E-News on the Lane
Highlights from the week at Indian Lane
September 21-25, 2015
Message from our Principal
The students have been earning Bobcat Brags this week, and our paw is
filling up fast. It is wonderful to see our students strive to be ready,
respectful, and responsible each day. I am certain that they will earn
the mystery prize in no time.
News on the Lane, Indian Lane's morning announcements, began
streaming to our classrooms this week. Parents can watch live at 8:55
each morning through a link on our website (under Site Shortcuts,
choose "Watch News on the Lane"). Parents can also watch the
recorded broadcasts by selecting "Broadcast Archives." It has been a
great first week of broadcasting the news.
Please continue to check the website for frequent updates. If you have
not signed up for e-alerts through SchoolWires, please do so. We will
send e-alerts to notify parents when new information is added. For
directions, click here.
From our Classrooms
Kindergarten
This week in Reading Workshop we learned:
*Look for the patterns in our books
*When we discuss books we learn more
*Look for words we know
We learned four Popcorn Words this week, so they were the words we
looked for in our books. Some children found as many as 16 Popcorn
words in one book.
We ended the week listening to a story about Johnny Appleseed. We
made apple crafts and a pot to wear on our heads, jsut like Johnny
Appleseed.
First Grade
This week’s Reading Workshop lessons focused on:
·
How to take care of the books in our classroom library.
·
Reading conferences – we learned what they are and how NOT
to interrupt them!
·
“Setting the table” for reading - The children have a red and
green reading placemat. This is used to help organize book choices
for daily reading. It is in the book bag for home use too.
· Reading with stamina! There are two important things we need to
do to become stronger readers, one is to read a lot of books and
the other is to read for longer amounts of time. We are setting
goals and tracking our progress to help build our stamina.
Second Grade
In Reading Workshop, we discussed ways to help us monitor our
comprehension while we read. We created an “anchor chart” listing
these strong reading behaviors to keep posted in the room. An anchor
chart is a class created poster with newly learned information that we
want to “hold on to” like an anchor, as we continue to gain new skills and
strategies in the future. We also discovered how to retell the main
parts of a book. In Math, we focused on how knowing doubles facts
helps us to know “near doubles” facts. We used two-colored counters
and ten-frames as tools to reinforce this concept. In Writing
Workshop, we created “heart maps” and “expert pages” to keep in our
writer’s notebooks. These will be wonderful sources of writing ideas at
our fingertips! In Social Studies, we began our ​
Communities​
unit. We
identified the definition of a community and brainstormed what a
community needs to function properly. In groups, the children will be
creating communities. Our goal will be to have the physical
representation of their community completed and hanging in the
hallway by conference time! Our culminating activity will be our Media
Walking Tour field trip.
Third Grade
This week, third grade started learning about different strategies to
solve division problems. We have been working on division as sharing
and as repeated subtraction. We have also been practicing some more
of our cursive lowercase letters. During Reading Workshop, third
graders have been building their reading stamina, and developing
strategies for becoming better readers such as noticing figurative
language, awakening themselves to the text, and setting reading goals.
In Writing Workshop, we have been developing our small moments and
checking our progress as we write. We finish our day by learning about
the continents and the oceans. We are looking forward to learning more
about Words Their Way and Student Council elections next week!
Fourth Grade
This week the fourth grade finished up Chapter 1 in Social Studies
learning why the study of the social sciences is important to
understanding human behavior. Students discussed artifacts from the
perspective of each of these social science traditions: economics,
geography, political science, and history.
Also, fourth grade has been integrating technology to teach the
children how greater numbers are written, how place values are
related, and how to compare numbers. Everyone will become more
proficient with technology as we study adding and subtracting
multi-digit whole numbers in our next topic.
Fifth Grade
As we finish the month of September we will have our last week of
social studies, science, and seminar (reading and writing in the
non-fiction texts). Beginning October 5th, we will switch homeroom
classes for the 1:50 to 2:40 time block.
Thank you all for coming in for our Back to School Night presentations.
We hope it was informative and positive for everyone. Please remember
to keep the lines of communication open.
From our Specialists:
Art
First graders are exploring pattern. Second graders are practicing
curved and wavy lines for their Banyan Trees. Third graders are
creating implied texture with tissue paper washes to celebrate
prehistoric art. Fourth graders are assembling a book honoring the
regions of the United States. Fifth graders are using wire to form
trees based on their drawings.
Gym
First and second graders are playing tag games. Third and fourth
graders started soccer. Fifth graders began football skills. Please
remember your sneakers on P.E. days!
Library
Kindergarten students continue to learn library rules and procedures.
First and second graders enjoyed the book, ​
Library Mouse​
by Daniel
Kirk. One message of the story is that everyone can be an author.
Third, fourth, and fifth graders learned and reviewed basic searches
on Destiny, the online library catalog. Students could then use iPads to
practice searches on Destiny.
Music
This week in music, ​
1st​
​graders sang their first solos!
nd​
2​graders moved to a steady beat with the help of John Philip Sousa
marches.
rd​
3​
grade began reading mi-re-do on the music staff in preparation for
their recorder playing in January.
Finally, recorders and recorder books are being handed out in ​
4th​
​and
th​
5​
grade. It’s an important responsibility for students in those grades
to learn to bring those materials to class on the days they have music.
From our PTG:
PTG President, Shawn Quinn, has begun a Tuesday Packet containing
PTG event information, helpful reminders, and volunteer opportunities.
To view this week’s Tuesday Packet, c
​lick here​
, or visit the website.
Upcoming Events & Reminders
● Monday, 9/28 - Principal’s Advisory Board Meeting, 2:30 p.m.
● Tuesday, 9/29 - PTG Homeroom Parent Tea, 3:30-4:15, library
● Tuesday, 9/29 - Fifth grade End of Year Party planning meeting,
7 p.m., library; All parents of fifth graders are welcome to
attend.
● Wednesday, 9/30 - Virtual Kindergarten Parent Meeting,
7:00-8:00 p.m., library
● Thursday, 10/1 - School snack starts during lunches
● Friday, 10/2 - Box Tops & orders for KidStuff Coupon books are
due
● Tuesday, 10/6 - Principal’s Chat, 5:30 p.m., library
● Tuesday, 10/6 - PTG meeting, 7:00 p.m., library
● Friday, 10/9 - PTG Bingo Night, 6:00-8:00 p.m., gym