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.