Feb. 22, 2013

WEEKEND NEWS

February 22, 2013

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

•  This is the homework for the short week ahead! Attached you will find the entry form (cover sheet) and contest rules for the Lion’s Club Patriotism Essay Contest.  Please take a few minutes to discuss the theme: How Do I Serve My Community? Follow the guidelines to complete the essay.  Essays are due next Wednesday, February 27^th.  All students will receive a grade in the grade book for this essay.  There will be a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place winner for the 4^th graders at Ellis.  The winners will be awarded their prizes at the end of the year awards assembly.
•  NO SCHOOL Thursday or Friday.
•  PENNY WARS FOR THE IDAHO FOOD BANK START ON MONDAY!!Penny Wars start Monday, February 25^th and run through Wednesday, February 27^th. All money donated will be given to the Idaho Food Bank.  Students may add pennies to their classroom jars.  Silver coins may be added to other classroom jars and will count against the pennies.  At the end of the week the money will be counted. The PTA will be awarding the top winner at each grade level a fabulous prize! Thanks for helping us support the Idaho Food Bank! 
•  KLEENEX DONATIONS NEEDED!  We have one box left.  Any extra donations would be appreciated. Thanks!
• MOMS AND MUFFINS: We had a wonderful turn out for this event. A huge THANK YOU to the PTA for sponsoring this event!
• THANK YOU to all the moms who helped make our Valentine’s Party so much fun!  We appreciate all you do for us. 
• AR GOALS: students should be at 100% by Wednesday, Feb. 25^th. 
• MARCH BOOK ORDERS:  orders are due back by Friday, March 8^th.  Students may use their $4 Christmas gift coupon (I have the needed coupon) if they like.  It has to be used on one item that is priced $4 or less. It cannot be combined with more money to order a higher priced item. Please make any checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs. You may also order on-line at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs .  Use this code to order books:  HCWNC.   

Thanks for all you do!

Denise Thompson

Feb. 8, 2013

WEEKEND NEWS

February 8, 2013

Dear Parents,

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• World Book Encyclopedia: This is an EXCELLENT online research resource for students of all ages. It offers a wealth of information and fun activities for students.  Our fourth graders will be doing a research project in April, and this will be a resource they will use.  Please encourage your child to explore this site at home. There are two ways to access this site. You can type in www.worldbookonline.com   or you can go to our Ellis Elementary Home page at http://www1.sd25.us/Sites/ellis/Main%20Page.html  and click the Library tab and from the drop down list and choose World Book Encyclopedia. To access this site from home you need to know the User Name: Pocatello and the Password: sd#25 .   There are two sections under the “For Schools” heading that are applicable to our students. Students have been shown these two sections: World Book Kids (suggested for elementary students Pre K- 4^th) and World Book Student (suggested for middle school students 5-8^th).
• AR BOOK FINDER WEBSITE:  This is a fabulous website where anyone can check to see if a book is testable. The site is www.arbookfind.com .  You type in the name of the book and if it is testable, it will give you a picture of what the front cover looks like, the test number, AR level, and author’s name. You can also go to the advanced search feature and search by author or ISBN number and find the same information. If your children have books they are reading at home, they can search this site first to see if the books are AR books that will help them reach their goal. If the book is not testable it will say that no results were found.
• I am including each week’s spelling words on my blog.  You can access my blog through our school website.  On the top left corner you will see a link to our lists K-5: http://www.eduplace.com/spellinglists/ . Next week’s list is from the story Marven of the Great North Woods .

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

*          Language:  Drops In The Bucket D 5                                                                            

*          Math:  Drops In The Bucket Number 5

*          Math:  3-Digit by 1-Digit Multiplication Practice Page

*          Reading:  Sequencing Sentences and Following Directions

*      Reading:  read nightly and fill out your reading log.  STUDENTS SHOULD BE AT 57% OF THEIR GOAL BY TODAY.  Last day for goal is Friday, Feb. 27^th.

Have a great weekend with your family!

Denise Thompson

                                                                  

Feb. 1, 2013

                   

Weekend News

2-1-13

Dear Parents,

            I want to thank all of the parents and grandparents who went with us on our snowshoeing field trip.  I sure appreciate all the help you gave us along the trail.  I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.  It was a wonderful experience for the students.  We really had a workout!! I know I was tired by the end of the day. J

   IMPORTANT INFORMATION

•          I am sending home a sheet of “HOMEWORK HELP WEBSITES” that you may find helpful for your children.  These sites are for students in K-12.

•          VALENTINE’S DAY AND BOXES: Students may make a Valentine box at home or they may make a sack at school.  Students may bring their Valentine’s cards and boxes any time during the next two weeks.  Please make sure they have their names on the boxes.  I have put a list of student names for Valentine cards in the homework folders.

•          February 14^th & 21^st our fourth graders will participate in Common Core Field Tests to help us prepare for the new Common Core State Standards that will be replacing our Idaho State Standards. These tests will be replacing the ISAT tests next year.  This will be a great opportunity for our students to be more prepared when the change takes place.

•          February 21^st-Moms and Muffins 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

•          February 18th, Monday- President's Day, No school

•          February 18th through February 22nd- Penny Wars

•          February 27th, Wednesday- End of 2nd trimester-AR GOALS DUE

•          February 27th, Thursday is Record Day, and March 1^st, Friday is Professional Development Day-NO SCHOOL on these days.

•          SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS: Due date is Feb. 8^th.  You may order on-line www.scholastic.com/bookclubs .  Enter code HCWNC to get to our class order forms.  The class gets a free book for every order placed on-line.  If students want to order a book with their Christmas coupon, they need to write “Free” next to the book on the order form.

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

*    Language:  Drops In The Bucket D 4                                                                                         

*  Math:  Drops In The Bucket Number 4

*    Math:  Multi-Digit Multiplication

*    Reading:  read nightly and fill out your reading log. 

Have a great weekend with your family!

Denise Thompson