

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September 12 2014

Dear Parents,

This week we have done some math and it is about addition proportys. Also on Wednesday we had a sub named Mrs. Franklin because Miss Baxter was doing a reading test to everyone. We also Tamia was our classes Coroperating Cougar because she was doing her work all the time. We finished our manuscript writing and are on cursive.Also our Mill Creek Cougar Fun Fest is coming up and our rafle basket is water fun. And we did math games on computers and on Miss Baxter’s ipad. We played Sushi Monster,Streach,andFastt Math.and we played around the world it is where you have a math fact and the two of you try to say the answer and who ever says the answer first get to move on to the next person.and we did student counsel speaches and Eddie and Kristen got picked for it and we will have another round in January or Feburary.We did something called criticks corner and it is when you pick a book and you dicied if you liked the book or not. And for read aloud Gaines did the cover of Heidi.And on read aloud we started our readers response journals and you respond to the book in any way.

Sincerely,

Ashley

Cougar Fun Fest Raffle Basket

Hello!
For families new to Mill Creek, let me take a minute to explain what the Cougar Fun Fest Raffle Basket is all about. Each year at our Cougar Fun Fest (this year on October 3rd), each class has a themed basket for the raffle. Students bring in donations to create and fill our basket.
Our class chose our basket theme for our raffle basket for the Cougar Fun Fest this morning! They had a lot of good ideas, but the final vote came down to WATER FUN!

Some ideas they had for the Water Fun basket are things like water balloons, squirt guns, bath toys, beach toys, pool toys, etc.... We will accept any and all donations of fun water themed items to add to our basket. Please send in any donations by Friday September 19th so we can put our basket together and have time to purchase any necessary additions.

Thank you!

Weekly Update

Student Council Elections – September 10^th
Book Order Due – September 12^th
Fundraiser Turn-In – September 17^th
Cougar Fun Fest – October 3^rd 5:00 – 8:00 PM

Our first reading logs have been turned in (or should have been) and new ones passed out. Please encourage nightly reading.
Please help your child practice their letter writing skills by responding to them in their Family Communication Journal each weekend. These should be brought home on Friday and returned on Monday.

Our class will elect two students to represent us in Mill Creek’s Student Council.

Students will need to alert me of their intent to run and have their speeches prepared by September 10^th. That is when our class will hold elections.

We will be putting together a basket to raffle off at Cougar Fun Fest! We have not voted on a class theme yet. I will let you know once we’ve decided.

Please see below for the student blog post of the week, written by Dhanush!

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Dear families

This week we had Grandparents Day  we also read Howard .B Wigglebottom learns to listen  , How full is your bucket ,Come on rain by Karren Hesse we did our morning work we did Read by ourselves and we read with a partner we also did problem of the day and we used Our writers journal and we did math and we did our diamond poems and we did our critics corner and the power went out and we wrote about small moments in our life We also we also practiced manuscript in handwriting  we wrote about rules how to carry Laptops and we made pinch pots in art class and we made a record to say peter piper in seven seconds.



August 29th

Busy week! Look for one of the very last (if not totally last) paper newsletters in your child's Friday Folder today. Please let me know if you'd like to continue to receive a paper copy. I am planning on starting to go digital only next week and using the Blog as my main form of newsletter communication. For this week, just check out the paper copy :)

Have a wonderful three day weekend and see below for our student post!

This week's blog post brought to you by: Delaney

 

This week we had our class museum and we had birthday treats. It was a great day we got a lot of work dun.We are reading Hiede  we had a frier drill.And we made who am I posters for grandparints day  the grand parints guss who’s poster is who’s.And we got a yacker tracker. It flashes yellow as a worning and it buzes and if it flashes red if we are way to loud.Its flashed red once.we went to a asebly it was a ned show thing.she toat us yoyo trixs.The n in ned stands for never give up. The e stands for encreg others. D stands for do your best.We do morning work every morning.wealso read consenteen.it was a good book.

Important Dates

Today (August 27^th) is our fundraiser kick-off. Information will be coming home with students today.

Tomorrow (August 28^th) is our back to school assembly. It will be outside (weather permitting) so students are welcome to wear a hat and/or sunglasses and bring a towel to sit on. I’d also recommend sunscreen to be applied at home and maybe even bug spray. A reminder note will be coming home with students today.

September 1^st there is no school for Labor Day.

September 3^rd is Picture Day! Order forms are coming home in Friday Folders this week.
September 5^th is Grandparents/Special Friends day from 2:00 – 3:00 for our grade level. Please let me know if your child will not have somebody attending. We have a few volunteers from our Partners in Ed. that like to come in.

September 17^th is our fundraiser turn-in date.

First week of School

We have changed seats. It was really loud. We have started read to self, there are so many books in the library. No excuse word test had one hundred words to do. We have made locker and desk tags. They are very colorful. We have learned about thousands on how to write them. We have tried out the new playground set and it is awesome. We have met our new PE teacher coach Allen. He is really fun. We decorated our reader's notebook. We have added little books from our book orders. We made a classroom quilt that is really pretty.

By: Dani

Counting Down :)

What a summer... After a month of summer school, a week of Camp Invention, and some down time for getting my wisdom teeth out, I had a couple of weeks of true summer break. I went to a Cardinal's game, spent a day at the Lake of the Ozarks, and just relaxed around home reading. It was a nice break... but now I'm ready to get back to school! We had Back to School night last night and it was great meeting my new group of third graders! Some were familiar faces from second grade summer school last summer and some will be new friends of mine.
Not only did I meet new friends, but it was great visiting with old friends! I had a number of special visitors from last year! I will definitely miss those guys :)

If you are one of my new third grade friends, don't forget to bring a book to share that first week and be working on your Me Museum page! I can't wait to see you all again on Tuesday! I'm counting down the days...

Counting Down :(

Reminders for next week:
Students may bring a game on Monday for a Cougar Compliment Celebration (game day!) and blankets and books for Tuesday for another Cougar Compliment Celebration! 

Tuesday is our End of the Year Assembly so please put sunblock on your child before school. Students may take blankets and towels outside to sit on during the assembly. 

Thursday is the last day of school, and school will dismiss at 12:50. It is important all students are in attendance as many things will be sent home with students that day. 

Specials next week:
Monday - PE

Tuesday - Counselor
Wednesday - Art

Thursday - No Specials

Below is a summary of our week written by Sariah. 

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This week we did a lot of things.

On Monday, we weren’t at school, so I don’t have to say anything about Monday.

On Tuesday, we time to work on farmers market. We got to work on our commercials, advertising plans, and our product if we had one. It was kind of a take it easy day.

On Wednesday, we also kind of had a take it easy day. We still got to work on farmers market things, some of us made our commercials, and some of us made our product. On Thursday, we kind of did, kind of didn’t have a take it easy day. We got to do a lot of reading like the other days, and at the end of the day, we got to watch a TON of commercials, so we knew about most of the stands. And after Triple E got back, we got to write writing samples to our fourth grade teacher, kind of about us, and so they can see if we use punctuation, capital letters, ect. Friday was probably the most fun day. When we first got in, our desk were arranged for farmers market, and we had time to set everything that we had for farmers market. Then at 9:00, farmers market started. A couple people came in, and then a lot of people started coming. There were a lot of great stands in our class, and in other classes. There were places where you could get food, crafts, and play games. We got to shop from 9:10 to 9:25. And how did we get the money? We have classroom jobs, and we get a pay day at the end of the week. Sometimes we get a bonus, sometimes we get fined. But sadly, the farmers market ended around 10:00. After it was over we cleaned up, and moved our desk back to our tables. And we had to keep our extra money, because on Monday, we are having a class auction. After we did that, we ate our snack if we had one, and then Miss Baxter told us all the games we would be playing at field day. Then we got to do daily 5 choices. Then FINNALY it was field day. We started at mosquito tag, the game that some of our parents were helping at, and then we ended at Chinese soccer. By that time, we were all very tired and hot. And we were all very happy, because Mrs.Kravchick brought us all a water bottle. After we got our water, we had recess, then lunch. When we got back to the classroom, we got to read for a little bit, and now we are watching a video about the sea.

Here are all the booths from farmers market in our class:

Bookmarks and Braclets

Duct tape and more

Sparkle town café

Strike Zone

Fire vision catch and throw

Rubber-O- Mania

ARS theater league

Putting for candy

Pic-A-Drawing

CD & Ks lemonade and facepainting    

Lots of Info

Friday, May 30^th, has two big events: our Farmer’s Market and Field Day! To prepare for Farmer’s Market, we’ve been working on advertisements this week. Next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, we will have work days where students can work to prepare their goods or their booths. We will put finishing touches on Thursday because the Market will open at 9:00 on Friday! We will run the Farmer’s Market until 9:45.
Later in the morning on the 30^th, is our field day. I have two volunteers to help us run our game station (Mosquito Tag) from 11:10 – 12:25. There’s always room for more!

Mosquito Tag—A large area is marked off by cones.  Two players are it and are carrying the noodles.  When they tag a person with the noodle, that person stands still and pretends to scratch his mosquito bites.  To free a person who has been tagged, 2 other players have to form an arch over the tagged players head and say “Deep Woods Off.”  The mosquitoes (2 people who are it) can be killed. Eight players must from a line shoulder to shoulder and yell “1,2,3 “ and make a big clapping noise on 4.  If this is accomplished the mosquitoes have been killed and a new game begins or if all players are tagged the game ends.  Sometimes the game goes on for an extended amount of time, so you might have to just choose 2 new people to be it.

On Monday the 2^nd, I plan to bring in a small treat (I’m thinking donuts) to celebrate my birthday and we will also have a cougar compliment celebration of a game day. Students may bring in board games to play for a part of our day.

On Tuesday the 3^rd, our End of the Year Assembly will take place. Please make sure your child has on sunscreen. Kids may wear caps and bring blankets or towels to sit on. But the fun doesn’t stop there! We will use the blankets in the classroom for our Blanket and Book day! Kids may bring books from home and we will make forts, or sit on blankets “Picnic Style” to enjoy a fun day of reading and sharing our love of books with each other for a portion of the day. We will also have our non-referral celebration of an extra recess that day at 2:30 for students who did not go to the office during the third trimester.

The afternoon of Wednesday the 4^th, we will have another cougar compliment celebration and have a relaxing afternoon movie and popcorn. Nothing needs to be provided and kids don’t need to bring anything extra that day. Please still send backpacks as we will be slowly bringing supplies and things home.

The last day on Thursday the 5^th will be a bittersweet one. Exciting for summer, sad to say goodbye. Although it is an early dismissal day, it is still an important one! We will bringing the last of our things home and I have a small goodbye gift for each student so please make sure you plan to have your child in attendance that day.

Specials for the rest of the year:
Tuesday: PE
Wednesday: Media
Thursday: Art
Friday: No Specials

 

June 2nd: PE
June 3rd: Counselor
June 4th: Art

June 5th : No Specials

 

Below is last week's summary from Areen.

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Math

In math we have been learning how to read time. We also have been learning how to say like half past 2.

Reading

We have been reading Sisters Grimm in read allowed we are using the iPads and kindle to do todays meet. we have been doing Daily 5 choices like read to self, word work, writing but not read to partner all week.

Handwriting

We have done cursive j,x,l we did a lot of practice this week we did not really do writing we only did handwriting.

Other stuff

We had a assembly in the gym the person was really funny the story was called the little hawk learned how to fly. We had Rachel’s birthday treats she brought donuts. We are going to sign year books.

Counting Down

AGH! There are only fourteen school days left after today... where is the time going?!?

Don't forget that Scholastic orders are due by Friday the 23rd. This is our very last book order for the year!

Specials next week:
Monday - Music
Tuesday - PE
Wednesday - Media (last day for us for Library Check Out)
Thursday - Art
Friday - Music

Look for a special post next week about all the upcoming end of the year events!

Below is our student recap.

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Math/Science

In math we are measuring volume with blocks by counting the blocks on the top then how many layers there is. After that you multiply those two numbers and then you have the answer. In science we have been studying ecosystems. We even have one our self !!!!!

Reading/Writing

In read aloud we are reading the 2^nd sisters grimm !!! It is very exiting so far. In writing we are almost done with our capital cursive letters in the handwriting book , and the handwriting book !!!!

Other stuff

Today is Joan’s birthday. We are celebrating it by eating DONUTS!!!!!

We also had a sub this week on Thursday.

Our class had an Awesome week this week.

Did you?

By: Caroline J

This Week

Next week's specials
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Music
Wednesday: PE
Thursday: Library Check out and Media
Friday: Art

Book orders coming home today - due on Friday the 23rd. Last book order of the year!

And for this week's recap:

 

Math

In math this week we worked with measurement and capacity. We learned that 2 cups=1 pint, 2 pints= 1 quart and 4 cups= 1 quart, 2 quarts= 1 gallon and 16 cups= 1 gallon. In measurement we learned that 30 centimeters= 1 foot and 12 inches= 1 foot, 3 feet= 1 yard. On Thursday we started to talk about weight. We learned the abbreviations for all types of weight like oz, lb, and T. These stand for ounces, pounds, and tons. On Monday we measured to the nearest half and the nearest fourth of an inch.

Writing

In writing we had a test on persuasive writing. On Monday we gathered all our information for the test which was on the soda ban in New York. We read an article and watched a video. The next day we wrote and wrote and wrote. I wish our articles actually went to the mayor of New York. Otherwise we have not been doing much in writing. We did cursive of course. We learned capital B,P,R,F, and T

Reading

In reading we have been doing our normal daily five choices: read to self, read to partner, word work, and work on writing. Mrs. Baxter has been reading with students a lot, but not all people have been getting a passage called “Navajo Code Talkers.” In our read aloud book The Sisters Grimm 2 . Right now they started to go to school and two of the teachers are everafters. Daphne has a awesome teacher but Sabrina has a mean one. When they get home Puck finds out that there is something called TV but when they go back outside they see a bunch of red hands all over the outside of the house. They are scarlet hands.

By: Rylie

 Rylie forgot to mention Economics and Ecosystems that we've been working on. Maybe she can post more about that Monday!

Yay for Technology!

This week flew by! We started a Bring Your Own Device program in the classroom. Students who have signed permission forms are allowed to bring their own tablet device to use during school. We have done a lot of neat things on them this week! We were also fortunate enough to check out the class set of iPads from the building so we had a one to one ratio of devices in our class! 

We have used a website called todaysmeet.com to have book discussion during read aloud, frontrowed.com for differentiated math practice, and apps such as keynote, educreations, and showme to create presentations! 

We did persuasive presentations and extreme weather presentations, and how-to guides with SnapGuide! I'll slowly be sharing and publishing these different things so you can see your child's work! Trying to do all this on one week has been a whirlwind! 

Next week's specials:

Monday: Media and library check-out

Tuesday: Art

Wednesday: Music

Thursday: PE 

Friday: Media and library check-out

See below for Zachary's take on our week....

This week’s blog review (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY)

Hi people. This is what we did this week.

In math we worked on simplifying fractions and we worked on frontrow, and Daniella, if you are reading this, tell me how did you get more than 600 coins?

 We also had the iPads for the week and used keynote to make presentations and used frontrow to practice math.

In read aloud we started the second sisters Grimm book (which is awesome by the way) and we now have daily 5 choice charts. And we are now using todaysmeet.com to share our thoughts about the book.

Writing is normal just like it was thirty weeks ago.

THE END.

P.S. we are done with our weather unit now goodbye LITRALY THE END.

Goodbye. HEY STOP PRESSING BUTTONS!

SEIREIOSLY LITRALY FOREVER THE END

Whoops

Oh my goodness... we were so busy on Friday, that I forgot to post this! Marcell wrote our blog entry on Thursday, knowing we were going to be gone all day on Friday to our field trip to Bethel Park.
What a great day it was! There will be pictures posted soon. If you were at our field trip and took any pictures of our group, please send them to me! I'd love to include them in the end of the year video I will be putting together soon.

Specials this week:
Monday: PE
Tuesday: Library Check Out and Media
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Music
Friday: PE

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Writing

This week in writing we started handwriting up again.   We haven’t done handwriting in a while. We finally finished the map test the map test was not hard at all.

Math

We are leaning Equivalent fraction like one half + one half =one whole and learning how you can figure out how to add fractions together.    

Reading

We finally finished Sister Grimm and Max drew the cover because Miss Baxter always has us draw the cover of the read aloud when we are done with the book.

Other stuff

On Monday it was Mason’s birthday. In specials in art we are working with clay and in p.e. we are starting our soft ball. And next Monday, we get the ipad carts and we can bring your own system but you must bring your permission slip back. We got jobs like lunch tub helpers, chair stackers…

By: Marcell              

Weekly Wrap Up

Week one of MAP testing down, one more to go. Thank you to all the parents who have sent in snacks and drinks, so far!

Please see Friday Folders for notes if you volunteered for our trip to Bethel Park next week and print outs with the Bring Your Own Device information, including the permission form.

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Hi, I’m Kyleigh I’m going to tell you what we did this week!

MATH

This week in math we are doing fractions again.

We did fast math on Monday and Wednesday and today.

On Monday and Tuesday we will do math map testing. We did a test with fractions.

READING

In reading we are reading this book called The Sisters Grimm. We will finish the book today and pick another book. In map testing we did a lot of reading. In daily five we have a daily five sheet to fill out of what you want to do for daily five.

WRITING

In writing we are working on our Cat Tales on the lap tops and we are also doing persuasive writing on the lap tops. In map testing we also did lots of writing too. We have had the lap tops all week to do writing. We have a google drive account to do our writing.

SCIENCE

In science we started our wind gauges and we are talking about wind and weather in science. We watched some videos about weather and wind.

OTHER STUFF

Thank you for the snacks and drinks for the map testing! Last Friday we had an assembly. Talking horse production did little plays and sowed a quilt of all the plays they did. We have a field trip to Bethel Park. We are walking there. There will be fun stuff to do there.

By: Kyleigh

Lots Going On



Wow, another week over already!

Some important reminders:

• Meal Stacks orders due on the 18th (with payment)
• Scholastic orders due on the 18th
• Field Trip on the 25th! Thank you to all who were able to volunteer their time either that day or in preparing our waterballoons! If you signed up to help out, more information will be coming to you soon.
• If you signed up to provide snacks or drinks during our MAP testing, I have contacted you with a date. Would it be helpful for me to send you reminder?
• You can check out last week's post for helpful testing tips.
• There will be NO reading log or homework during our testing time.

Specials next week:
Monday - Art
Tuesday - Music
Wednesday - PE
Thursday - Library Check Out and Media
Friday - Art

I think that sums it up... see below for a brief summary of our week written by Walker.



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PE

In PE the class got to go outside and do activities outside. The whole class loved playing outside.

Reading

In reading we are reading Sisters Grimm and the sisters broke Jack out of prison. They have the magic slippers. Now they are going to save their grandmother and take out the giant.

Math  

In math we are doing area a lot. Every day we do perimeter. We are doing MAP test next week, I believe.      

Writing

We practiced MAP writing this week.  

Mrs. Crane’s class made us posters for the MAP test to make us feel proud of ourselves.

By: Walker

Weekly Wrap Up

Today was backwards day! The kids enjoyed wearing their clothes backwards all day today... It definately made the day interesting.

 

I can't wait to go to the talent show tonight! We have four kids from our class performing and I am sure they will steal the show :)

 

April book orders came out today. I'll submit all orders on the 18th. Feel free to order online.

 

Also coming home today is our latest fundraiser. This time students are selling Meal Stack packs! The selling period is through the 18th and all funds need to be turned in with the orders. The Meal Stacks will be delivered to us on May 2nd. If you've never gotten a Meal Stack before, it is a great deal! I plan on ordering one for myself :)

 

Specials for next week:
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Library Check Out and Media
Wednesday: Music
Thursday: PE
Friday: Art

 

Students will be taking the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) test during the weeks of April 14^th and April 21^st. This is a state-wide reading, writing, and math test with multiple choice and short answer questions. We will be completing the Communication Arts (reading and writing) portions of the test on April 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th and the Math portions of the test on April 21^st and 22^nd. We will start in the morning and be finished by specials each day.

Here are some ways you can help your child prepare for testing:

·      Please make sure not to schedule any appointments for testing days.

·      Please have your child to school on time on testing days so they don’t miss any instructions or disrupt testing.

·      Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep.

·      Make sure your child eats breakfast.

·      Talk to your child about testing. We have talked and will continue to talk about simply doing and being proud of our best.

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Math

In Math we are doing perimeters. We did less multiplication tests this week than normal. We did a lot of math on perimeters because the MAP TEST is coming up. On April fool’s day (Tuesday) Miss. Baxter brought in Brownies because in Fractions we were talking about sharing Brownies equally.

Writing

In Writing we are still working on Persuasive writing.  We are doing a lot of Writing because once again the MAP TEST is coming up. Before SPRING BREAK we wrote letters that were about Juvenile Arthritis to make the medicine less money. So over SPRING BREAK Kyleigh went to Washington D.C. to give the letters to the legislators. Kyleigh said there going to have a big meeting about it.

Reading

In read aloud we are reading Sisters Grimm. Right now in the book the sisters Daphne and Sabrina and a kid named Puck are going to save Daphne and Sabrina’s granny.

April Fool’s Day

On April first Miss Baxter brought Brownies and almost half the class thought she brought Brown E’s. But at the end of the day the trick was there was no trick.

By MASON