The kindergarten class has a very busy November!  We will be leading the all school assembly on November 12th.  The students will be discussing what it means to be generous and show gratitude.  The last two months, the kindergarteners have been collecting coins (along with the Pre-K classes) that will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House.  The kindergarteners and Pre-K classes will be celebrating a job well done by having a McDonald’s party.  We are very excited to finally find out who our special guest will be!  Our class will be discussing fall during the month of November.  We will learn about weather, why leaves change, migration, and the first Thanksgiving.  The kindergarteners will also learn about Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the New World.   

November will be a very busy month for the first graders.  We will be learning more about Christopher Columbus, the First Thanksgiving, and the Thirteen Original Colonies during social studies.  For math we will be working more on subtraction and describing positions of people and objects in their surroundings.  We will continue working on word parts, syllables, and stretching out words when reading and writing.  For science we are going to explore magnets and all of the fun activities that we can do with them.

Wow! I can’t believe it is November already! This month the second graders will be focusing on the fantasy genre and identifying the different elements included in a fantasy. They will also be creating their own fantasies using these elements. We will be reading from our fantasy books and comparing them. In Math they will finish working on addition and subtraction with renaming and word problems. Then we will be entering the next unit on measurement. We will move on to Science and begin discussing Solids, Liquids, and Gases and then move on to Light, Sound, and Color. We will also discuss what Thanksgiving means to us and what it means to be thankful.

October has been a very busy month in third grade.  We wrapped up our studies of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Students had a fabuloso time at our fiesta!  They danced the salsa, enjoyed ethnic food, listened to songs from across Latin America, attempted the Mexican tradition of roping, and created beautiful papel amate paintings.In social studies we have begun our study of the regions of the United States.  We started in the good old Midwest!  Students are learning capitals and creating bookmarks which include state bird, flower, name origin, year of statehood, major cities, and rivers, and nickname.  They are very excited to learn all 50 state capitals! The art of persuasion is in full affect in our classroom.  Students have done an amazing job with their persuasive writings.  We have focused on creating great "attention grabbing" sentences and strong points to support our positions and convince our readers to think the way we do!  We look forward to another fun-filled month of learning in November!

October was a very busy month in 4th grade!  Throughout the month our class focused on the qualities of a successful student.  Students focused on using their planners effectively, the importance of completing all assignments, study skills for tests and what quality work looks like. It has been exciting to watch the students grow!

Highlights:
Reading – The genre of fantasy was celebrated this past month.  Book clubs read fantasy books and completed many different projects.  Students learned to identify the characteristics of a fantasy book and have been seeking “evidence” from their books to prove the book is fantasy.  Book clubs will be finishing up their books in the upcoming month.
Writing – 4th graders are great writers!  After studying the tricks great writers use, they have applied what they learned to their own writing and have created incredible narratives that are delightful to read.  
Math – Large multiplication and division problems, fractions, word problems and more!  We continue to work on our math skills daily.
Science – Students have done several labs this month as they learned about the scientific method.  We also studied the weather and how the tilt of the earth is related to the change in seasons.  In November, students will be studying the properties of water.
Social Studies – Students completed an introduction unit on the United States.  This included learning about the diversity of our country, our responsibilities as citizens and more.  They are excited to start our next project as they will research an early civilization of the Americas and work on group presentations.

I am a lucky, lucky teacher! Each day I work beside such an amazing group of students. During our morning meeting times we often talk about ways that we want to be . . . how we want to be known. I am continually impressed by their determination and perseverance. We work hard, push one another, make each other laugh (a lot), and remind ourselves that we are brilliant,
kind, unique, and simply incredible.
October Highlights:
~ Led the October All School Assembly
~ Played in the rain, no the snow, no the slush . . . oh, we gave up trying to figure out the weather and just tried to have fun
 ~ Finished NWEA testing with a sigh and a smile
~ Completed a narrative writing unit
~ Held balloon rocket and car races after learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion
~ Conducted many experiments on solar energy
~ Learned about, and replicated, the art of M.C. Escher
~ Reviewed types of sentences, discovered the many reasons for using commas, created synonym poems, and expanded our vocabularies by studying common saying and phrases
~ Participated in survival-themed book clubs - discussed major story themes and the use of symbolism
~Mastered more math skills than I could possibly list
~Practiced the game of Lacrosse in P.E.
If you have a chance, I welcome you to check out our classroom blog at www.fpa5/6crew.blogspot.com .  

Here is what is happening for noviembre in Spanish:
 
Kindergarten: Perfecting numbers 0-10, colors, calendar/weather related vocabulary, and continued practice on basic greeting conversation.
 
1st grade: Perfecting numbers 0-20, colors review, calendar/weather vocabulary, and continued practice on basic greeting conversation.
 
2nd grade: Perfecting numbers 0-30, colors review, calendar/weather vocabulary, classroom vocabulary, and conversations.
 
3rd grade: Perfecting numbers 0-40, colors review, calendar vocabulary,  classroom vocabulary, and conversation.
 
4th grade: calendar vocabulary, numbers, classroom vocabulary, plural vs. singular nouns, masculine vs. feminine nouns, and conversation.
 
5th and 6th grade: Investigation of Spanish culture, calendar/weather vocabulary, expanding conversational skills, introduction/review of pronouns and infinitive verbs.
 
*All classes will also talk about Día de los muertos

Media

I can’t think of a better way to spend my day then sharing my love of reading with students of all ages.  I’m always amazed by the fact that it doesn’t matter how wold they get, the boys and girls are always ready for a good story.  My fifth and sixth graders frequently request that I read some of their favorite picture books to them, such as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Diary of a Wombat.

Kindergarten/First Grade: we are focusing on favorite authors and the basic difference between fiction and non-fiction books.

Second Grade:  We started one of my all time favorite read-aloud books, James and the Giant Peach.  Be sure to ask your child what part we are at each Thursday.

Third Grade:  We just finished Clementine and will start a Cam Jansen mystery in the next week.

Fourth Grade:  We are in the middle of Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest.  So far we know about the perch and
Mrs. Sackets, but we haven’t reached the part about the crow’s nest.  This book was written by a local author and is currently up for the Children's  Crown Award.

Ficth/Sixth Grade:  We are slowly making our way through Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat.  Mrs. Chang and I happened to meet the author the other week and even got her autography.  Very Exciting!

Our library is always open so feel free to come in and check out a book for you or your child whenever you want to.

Music

November brings a shift in focus during music classes at FPA.  We will move from our general music class activities into focusing on preparation for a number of upcoming performances.  All of the grade levels will discuss and practice performance expectations for the following performances:
The kindergarteners will be polished and ready to debut a Thanksgiving song during the November all school assembly (November 12th).  All are invited to attend this event.

All Students will be involved in a short performance of three of our favorite songs on Grandparent’s day
 (November 19th).

All grade levels will get a head start working on all of our music for the Holiday Program.  The theme for the program is Celebrations Around the World (December 17th).

 I hope you are available to attend one or all of these performances.  I’m sure the kids will be wonderful!

      October was a very busy month in phy ed.  The younger students focused on teamwork and cooperation while the older students worked on football and lacrosse skills.     This month the kindergarten, first and second grade classes will be just as busy with a focus on locomotor and non-locomotor movements.  The boys and girls will work on basic gymnastic skills including forward and backward rolls, cartwheels, and balancing.  They will also participate in a dance and rhythm unit.  The fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students will begin November with a unit on volleyball.  They will practice basic skills and learn more about the rules of the game.  During the second half of the month the older students will be focusing on gymnastics and dance.

November is here and the weather is quickly changing .  It is a good idea to get that winter coat out with hats and gloves.  We will try and get outside as much as we can before the snow starts.  We won’t be spending a long time out there but at least a bit to help us burn off some energy.

Some events going on in November include Parent’s Night out on Saturday the 21st.  All programs will be closed Thursday November 26th and Friday November 27th.  Volleyball club will be starting on November 16th.  This will run Mondays an Wednesdays through December 9th.

We see more and more kids having homework these days.  We want to work with the kids and parents to help them get this done.  I know with parents working long hours and kids having extra activities after school it is hard to get homework finished.  You can sign your child up to finish their homework here in Trailblazers.  They can get help from teachers and/or peers.  I will be sending out a handout where we will check in with your child to see if they have homework, if they do we will provide a quite study area where they can finish their work before they go play or join activities for the day.  We are also looking at getting tutors from surrounding schools to come in and help with homework sessions.  Please see me if you would be interested in having your child participate in this program. 

I hope the fall is treating everyone well.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Let’s keep this Trailblazer year going great.  We are continuing to have so much fun, if you want to see all the things we do go online to http://trailblazersfpa.blogspot.com/