Thank you to all the parents who came to help out for our afternoon of Native American activities--it is wonderful to have extra hands! Hopefully your child came home and told you about the games and activities he or she participated in. We spent time at the end of the day last Friday using our rhythm sticks. Your children are wonderful percussionists!

Don't forget to get your paperwork in if you are planning to be a driver for one of our upcoming field trips: Dec. 3 to the Larkspur Ferry (community service--decorating the ferry) and Dec. 8 to the Barboni Ranch (watershed restoration project). I have a few parents signed up to drive to the ferry, but only one confirmed for the restoration project on Dec. 8. Please let me know, or contact our field trip coordinator, Pam Allan.

I'm sending home parent-teacher conference notices today. Please return the bottom portion by Wed., Oct. 28. Please let me know if your conference time doesn't work for you and we'll work together to find a better time.

As part of our environments unit in science, we've been learning about pollination and seed dispersal. Ask your child to sing the songs about pollination and seeds! (They will probably need the song sheet.) Our goldfish and pond snails are still keeping us company. We'll be trying to work with brine shrimp next.

Math facts--addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Need I say more?

Students are required to read at least 120 minutes each week, outside of school hours. In addition, each month, starting this month, each student is expected to reach the goal of earning 15 AR points by reading AR books and taking the AR quiz for each AR book read (almost every book they read has an AR quiz). So far this month 25% of the class has already met or surpassed that goal. Students who are making good use of silent reading time in the classroom AND who are reading at least 120 minutes each week outside of class should be able to reach the monthly goal. The number of points each student has earned for the month is posted weekly in the classroom (by District number, to offer some anonymity), so students can keep track of how close or how far away they are from the goal. Please encourage your child to be reading!

Thanks for all you do to keep your child on track and moving forward! Have a great weekend.