It's October and a busy month is ahead.  International Fest is on Friday, Oct. 19-which is also the day that HISD sets aside for parent-teacher conferences.  I will have several conference times available that afternoon, as well as other dates beginning the week of Oct. 15 and continuing through Oct. 30.  Times will be posted on our classroom door on Monday; if none of those times work for you, please send me an email and we will work something out.

We have our Field Trip on Oct. 25; thanks to those who have submitted the permission slip and the $10.  Remember, students must also wear the red Roberts shirts on all Field Trips.  Luis's dad has agreed to be a chaperone, and I still need one more parent to go with us.  Many of you have also submitted Scholastic Book orders, I will collect money until Tuesday (9th) or you may order online. 

We have 2 birthdays in October:  Gabriel (9th) and Chase (10th) and we also welcome our new student, Yang Wu, from China.  We now have 21 in our class.

We will begin graphing/charting our multiplication with twice monthy basic multiplication facts quizzes beginning on Tuesday (Oct. 9).  Students will have 3 minutes to complete 50 problems as we work toward the goal of 50 in one minute, so please continue to practice those facts with your child on a regular basis.  Likewise, please make sure your child is reading nightly (Monday-Thursday); this is a non-negotiable standard set by Ms. Graves.  Originally, I assigned the students 120 minutes to be read between Mon-Thurs, but after checking reading logs and finding so many incomplete, I told the students we are going to be doing 30 minutes nightly and I will check Reading Logs daily. 

This week we will be studying the following:

Math- We begin Unit 3 in math this week with a heavy focus on multiplication facts. It is vital your child knows or is quickly learning their math facts. We'll also look at "What's my Rule?" where students determine the rule/pattern in a math table as well as explain their thinking.

Writing- In writing this week our focus is on emulating authors by studying exemplary writing pieces. Each child will have their own packet of writing to refer to throughout the week. We will notice how the author engages us, helps us visualize, and the word choice the author chose to use. There will be one night of writing homework this week. Our grammar focus this week is how to use quotation marks in dialogue.

Reading- This week we take a look at how to distinguish between facts and opinions and to be able to explain and verify what is a fact. Another skill we will review this week is dictionary use. Students seem to have a hard time finding words in the dictionary and aren't aware of how to use the guide words.

Social Studies- We begin our second planner this week- "How we Organize Ourselves." This week we will generate questions we have about government, we will discuss the different types of government throughout the world, and will also look at and discuss government symbols and Texas symbols. We will take baby steps in beginning the IIM research process as a class.

Science- This week we will take time to review all of the concepts and key vocabulary we learned about matter.

Yes, it is a busy month indeed!  Enjoy the beautiful weather.