The Adventures in Mrs. Ripp's Class

Special Notes –

* These kids make me so proud.  I am still getting to know them better and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.  Through the blogging challenges they are giving me their opinions and feedback, which are duly noted so if you haven’t seen their writing take a moment to check it out.

* Thank you to everyone who has been and will be donating snacks and drinks in the next few weeks next week, it really helps us get through WKCE.

*  Conferences are coming; please don’t forget that your child has to be a part of it because they are leading it.  If you need a separate meeting to discuss issues without your child present, please let me know and we can set something up.

* Also, thank you to all of the incredible parents that make our classroom a success.  From donations to book orders, to the willingness to help at any moment, I am humbled by your support.

* Students will be given spelling bee information today from Ms. Weber; we will be doing the actual bee in the next few weeks in the classroom.

* Make sure you send in swimming permission slips.

*  Make sure you are signed up for conferences; I cannot wait to share your child’s successes with you.

* Dates for your calendar:   Picture re-take is Tuesday, November 5^th, Conferences start the week of November 11^th swimming is November 19^th, 21^st, 25^th, and December 2^nd and 4^th,   No school (Happy Thanksgiving) November 27^th, 28^th, and 29th. 

Math – We are almost done with unit 3 and I love seeing the connections that students are making between concepts.  The test is planned for this coming Wednesday, with pre-test scheduled for the following day and then new groups starting next Friday. 

Social Studies – We finished chapter 2 yesterday and are doing our awesome simulation right now on the explorers.  Students have to travel the sea to get to the Americas for either Portugal or Spain; survival is not guaranteed.  I have loved seeing the growth in genius hour projects and the way the students are researching and learning on their own.  We will be doing these again later this year.

Reading – The reading discussions have really taken off, students are making deeper connections and having lengthier conversations with partners, small groups and in the whole class.  I am also loving the general excitement about books, reading is such a passion of mine and I love that the students are bringing me books to read as well.  We are so lucky to have 2 author Skype visits coming up this winter, I will keep reaching out to incredible authors and see what we can do to bring them into our world.

Writing – This week we started our non-fiction picture books unit, it is not every day that you have students clap when you unveil the next writing project!  Students are choosing their own topic to research and write about and our audience is our very own 1^st grade buddies.  Thea will also be a judge at the end of who wrote the best book in various categories. 

Science – We have started flipsticks since our planes started breaking down early.  We will culminate our variables unit with two things; Flipsticks Olympics and the Great Big Catapult build.  I can’t wait for students to take all of their knowledge and put it into action.

Special Notes –

* These kids make me so proud.  I am still getting to know them better and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.  Through the blogging challenges they are giving me their opinions and feedback, which are duly noted so if you haven’t seen their writing take a moment to check it out.

* Thank you to everyone who has been and will be donating snacks and drinks in the next few weeks next week, it really helps us get through WKCE.

*  Conferences are coming; please don’t forget that your child has to be a part of it because they are leading it.  If you need a separate meeting to discuss issues without your child present, please let me know and we can set something up.

* Also, thank you to all of the incredible parents that make our classroom a success.  From donations to book orders, to the willingness to help at any moment, I am humbled by your support.

* Students will be given spelling bee information today from Ms. Weber; we will be doing the actual bee in the next few weeks in the classroom.

* Make sure you send in swimming permission slips.

*  Make sure you are signed up for conferences; I cannot wait to share your child’s successes with you.

* Dates for your calendar:   Picture re-take is Tuesday, November 5^th, Conferences start the week of November 11^th swimming is November 19^th, 21^st, 25^th, and December 2^nd and 4^th,   No school (Happy Thanksgiving) November 27^th, 28^th, and 29th.