Dear Parents,

I hope your Spring Break is off to a wonderful start. For those of you that were in the Shrek performance- Kudos! It was amazing!

We wrapped up the Art Fair this week and I am finalizing the scoring on the rubrics. Many students left the fair with their final drafts and did not turn them in. These are the final drafts I have:

Nizar
Violet
Lilly
Elijah
River
Hattie
Derek
Evie
Ryanne
Ander
Miller
Marielle
Indigo
Nova
Ari

If your child’s name is not listed here, please email me their final draft, have them share it to me on Google, or have them bring it in on Monday after the break. Overall, I thought the children put in great effort. I was very lenient with the scoring given I was not their teacher for the entirety of the project. We will have a similar project next year for the Great Lives Fair (for students still in the E2 program). Some tips I would like to mention:

This is primarily a home-based project. Although students are allowed to bring items to school to work on, the majority of the work is completed at home. Students don’t have time to put all of their regular classwork aside to complete the entirety of the project at school. Have them pace themselves and start early.  
Many points are lost by simply not following the directions. The packet states exactly what to do for each step. Many children lost a few points for having pictures without captions, not stating their feelings about the artist, missing a card explaining their artwork process, missing bibliography, missing cover page, etc…  
 
There is only one math lesson due after the break. We have started regular math fact practice and tests. This might be a good time to work on those multiplication math facts!

Otherwise, students are encouraged to relax and enjoy the break!

Dear Parents,

Students have been working hard to wrap up their Artist Fair projects and present them in the classroom. The boards are looking well-crafted, and the presentations are quite polished. As students present in class, they have the option to receive very specific feedback from their peers and from me. This helps shape and strengthen their presentations for the fair. I hope to see everyone there on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. The fair will be held outside in the Davis Outdoor Environment, and it may be a bit warm.

This week, students are continuing their work on the periodic table by creating notecards with important facts about each element. I will also be giving a lesson on the different periods within the table. In history, we are wrapping up the Paleolithic era and moving into the Neolithic era. Students will have a choice of activities to demonstrate their learning.

We are adding daily cursive practice for students who are still learning. All assignments and planners are expected to be completed in cursive once students feel ready. We are also finishing our whole-class novel study of Pay It Forward. After Spring Break, we will transition into small group novel studies with other classes in our building.

In addition to our novel study, I’m asking that each student select a book to read during DEAR time that will remain at school. This is a book they will commit to reading from start to finish and will use to complete a book talk afterward. It should not be a book they have already read. Students are welcome to check out a book from the school library if they wish.

This week I met with the sixth-grade students about what they wanted to see changed in our classroom routine. They asked for classroom officers to return. With a few tweaks, we will bring that back after the break.

This is a busy week ahead! With our field trip on Friday, we will not be having a spelling test. There will be no new spelling words this week; instead, students will focus on reviewing and practicing words they previously missed.

If you signed up to drive for the field trip, we truly NEED YOU! I will send out a confirmation email tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued support with nightly math and reading homework. We had a couple days this week with 100% homework completion (all students had it finished on time)! Students walk in proud and ready to learn when they feel accomplished and accountable from homework completion.

Thank you for partnering with me!

Sincerely,

 

Christy Cantu

Dear Parents,

This has been a fabulous week! I am so blessed to be part of such a lovely community. The students have been working hard and adjusting well. We have collaborated to make necessary changes to our routine and schedule, and we are showing each other a lot of “Grace” (our word of the week).

One important goal the students have been focusing on is accountability. This means having assignments (including homework) completed on time. If work is not finished, we cannot move forward with new learning. If a student is in danger of falling behind, I will begin sending unfinished work home on Fridays to be completed over the weekend. This will begin next week.

In addition to accountability, it is very important that students are present at school for the entire day unless they have a fever or are vomiting. When students take “days off,” they miss valuable instruction and classroom activities. Each day is full, with 6–7 lessons and activities, and every part of the day matters.

Julia and I carefully reviewed each rough draft that was submitted and provided suggestions and edits. Friday, I gave a lesson on frequently made errors and explained my editing marks. Please also find a “Bibliography Guide” attached to Katie’s classroom updates (along with the spelling words). Most students are in good standing with their reports.