Moyer’s Monthly Memo
September 29, 2017
Dear Parents and Students,
Happy October! It is hard to believe that we have been in school 17 days. I am so enthusiastic and excited to come in each day and work with your child on an educational and personal level. It is truly a phenomenal group of children! It is my hope and goal to make this year as positive, fun, and memorable as possible while challenging your child to achieve to his/her best ability.
It was a pleasure meeting many of you during Back to School night on September 12. Parents, please join us on Friday, October 13 from 11:45 A.M-12:30 P.M. in the LGI on the second floor to spelunk for artifacts. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at . Your child is my priority and I intend on making this a phenomenal year both academically and emotionally.
Feeling grateful is important to contentment. Researchers found that keeping a gratitude journal helped: lower stress, add a greater sense of calm, gain a new perspective of what is important, and become more self-aware. Each day students are recording three things that they are grateful for. Often, I share my list with the students. I’ve read several picture books aloud (Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena, The Thank You Book by Mo Willems, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, The Quilt Maker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss) about the importance of being grateful.
Students enjoy puzzling during free time, dismissal or when they have completed all assignments. We are currently putting together a puzzle featuring Coca Cola. When it is completed we will share the puzzle in the form of a Sway.
Finn Fernando Finkelstein joined our class on Tuesday, September 26. He is a Betta fish and seems to enjoy his new environs.
Please make sure your child is doing one hour of homework each evening. After written homework is completed, students should spend the remainder of the hour reviewing and studying subject areas as indicated on the homework board, on the homework page on School Wires and in their homework book. Reviewing material learned each day is an important skill necessary for success. Please initial your child’s homework book each evening so you are aware of all assignments and upcoming quizzes and tests. It is also another method of keeping the lines of communication open. Daily homework and a classroom calendar of events can be accessed via School Wires. Please encourage your child to access both daily. Students are expected to access the October calendar from School Wires, record the events that pertain to them in the October calendar and keep the calendar in their take home folder.
We enjoy eating nutritious snacks (fruits, vegetables, cheese, crackers, juice, granola and cereal) as we work throughout the day; please support me in trying to foster good eating habits.
The following students are involved in Reverse Inclusion with Mrs. Ernst’s class from 1:00-1:30 P.M: Sadie Adams, Emily Anton, Lauren Copeland, Gwynneth Critz, Bryan Dougherty, Nick Giordano, Zachary Goldberg, Alexa Lee, Bryce Martinez, Alyssa Nocito, Sophia Schorn, Joshua Wagner, Amber Woodring and Chloe Yang. The following students are involved in Broadcast: Sadie Adams, Emily Anton, Alexa Lee, Alyssa Nocito, Saamia Salman, Joshua Wagner, Amber Woodring and Chloe Yang. Julia Adams and Saamia Salman work with Mrs. Wetzel’s kindergarten students. Alexa Lee and Olivia Pulak work with Mrs. Lovell’s kindergarten students during recess three times a week. Emily Anton and Alexa Lee work with Mrs. Ledwith’s first grade class every morning before 9:00 a.m. and during recess time as well.
Sadie Adams, Gwynneth Critz, Eudora Demiri- Worman and Matthew Lewis applied for the Officer position for Student Council. Students recorded their speeches and they will be televised on Tuesday, October 3. Voting will take place on Tuesday, October 3 and announced in the afternoon. Good luck to all students!
Students have access to Office 365 which is an optional tool available for teachers and students in grades 6-12. There are many functions offered within this program (email, Web Apps, SkyDrive, Lync and Microsoft Office). Students and teachers will be able to connect and collaborate virtually anywhere, anytime. This is very exciting! On Friday, September 15 students set up their account at school and can complete assignments collaboratively when appropriate. On Tuesday, September 19 we also learned how to use Sway.
In celebration of following the rules and completing all assignments throughout the week, students are invited to participate in Friday Fun Day, each Friday. During this time, we play games and get to know one another in a relaxed atmosphere. Friday also marks pay day where students are paid Moyer’s Mentionables for completing their classroom job for the week. Mentionables can be used for a myriad of prizes.
Reading comprehension is the evolution of thought that occurs as we read. Understanding happens when readers engage in an inner conversation with the text, merge their thinking with it, ask questions, infer, summarize and synthesize. We completed lessons that specifically dealt with keeping track of our thinking while reading. Students are taught to ‘fix up’ their comprehension by using a variety of strategies. We are working on summarizing and synthesizing by combining new information with existing knowledge to form a new idea or develop a line of thinking.
Every other Wednesday, students are given an article and assigned to read and code the article daily in preparation for the quiz every other Wednesday. Students are expected to read the article at least once a day, every day and use codes throughout the article. We have been working with the Comprehension Toolkit –to: monitor comprehension by activating, connecting, summarizing and synthesizing. Strategies learned in class should be applied to code the article. Some class time is given throughout the week for this purpose-coding the text on the weekly AoW. Additional time should be spent at home. The purpose of this assignment is for students to become more informed about what’s going on around the world and develop their reading comprehension skills by practicing skills and strategies taught in class.
In addition, as part of our reading block, students are engaged in reading a self- selected novel. Students are expected to read for 20 minutes each day and record how many books they read each calendar month using the book log. A minimum of two books per month should be read. Logs will be collected every month (the exact date is listed on the calendar and homework section of School Wires).
I am reading aloud A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. The novel tells two separate stories which are brought together in the final chapter. The first story is about Nya, an eleven-year-old girl living in Southern Sudan who must make two long walks to fetch water for her family each day. The second, and main story, is based on the true-life experiences of Salva Dut. Salva is forced to flee the war in Southern Sudan when he is eleven years old, and spends many years as a refugee before returning to Southern Sudan to drill wells which bring water to remote villages.
Shortly, we will begin reading The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. It is the first of a trilogy and tells the story of Parvana, a young girl and her family as they struggle to survive under the Taliban in Afghanistan. The novel brings to life the reality of life under the Taliban. Young Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed- out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Parvana’s father supports his family as a letter reader and writer in the market until he is arrested by the Taliban (the religious group that controls the country) for being educated in a foreign country. Imagine that! Parvana’s mother becomes ill, leaving Parvana to come up with a plan since women cannot appear in public, go to school or work outside the home unless covered head to toe. The family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana puts her plan into practice. Transforming herself into a boy, she cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy to become the breadwinner for her family. Parvana’s determination to survive is the force that drives this novel, set against the backdrop of an intolerable situation brought about by war and religious fanaticism
We are working on narrative writing and using sensory (smell, taste, feel, see, hear) details to bring the writing alive for the reader. Students described their favorite food without explicitly stating what it was, shared their writing with their group, and voted for the piece that was most descriptive. Congratulations to the following students for being selected by their group and earning 10 Mentionables for this distinction: Eudora Demiri-Worman, Nick Giordano, Bryce Martinez, Alyssa Nocito, and Olivia Pulak. Kudos to Olivia Pulak! She described lasagna rolls and received the most votes from her peers, earning 20 Moyer’s Mentionables.
In preparation for the Sixth-Grade Assessment, students are doing oral presentations called Anchoring the News (ATN). Each student has a schedule and a requirement sheet as well as a rubric describing how the presentation will be graded. In this case, practice makes progress. Vivid, descriptive scenarios should be used to capture the audience’s attention and may result in an Advanced on the rubric.
Every day we have a mini grammar lesson on a concept. On Friday, the students are introduced to the concept and for two weeks they practice the concept. Every other Thursday the students will take a grammar quiz based on the concept that was studied from the previous weeks. Please encourage your child to review the concepts nightly so that they are successful on the quiz. Grammar quizzes are posted on the School Wires Calendar page.
In social studies, we are studying Early Humans and the Rise of Civilization. The History Alive program allows students to access the text from home and has review games set up for each lesson. Each student will have the directions to access the program in his/her homework book.
Shortly in science we will be learning about Human Body in Motion specifically-how we move, how our muscles know when to move, how our muscles get the nutrients they need and what role cells play.
Moyer’s Corner
1. I prefer going to farmer’s markets to buy fresh produce.
2. I am a vegetarian (who loves turkey).
3. I have been to five continents and more than 25 countries.
4. I despise eggs.
5. I am a Central Bucks graduate.
6. A year ago on September 25 I attended a former (from my second class 23 years ago) student’s wedding in Woodland Park, New Jersey. This was the fifth wedding I was invited to by former students.
Congratulations to the proud recipients of the September classroom award: Nick Giordano, Alex Kessel, Alexa Lee, Bryce Martinez and Sophie Schorn. We are very proud of you; continue to soar to success!
“An understanding heart is everything in a teacher…the curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” C.G. Jung
YOU CAN, YOU WILL, SUCCEED!
Rachel Moyer