Hello Parents & Families!

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend. This last week of school before winter break is filled with fun and learning. Monday this week is a full school day. Tuesday through Friday are half-days. Your child does not need to bring a lunch, but should bring a snack.

In History, we will play a review game on Monday in preparation for Tuesday's test on Ancient Rome. A study session for the test will be held in Ms. Headrick's room Tuesday morning at 7:15. All students are welcome to attend. I encourage children to come with questions or ideas that need further clarification. Your student received a study guide last week. We discussed study skills in class and students contributed the following ideas: re-read the textbook, re-write the study guide, quiz yourself with a friend, parent, or sibling, make flash cards, explain important/ concepts to someone who will listen, make a graphic organizer, highlight important information. Later in the week, we will finish watching the film on Ancient Rome that we started on Friday. The short film reviews what students learned throughout the quarter about this influential civilization.

This week is the Alice Celebration! We are looking forward to an excellent party to celebrate reading this classic tale. Please see the link below to donate your time or materials to make this party a success. In Language Arts, we will discuss the idiom "Let bygones be bygones" in a Socratic discussion. We will continue our learning in grammar and writing. There will be no new Riggs words this week. Students will be tested daily on the five words as planned, but there will be no introduction of new words. The list will start fresh after Winter Break.

As we wrap up our study of the nervous system in Science, we will make models of the brain and spinal cord to review the anatomy of the nervous system. We will also review learned facts about each component and write them to accompany the model. We will play a review game on Wednesday. A study session for the Science quiz will be held in Ms. Headrick's room Thursday morning at 7:15. All students are welcome to attend. As stated earlier, students should come prepared with questions.

Winter conferences will begin on January 2, 2013. I look forward to meeting with parents who I did not meet with in Fall as well as parents who have questions about the semester evaluation. A signup will be posted on the Archway website after December 19.

As always, feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.

Yours in Learning,

Ms. Headrick

This Week

Hello, Families!

I hope you are all doing well. We are almost at the end of the semester--the time has really flown by. Here are a few important notes:

• The Alice party is planned as scheduled. Please see last week's blog post to sign up to donate materials or time.
• Because of the shortened schedule next week, the nervous system quiz is moved to next week Thursday (December 13th). 
• There will not be a cumulative human body test because of the shortened week. Instead, we will spend more time delving into the nervous system.
• The unit test on Rome will occur Tuesday, December 11th. Study guides will be sent home tomorrow.
• Project Week (the first week of January) guides will be sent home this week, Thursday or Friday.

This week in History, we will continue to study Ancient Rome as we near the end of the Roman Empire. We will discuss the persecution of Christians, compare the Eastern and Western Empire, and watch a film about the Roman Empire. 

In Science, we are continuing to study the nervous system through learning about both the central and peripheral nervous systems. We will grow to understand how messages are sent from the brain to relatively remote locations of the body. We will study reflexes and how they are related to voluntary and involuntary muscle movement.

In Language Arts, we are finishing the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Riggs words are available on the school website. We are continuing to revise our writing and learning about the use of transition words.

I hope to see all of you at the concert tomorrow evening! Don't forget that this is a great time to bring items for donation to the Kindergarten class (shoes, sweaters, construction paper). If you have not yet purchased an item and intend to do so, please opt to purchase a sweater to even out the number of donations.