Newsletter for December 11, 2015

Dear Families,

This year is flying by! I can't believe we only have two weeks left in this grading period. I will be assessing students next week in reading and mathematics prior to break. Please let me know if your student will be leaving early for break.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe holiday. There will not be a newsletter next week.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

We started learning our cursive. I will emphasize lower-case and reading, once we have gone through all of the lower-case letter forms. Students are encouraged to trace the shape (bottom-up), use a relaxed grip (many students grip the pencil too hard as they are concentrating and it hurts their hand and their handwriting also suffers), use a good posture with feet on the floor, tilt their paper to get a nice slant, circle their best cursive letter on each line (it's helpful to notice differences in letters), and attend to letter connections (how letters are built off of each other, e.g., the c shape is the basis for the a, d, g and q shapes).

In the spirit of the district's 1:1 plan for student devices, I handed out my very "expensive and fragile" laminated keyboards. Keyboarding is such an important skill that I am spending a few minutes each day familiarizing students with where the letters are on the keyboard and proper finger-key assignments.

We are concluding our noun study. Students are have learned the differences between proper and common nouns and singular and plural nouns. We know most singular nouns can simply add an -s to make them plural (e.g., key keys) and if we add a syllable, we need to add -es to make them plural (e.g., lunch lunches).

Reading Workshop

Students are developing their ability to use context clues to decode and, more importantly, comprehend unfamiliar words. We do this using short passages with missing or made up (ala Seuss) words.

Writing Workshop 

We are writing (and will publish next week) our pen pal letters. Students are telling a bit about themselves, what they plan to do over winter break and are recommending a book to their pen pals. We will email these to make sure our pen pals receive them before they go on break. We are spending a lot of time on planning, drafting and rereading. Students use simple rubrics to ensure they have all of the important parts of each paragraph and reread their work with partners. "Debates" make these authentic writings even more important to the students and they are giving great effort.

Science

Who knew dirt was so fun!? We started our classroom garden. We are going to try to grow carrots, spinach, pumpkins, catnip, chamomile and lavender.

I don't know if we will see any snow this year, but in anticipation of winter break, I wanted to go ahead and share my snow day homework. If we do have a snow day and students are asked to do homework, my plan is to have them log on to the following website, choose a science experiment, attempt it and send me a photo of them doing it. You may want to try some of these over break if you're looking for something to do or get cabin fever (if it ever gets cold). Have fun!

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/

Math Workshop

I will assess students understanding of multiplication on Monday of next week. I will mark the assessments and return them so they can attempt to correct any operational errors. Students should be able to:
- Represent addition of same sized groups as multiplication: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 4 x 3 (or 4 groups of 3)
- Represent multiplication as an array or area model (and vice versa)
- Rewrite one and two step story problems as equations and solve.
- Use rounding to estimate products.
- Solve equations using multiples of ten by recognizing the base facts.
- Apply the associative, commutative, and distributive properties to multiplication statements.
- Fill in the blanks in a multiplication chart (number of groups, amount in each group, total).
- Identify the number of ones, tens and hundreds in a three digit number.

Not many students seem to have jumped on the Front Row Math website. If you would like to try a different one, you can try out the much lauded Khan Academy. To make an account and get started, log in to https://www.khanacademy.org/

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

Please visit the holiday party sign-up. Thank you room parents for all of your hard work!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa9af2ea02-3rdgrade

December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for December 4, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
I assessed and sent home this week's word study assessment over long and short o patterns and contractions. Students expanded their long o patterns to include VCC patterns. This can be very confusing. Up till now, all VC/VCC patterns have represented closed syllables and produced short vowel sounds (e.g., clock, mop). Students are now learning long o VCC words (e.g., ghost, post).

Reading Workshop
Students took the Ohio 3rd Grade English Language Arts Assessment (AIR) this week.

Students are meeting with me one-to-one for reading conferences where I am assessing their ability to choose appropriately leveled texts, introducing them to new genres, observing and modeling decoding skills (e.g., sounding out, applying word study patterns, using context clues), and discussing their reading for comprehension (including basic 5 W's and higher level connections, predictions, inferring, etc.).

Writing Workshop
We received our pen pal letters with much excitement. These letters provided rich material for discussion and learning. We are expanding our introductions and conclusions beyond a single sentence. We will be sharing what we plan to do over winter holiday, recommending favorite books and responding to pen pals' letters.

Math
As most of the class has mastered the partial products algorithm, we are moving on to the traditional algorithm (the way most adults learned multi-digit multiplication). With a strong understanding of partial products, we can explain the traditional algorithm, rather than just memorizing steps to solving a problem without any understanding of what we are doing.

Partial Products example

                 452
               x    5
                   10  5 x 2 = 10
                 250  5 x 50 = 250
               2000  5 x 400 = 2000
               2260

Note that students are asked to write each partial products equation to the right of the products and underline the basic (single digit) fact in each. Students' understanding of expanded form and the distributive property are relied on heavily.

Traditional Algorithm example

                 2 1
                 452
               x    5
               2260

Note the ten and two hundred from the above partial products are "carried" to their respective place value columns.

Science
We are concluding our life science unit with the game Into The Forest. This award winning card game teaches students the importance of the different roles in an ecosystem (decomposers, producers, consumers) and how they are interdependent. I also enjoy games because they develop problem solving and strategic thinking.

 

Upper Arlington Rotary Visit

Windermere parent and Upper Arlington Rotary president, Mr. Bill Cloyd, visited our class to inspire and educate. Students learned about the challenges young students in Guatemala have overcome and how the Rotary has assisted them. We are hoping to partner with the UA Rotary to develop a service learning project.

 

 

 

Paul O. Zelinsky Visit

Caldecott winning author-illustrator, Paul O. Zelinsky, visited on Friday to talk about his craft.

 

 



Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

November 30 - December 10 - Student Council - Coat Drive. 

December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for November 20, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We continued our long and short o patterns: VVC (oa), CVV (ow), VCe, and VC/VCC. Students began working on contractions by constructing and deconstructing them. When constructing them we circle the letter(s) the apostrophe replaces in the original two words. Students know in most cases, we keep the entire first word. The apostrophe becomes a place holder for the missing letter(s).

Reading & Writing Workshop

Students are highlighting and taking notes on multiple articles and preparing to write an opinion piece that pulls supporting evidence from both of them. This is very rigorous and challenging, but I've been pleased with student work. I am modeling, but I am also using a lot of students' work. I want them to understand that highlighting, taking notes, and making a plan is individualized. No two will (or should) look the same. However, we can learn a lot from different models. We also discuss "Do you want to be finished or do you want to do your best?"

Students are getting much better at inferring, using evidence to support their answers.

We are getting deeper into our read aloud, Out of My Mind, and it is providing, like Wonder, many great opportunities for discussion.

Our pen pals received our letters finally and were thrilled. Apparently the British post is a little slower than what we are accustomed to. We should receive letters back prior to winter break.

Students were treated to a visit from author, and Windermere grandmother, Mrs. Constance McGeorge. She shared her writing process, the importance and reality of multiple drafts, and the importance of a story's perspective.

Mrs. McGeorge and her granddaughter, Maddy, 

presented an autographed copy of Waltz of the Scarecrows, 

from the author (and illustrator, Mrs. Mary Whyte).

Math

Students began learning partial products for multiplication. While many can utilize the traditional algorithm for multi-digit multiplication, we introduce the partial products algorithm to support their understanding.

Science 

Students developed their understanding of the interdependence of ecosystem's food webs by taking on the role of a producer, consumer or decomposer and making a literal web.

We had a great field trip, many thanks to our volunteers. You helped make it a great success and the weather cooperated this time. If you haven't been to Thompson Park in a while, there are some great, but unfortunate, examples of the emerald ash borer's impact on the ash trees in the swamp area.

Nearly 20 trees are marked to be cut down in the swamp area due to the ash borer. 

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break

November 30 - December 10 - Student Council - Coat Drive. Please see the video link for more information. https://youtu.be/rWlwymYtQF0

December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for November 13, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We continued our study of short and long o sounds and patterns.
Long o patterns are VCe (e.g., home), VVC (oa - e.g., coat), CVV (ow - e.g., glow). Students should recognize that oa words produce a long o sound in the middle of the syllable and ow words produce a long o at the end of the syllable.
Short o patterns are VC and VCC (e.g. sock).
Oddballs follow the VCe pattern, but make a short u sound (none and love).

Reading Workshop
We are continuing to develop our ability to infer, relying on evidence from the story. Students are also working on identifying the lesson of a fable or folk tale, an important third grade genre which we will revisit in writing later in the year.

We wrapped up our read aloud, Wonder. It is hard to follow up such an inspiring read aloud. We will will continue this theme with Out Of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

We also read, Waltz of the Scarecrows, by Constance McGregor in preparation for her visit next week. She will support our "Show - Don't Tell" work and we are excited to have her join us. Mrs. McGregor visited us last year and, in addition to being a talented author, is a Windermere grandparent.

Writing Workshop
Students began to share their opinion pieces through "debates" where each of our three tables shares their essays. They are awarded points for the following:
- Strong topic sentence
- Evidence from the text
- Strong conclusion
- Referencing the text (e.g., "In the story, Pioneer Days, the author...")
- Including the other argument's perspective (e.g., "Even though life was hard, the text shows the Wilder family was happy.")

Math
We continue to study multiplication. Students should be fluent with any basic fact that includes a 0, 1, 2, 5 or 9 and should understand that multiplication is efficient addition of same sized groups. We are relying on the distributive property to help us with other factors (3, 4, 6, 7, and 8).

Example:
7 x 8 = (5 x 8) + (2 x 8)

I will eventually want students to master all of the basic multiplication facts, but find the distributive property is invaluable for their mental math, as well as being an important standard. It will also support their understanding of division.

I introduced multiplication story problems with an emphasis on identifying the groups and how big they are. Students represent the story problem with a picture of the number of groups and the size of each group labeled inside the groups. They then write the multiplication number sentence. Have your student explain this process to you.

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

November 19 - Thompson Park Tree Trek 
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break

December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for November 6, 2015

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you this week and sincerely appreciate your partnership. We are so fortunate to work with such supportive and invested parents.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We continued our study of short and long o sounds and patterns:
VC/VCC (e.g., clock), VCe (e.g., vote), VVC (e.g., boat), and oddballs (e.g., love which has the VCe feature but makes a short u sound, instead of a long o sound). I have modeled and directed students to sort by letter patterns first (visual strategy) and then to check for oddballs using sound (auditory strategy).

Reading Workshop
Students continued to develop their ability to make inferences based on evidence. We also continued our ability to identify the lesson or moral in a fable. We are concentrating on Aesop's Fables. Students are learning there are more ways than one to say the lesson. They are transitioning from applying common precepts (e.g., Treat others as you would like to be treated.) to precepts that relate to the actual story. We are also developing our understanding that the moral is not literal. For example, the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare is not about turtles and rabbits, but rather the animals represent different dominant character traits of arrogance and perseverance.

Writing Workshop
Students concluded our initial "show - don't tell" with a descriptive writing for "It was a dark and stormy night..." These are in the hallway and have impressed the other 3rd grade classes (and their teachers). I had hoped to have these up in time for conferences, but did not want to rush them. Please stop by and read some when you have the chance.

Students are learning a key 3rd grade focus, responding to text. I am modeling planning and writing opinion pieces that are fully supported by evidence from a short text. I'm very pleased with the students' progress with this important and challenging merging of reading and writing. I am holding students accountable for editing of convention (indenting, capitals and punctuation) and am requiring them to check their work for these essentials.

We continued our Friday "Thank You" cards. I hope your student finds these meaningful to receive and to create. I ask students to wait till they get home to read them.

Math
Students worked on their 9's multiplication and division fact strategies.  Students should find the non-9 factor in any single digit multiplication problem, reduce it by one and put it in the tens place of the product. Then they put the difference between the numeral in the tens place and 9 in the ones place. If this sounds confusing, take a look at the example below and challenge your student to explain it to you.

7 x 9 = ?
One less than 7 is 6. 6 goes in the tens place of the factor.
7 x 9 = 6?
The difference between 9 and 6 is 3. This goes in the ones place.
7 x 9 = 63

Division can be represented in many different ways so it is important to me that I present division problems in several ways to develop familiarity and comfort.

Any problem with a divisor of 9 can be solved using the following strategy.
45 / 9 = ?
The tens place of the dividend (45) is 4. One more than 4 is 5. So the answer (the quotient) is 5.

See if your student can show you these two reliable tricks for 9's. Ask them to show you our magic trick. More importantly, can they explain it.

I have also signed your student up for Front Row Math. This is a free online math program that I learned about during this week's professional development. Your student can access it by going to
https://student.frontrowed.com
They will be prompted to enter their first and last name and our class code. The code is 5vmnke. Students will take a short diagnostic assessment and then they will begin a personalized instructional program. This will offer students at all levels additional learning opportunities. I'm interested to hear your feedback and see if students are engaged in this. Please let me know if you are unable to log in and I'll check on my end. If your student goes by a nickname, I have probably used it.

Lastly, I introduced the commutative property. My favorite question regarding this property was, "Why do we need to know this?" This is always my favorite question and if I can't answer it, I need to figure it out! We learn the commutative property to understand which operations can occur in a particular order and why. We can use the commutative property for addition and multiplication, but not for subtraction or division. We also find that the commutative property can simplify math for us. For example: 2 x 8 (two groups of eight) is easier to think of for many students than 8 x 2 (eight groups of two). 6 + 1 (six and one more) is easier to do than 1 + 6 (one and six more). Here are some real life questions you can use to engage your student in their understanding and appreciation of the commutative property: Which of the operations below are commutative and which are not (and always important, why?)?
- To put on your coat and to pick up your boots.
- To wash your clothes and to dry them.
- To put on your left shoe and to put on your right shoe.
- To hand up the phone and to say goodbye.

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

November 9 through 13 - Terra Nova3/InView
Next Week's special area schedule is changed due to our TerraNova and InView assessments. 
Monday - Art
Tuesday - Music
Wednesday - PE
Thursday - Music

Friday - PE

November 19 - Thompson Park Tree Trek Please let me know if you can chaperon. 
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break

December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for October 23, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

We reviewed and assessed our a sounds and patterns: VCe and vowel team (ai) and VC. I'll send these home on Monday. I also introduced nouns. Students should be able to distinguish between common and proper nouns.

Reading Workshop

I introduced fables and folktales. Students worked to identify the moral or lesson in the story. We will continue this and eventually construct our own fables.

I also started our study of inference. Students know they have to cite evidence to support their inferences.

Writing Workshop

Students planned and wrote short first person narratives. We will use these for revision next week where I will encourage students to "show, don't tell," by adding details that create a mental picture for the audience.

Students demonstrating the parts of a friendly letter kinesthetic.

We are anxiously awaiting our pen pals responses! 

Math

Students began their multiplication and division fact fluency with the following strategies: zeroes (zero groups of n), ones (one group of n), and doubles (two group of n). I define multiplication as "efficient addition of same sized groups." I will never say 8 x 3 as "eight times three," but will instead call it "eight groups of three." This subtle difference is very helpful in developing understanding of multiplication.

Students should be able to represent a multiplication fact as a number statement, addition, groups, and arrays. They should be able to represent number statements, addition of same sized groups, groups, and arrays as a multiplication statement.

Science

I showed a short video of the famous Apollo 13 space mission and its "Houston, we have a problem" situation to stress the importance of being able to communicate clearly.

Apollo 13 Clip

To practice this, students took turns designing shapes behind blinds and talking their partners through the design process using only words. The results were interesting.

 

These first two were close, but you can see the miscommunication.

This example and the next show great communication.

It is also interesting to observe students' complexity of shapes they choose to build.

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

October 26 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
October 29 - UA Trick or Treat Night
October 29 - Progress Reports Sent Home
October 30 - Halloween Party and Parade (Thank you room parents!)

November 2 - Early Dismissal at 11:05 NO LUNCH SERVICE
November 2 through 4 - Fall Conferences 
You can sign up for Fall Conferences by clicking on this link:http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ac2ea64-fall3
November 3 - No School Election Day/Professional Development
November 5 - Picture Retakes
November 9 through 13 - Terra Nova3/InView
November 19 - Thompson Park Tree Trek (Please let me know if you can chaperon.) 
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break

December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students

Newsletter for October 16, 2015

What We Learned This Week

We concluded the first quarter! Students were challenged to come up with specific goals for each key subject area. I will share these with you during conferences. Students were encouraged to write down achievable and specific goals.

I am very pleased with the class' progress in general. However, the class needs to develop focus, perseverance, and engagement. These are great words for home discussion. The majority of questions missed on this week's end of quarter assessments were the result of not reading questions carefully or rushing, rather than not knowing the content.

Word Study
I conducted the Developmental Spelling Assessment, which I will share with you during our upcoming fall conferences. This detailed assessment identifies specific spelling features such as r-controlled vowels, long vowels (VCe), and doubling.

Reading Workshop
We continued to study character change over time and providing evidence. I assessed students' ability to correctly identify the main idea of a short passage and to differentiate between the main idea and supporting details. I also conducted the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) on all students who were below or close to our first quarter benchmark to look for growth. I am very pleased with students' progress.

Writing Workshop
Students learned the parts of a friendly letter: heading, greeting, opening, closing, and signature. See if your student can demonstrate this for you. Many students are struggling with convention (primarily indenting, capitalizing the first word in a sentence and proper nouns, and ending punctuation). Their content is generally very good. Students published their pen pal letters and we mailed them to London today.

Math Workshop
I reviewed and assessed fact fluency (addition and subtraction) and all of the numeracy and operations and algebraic equations content we have learned thus far this year.

We started multiplication and division fact fluency on Thursday. I am sending home students' addition and subtraction fact fluency assessments today. If your student correctly answered fewer than 23 in the time allowed, they have not mastered their facts and should practice them nightly. I will offer study strategies during fall conferences. Prior to meeting, students should be using the following strategies, which allow them to focus on an "anchor" number that will support their recall:
- zero more
- one more
- two more
- doubles
- near doubles
- sums to ten
- 7s, 8s, and 9s/build tens

Science
We continued to study biotic and abiotic factors as well as plant and animal interdependence. Students should know that plants produce oxygen and food for animals and animals produce carbon dioxide and nutrients for plants.

Important Dates and Reminders

I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.

October 19 - No School Teacher Grading Day
October 26 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
October 29 - UA Trick or Treat Night
October 30 - Halloween Party and Parade

November 2 - Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
November 2 through 4 - Fall Conferences 
You can sign up for Fall Conferences by clicking on this link:http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ac2ea64-fall3
November 3 - No School Election Day/Professional Development
November 5 - Picture Retakes
November 9 through 13 - Terra Nova3/InView
November 19 - Thompson Park Tree Trek (Please let me know if you can chaperon.) 
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break

December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break

January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18  - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm

February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit

March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day

April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment

May 27 - Last Day of School for Students