Evaluating Our Paintbrushes

Last week students tried out and evaluated the paintbrushes they designed.

K/1 Literacy Night
This Thursday join us for the K/1 literacy night.  A2STEAM literacy specialist Dairia Mustapha will lead different stations to show you activities you can do with your child at home to promote literacy.  I will be there along with many other kindergarten and first grade teachers and we hope to see you too.  Childcare is provided!  This event is this Thursday from 5 PM to 6 PM.  More info is available here.

The Follett Challenge
A2STEAM has officially entered The Follett Challenge! This is a grant put on by The Follett Corporation to reward schools that have innovative approaches to teaching and learning. There are many grants awarded for a total of $200,000 in prize money, and we hope our school has what it takes!  For more information, visit this link.

Part of the challenge includes a popular vote, which can net a school $10,000.  The vote takes place January 22 - January 26.  Qualified voters can vote as much as 1x per day throughout this period!  Please take the time to vote for A2 STEAM so that we have a chance of winning this money for our school!  Click here to vote, you need a valid email address.

Half-Day Next Wednesday
Next Wednesday, January 31st, is a half-day for students.

Homework
I sent home a homework assignment with students today.  It is packet containing a little bit of math work and one page for writing.  The cover sheet is light blue.  This homework reviews work we have done in class and think it will benefit your students.  If you feel like it is too much, or not helpful just let me know.

Penny Wars
Keep bringing in spare change and help the 8th graders take a trip to Chicago!  Click here for more information.

Curriculum Overview
Project Lead The Way -  We are working on a new Project Lead the Way unit called ‘Pushes and Pulls’.  Students are learning about basic physics and the forces they experience in their life (using the swing on a playground, playing tug-of-war, dropping something).  Students will also be introduced to the idea that some forces like gravity, magnetism, and wind are invisible.

Reading -  As we read about forces (see above) we are reviewing the features of a non-fiction text (table of contents, index, captions).  We are also reviewing the difference between fiction and non-fiction.

Writing - Students are working on an opinion writing piece.  This week students will choose to write about their favorite pet or favorite sport.  Next week we will write about a simple social issue.

Math - This week we are learning about the addition and subtraction symbol and we will practice simple addition and subtraction.  Also, to capitalize on the excitement around Penny Wars (see above), we will spend some time learning about the names and values of U.S. coins.

Word Study - I feel like after last week your students became syllable experts--you will see some syllable review on the homework.  This week students will will learn about vowels and vowel sounds.  We will study both the long vowel sounds like the long ā in cake, plate, shape and short vowel sounds like the short ă in cat, map, and raft.

Last week students tried out and evaluated the paintbrushes they designed.