SCHOOL CLOSED

CLASS Academy will be closed on Friday, December 19th due to inclement weather. Happy Holidays!

SCHOOL CLOSED

CLASS Academy will be closed on Thursday, December 18th due to inclement weather. 

2-Hour Delay

CLASS Academy will be on a two hour delay due to inclement weather.  We will open at 10am on Thursday, December 18th. Drive safely!

SCHOOL CLOSED

CLASS Academy will be closed on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 due to inclement weather. 

SCHOOL CLOSED

CLASS Academy will be closed on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 due to inclement weather. 

SCHOOL CLOSED

CLASS Academy will be closed on Monday, December 15, 2008 due to inclement weather. Be safe and enjoy the day off!

Is it Chanukkah, or Hanukkah?

Hello Parents,

We are well into December and the weather has turned cold.  I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  

This month in science class the students have been learning about our solar system and the universe.  I know what you are thinking, "the universe in three weeks?".  Yes, I am that good.  We have focused on common objects that you see in space, such as stars, planets, comets, asteroids, and moons.

Did you know that a neutron star  is so dense that a spoonful of it weighs more than 200 million elephants!  That's crazy awesome.

In theme class the students have begun their yearly study of the winter holidays.  We are working on Christmas and Hanukkah.  One of the activities that we are going to have is Latkes making.   Latkes are a traditional Hanukkah food.  We will also have a guest speaker that day to talk about Hanukkah.  I will post the recipe  for the latkes so you can check for any allergies.

 

Sincerely,

Tango and Cash 

 

December Artists & Authors

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. -Harry Truman

Das Butter Productions

Hello Parents,

Thank you to all who attended, participated and made the auction such a great success!  As always, it was quite a humdinger.  

This week we are asking that you send in some type of bread/cracker product that your student can use for our annual butter making extravaganza.  We will be shaking our butter makers on Friday, so if you could have the bread/crackers in by then that would be fantastic.  

SCIENCE:

In science class the students have been learning about simple machines.  We have learned about screws, inclined planes, pulleys and leavers.  We have experimented with each of these machines in the classroom.  We even made a Archimedes's water screw.  Ask your students about these machines and the experiments!

Assessments are moving along at at steady pace.  They are, however, taking a little longer than usual.  We will finish them next week and as such, will disrupt reading homework from time to time.  

As always,

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Yes, it is the Magical Mister Mistoffelees

Hello Parents,

A few quick updates for you.  

This Saturday is our annual CLASS Academy auction.  The theme is "Night on the Nile".  It should be a hoot, and we hope to see you all there.  

Tuesday, November 11th is President's Day as well as the teachers' work day. There will not be school that day.  

Over the next couple of weeks the Butterflies and Kangaroos will be taking their assessments throughout the day.  Your child may not be getting their reading homework on occasion.  You will receive your child's assessment the week of Thanksgiving.  If you will be out of town that week please come and see me and I will hand yours to you sooner.

Hoping you are well,

Team Warfang

November Artists & Authors

Diwali Spectacular 4000

Hello Parents,

We had a great Diwali party on the 24th of October. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered and made it a truly unique day. We learned the story behind the holiday, also know as the Festival of Lights, tried different treats, watched Indian dances and made Diwali lanterns called diyas. Thank you again for making it a wonderful day for all.

Please enjoy the pictures. Hope to see your kids at Parents Night Out this November 1st.

Blue Eyes Cryin in Rain

Hello Parents,

Thank you so much for coming to Back to School Night on Wednesday. I hope that you all enjoyed yourselves and were able to pick up new ideas for working with your children at home.

Thank you as well for bringing in the items for the I-Spy table for our classroom. Take time to look at it with your student and play a game.

Also, make sure that you bring in your pumpkins on Monday as we will be using them for both our math classes and our theme.

In science this week the class will be exploring the food pyramid and good nutrition. Mr. Merriam will also be teaching the virtues of buying your foods from local producers and how that equates to better food and how it is better for the earth and the environment.

We will have our yearly field trip to the Children's Museum on the October 31st. We still need parent help , so if you can let the office know.

MATH

In math over the next two weeks we will be using your students pumpkins for graphing, measuring and estimating. We are also working on double digit adding and subtracting using rods and units, analogies, symmetry and asymmetry as well as their daily math journals. We are also using morning calender to work on our skip counting. We use various manipulitives and games to help teach this skill.

CLASS Baskets :Art Attack

This year's auction basket is an Art Attack theme. Please bring in some great art items for our class basket located in the front lobby. It is a great way to get more involved in the school auction.

beyond thunderdome

Hello Parents,

Here are a few reminders about homework:

1. Homework is going to be sent out on Mondays and needs to be returned by Friday.

2. Please do not do more than one sheet of homework per day. These are designed to get the students comfortable with doing homework on a daily basis.

3. Homework should be a review. The idea is to build confidence and not to challenge your student greatly. Homework should be fun!

Upcoming curriculum:

In math we will be reviewing numeral writing and touchpoint math. They will also be doing a daily math journal covering a wide variety of math skills. These journals will continue to expose your students to new mathematical formats. i.e. story problems, beginning algebra, and geometry. We will also be focusing on estimation and prediction, story problems with manipulatives, and analogies.

Reading and Phonics

In phonics class the students are starting to learn about phonemes. Phonemes are letter combinations that create different sounds. For example; the phoneme "ou" makes four different sounds as shown in words such as; "shout", "you", "young", "though". Our goal is to teach all 71 phonemes to the students this year. If you have any more questions about phonemes feel free to ask.

In reading class we are learning new parts of speech such as; adverbs and pronouns, as well as reviewing the ones that they already know. We are focusing on comprehension and word vocabulary with our reading as well.

Author's Wall:

As you may have noticed there is an author's wall in the office. Each month, one or more students will have their writing work published and displayed on the author's wall. Each student will have an opportunity to have their work published over the school year. Writing will be based off of creative writing, theme writing, and science writing.

NOTE: When your student is featured you will receive a note inviting you to lunch with your student. This will take place by the author's board near the office. Your student can then share his or her work with you.

Welcome to tbe Jungle!

Welcome Parents,

Mr. Merriam and Mr. Lucas are looking forward to the new school year with the Kangaroos and Butterflies!  

Over the next few weeks the students will be using bears from home (a favorite teddy bear) for various math and writing activities.  Some of the activities that we will be using the bears for will be graphing, measurement, fractions, and creative writing.  If you have not brought your bear to school please do so by Wednesday.  

In science we will be doing "All About Me" bags.  Your students will need to have a bag/sack with five items that represent them.  This will allow the students to learn more about each other and will foster a team environment.  They will also use these items in their creative writing assignments.  

Homework will be sent out on Mondays and should be completed and turned in by Friday.  There will be various math, reading, and writing assignments.  These assignments are designed as a review and should not be challenging for your student.  An activity that you could do at home with your student is to count money.  It is a skill that is difficult for students to learn.  Have them count out dimes and nickels or nickels and quarters.  

Many of you are familiar with Mr. Lucas but have not been introduced to Mr. Merriam.  Feel free to swing by the Jungle and introduce yourself to your student's new teachers.  

We are excited to meet all of you,

Mr. Lucas and Mr. Merriam