Headlines, 12/14

We are in the home stretch and have a busy week ahead of us.  Please let me know if your child will be gone later in the week as there are still tests and quizzes we will be taking.  Thank you to everyone for your generous donations for our winter celebration.  We are looking forward to a great time!


Math: We are in the middle of learning how to divide fractions and will continue with that this week.  We will have math tutoring on Tuesday, but not on Thursday of this week.

Writing/Grammar:  This week we will continue with sentence diagramming of compound parts.  There may be a short quiz this week!

Literature: We are still in our poetry unit and will continue analyzing poetry.  We are also looking forward to hearing poetry recitations.

Science:  We took our test over Classification today and will take a short break from Science as we finish up

History:  Today we finished up The Reformation by talking about Galileo.  The students will finish the study guide in class today and we will take the test on Thursday.
 

 

 Announcements
 

• We will still have math groups this Wednesday.  Thank you so much to the parent volunteers who have given their time this semester!

 

Important Dates

• Monday, 12/14: Poetry recitations begin
• Wednesday, 12/16: Reformation Test
• Friday 12/18 Winter Celebration
• 12/21- 1/4 Winter Break

Headlines 12/5

It is hard to  believe we are nearing the end of 2015!  The next few weeks will be quite busy as wrap our studies of the first semester.  I encourage you to help your scholars stay up to date on tests and quizzes in this busy time of year.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Also, thank you for the generous supply of glue sticks!


Math: We began Unit 4 by learning how to multiply fractions, use cancellation, and solve bar model problems.  We will continue next week by moving into division. 

Writing/Grammar:  I am very impressed with the persuasive writings I have read thus far.  Next week we will take our sentence diagramming to the next level and begin to diagram compound parts. 

Literature: Our students did an AMAZING job on their 100 point projects.  There was much effort put forth and we enjoyed presentations last week.  We are now learning about poetic devices and will be using these skills to analyze poetry beginning next week.

Science:  We took a short open note quiz last week over Kingdom Fungi.  Next week we will be learning about Kingdom Protista.  A study guide will be going home on Monday for the Classification test and our final test will be Thursday. 

History:  The Reformation has sparked much conversation among our class, as we discussed the different viewpoints of the churches of the time.  We will finish the Reformation next week and students will receive a study guide for the Unit.  The final test will be the following Wednesday.
 

 

 Announcements
 

• Tutoring has changed formats.  Monday will now be grammar and writing. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be Math.  I have talked to quite a few parents about their students attending math tutoring.  If so, please make sure they are going on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This is an excellent time to receive extra instruction over the concepts we are studying.
• Our winter celebration will be December 18, a sign-up genius will be emailed soon!

 

Important Dates

• Thursday, 12/10: Classification Test
• Friday, 12/11: Roots Test
• Monday, 12/14: Poetry recitations begin
• Wednesday, 12/16: Reformation Test
• Friday 12/18 Winter Celebration
• 12/21- 1/4 Winter Break

Please read the following about the Bard Competition.  Since we are all memorizing poetry right now, I would love to see our students take place in this worthwhile endeavor!


Archway Arete's First Annual Bard Competition

Throughout Western civilization, bards have been keepers of tradition, reciting the poetry of their people and passing on oral history. At every grade level, our students practice memorization and recitation of poems in the classroom. This year, we will be joining our fellow Great Hearts schools and holding a Bard Competition for our 3rd through 5th grade students, whom we will challenge to memorize and recite poetry. Over the course of two rounds and two poems, we will winnow the field to find our school's most skillful bard. That student would be named School Bard for the year and will represent Archway Arete in the Great Hearts Archway Bard Competition. If your student is interested in competing, you can download the competition guidelines and registration form. These forms will also be available through the School Office or your student's teacher.  Whether your student participates or not, we invite all of our Archway families to these public recitations, which promise to be engaging reminders of this tradition.

 

 

Spelling Bee and Other Info!

Please note the memorization of the poem is due Monday, December 14.  Students have chosen their poem and should start practicing today!

We are in DESPERATE need of glue sticks!  We are sharing about ten very sad partially used glues sticks for the whole class.  If you are able to send in a few with your student it would be greatly appreciated.

Please accept my apology!  I did not send this information out earlier regarding the Spelling Bee. 

Hopefully if your child wanted to stay there were able to get a hold of you this afternoon, if not, they can still study the words at home.  This information is from Ms. Porcelli and Ms. Smith who are in charge of the bee this year:

Dear Archway Parents and Students,

 This year Archway Arete will be competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee! We are excited to refine our spelling and public speaking skills in this friendly and fun competition.

 The timeline for the spelling bee program is as follows:

Mon. 11/16 – Spelling Bee information distributed to Parents and Students

Tues. 11/17– Optional spelling practice for 1st and 2nd graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

Tues. 11/24 – Optional spelling practice for 3rd and 4th graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

Tues. 12/1 – Optional spelling practice for 5th graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

 Friday 12/4 – Each child will take a grade-level qualifier test in their classroom. The test will be a selection of 20-25 words from the challenging Scripps 100 word list for your child’s grade level. The top five scorers in each class will be selected to participate in their oral classroom spelling bee.

12/7-12/10 – Oral classroom Spelling Bees will take place within this week.  The top speller from each classroom will go on to participate in the Archway Arete school-wide spelling bee on 1/6.

 

Wed. 1/6 – The school-wide spelling bee will be held in the evening at Archway Arete! The top spellers in each class compete in the school-wide bee and only the top speller in each grade will move on to the Great Hearts District bee after winter break.

Tues. 1/26 – The top five spellers from Archway Arete will compete in the Great Hearts District Bee at Archway Veritas! (Details and times will follow.)

 While participation in the spelling bee program is voluntary, we encourage every student at Archway Arete to participate in their written and oral classroom spelling bees, as well as the optional spelling practice bees! Here are the word lists that your child will need to study to prepare for this competition: 2015, 2016 Spelling Bee Word Lists. You may also go to Spelling Bee Resources to find additional material and helpful strategies. Students should first learn the 100 study words for their grade level. Please note that the words on this list are quite challenging. The challenge is part of the fun! When your child masters the 100 grade specific words, they are ready to learn the study words for all other grade levels. There are a total of 450 words on the 2016 School Spelling Bee Study List. Finally, when your child masters the study words for grade levels 1-8, they may get a head start on the next level of competition by learning the words on the “Spell It.” This will prepare them for Great Hearts District Bee should they advance to this level of competition.

 Please direct questions to Ms. Porcelli and Ms. Smith at MPorcelli@archwayarete.org and hsmith@archwayarete.org. We are delighted to celebrate the English language with your children through the Scripps spelling bee program!

Very truly yours,

Ms. Porcelli and Ms. Smith