Hello Room 8 families,

What an exciting week it's been in Room 8! You've no doubt heard about much of the following around the dinner table:

 

We've just begun the conversation, and you may have contributed ideas to the chart your child has in his or her homework folder.

Which animals might be a good choice? A key piece is that they must be researchable. For the purposes of this research report, that will mean having at least one book that is at an appropriate reading level. It should also be one that seems interesting to the student – we’ll be working on this for a long time, and will even get to work on a special at-home project with our families.

We'll solidify our animal choices next week, so you might incorporate a visit to the public library or even schedule a time to meet with an expert in our community (in person or virtual).

Field Trip - InConcert Sierra

Thank you for sending in permission slips. InConcert Sierra will send a team of docents to our classroom tomorrow morning to prepare, including such topics as the genre, instruments, performing group (Fandango), and pieces of music they can expect to hear, and concert etiquette.

Spring PTC Candyland Event

Mark your calendars! Our PTC is coordinating this event (flyers came home in today's Thurs. envelope). If you are willing to coordinate an auction basket for our classroom, please email me. We can come up with a theme (perhaps outdoor cooking or family game night) and request donations.

 

Alta Sierra Families,

 

It is Random Acts of Kindness Week. Ask your child about the daily kindness challenge they hear in the morning bulletin or if they did a special kindness activity that day in class. Kindness Bingo [will be] sent home [tomorrow] for you and your family if you'd like to play. Cross out acts of kindness to get a Bingo. For each Bingo you complete, your child will earn a prize. Please be sure to sign the bottom of the sheet before sending it in. They are due by next Tuesday, 2/20, to be eligible. If you have any questions, you can reach out to the Student Council Advisor, Alicia Alonso, at [email protected].

 

I am excited to announce that Alta Sierra will begin collecting canned and non-perishable food the Monday after Thanksgiving. If you find yourself with an extra can of green beans or pumpkin or a box of stuffing, please consider sending this in to get us started, and please watch the ads or add an item or two to your grocery or Costco list. These donations help those in our community. In our class, we'll add a math component - charting each item that comes in and using different methods to display our weekly data.

The food drive will culminate with an Alta Sierra Donation Day Parade on Thursday, December 21 (Third graders will learn more about the history of this important Grass Valley tradition as we study our county's rich history over the next four weeks). Happy Thanksgiving - thank you for sharing what you have with those who could use a helping hand.

 

We have been fortunate enough to get to participate in a virtual author talk on Tuesday, December 12th at 10:30am. Classes will get to view a presentation by the authors via Zoom in their classrooms.  The featured book is Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes. I will be reading the book to the class when they visit the library next week and then each child will receive their own copy of the book to take home. There is a link below if you'd like to learn more about the book. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.