Digger Dash

Hello families!

I just wanted to let you know how our Digger Dash plans are coming.  Our class name will be the Blazing Broncos.  Anita Rudman has graciously offered to create our banner and be in charge of flair.  We are asking that, if possible, you could send in a donation of $3 to help offset the cost.  Also, the kiddos have decided that we will be wearing Bronco's shirts, or at least orange shirts.  We have also discussed maybe sharing with classmates as some of us have a few to chose from.  This is NO WAY means that students are supposed to go out and buy a jersey!!  =)

I'm so excited to share in this fun day with these great kids!

Volunteers

I am still looked to fill the two slots needed by PTO.  Below is a section of the email I sent out last week:

2.  PTO Parent - I am looking for someone to be the PTO Contact Parent.  This does not mean that you will have to attend meetings, just that information can be relayed to you to the rest of our families.

3.  Digger Dash Volunteer - I am also in need of a parent or two willing to help with the Digger Dash.  This would entail helping us with our class Flair and Class Banner.  Please let me know as soon as possible if you are able.

Conferences

Conferences are fast approaching.  If you haven't looked at Jenny Brown's Blog I have the link for you here.  This is where you can schedule a time that works best for your families.  I can also do some times that are not listed on the scheduler (typically mornings at 8:15 and 8:30 and afternoons at 4:00, 4:15, and 4:30) on either of those two weeks.  If you would like one of these times, please email me directly: adalcerri@dcsdk12.org

Spelling

Spelling work began last week.  Students were put into groups based on pre-assessment data.  Each week a new set of words should go home.  On Mondays in class students work with their groups to organize words based on patterns and rules that they see.  Typically, each set of words comes with headers to guide them in their discussion and organization.

On Monday nights, they will need to cut out their words and organize them in the same fashion they did in class.  They should be looking for these rules and patterns (i.e. When is the vowel short and when is the vowel long? How does the part of speech change when you add -tion?  What do the Greek and Latin roots mean?)  How they study the words weekly is completely up to you and to them.  I have included some suggestions in their Word Work Notebooks for reference.

Each Friday I will give them a quiz in class.  I will randomly chose 10 words from their list to test them on.  Periodically, I will ask them to tell me the rule that they were working on as part of their quiz.  The goal is to see their spelling patterns carryover to their writing and to push the word choices they use.