March Important Dates/Info

March will be here soon!  It is looking to be a very, very busy month!  Below are important dates to keep in mind!

Important Dates in March:

2nd - 1:00 Dismiss - PK-12 PD

3rd - Read Across America - PBIS Celebration - Character Dress Up

7th - PTO Meeting @ Norway - 6:30pm

7th - BCPTO fundraiser money and item list due

9th - 1:00 Dismiss - PK-6 grade reporting

14th - P/T Conferences - 3:30-7:30pm

15th - 1:00 Dismiss - P//T Conferences - 3:30-7:30pm

16th - NO School - Spring Break

17th - NO School - Spring Break

18th - NO School - Spring Break

23rd - BCPTO fundraiser item pick-up - 2:00-6:00pm

24th - 1:00 Dismiss - PK-6 PD/7-12 grade reporting

25th - NO School - Vacation

Report cards will be sent home this month.  The tentative date for these to come home is March 11th.  

Please call Candi in the office to set up a conference!  My class had 100% attendance in the fall.  I would like to do whatever possible to get to 100% again.  Please let me know if you are unable to meet either of those nights and we can make something else work!  

If you'd like to come read to our class or know someone who would, please contact me!  We are looking for guest readers on Thursday, March 3rd.  

Your child will be bringing home information about the BCPTO fundraiser tomorrow.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  See the dates above for due date and pick-up.  

Blue and Gold TOMORROW

The Benton boys' basketball team has made it to the next round in district play.  They will be playing tomorrow night in Vinton.  To show our support for them, we're dressing up in our Bobcat blue and gold!  

Read Across America Day - March 3rd

Looking ahead, we will be celebrating Read Across America Day (also Dr. Seuss' birthday!) with a variety of activities Thursday, March 3rd.

Your child will be bringing home a note explaining the various activities in the near future, but I wanted to get a jumpstart on getting the word out because I LOVE Read Across America Day!  (It's a national event typically scheduled for March 2nd, but we have decided to do March 3rd because of conflicts!)  Here are a few things we'll be doing:

1. Dress like your favorite storybook character.  Students can also bring a copy of the book (if you own it) but please make sure you have your child's name written inside the front cover.  It does not have to be a Dr. Seuss character.  (All staff will also be dressing up, including me!   Pinterest has a ton of really great ideas for storybook character costumes.  I'm excited to see the creativity people put into their costumes!  One example I gave of a costume which doesn't require much time or money (or NO money if you have all items) is dressing like Jack or Annie from the Magic Tree House series.  (Ask your child if you aren't familiar...we read these in class and they love these books!)  All Jack requires are glasses, a notebook, a nonfiction book, and a backpack!  Annie could also have the same.

2. Read and Feed in the gym with all students.  As part of our PBIS monthly celebration, students will be invited to meet in the gym, snack on some Seuss Soup (trail mix with Seuss character-themed ingredients) and read with a friend.

3. Guest Readers.  If you or someone you know is interested in coming in to our class to read a favorite story, please let me know!  We would love to have many, many guest readers come read to us!  If you don't have a story in mind, you can select one from our classroom library.

4. Various reading, writing, and math activities related to Dr. Seuss stories!

5. Door decorating -   We will decorate our door with the theme The Lorax, an interesting story with an important message for children and adults written by none other than Dr. Seuss. 

**Please let me know if you are interested in coming to read to our class so I can put you in our schedule, and also if you have any questions!

"I can..." Statements for the Week of February 22nd - Omaha Zoo

It's crazy to think we'll be in school every day all day this week!  It feels like forever since we've had a "normal" week!  I'm excited to have this time with your child.

On Friday, we had our Bobcat Time arctic animal presentations.  Prior to our learning walks, we participated in a virtual field trip with the Omaha Zoo.  The keeper talked to students about penguins and showed us the penguin exhibit.  Students got to ask the keeper questions when before the "trip" was over.  If you're ever planning a family vacation to the zoo, let me know!

Here are our "I can..." statements for this week:

I can...

• read and write words with or like fork and port
• make inferences
• make predictions
• identify and use articles in writing 
• identify and correctly capitalize proper nouns
• subtract numbers up to 20 using multiple strategies 
• write an informational report

Washington/Lincoln Presentation Day - THANK YOU!

Many thanks to all of you who made it to our presentation day on Friday!  Students loved having you in our classroom.  I hope you enjoyed the virtual field trip.  I know that I learned a lot from the character interpreter from Mount Vernon.  All of the preparation was worth it when I saw smiling faces of students proudly showing off their work.   

Hat Day for Dvorak Family

Log Cabin Snacks

Thanks again to everyone who volunteered to bring in supplies for our log cabins!  This was a super fun snack time activity!  There were a number of other teachers who came in asking what smelled so good.   I have a feeling the peanut butter aroma is going to be around for awhile.  :)

Everyone is putting their final touches on their project.   We can't wait for you to join us on Friday!  For those of you who can't make it, don't worry!  I'll take plenty of pictures. 

Dress Like a President!

Dress like a president!

Students are invited to dress to impress on Friday for our presentation day.  Whether it be a tie or a dress, students are welcome to dress in their best. 

Reminder:

Please arrive Friday between 9:45-10:00am.  The virtual field trip will begin right at 10:00am.  We will tour our “museums” after the virtual field trip with the staff at Mount Vernon, home of George Washington.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  We are excited to show you our artifacts!

Thank you!

"I can..." Statements for the Week of February 8th & Reminders

Reminder:  

BCPTO meeting that was supposed be held last week has been rescheduled for tonight.   The meeting will be at Keystone Elementary at 6:30pm.

Friday is Washington/Lincoln Presentation Day!  We have a lot for you to see!  Please plan on being at Keystone Elementary around 9:45 on Friday.  Our virtual field trip with the staff at Mount Vernon will begin at 10:00am. 

Friday is also a NOON dismiss!  Please be sure to have arrangements made for your child at NOON instead of 1:00pm.  If there are changes, please email Candi in the office.

Here are our "I can..." statements for this week:

I can...

• read and write words with ar like park and charm
• change the final sounds in words to create new words
• change the way I read to make my reading sound like talking
• analyze characters
• add and subtract numbers up to 20
• fluently add doubles up to 20
• identify the difference between a double and a near double
• write an informational report

These girls decided to spend their recess working on their project!  

MakeDo

Check out these students working with MakeDo building materials to create a replica of Mount Vernon and a log cabin!  We are excited to use these spaces as a fun read to self spot!

Supplies Needed!

We would like to make a log cabin village as an artifact in the "Lincoln Museum" for you to view on Friday.  We are in need of a few supplies to make these.  Please let me know if you are able to provide an item for this activity.  We need all items at school on or before Tuesday.

Thanks!

Small Pretzel Sticks - 5 bags
Smooth Peanut Butter - 3 jars
Graham Crackers - 2 boxes

Creation Apps

These apps are apps we use in the classroom to create!  This is our favorite use of iPads!  Some are paid apps and some are free apps.  Check them out in the App Store for more info!  If the name of the app isn’t directly on the picture, I’ve listed it above.  These are just some of our favorites!  If you’d like more, please email me!  

Some of these would be great to create with on this snow day! Stay safe!

CLICK HERE to view a larger picture of image below.

February Dates and "I can..." Statements for the Week of February 1st

February Important Dates:

2nd:  BCPTO @ Keystone @ 6:30pm
3rd - 1:00 Dismiss - PK-12 PD
11th - Valentine's Day Party 
12th - Presentation Day - NOON DISMISS
15th - NO SCHOOL - PK-12 PD

Reminder - There are 20 students in our class.  If your child plans to bring Valentine's Day cards, please send 20 with no name in the "TO" section.  We need the cards and boxes before the 11th.

BCPTO - The meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow due to the caucuses being held tonight. 

Click HERE for information on how to sign up for weather alerts and where to look for delay and cancellation information.  Please be sure to send your child with proper weather gear.  It's been nice to go outside and play in the snow!

Our "I can..." Statements for this week:

I can...

• read and write words with y making a long E or long I sound at the end
• change the final sounds in words
• summarize
• use the fix-up monitoring strategy when reading
• add doubles and near doubles up to 20
• write an informational report
• identify the naming and telling parts of a sentence
• add detail to sentences by adding adjectives to my writing