Important Dates
Nov. 1 Daylight Savings Time Change
Nov. 3 & 5 Parent/Teacher Conferences
Nov. 6 No School
Attention: Please stop by the office during conferences to pick up PowerSchool information. This is your child’s PowerSchool username and password. Having this will allow you as well as your child to check grades at any time.
Also, take a look in lost and found while you’re here for conferences. There are so many things that haven’t been claimed!
The Old Creamery Theatre’s 2016 Writing Contest
Each year students are encouraged to participate in the Old Creamery Theatre writing contest. Students are invited to write a creative, original story about a character or characters that learn a lesson involving one or more of the Six Pillars (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship). The selected winners will receive gift cards up to $100 and become the basis for Character Chronicles, a show that will be seen by tens of thousands of students all over Iowa (including Decorah Community Schools). Please visit the following website for requirements, story writing tips, and information about how to enter the contest. All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than January 15, 2016.
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science we have continued our investigations of matter. In reading, we have been learning how to “write long” on a topic or question as a way to explore ideas. This involves careful reading and re-reading, as well as note-taking. In writing we started an extended exploration of nonfiction writing. We tried to describe common objects that we had in our classroom.
From Mrs. Nowack: Book orders are due by Wednesday, November 4th. In science class this week we talked about changes that come from within Earth- such as volcanoes & earthquakes and the changes over time to our Earth. I am planning for the Unit C-Chapter 1 test to be on Thursday, November 5th. In reading class, we continue to identify main idea and supporting details- both stated and unstated. Students are enjoying guided reading groups where they can practice their skills of identifying main idea and supporting details. This week we’ve also been learning about the features of informational text. You should see your child reading about 20-30 min/night. In language class, students finished revising their memoirs and printed their final copies. We’ll start our next writing unit next week. FYI~ next week’s VIP is Bailey.
From Mrs. Suhr:
Social Studies - This week, we started Chapter 4: How and Why Europeans Came to the New World. Much of this week, the kids have been “deep sea diving” to examine some artifacts from the days of exploration.
Language - Students are working on their Memoir drafts. We are also focusing on some lessons on sentences with compound subjects, run-on sentences, and good description in writing.
From Mrs. Halweg: This week in math we started our unit on division. We reviewed partial quotients at the beginning of the week, then learned long division. Your student will be using long division next week to divide with decimals. The assessment over this unit is tentatively scheduled for on Tuesday, November 10.
From Mr. Kelley: This week in writing we started an exploration of nonfiction writing. We studied informational text from a website called Wonderopolis and identified important informational text features. The students also practiced observing and describing an everyday physical object in our classroom. In reading, we are studying how to find the main idea of an informational text. Finally, within social studies, we finished reading a book called Pedro's Journal which is a historical fiction account of Colombus's journey to the New World told through the perspective of a young boy named Pedro. Next week we will discuss and study various explorers during the Age of Exploration through the 1500s.
Nov. 1 Daylight Savings Time Change
Nov. 3 & 5 Parent/Teacher Conferences
Nov. 6 No School
Attention: Please stop by the office during conferences to pick up PowerSchool information. This is your child’s PowerSchool username and password. Having this will allow you as well as your child to check grades at any time.
Also, take a look in lost and found while you’re here for conferences. There are so many things that haven’t been claimed!
The Old Creamery Theatre’s 2016 Writing Contest
Each year students are encouraged to participate in the Old Creamery Theatre writing contest. Students are invited to write a creative, original story about a character or characters that learn a lesson involving one or more of the Six Pillars (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship). The selected winners will receive gift cards up to $100 and become the basis for Character Chronicles, a show that will be seen by tens of thousands of students all over Iowa (including Decorah Community Schools). Please visit the following website for requirements, story writing tips, and information about how to enter the contest. All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than January 15, 2016.
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science we have continued our investigations of matter. In reading, we have been learning how to “write long” on a topic or question as a way to explore ideas. This involves careful reading and re-reading, as well as note-taking. In writing we started an extended exploration of nonfiction writing. We tried to describe common objects that we had in our classroom.
From Mrs. Nowack: Book orders are due by Wednesday, November 4th. In science class this week we talked about changes that come from within Earth- such as volcanoes & earthquakes and the changes over time to our Earth. I am planning for the Unit C-Chapter 1 test to be on Thursday, November 5th. In reading class, we continue to identify main idea and supporting details- both stated and unstated. Students are enjoying guided reading groups where they can practice their skills of identifying main idea and supporting details. This week we’ve also been learning about the features of informational text. You should see your child reading about 20-30 min/night. In language class, students finished revising their memoirs and printed their final copies. We’ll start our next writing unit next week. FYI~ next week’s VIP is Bailey.
From Mrs. Suhr:
Social Studies - This week, we started Chapter 4: How and Why Europeans Came to the New World. Much of this week, the kids have been “deep sea diving” to examine some artifacts from the days of exploration.
Language - Students are working on their Memoir drafts. We are also focusing on some lessons on sentences with compound subjects, run-on sentences, and good description in writing.
From Mrs. Halweg: This week in math we started our unit on division. We reviewed partial quotients at the beginning of the week, then learned long division. Your student will be using long division next week to divide with decimals. The assessment over this unit is tentatively scheduled for on Tuesday, November 10.
From Mr. Kelley: This week in writing we started an exploration of nonfiction writing. We studied informational text from a website called Wonderopolis and identified important informational text features. The students also practiced observing and describing an everyday physical object in our classroom. In reading, we are studying how to find the main idea of an informational text. Finally, within social studies, we finished reading a book called Pedro's Journal which is a historical fiction account of Colombus's journey to the New World told through the perspective of a young boy named Pedro. Next week we will discuss and study various explorers during the Age of Exploration through the 1500s.