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Due before Friday, March 1st

1. Enigmas work, (found inside folder.)
2. Worksheets re: Timelines
3. ReadWorks assignment, accessible from the Google Classroom or link below.

If your student completed other worksheets over the weekend instead of the two I mentioned above, please don't worry. Any work that your student does from the folder will be counted for extra credit toward their overall grade, so every effort our students make counts for something!👍

That said, due to the newly applied requirements for 2nd and 3rd grade assessments, practice and testing the state has placed on teachers this year, classtime for instruction has never been more valuable.

For that reason, I need parent support when it comes to having occassional homework. Mostly, that support should come as verbal reminders from you to your child, and asking to see that homework is done.

To access Readworks:

1.Go to www.readworks.org/student

2. Enter class code 4P7V5W

3. Default password is 1234

Note: Students can change their passwords when they log in.

The Google account's login and password is what you must use to login to the chromebooks from home, as well as the google account for accessing DRIVE or DOCS, and Google Classroom.

Username: lowerel6@aisutah.org
Password: aisutah2019

Attendance for Friday will be recorded on Monday. So long as your child turns in some form of completed work, or their work can be verified through our various class platforms, I will mark them as present for Friday. Thank you!!

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Spring Book Fair 2019 is Almost HERE!

The Book Fair last fall was hugely popular amongst the students in my class, and this enthusiasm for reading is something we should all support. Thankfully, the organizers of the fair have presented us with a way for our students to get free dollars for use at the upcoming fair, simultaneously encouraging and inspiring kids to read even more... (drumroll please...)

READING CONTEST FOR SPRING BOOK FAIR 2019, happening NOW, provides a chance to win "Dino Dollars" toward the purchase of books.

HOW TO WIN:
1. Read as many pages as possible between February 19th and February 28th.
2. Track the pages read using the designated form.
3. Have your parents or teacher sign off.
4. Return the form to your teacher on March 1st.

If our class wins, each student will receive a $5 Dino Dollar gift certificate for use at the fair.

DEADLINE FOR FORMS IS MARCH 1st!

Now here is the BEST part:
Since my recent launch of the new reading program we are using in class, EPIC, our kids have been reading like crazy. Conveniently, EPIC tracks every page read by each student.

The evidence is already available to us, so I have taken the liberty of utilizing the data from EPIC to fill out a form for every student that has read on EPIC during the contest date range. I have started this form for you, now you can easily add any other pages your child has read at home from a physical/hard copy.

I am confident the dolphins are off to a competitive start and that our chances of winning are high. This confidence stems from our group totals: As of today, my students have read a total of 40 hours in the short time since we have been using EPIC.

To access your child's reading contest form, simply open the attached pdf and locate the specific form for your student. You can print that single page at home if you like, otherwise I will print them off on Monday.

Way to go readers, keep up the GREAT work!.

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Find all permission slips and more info here!
PARENTS-
FIELD TRIP FEES DUE
Thank you to those of you who have already paid your $15 fee for the remaining field trips.

I believe about half of our students have paid now, but we still need the rest of our kids to be covered.

Please remember to let me know when you do give money at the front desk!

CHAPERONES NEEDED
We still need chaperones for these trips, however we can only have two chaperones per each excursion. (ALICE is now covered/full.)

Please review the attached information for chaperones per each of the outings to see if you might be a good fit and available to lend a hand for one of these events. We appreciate your assistance, moreover your child will LOVE to have you along!

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OR SHOULD I SAY "RESPONSE WAS EXPLOSIVE?"

Those of you that were onsite when Gabi tested the true limits of her experiment will know why I say that. This adorable first grader made true science come to life, much to her own dismay and shock.

In the end, her project presentation board reflected the aftermath of what results when you combine Diet Coke and mentos, but I think we had her convinced that she had really contributed value to our fair with her live demo, enough so at least the alligator tears subsided. It was a speacial moment for our class, as all of our students came to rally around Gabi to show her our support.

Among other highlights of Science Fair:
We received school-wide recognition and praise from teachers and students from Kindergarten through high school.

Several other lower elementary teachers cane to me following the event to offer compliments and disclose that they will now be following in my footsteps before the year is over, due to the overwhelming enthusiasm our fair brought about in their students.

This was a chance to excel in several academic levels and our kids took the bait. I'm particularly impressed by how well they presented their projects to an audience, both in class on the first day, and then in front of strangers the day of the fair. Kindergarten even came to us in class that afternoon, hours after the fair had wrapped, asking if our students wouldn't mind doing their presentations just one more time for afternoon-only students.

These guys have come such a long way I'm so proud to be their teacher!

There is a lot of weight I am assigning to this project, and it will be graded in three categories:

1. The planning and project/experiment
2. The presentation
3. The exhibit

Rest assured they all did great in every category. Hats off to the dolphins💯

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TRAVEL POSTERS

If you happen to stop by the classroom, be sure to check out one of our recent assignments, the travel posters have been printed and they are on display for your enjoyment.

The students selected a country of their choice and began to practice their newly-learned research skills to collect facts about their country. They broke down the research to focus in on 2-3 points that they would use if trying to persuade someone to travel to their selected destination.

Next, I began teaching the kids to use desktop publishing software, in this case Adobe Spark. They learned how to lay out their design and place the photographs they had found online. They wrote in and placed their text points and in the end, they completed these posters with very little help from teacher.

As I was putting these up on our wall last Thursday evening, another teacher asked me where I bought all these travel posters. I think that's a testament to how great these turned out!😆

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We need MORE SNACKS! Ensure your child has the sustenance to move mountains by providing snack to 23 students one day this month. Please use the link here to sign up via Signup Genius.

SIGN UP HERE

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Is your child interested in learning how to code? If so, sign him or her up to join our new Coding Club!

Wednesdays from 3-4pm I will be hosting this new club, where kids can come and learn the process of coding and develop their skills using the technology available in our classroom, along with programs like CodeMonkey and Nearpod. There is no fee to enroll, so please join us and check out this increasingly popular facet of computer programming!

Want to get a preview of what coding is all about, or let your student try his/her hand at it to gauge the level of interest?

Use the following link to access an introduction to coding via Nearpod. Just click Lesson 1: Let's Get Started now!

To enroll your child in this after school activity, please send me a text or an email to get started!

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As a part of my ongoing mission to perfect the learning environment and eradicate all disruption during our school day, I have made a couple of changes to our class policies.

The success of these changes, however, relies on your support, parents.

1. I would like to request that if at all possible, you send a pair of indoor shoes to school with your child this week. The winter conditions lately have been so intense, so when we do still venture outside for fresh air, the kids come back covered in snow, sometimes with muddy feet, sometimes even with wet socks.

I always try to ensure that every student is wearing proper attire to venture out into these conditions, but outfitting their return to class is a different story.

I would like to ask the kids to change into "inside shoes" upon returning from recess, so as to attempt to keep our classroom nice and clean, and to prevent the kiddos from spending the afternoon wearing wet or muddy attire.

Additionally, a pair of clean/dry socks would also be a great help, (lately I have been buying socks when I am out and about, so I can give them to my students that come back from recess with wet feet... but they go FAST!)

2. We have too many kids asking to go outside the classroom to grab a drink during lesson time. It's disruptive to our class as well as to our neighboring classes. My solution is to make a rule, there is no leaving for a drink during a lesson block.

Of course, I want the kids to be able to drink plenty of water, so I have asked everyone to please bring in a water bottle to keep in the classroom. Desi and I have purchased a handful of water bottles for the kids ourselves, but we still have a few students that need one.

If possible, please talk to your child to find out if they have one in class. If they don't have one, or if you have an extra you're willing to donate, send it into class this week with your child and we will start enforcing our new rule right away.

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Mark your calendars for Thursday, March 7th at 6pm to see your student perform song with our class during the Celebration of Learning.
Location TBD, stay tuned for more info!

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Looking to fill slots for in-class assistance with reading and fluency. Check out our sign up to see if you can contribute!

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Our next opportunity to lead by example has arrived!  This is a followup exercise to December/January's service projects, and will support my efforts to teach empathy. It should hopefully be fun for the kids and maybe even for some parents too, as it involves the universally-loved brand, LEGO.

Last week, fellow lower elementary teacher Ms. Amber finalized her paperwork and officially adopted three children, to add to her already large family of 5. The three children are siblings, and they have had a tough go-of-it throughout their childhoods.

Although this adoption provides reason for all parties to celebrate, even the transition takes patience and strength to navigate. Amber must take a leave from school for half-days over the next couple of weeks, as she works tirelessly to make sure this transition succeeds.

What she is doing is an incredible, altruistic undertaking and I am forever in awe of Amber as she lives to make this world a better place.

I asked her last week if there was anything she needed, anything I could do or provide her with something that might help contribute to the cause. She responded in one word: "LEGOs."

Which brings us back to the subject, our next service objective, to help Ms. Amber and her new family. More specifically, we are gathering LEGO products, used or new, of any and all kinds for the children of this family.

If there is any way that you can contribute to this cause, I know the Moretensen clan will be eternally grateful for our show of support. Message me for more information or to ask questions. Thank you!

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KEEP YOUR STUDENT LEARNING AT HOME

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As of the February 1 deadline, we have met all of the goals set by the Utah State Charter School Board, which mostly consisted of financial compliance to best practices of public organizations.

Goals included implementing comprehensive polices and internal controls, thirty days cash on hand, and ensuring AISU compliance with all state and federal tax regulations.

We continue to revise and outline our strategic plan for academic success, including empowering teachers with financial and academic data, giving teachers structure that allows for innovation, while staying within our school goals and expectations, and a master plan for the facility to create a more cohesive learning environment for our students.

Sincerley,
Tasi Young
Executives Director