Thursday, September 10, 2015

Armstrong Update 9-10-15

Hello Armstrong Parents!

        Whew!! It has been a tough week!!  We appreciate your children so much!!!  It was SO hot on Tuesday and although they complained a little, they persevered and were still able to accomplish some learning for the day.  We are so happy to have that A/C problem fixed! We also started family this week so don’t forget to ask your child how it’s going.  As usual, if you have any questions please feel free to email your child’s homebase teacher, myself (mooreco2@tulsaschools.org) or Mrs. Smith (embryel@tulsaschools.org). 

         Something we would like you to address at home with your child is gum.  Gum and candy are not allowed at Mayo (unless you have a teacher’s permission or it is consumed only in the Cafeteria at lunchtime).  We have a lot of students who are trying to sneak gum into our area.  We would appreciate it if you talked to your child about this and remind them why we don’t do it (specifically because it ends up on furniture and it’s hard to clean up). 

        REMINDERS!!!
·         Home and Backs come home on Thursdays (today)!  Please make sure to have your child return their envelope.  We really appreciate our home and back team and we know it is hard work.  
·         Also, don’t forget the book order we sent home last week!!  These are due September 18th.  For this first round we ask that you send your order to school with your child and have them give it to their homebase teacher.  We are hoping to eventually have everyone set up online, but it will take some time!!!  We will have the books delivered to the school and make sure they get to your child. 

        Literacy Night for the whole school coming up on Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 PM!  All parents are encouraged to come with their students to learn about literacy activities you can do at home and to have some reading fun. This will take place in the Library and is hosted by Mrs. Wilson. It is a “Reading Under the Stars”, please see the attached file for more information.

        Our first Mayo Times of the school year is attached. Don’t forget to read over it and check out what’s going on at Mayo!
         
        The 4th graders will have their first Any Given Child field trip tomorrow, Friday, September 11th at 10 A.M. at the PAC.  This trip is provided by the district and is free to the students.  Thank you to those parents who volunteered to attend; we now have enough to meet the required adult/student ratio. We will be leaving the school at 9:30 and returning at 11:30, in time to eat lunch at school. While the 4thgraders are gone the 5th graders will be working on researching different cities where we might take our 5th grade trip.

        At Mayo, each instructional area takes an overnight field study that correlates with our year-long theme and integrated curriculum. Our year-long theme this year is exploration and our overnight will be February 18th and 19th.  We don’t quite have all the details lined up yet, but wanted everyone to be aware of the dates so you can have time to make arrangements.  This is our big field study for the year and although it isn’t a requirement, a majority of the parents come.  We really appreciate parental support on these trips and would love for everyone to come who can.  Your child is encouraged to come even if you cannot because there will be plenty of adults and this trip is a direct tie-in with our curriculum. As we get closer to this time we will be sending out more details.

        Don’t forget we have the field study to the Tulsa Air and Space museum coming up on October 26th (it will be here before you know it!).  We aren’t sure of a time yet, but would love parents to come with us.  We also aren’t sure if parents will need to pay or not, but if they do, the maximum expense would be $8 and we would need everyone to drive themselves (or carpool).  Once again, as we get closer to this date I will send home more information.  Click here for a release form required by the Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM). Please fill out and send back ASAP.

Reminder: The Spring 2015 OCCT reports will be shipped to the school the week of September 21st.  Once we get those in we will send them home.


5th GRADE:  You have several important dates coming up –
•       On September 28th the 5th graders will be participating in their Human Growth and Development class and on September 29th they will participate in their HIV class. Remember, you only need to sign and return the forms we sent home if you want your child to OPT OUT of these classes. All 5th graders will be attending both classes unless we receive in writing that you would prefer otherwise.
•       5th Grade Trip Fundraising Meeting – Our next meeting will be Monday, October 5th at 6:30PM in Mrs. Moore’s area. We will be discussing upcoming fundraisers and possible trip dates. if you are unable to make it and have any ideas, please email Mrs. Moore (notes from last night’s meeting will be sent out by the beginning of next week) (mooreco2@tulsaschools.org), Mr. Guss (gussal@tulsaschools.org) and Mrs. Smith (embryel@tulsaschools.org).

  ****There was a mistake with dates in our last newsletter that needs to be corrected.  Student-led conferences will be on October 12th and 13th.  This is a Monday and Tuesday, different from past years.  Please make sure to change the dates in your calendar.  Also, as we get closer to that time we will make sure to send home the start and end time for each of those days.

 Also attached is a letter from the Literacy teachers about homework that applies to all students (except those in Read180).  Please make sure you read this!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!


Corinne Moore
Lead Armstrong Teacher 4th/5th
Mayo Demonstration


Upcoming Dates:
September 11th – Any Given Child for 4th grade 
September 15th – Literacy Night at 6:30 P.M.
September 18th – Book Orders Due to Homebase teacher
September 28th –Human Growth and Development for 5th grade 
September 29th – HIV for 5th grade 
October 1st – Any Given Child for 5th grade 
October 5th- 5th grade meeting at 6:30 in Mrs. Moore’s area
October 12th and 13th – Student-Led Conferences 
October 26th – Field Study to Tulsa Air and Space Museum

September 10, 2015
Dear Armstrong Parents,
The Armstrong literacy team has decided to do homework a little differently this year. Students will be assigned a novel based on their current SRI score. The due date for their homework will vary with each novel.  At the beginning of each assignment students and parents will be required to sign an agreement of understanding that the novels must be returned to the school no later than 5 days past the assignment due date. Though NOT required, you can choose to download the novel on an electronic device instead of checking out a book from the Armstrong area. 
Along with the novel we will send a paper copy and an electronic copy of the choice board along with instructions and the due date. This is new for the Armstrong teachers and will be a learning experience. We are going to be flexible and would appreciate any feedback. We want the students to have more of a connection to what they are reading and to be better prepared for middle school. 
We will send the first agreement home next week with details of your students book title, assignment, and due date. An example of a choice board is below. 
This may or may not be one we use. Thank you for your continued support!

The Armstrong Literacy Team,
Alex Guss
Hunter Najera
Natalie Hewitt

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