EXPO is This Thursday at 5:00 PM

This Thursday evening at EXPO you can see students' green screen forecasts.

EXPO is This Thursday at 5:00 PM Sharp
Our Spring Expo is Thursday, March 30 from 5 to 7PM.  Room K-3 has a tight presentation schedule so work on arriving on time.  Parking is tough, and it is no longer possible to park at the church across Barton, so you will need to arrive early and/or park on the street.  I will move my car to street to open up one more spot in the school parking lot, but if you are driving just remember that parking will be a challenge.  You should probably also bring an umbrella, just in case.

These are the grade level presentation times:
5:00 - 5:30 Grades K, 3, & 6 
5:45 - 6:15 Grades 1, 4, & 7 
6:30 - 7:00 Grades 2, 5, & 8 

The March is Reading Month Used Book Sale will be open in the MPR beginning at 4:30 PM and will continue throughout the event.  Maybe come early and beat the parking rush and go to the book sale?  All book sale items are only 50 cents.  I also strongly encourage to check out the presentations of other classes at 5:45 PM and 6:30 PM.

Email a Picture to Ms. Reader!
A2STEAM students have a chance to “get caught” reading during March is Reading Month. Simply take a picture of your child reading their favorite book and email it to Ms. Reader (reader@aaps.k12.mi.us) to be added to our community Get Caught Reading Wall.

School Climate Survey
The 2017 School Climate Survey Is Here! Make Your Voice Count! All parents/guardians with a current email address on file received a personal invitation and survey link but parents may also take the survey at http://tiny.cc/AAPS2017ParentSurvey. We are pleased to offer the survey in English, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. 

Curriculum Overview
PBL (Project Based Learning) Weather Project - We are getting ready to present what we have learned about weather at EXPO!  This week we are practicing with 3rd graders to hone our presentations.

Math - We are learning about bar graphs, line graphs, and tally charts.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books where weather causes problems for the characters, ask your students about Hurricane! and check out the story arc I posted in last week's update (below). 

Writing - We are revising and publishing (checking spelling, editing, making it the best we can) our writing about weather.  We also are going to write a little bit about the anemometer (wind meter) we created.

Word Study - We finished up our study of the sh / ch / and th blends last week.  I'm not sure we will start a new focus this week given all our extra events.

With the spring weather we were able to get out the stilts and sidewalk chalk again!

Building an Anemometer!

We have been working on building an anemometer (wind meter) as part of our weather unit.  More pictures below and in the photo gallery.

EXPO is Approaching!
Our Spring Expo is Thursday, March 30 from 5-7pm.  Is is important that you arrive on-time at 5:00 PM because we are planning an all class presentation. These are the full grade level presentation times:
5:00 - 5:30 Grades K, 3, & 6 
5:45 - 6:15 Grades 1, 4, & 7 
6:30 - 7:00 Grades 2, 5, & 8 

Home Reading Book Bags
Send in your home reading book bags this week so I can get new books out for students.  If you do not send yours in I will contact you to see what's up.

Snacks
I've been surprised about the number of sugary, cookie-type snacks that are coming in.  I know different families have different views about this, I have found that healthier, less sugary, snacks tend to help kids stay focused in class.  Please send your student with healthy snacks.

Email a Picture to Ms. Reader!
A2STEAM students have a chance to “get caught” reading during March is Reading Month. Simply take a picture of your child reading their favorite book and email it to Ms. Reader (reader@aaps.k12.mi.us) to be added to our community Get Caught Reading Wall.

Did you know Room K-3 has a twitter feed?
You can view it here, it is also linked on the right of this page.

Curriculum Overview
PBL (Project Based Learning) Weather Project - We are finishing up our anemometer and getting ready to present our learning at EXPO!

Math - We are learning about bar graphs, line graphs, and tally charts.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books where weather causes problems for the characters, ask your students about It's Mine and Dump Truck Dash.  Take a look at the screen shot of a story arc we created during a lesson below.

Writing - We are revising and publishing (checking spelling, editing, making it the best we can) our writing about weather.

Word Study - After noticing the th blend in words like THunder and weaTHer students are studying the th, ch, and sh blends.

We created this story arc to track how weather creates problems in fiction books.

Send in your Home Reading Book Bag this week.

We have been working on building an anemometer (wind meter).

EXPO is Approaching!

This is the weather forecast board we created.  These pictures were taken a few weeks ago.

Hello!  I am excited to start building an anemometer (wind meter) with students this week. Here's the update for everything else that is happening:

EXPO is Approaching!
Our Spring Expo is Thursday, March 30 from 5-7pm.  These are the grade level presentation times:
5:00 - 5:30 Grades K, 3, & 6 
5:45 - 6:15 Grades 1, 4, & 7 
6:30 - 7:00 Grades 2, 5, & 8 

The Used Book Sale will be open in the MPR beginning at 4:30pm and will continue throughout the event.

Report Cards Went Home Today
Report cards and Personal Learning Plans went home today.  They are in a 9 x 12 yellow envelope.  The envelope needs to be signed and returned to school tomorrow.  You keep the report card, but return the envelope to me.

March is Reading Month Is Here!
As I wrote last week, this year for March is Reading Month (MIRM) we will be doing some key community-building literacy events interspersed throughout the month. The first is the Read It Forward program, where we attempt to get all students and staff at A2 STEAM to read the same book. This year we are reading The Lorax by Dr. Suess.

The second big event is the annual Used Book Sale, happening on Thursday, March 30th from 4:30-7:00pm in conjunction with the Expo.  All items will cost just 50 cents and all proceeds will go toward boosting the Media Center program at A2 STEAM.  Used book collection will take place from March 1st - March 24th.  If you have books at your house that you can donate, please leave in the marked area in front of the A2 STEAM library.  Lastly, if you have cardboard boxes, around the size of a banker's box, those would help Ms. Reader with sorting the donated books.

With regards to the Used Book Sale, please consider volunteering throughout the month of March at a time convenient to you to sort books, set up the event, handle money for a ½ slot during the sale, or clean up after the sale.  If you are interested in volunteering, please follow this link.  Thank you in advance for your contributions!

Lastly, students have a chance to “get caught” reading. Simply take a picture of your child reading their favorite book and email it to Ms. Reader (reader@aaps.k12.mi.us) to be added to our community Get Caught Reading Wall.

Let’s get ready to READ A2 STEAM!!

Curriculum Overview
PBL (Project Based Learning) Weather Project - This week we are learning about seasons and how the tilt of the earth creates the seasons and makes our part of the earth warmer and colder.  We will also begin construction on an anemometer, an instrument for measuring wind. 

Math - We will be learning about inches and centimeters and practice measuring with both.  We will need to measure as we create our anemometer (wind meter).  We will also learn more about the bar graphs, line graphs, and tally charts that have been helping us track the weather.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books where weather causes problems for the characters, ask your students about Rain!.  We are reviewing what characters are, and what a book’s setting is.  We will also be reading non-fiction books to help us learn about weather and meteorologists.

Writing - We are recording what happened in our evaporation experiment and revising our other writing about weather.

Word Study - After noticing the th blend in words like THunder and weaTHer students are studying the th, ch, and sh blends.

March is Reading Month!

Students have been recording weather forecasts using the school's green screen.

March is Reading Month Is Here!
This year for March is Reading Month (MIRM) we will be doing some key community-building literacy events interspersed throughout the month. The first is the Read It Forward program, where we attempt to get all students and staff at A2 STEAM to read the same book. This year we are reading The Lorax by Dr. Suess.

The second big event is the annual Used Book Sale, happening on Thursday, March 30th from 4:30-7:00pm in conjunction with the Expo.  All items will cost just 50 cents and all proceeds will go toward boosting the Media Center program at A2 STEAM.  Used book collection will take place from March 1st - March 24th.  If you have books at your house that you can donate, please leave in the marked area in front of the A2 STEAM library.

With regards to the Used Book Sale, please consider volunteering throughout the month of March at a time convenient to you to sort books, set up the event, handle money for a ½ slot during the sale, or clean up after the sale.  If you are interested in volunteering, please follow this link.  Thank you in advance for your contributions!

Lastly, students have a chance to “get caught” reading. Simply take a picture of your child reading their favorite book and email it to Ms. Reader (reader@aaps.k12.mi.us) to be added to our community Get Caught Reading Wall.

Let’s get ready to READ A2 STEAM!!

Half Day This Wednesday
This Wednesday, March 8th, is a half day for students.  Students will be dismissed at 10:50 AM.

Homework Assignment
A new homework assignment went home last Thursday.  Please email me with any questions.

Curriculum Overview
PBL (Project Based Learning) Weather Project - Last week we set up a weather forecast board for the whole school.  It is right by the office when you enter the school.  The students and I look at different weather graphs and tables and create a forecast for the week.  Once we lay it out students post it for the whole school.  We have also been making video forecasts using the school's green screen (see photo above).

Math - Ask your students about the three-dimensional shapes (cubes, spheres, cylinders, pyramids, and cones) we have been studying.  This week we will also introduce measurement.

Literacy - We are reading fiction books where weather causes problems for the characters, ask your students about Thunder Cake and Fall Ball.  We are reviewing what characters are, and what a book’s setting is.  We will also be reading non-fiction books to help us learn about weather and meteorologists.

Writing - We are recording what happened in our evaporation experiment.

Word Study - We are focused on words we need for our current weather unit: rain, snow, clouds, wind, observe, forecast, temperature, thermometer.