Ice Cream Social

Dr. Dayalu spent time with us on Friday morning leading different activities to explain how the brain worked in conjunction with the human body.

Thanks for the great year Room K-3 families!  Ms. Thomas is back with us this week and we have gotten deep in our study of the human body.  The A2STEAM Ice Cream Social is this Thursday evening!

Ice Cream Social
The A2STEAM End-of-year ice cream social is this Thursday from 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM.  It is a big get together to celebrate the completion of the school year.  An email went our last week describing the event in detail.  This year's event will see DJ Myint back as well as the Face Painting Robots team.  We'll also have games (subject to available volunteers) with tug of war, a soccer shoot out, hillside plinko, musical chairs, a ring toss, bean bag toss, a parachute, a rubber duckie guessing game and more!   All games are free.  Food (pizza, cupcakes, ice cream, and dairy/gluten free sorbet) are available with the purchase of tickets, as is the face painting, in order to help cover the costs of the event.  We'll also have a couple raffles at the end of the night!  Interested families can pre-order their pizza at https://squareup.com/store/a2-steam-at-northside-pto.  I will be there with my family earlier in the evening (so don't worry if your K student can't stay up to 8).  I pre-ordered a pizza just to keep it simple and I will helping out mostly at the Rubber Ducky game.  One more note, we want as many families to attend as possible--if the cost of ice cream or food might make you hesitant to attend let me know over email.

Report Cards
Report cards will go home with students in the standard manila envelope on Friday.  I will be sending home student work throughout the week.

Extra-Early Dismissal Friday
This Friday students are dismissed at 10:54 AM.  This is much earlier than our standard short day dismissal time.

Yearbooks
If you ordered a yearbook it will be delivered to your child in class on Wednesday.  All students will be given an autograph sheet they can use to collect the signatures of their classmates.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We will be making a 2D model of the human body.

Reading -  We have been reading books where there are a lot of details to focus in on.  Ask your children about Pancakes Pancakes and The Underwear Zoo.

Writing - Students will be given an autograph sheet they can use to collect the signatures of their classmates.  Students will be composing a father's day card.

Math - I will be working with students to see how well they understand the foundations of place value.  For example a number like 17 is a ten and seven ones or 10 + 7 = 17.

Word Study - We are reviewing the vocabulary necessary to study the human body.

Color Run!

A Room K-3 student takes on the Color Run!

Color Run!
The Color Run was last Friday!  Lots of pictures and a video are up in Seesaw.  Thank you for all your donations.  If you haven't already donated, even a small amount, five, ten dollars helps our school do great things.  Just put it in an envelope labeled Luxon/Color Run and place it in the PTO drop box in the school office.  Here is a video update about the amount raised so far. 

Thursday, June 6th, Library BOGO Book Sale
Ms. Reader is having a buy one, get one, book fair on Thursday June 6th.  More information can be found here.

NWEA
The students worked really hard on this district-wide assessment.  We have a handful of make-ups which we will complete early this week.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We will be making models of different types of clouds using cotton balls.  Later in the week moving on to study the human body.

Reading -  We have been reading books where the main character experiences a range of feelings throughout the story.  Ask your students about Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Big Bushy Mustache, and Oliver Finds His Way (a book about a bear who gets lost chasing a leaf).  Students have been using words like content, worried, impatient, hopeful, and relieved to describe the characters in the stories we have been reading.

Writing - Students will record weather observations and write about what they find.

Math - I will be working with students to see how well they understand the foundations of place value.  For example a number like 17 is a ten and seven ones or 10 + 7 = 17.

Word Study - We are reviewing vowel sounds as well as vocabulary necessary to study weather and the human body.

Consider Donating to Color Fun Run!

The vertical garden is still growing and it has been needing an impressive amount of water.  It is amazing that our school is able to fund projects like this garden.

Color Fun Run
Please consider donating to the Color Fun Run fundraiser.  The money helps our school provide an excellent academic experience for kids.  Even a small donation of $5 helps our work.  To donate you can send in a check in an envelope and write ROOM K-3/LUXON on the envelope.  You also create an online fundraising page here.

This flyer has a bit more information.  I also wrote about the Color Fun Run in last week's blog post.

The principals are challenging the school with these incentives: $20,000 - Principals on the Roof for a day!, $18,000 - Mrs. Stidham dyes her hair blue!  $15,000 - Mrs. Fenech gets duct taped to the wall!  $10,000 - Mr. Hatt wears a crazy wig for the day.

Thursday, June 6th, Library BOGO Book Sale
Ms. Reader is having a buy one, get one book fair on Thursday June 6th.  More information can be found here.

NWEA Testing
This week students will be taking the NWEA assessment test.  We will take a manageable portion at a time, if a student misses a day makeups are no problem.  Just remind your children to their best and try their hardest.  We will not take the NWEA on days that I am out (see below), or during the Color Fun Run.  Most students finished the reading portion of the exam last week.  I believe we will start up again on Wednesday of this week with the math portion.

Mr. Luxon Out for Training on May 28th.
I am out for science training on Tuesday, May 28th.  Ms. Thomas will be teaching in my place. 

Spirit Week is This Week
Here are the themes for each day:
5/28 - Career Day (dress like a job you’d like to have when you grow up)
5/29 - Swap Day (teachers dress like students, students dress like teachers)
5/30 - Classroom Challenge - Wear Superhero Shirts
5/31 - Spirit Day (School and/or Color Run/Field Day gear)

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We are continuing our study of weather.  Students will be observing the weather, watching the temperature and recording their observations.  We are trying to find patterns in the weather we've seen this year.  We are also trying to understand why meteorologists study weather.

Reading -  We will read some fiction books where we watch character's feelings change across the text.  This is something you can discuss at home when you are reading fiction books with your kids.

Writing - Students will record weather observations and write about what they find.

Math - Students are learning about addition with multiple addends and how to look for a ten fact to help you.  (i.e. 2 + 5 + 5 = 12).

Word Study - We are studying synonyms and antonyms as well as vowel sounds.

Color Fun Run is Next Week!

Students really enjoyed the bowling field trip.  I posted many more photos and videos to Seesaw.

Half Day This Wednesday
This Wednesday, May 22nd is a half day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:52 PM.  We do eat lunch like normal on half days so be sure to still send lunch!

NWEA Testing
This week and next students will be taking the NWEA reading and math assessment test.  We will take a manageable portion at a time, if a student misses a day makeups are no problem.  Just remind your children to their best and try their hardest.  We will not take the NWEA on days that I am out (see below), or during the Color Fun Run (also see below).  I believe we will start on Wednesday of this week.

No School Monday, May 27th
There is no school Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day.

Mr. Luxon Out for Training on May 23rd and May 28th.
I am out for science training this Thursday, May 23rd as well as Tuesday, May 28th.  Ms. Thomas will be teaching in my place.  We will not have any NWEA testing on those days.

Spirit Week is Next Week
Here are the themes for each day:
5/28 - Career Day (dress like a job you’d like to have when you grow up)
5/29 - Swap Day (teachers dress like students, students dress like teachers)
5/30 - Classroom Challenge - Wear Superhero Shirts
5/31 - Spirit Day (School and/or Color Run/Field Day gear)

Color Fun Run
The third annual Color Fun Run fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, May 31st.  The Color Fun Run is a mini-marathon for students where they can run laps to earn money for the school's Parent Teacher Organization.  While they run, color cornstarch is thrown in the air marking their laps.  If you would like to donate you can create an online fundraising page here.  If you would not like to create an online fundraising page, please bring any donations in an enclosed envelope to the PTO drop box. Please include your child's name and write ROOM K-3/LUXON on the envelope. Make checks payable to: A2 STEAM at Northside PTO.  If you would like to volunteer and help out with this event please sign up here.  The money raised is used for many great things that directly benefit students like our field trips and some of our EXPO projects.  Some additional Color Fun Run questions are answered here.

Thursday, June 6th, Library BOGO Book Sale
Ms. Reader is having a buy one, get one book fair on Thursday June 6th.  More information can be found here.

Curriculum Overview
Science -  We are continuing our study of weather.  Students will be observing the weather, watching the temperature and recording their observations.  We are trying to find patterns in the weather we've seen this year.  We are also trying to understand why meteorologists study weather.

Reading -  This week we will be reading more non-fiction books about weather.  We will also read some fiction books where we watch character's feelings change across the text.

Writing - Students will record weather observations and write about what they find.

Math - Students are working at understanding graphs and pictographs.  We are also learning a little bit about reading analog clocks.

Word Study - We are studying synonyms and antonyms.