Classroom Update - Week of October 30th
- Jennifer Bracke
- Oct 31, 2017
- 5 min read
This is yet another busy week at Morrisville! Please make sure you are paying close attention to the upcoming events below, so you don’t miss a thing. The students have all transitioned so well into Quarter Two and have gotten right back on track and are ready to learn. Please make sure that you sign and return report card envelopes by Friday. Here’s to another great week!
Stampede to Success – Friday is the LAST Day!
MES PTA launched the Stampede to Success Giving Campaign right before Fall Festival and giving cards went home in your child's Friday Folder on the last day of quarter one. Please take the time to complete the giving card and contribute what you can. PTA volunteers will be collecting giving cards at the front entrance of the school every Friday from now until Nov 3rd from 8:30 to 9:15am.
Story Book Character Day - Tomorrow!
We are excited to announce that on Tuesday, October 31st will be Story Book Character Day at Morrisville! We encourage all of the students to find their favorite book and create a costume based on their favorite story book character. Please remember no masks. Thank you in advance for your support during this fun day! We look forward to seeing all the creative book character costumes!
Disability Awareness Week – This Week!
October is Disability awareness month. During the week of October 30th - November 3rd, 2017, students will be participating in activities during their PE time, to help raise awareness about what disabilities are and how they can affect learning. To make this a successful week, volunteers are needed to assist and supervise while students complete activities. Volunteers can choose the time they would like to help. It can be for a hour, 2 hours or all day! Any and all volunteers are greatly appreciated! Please sign up using THIS link.
Parent Ed Night
Thursday, November 2nd is Parent Ed Night at Morrisville Elementary. This a great opportunity for you (as the parent) to attend 2 sessions of your choosing on a broad variety of educational topics, while your child(ren) a fun movie night. The two sessions are from 6:30-7:00 and 7:15-7:45, which check-in starting at 6:00. Please use THIS link to sign up! Also, if you attend the event on Thursday, your child will receive a free homework pass that they may use Thursday night or save for a future night!
Downtown Raleigh Field Trip – November 30th
On Thursday, November 30th, our class will be going on a field trip to downtown Raleigh to visit the North Carolina Legislative Building and the North Carolina History Museum. We will be eating lunch downtown at the picnic tables outside of the museum. Please fill out the Google Form below indicating whether your child will be bringing a lunch from home or a purchasing a bag lunch from the cafeteria.
Please fill out the Google lunch form as soon as possible. I would like to have all responses by Friday.
I am also in need of 5 chaperones for this field trip (as of right now, I have 3). In order to chaperone, you must be registered in the volunteer system. You can meet us at school at 9:30 and follow the bus or meet us at the NC History Museum by 10:00. The field trip should last until about 1:00. If you are interested in being a chaperone for this field trip, please respond to this email and I will take the first five responses. More detailed information for the chaperones will follow closer to the trip.
Upcoming Events / Reminders:
October 31st is Storybook Character Day! I look forward to seeing everyone dressed up!
November 2nd is MES's Parent Education Night will be held from 6:00-7:45.
November 3rd is the last day to turn in your Stampede to Success Giving Cards.
November 10 is Veteran's Day. There will be no school. Enjoy the long weekend!
November 21st is Early Release. School will dismiss at 1:15.
November 22-24 is our Thanksgiving holiday break - no school
November 30th is our field trip to downtown Raleigh. The students will be visiting our Legislative Building and the North Carolina History Museum. Parent Chaperones will be needed for this trip, so please make sure that you have taken the time to register. More information about this trip will be going home soon.
December 5th is Literacy Night. Mark your calendars more information will follow soon!
December 21st is not only an Early Release Day (school will dismiss at 1:15) but also our last day of the quarter.
Reader's Workshop: In reading this week, the students will continue to focus on reviewing the different types of text features found in nonfiction and explaining how it helps enhance their understanding of the text by citing specific evidence. They will be given their first reading common assessment on Wednesday that will focus on this skill. For the rest of the week, the students be analyzing the text structure of nonfiction texts. The text structure refers to how the text is organized or the manner in which the author is presenting the information. The students will also learn how each text structure has a thinking map that is paired with it to better help them understand the text and more concretely visualize how the text is organized.
The Text Structure We Will Focus on Over the Next Two Weeks Include:
-Description (bubble map)
-Sequential (flow map)
-Cause & Effect (multi-flow map)
-Problem & Solution (flow map)
-Compare & Contrast (double bubble map)
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
What text features did you notice while reading?
How did the text features enhance your comprehension or understanding of the text?
What are the five main text structures that we studied this week?
What are some qualities that the description or sequence text structure has?
What vocabulary is essential to know to deepen your understanding of the text?
Writer's Workshop:
This week in writing the students will continue their research on a North Carolina animal of their choice. Students will be encouraged to use multiple sources to find information pertaining to topics such as the animal’s physical characteristics, habitat, life, survival tactics, and etc. The students will be using a packet, instead of their writer’s notebook to help keep their research organized. After conducting research, the students will work on writing a strong introduction and then formulating elaborated body paragraphs. For each of the body paragraphs, the students will be expected to include a topic sentence, at least three strong and relevant details of support, with transitional words, and a concluding statement.
Sites for NC Animal Research:
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
What North Carolina animal did you choose to research?
Tell me more about some of the interesting facts you are learning about your animal.
How do you plan on beginning your introduction?
Math:
This week in math, the students will continue to work using the area/rectangle and expanded notation model to solve long division problems. The students will be focusing on solving word problems and interpreting what it means when they get an answer with a remainder. They will work on using strong problem solving techniques to help them decipher what the problem is asking them. The students will take the long division assessment on Thursday. Our next focus will be on multi-step problem solving.SML
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
Show me the different strategies that you have learned when dividing large numbers.
What is a remainder?
How can a remainder affect a division word problem?
Social Studies This week in social studies the students will be analyzing how our state and national constitution has changed over time. They will also be learning more about the voting limitations that African American and women experienced in the early stages of our government and what changes were implemented to amend our constitution, to ensure that all citizens over the age of 18 were allowed to vote. The students will end the week by analyzing the three branches of government by comparing the roles and responsibilities of our state elected leaders.
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
What are some important rights that all NC citizens have? Responsibilities?
How are the rights and responsibilities of citizens similar and different?
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