Week of February 24

Monday 2/24 (D Day):
-Art and P.E.

Tuesday 2/25 (E Day):
-Music

Wednesday 2/26 (F Day):
-Late Start
-Music

Thursday 2/27 (A Day):
-P.E.

Friday 2/28 (B Day):
-1/2 Day (Dismiss at 12:06pm) Teacher Record's Day
-Yearbook orders due today (extended due date!!) Orders can be sent in or you can go to https://prepay.geskusphoto.com/orderSchool.asp and select Brown Elementary School-St. Joseph.
-Media Center (Don't forget your library books!)


Upcoming important dates:
2/26 - Late Start
2/27 - LEGO Night in the Brown School Gym 6-7:30pm
3/3 - Variety Show (9am performance for students and 6pm performance at SJHS)
3/5 - 1/2 Day (Dismiss at 12:06pm)
3/6 - 1/2 Day (Dismiss at 12:06pm)

Parent/Teacher Conferences:  Are coming up! Teachers will be writing report cards on Friday,

February 28. Therefore, school will be dismissing at 12:06 p.m. that day.  Spring conferences
are held on an "as needed" basis, and will be held during the week of March 2nd.
I will be e-mailing families on Monday and Tuesday of this week about conferences.

Technology "Re-Boot":  On Monday, Mr. Pratley (the technology integration coach), will be visiting our classroom to teach a "re-boot." During the lesson, students will have a refresher course on proper computer etiquette such as handling computers, not eating/drinking around the computers, using the computers as a learning tool, etc. We are looking forward to having Mr. Pratley into our classroom!

Attendance note:  Just a reminder that students are marked "tardy" if they arrive any minute after 8:30 a.m. (this does not include bus riders when busses are delayed due to weather). Thank you for making sure your student arrives at school on time.  We get started right away when the bell rings!

Math:  We completed Unit 4 and will be jumping in to Unit 5 this week. Your student should have brought home the new Homelink packet on Friday.

In unit 5, students will:

1.  Explore the "whole" in fractions as well as adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.  

2.  Students will use these fraction skills to answer questions about line plots.  

3.  Students will also be introduced to adding tenths and hundredths.  

4.  Students will also build on their knowledge of rays to explore unit iteration of angles.

ELA:  We have been using Aesop's Fables to learn about theme; this week we will be reading The Lion and The Mouse. I wanted to share this neat site that has many Aesop's Fables for kids that you can enjoy together: http://www.read.gov/aesop/

S.E.L. time:  Mrs. VanHekken, our SJPS social worker,  visits our room every A day.  Her time with us is so valuable as students learn to be "social detectives".  We are all social detectives!  We use our eyes, ears, and brains to figure out what people are going to do next, what they are currently doing, and what they mean by their words and actions.  When students have awareness of situations around them, they can then learn to use problem-solving skills and react appropriately.  Mrs. VanHekken has taught us about "expected" and "unexpected" behaviors for everyday situations.  Students also learn how the behaviors they exhibit make others around them feel "comfortable" or "uncomfortable".  Last week we learned that communication is so much more than just words.  Communication involves our body language, tone, and actions, too.  We have rich conversation in our room as we role play and practice being social detectives during Social Emotional Learning time!

Cold and Flu season:  As you've probably heard on the news, many school districts around us continue to get hit hard by influenza.  Symptoms include fever, headache, lethargy, and upper-respiratory congestion.  Please remember if you child has a fever, he/she must be fever free (without the aid of medicine) for a full 24-hours to return to school.  We are wiping down our desks regularly and encouraging hand washing!  Our superintendent is monitoring our attendance numbers, but as of now we are seeing attendance typical for this time of the year. 

Please don't forget to view the weekly Brown School Blog for additional information: https://brownschoolnewssaintjoseph.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Hassenger

Week of February 17

Hi Families!

Monday 2/17 (E Day):
-Music

Tuesday 2/18 (F Day):
-Music
-School Store during 1st recess ($2 limit per student)

Wednesday 2/19 (A Day):
-Late Start
-P.E.

Thursday 2/20 (B Day):
-Media Center (Don't forget your library books!)

Friday 2/21 (C Day):
-Art
-Yearbook order forms due today!

Upcoming important dates:
2/19 - Late Start
2/27 - LEGO Night in the Brown School Gym 6-7:30pm
3/3 - Variety Show (9am performance for students and 6pm performance at SJHS)
3/5 - 1/2 Day (Dismiss at 12:06pm)
3/6 - 1/2 Day (Dismiss at 12:06pm)

Parent/Teacher Conferences:  Are coming up!  Teachers will be writing report cards on Friday,

February 28. Therefore, school will be dismissing at 12:06 p.m. that day.  Spring conferences
are held on an "as needed" basis, and will be held during the week of March 2nd.

Check out our Brown School Facebook page for photos of our ice skating trip and our Valentine party!

Math:  We will be taking a unit assessment over Unit 4 (multi-digit multiplication) on Thursday and we will begin Unit 5 on Thursday, also!  Look for the new Home links packet in your student's backpack/folder by the end of the week!

School Store: Student Council is opening the School Store this Tuesday 2/18 during first recess. All students are invited to bring money ($2 limit) to shop for fun school supplies.

A huge congratulations to our classmates who passed a Lexia level last week!

Cold and Flu season:  As you've probably heard on the news, many school districts around us continue to get hit hard by influenza.  Symptoms include fever, headache, lethargy, and upper-respiratory congestion.  Please remember if you child has a fever, he/she must be fever free (without the aid of medicine) for a full 24-hours to return to school.  We are wiping down our desks regularly and encouraging hand washing!  Our superintendent is monitoring our attendance numbers, but as of now we are seeing attendance typical for this time of the year. 

Please don't forget to view the weekly Brown School Blog for additional information: https://brownschoolnewssaintjoseph.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Hassenger

Week of February 10

Hi Families!

Monday 1/27 (F Day):
-Music
-Pennies for Patients continues (goes through 2/14)

Tuesday 1/28 (A Day):
-P.E.

Wednesday 1/29 (B Day):
-Late Start
-Media Center (Don't forget your library books!)

Thursday 1/30 (C Day):
-Art

Friday 1/31 (D Day):
-Art and P.E.
-Valentine's Day Party (see information below for class list)
-Ice Skating Day!

Upcoming important dates:
2/12 - Late Start
2/14 - Valentine's Day Party and Ice Skating at Howard Ice Arena
2/19 - Late Start
2/27 - LEGO Night in the Brown School Gym 6-7:30pm

Scholastic Book Orders due February 10th (by end of day) -  February Scholastic Book orders came home last Friday. It is not necessary to purchase from the class book orders but if you choose to, please place your order online or send into school by Monday February 10 (end of the day). You can place an order directly from our classroom link here: https://orders.scholastic.com/L63HX 

Valentine Party - It looks like we are still in need of a few more volunteers if you'd like to be a part of the celebration. VALENTINE PARTY SIGN-UP.  Students can bring Valentine cards to share with their classmates. Due to space constraints in the classroom, we don't have room for larger "shoe-box type" Valentine boxes. We'll be making Valentine bags in class this week to collect our cards.

A list of names can be found linked in last week's blog.

Please feel free to send Valentine's day cards in with your child any time after Wednesday!

The incorrect class calendar for February was linked in last weeks blog. Please click HERE for the correct one to print if one did not come home the first week of February!

Restorative Practices: A SJPS Initiative:  Our school district is working towards using restorative practices in our classrooms.  Teachers and administrators have been studying this approach to community building.  

The building blocks of restorative practices are:

• To educate students towards self-regulated positive behavior 

• To promote, nurture, and sustain healthy relationships across the school community 

• To enable students to be fully accountable for the real consequences of their wrongdoing and mistakes 

• To maximize teaching and learning outcomes by creating a more positive whole- school culture

Science:

Between our Social Studies lessons on landforms, we have begun our next science unit called Human Machine! This introductory human body unit takes the perspective that we can think about our bodies as being like a machine. We have parts for moving around, sensors, and a built-in computer. Students explore their senses and consider how the information we process helps us understand and react to our environment.

Cold and Flu season:  As you've probably heard on the news, many school districts around us continue to get hit hard by influenza.  Symptoms include fever, headache, lethargy, and upper-respiratory congestion.  Please remember if you child has a fever, he/she must be fever free (without the aid of medicine) for a full 24-hours to return to school.  We are wiping down our desks regularly and encouraging hand washing!  Our superintendent is monitoring our attendance numbers, but as of now we are seeing attendance typical for this time of the year. 

Please don't forget to view the weekly Brown School Blog for additional information: https://brownschoolnewssaintjoseph.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Hassenger

Week of February 3

Hi Families!

Monday 1/27 (A Day):
-P.E.
-Pennies for Patients continues (goes through 2/14 - Please see information below)

Tuesday 1/28 (B Day):
-Media Center - don't forget your library books!
-Variety Show Try-outs after school (appointment times were sent home last week!)

Wednesday 1/29 (C Day):
-Late Start
-Art

Thursday 1/30 (D Day):
-Art and P.E.

Friday 1/31 (E Day):
-Music

Upcoming important dates:
2/5 - Late Start
2/12 - Late Start
2/14 - Valentine's Day Party and Ice Skating at Howard Ice Arena
2/27 - LEGO Night in the Brown School Gym 6-7:30pm

January is behind us, and here we are in February!  There are 4 busy weeks to go in this marking period.  It will be full-steam ahead in all subject areas, with some fun along the way. :) 

Scholastic Book Orders -  February Scholastic Book orders came home on Friday. It is not necessary to purchase from the class book orders but if you choose to, please place your order online or send into school by Monday February 10. You can place an order directly from our classroom link here: https://orders.scholastic.com/L63HX 

Valentine Party - It looks like we are still in need of volunteers if you'd like to be a part of the celebration. VALENTINE PARTY SIGN-UP.  Students can bring Valentine cards to share with their classmates.  Due to space constraints in the classroom, we don't have room for larger "shoe-box type" Valentine boxes.  We'll be making Valentine bags in class to collect our cards, and a list of student names can be found here:  CLASS VALENTINE LIST

Did your student bring home the February class calendar on Friday?  It was handed out and instructed to go home in their take-home folders.  If you need a new, or additional copy, you can click HERE for one to print!

English/Language Arts: (aka Reading and Writing):  We wrapped up our unit on  summarizing text, and are now reviewing text structures and identifying comparisons and contrasts in passages.  Students have learned to identify key words that signal those comparisons, and to think about the author's purpose for writing. 

Math -  Flashcards continue to be monitored.  Remember, that once flashcard levels have been completed, it's VERY important to keep reviewing so that the facts remain fresh and easily recalled.  Don't stop practicing!  We are halfway through Unit 4 and just started multi-digit multiplication.  We are using algorithms that model the process, and are moving to "partial-product" multiplication before we learn the traditional method that most of us adults learned in school. 

Cold and Flu season:  As you've probably heard on the news, many school districts around us continue to get hit hard by influenza.  Symptoms include fever, headache, lethargy, and upper-respiratory congestion.  Please remember if you child has a fever, he/she must be fever free (without the aid of medicine) for a full 24-hours to return to school.  We are wiping down our desks regularly and encouraging hand washing!  Our superintendent is monitoring our attendance numbers, but as of now we are seeing attendance typical for this time of the year. 

A big congratulations to Tyler, Danna and Trent for passing a level on our Lexia Core5 program this week!

Please don't forget to view the weekly Brown School Blog for additional information: https://brownschoolnewssaintjoseph.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Hassenger