Friday, March 29, 2024

Crew News March 29th, 2024

 Announcements 

CMAS Schedule:  Next week, our 3rd-6th grade will be taking CMAS (state testing). Our schedule will be impacted, and we have our IAs at 12:45 (instead of 2:45). We are flexible, so this is no problem!

Please note: We will not have Community Reading next Friday 4/5.  


REMS AUCTION THIS WEEKEND!

Have you gotten your tickets to join me for our annual Parent Crew Auction/Fundraiser on Saturday? It’s not too late to do so! If childcare is a concern, our friends next door at RSS are hosting a Kids’ Night Out on this same evening! Children age 4 and up are invited to attend an evening including pizza, games, and a movie. Please see the sign up to reserve a spot for your child.    


If you can’t attend the auction in person but would still like to bid on items, please see the tickets link below to get more information and purchase your “Online Only Ticket” to do so. 


Many of the amazing items that will be up for bidding are currently available to preview including our fabulous crew basket.  I want to say thank you to our crew parent, Lindsey, for putting together our crew basket. Additionally, thank you so much to everyone that donated to it! It looks amazing. For my teacher time activity, Ms. Martha and I will be offering a breakfast date to Kneaders. I can’t wait to see which two lucky winners will be joining us! If you haven’t already, be sure to stop by the display case just in front of the office (or check social media or the auction link) to see the beautiful Crew Art that will also be up for auction. I hope to see you this Saturday!


REMS Auction, Save the Date!
When - Saturday, March 30th
Theme - Red, White, and READ
Where - the Philip and Jerry Library (in Castle Rock)
Time 6 - 10:30 pm
We'll have food and drinks to enjoy while you bid on awesome items and experiences in the Silent & Live Auctions including Teacher Time, Crew Art, theme baskets & more!
Enjoy this adults-only event to visit with other Renaissance parents and our teachers and staff.
Buy your tickets today!



Calendar


Mar 30: REMS Annual Parent Auction Get your Tickets 


April 5: No Community Reading


April 19: No School- Comp Day


April 24: Mandatory Camp Elim Information Meeting 4:30-5:30. Chaperone Meeting 5:30-6pm.


April 26: No School- Professional Development


May 15-16: Overnight Voyage to Camp Elim


May 17: Day of Rest (No school for kindergarten)


May 22: Student Led Conferences- Save the Date!


Crew Highlights: 


In phonics, we were working on the letter L. We sorted words in the -ip and -op family and unscrambled cut apart sentences. New sight words this week included said and two. These are tricky ones, along with are and have from last time. Please continue to practice at home. For reference, here is a list of what students should have mastered, as well as a look at what is coming up next. Our next phonics assessment will be next week.



In reading, we have continued learning about Holidays and Celebrations. Our mentor text this week was learning about how people celebrate the New Year all over the world. Have your child share with you a fact that we learned about New Years in New York City, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and China. We focused on finding the central idea of a text and the important details both with the mentor text and in our small reading groups. Speaking of reading groups, our readers are blossoming! I encourage you to ask your child to read a book from their book bags when you come in for Community Reading.


In writing, we have continued working on personal narratives. This week, we added feeling, the setting, and action to our stories. Students practiced adding details to help their reader know more about their story, both in words and pictures. Today, students added dialogue and speech bubbles to their pictures. It is fun to see their writing come to life!




In expedition, we are wrapping up our final two simple machines: the gear and the wedge. Students learned about how gears are used in a car opener, as well as in bikes, clocks, and machines. They did some exploratory learning with gears in doing the LEGO challenge of the hockey player, in which you twist a wheel that spins gears and moves his arm. Also, they used plastic gears which built understanding about how one gear can be used to turn other connecting gears. The last simple machine to learn about was the wedge. We started out with a door stopper, but then identified an axe, a knife, a chisel, and a forklift as other examples. Your child may come home singing The Simple Machines Song by Scratch Garden. :)

 

In math, we started the unit Count, Read, and Write Numbers 11 to 20. This unit explores numbers above ten and making connections to single digit and teen numbers (ex. 3 and 13). This is a great time to practice counting at home. Find piles of household objects that your child can count at home. For more information, check out the family letter that went home in Take Home Folders.


With Ms. Halle in Crew Skills, we talked about having a growth mindset. Students identified something that they can do easily and something they cannot do YET. We will continue to talk about flexible thinking and make connections to having a growth mindset as we persevere through something new or challenges. Check out their examples in Take Home Folders.


Exploratory learning with inclined planes!


LEGO challenges to build a complex figure with gears.


We continue to have drum circles every Wednesday. I am so proud of the bravery of our volunteers who are leading the drum circle or being our beat keeper with the cowbell!


Inspired by the Crayon Initiative that Ms. Bethany's Crew is doing, our Crew decided to do a Marker Recycle Drive. We will be promoting our service project across the school. We will be collecting old markers, pens, and pencils to be recycled to the company TerraCycle. Please feel free to send in old supplies from home to be recycled. We will weigh this at the end of the year to see how many pounds of markers we are saving from the landfill!

Making posters to share and hang around the school.

We read Rechenka’s Eggs and looked at examples of traditional Russian egg decorations. Then with 4th grade buddies, students used crayons and watercolors to decorate eggs. They turned out beautiful!






Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy Spring!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you tomorrow at the REMS auction! :)



Crew News June 6th, 2024

    Announcements Beginning of Year End of Year Public Service Announcement: You now have 1st graders!!! Electronic Progress Reports: Elect...