News from Mrs. Denny’s Class
February 19,2010

February:
19- Science Fair Judging
Science Fair Open House at Lakeside 3:30-7:00
22- Dentist
24- Grandparents Day
25&26- Rodeo Break. No School
March:
3- $1.00 Dress Down Day
4- PTO Meeting 6:30-7:30
5- Pancake Breakfast with
Principal, Character Lunch, Movie Night
11- Report Card Day. ½ day with No lunch or After school
12 & 15 Spring Break
16- Skate Night
20- Golf Tournament

Academics:
Reading/Writing: Poetry is the theme this week! We have been reading lots of poetry and writing some poems as well. Students were able to share their first “I Wish” poem with other teachers during our “Poem in a Pocket” event on Thursday.

Book Report: The book report is due next Wednesday. Students need to return the public library books I leant to them. I asked them to bring them back to me by this MONDAY.

Spelling: This week’s words focused on the prefixes dis-, il-, re- and mis-
Vocabulary: Words introduced this week were stanza, rhyme, rhythm, similie, metaphor and compassion.

Math:
Saxon Math concepts this week: decimals, graphing, 2 and 3-digit multiplication and division, adding and subtracting fractions, converting fractions to percentages, We are still reviewing math concepts in preparation for the AIMS test in April.

Counseling: Mrs. Russell is working on the safety tip, “Saying No,” to drugs or unsafe situations.

Reminder: Please encourage your child to correct math homework errors. Students have the opportunity to earn a ½ point for every error corrected on math homework. This is their responsibility. I do not “nag” them to turn it back in. Students know that by correcting errors, they can significantly impact their grade.

Parent Notes:
Spelling Bee: Our school-wide spelling bee will be on March 2nd at l:00 pm. Our representatives will be Grayson Scrimshaw, Jorge Hernandez, and Faith Cosby. Congratulations to them and Good Luck!

Science Fair: Wow! What fun to see how much learning occurred by going through the scientific method. Thank you parents for your role in helping your child succeed at this long term project! Students shared their display boards on Wednesday before they were transported to Lakeside for judging. The projects were scientific, interesting and relevant! When I receive the judges scores, I will base a portion of the science grade on those scores.

Love of Reading Week: This week has been filled with lots of reading in many ways. We had guest teachers read to our class on Monday. On Tuesday Mr. Rubasch read a wonderful short story which inspired a good discussion. On Friday, our guest reader, Lou Raguse, from Channel 11 Fox News read a chapter from The Outsiders in hopes that the students may want to check out their own copy of the book from the library to finish.

Absences: We have had a lot of students absent recently. Please encourage your child to complete his/her make up work in a timely manner. Grade books close Friday, March 5, to prepare for report cards.

Reminder: Please make sure you read & sign your child’s student report each Friday. It is due the following week. If it is not turned in by Tuesday of the following week, your child will have to serve detention until it is returned.

Bookman’s Reading Challenge:
Students should be turning in their validated reading slips when they finish a book. We are trying to help LPA earn great things for our school by participating in this 3 month reading challenge. Read, Read, Read. 

Can you help? We are in desperate need of Kleenex, hand sanitizer, markers and colored pencils.
Thank you to Isabella Badilla for bringing in Kleenex!