Week of January 26th

Notes/Reminders: 

* Please respond to the poll to the right - thank you! * 

* Back to a five-day week! We have a lot going on this week, so please read the entire posting so you are aware of all of the happenings in Room 9. 

* San Juan Bautista Mission Fieldtrip is coming up Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. Please return the signed permission slip and the $1 fee per student as soon as possible. I'll be sending home confirmations to parent drivers/chaperones later this week. 

* District Surveys, Yearbook Order Forms, and Dismissal Forms were all sent home - please return them if you haven't already done so. The Dismissal Form will assist us in keeping the dismissal process running smoothly, and is for the safety of your children. 

* Rio is looking for parent volunteers to assist in the lunch-time recycling program. Please contact Mrs. Dorney if you are interested. 

This week we will...

...have a class Spelling Bee on Monday. The top two spellers from each 4th, 5th, and 6th grade class will move on to the Rio Spelling Bee this Friday. This takes place in a 6th grade classroom during the school day, without an audience. The top two spellers from that round will compete in the North Zone Spelling Bee on February 5th, as well as the Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee. I'll post our 2 class winners Monday evening. 

...work on the Anti-Bullying skits that our class is writing and performing for the school. We'll be writing several skits for the 2nd-6th grade teachers to use in their own classes. We'll also be writing and performing skits for the Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. 

...complete our Rocks & Minerals science unit. There will be a test on Friday, with review homework on Thursday night. 

...have a math test Tuesday covering Chapter 13. 

....begin our next class novel:  Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.  This is a short but important novel about a young girl affected by the atomic bomb in Japan. We do have a class set, but students are welcome to bring in their own copies (please write their name inside).

...learn how to write a summary.  The fourth-grade state writing assessment is coming up in March, and 'summary' is one of the possible options. The other three are narrative, expository, and response-to-literature, which we'll be practicing along with summary over the next several weeks.