Adventurers Team
                                                     Team teachers Pam Wise/Joplin James

     Welcome to the Adventurers ParentLink message for October 22nd
 Short and Busy Week
    This week we worked like Native Americans and began grinding corn into corn meal.  We used tree stumps with a slightly hallowed out top, a piece of leather to cover the kernels, and a grinding or hammer stone.  The Challenge is to see who can grind the most in 10 minutes.  We are measuring and recording each child’s amount.  We hope to make corn bread the first week in November. 
 
  Gravity  was the topic for Clark’s Science Table this week.  He did a great job of trying to explain gravity to us and demonstrated how balls of different weights land at the same time.  Students had a wonderful time with all the “hands on” activities he provided.   

Literacy:
       This week Adventurers started meeting in Reading/Word Study groups. These are small groups of students at a similar ability level that will be doing guided reading activities and spelling activities to enhance literacy skills. There were not be regular homework, but from time to time your child may bring home reading or spelling activities to complete at home.

Math:
       This week in math, first graders worked on problem solving tasks.  Don't forget there are some fun math games in the Unit 2 letter in the math binder to reinforce numeracy skills and also the math facts practice link on the homepage.
      Second graders worked on Fact Families, writing number stories for subtraction number models, finding the “difference,” and making adjustments to the +10 and-10 shortcuts to do +9, -9, +9, and –8 problems.  We are getting ready to review what we’ve practiced and take the end-of-unit test. 

"I Love to Read":
  We won't be here on Friday to total the reading minutes for this week, but we asked Adventurers to record their reading and bring in this week's record on Monday; and they each have a new reading record in their math binder for the new week.
   Don't forget that Adventurers are expected to bring their Accelerated Reader book home each night and return with it to school each day. Depending on the book, your child might be able to read it in one night or as the books get more challenging it may take several days to finish; the important thing is that s/he spends some quality reading time.

Estimating Jar:
    This week Deseray put tiny teddy bears in the jar. As a group we decided that range for estimates would be  100 > 500. Mark had an excellent estimate and will fill it with something new and interesting for next week.

Snack:
     This week for our Friday healthy snack, we won’t be here, so make sure you eat a healthy snack at home.  Next week Caleb’s family will be providing cheese and crackers and a little ghost told us that there might be another special treat.

Halloween is Coming:
    We always enjoy the Halloween activities, it's a great time to be imaginative and creative.  We encourage Adventurers  to wear their costumes next Friday, but it's still a regular school day and some  costumes can cause problems, so please help your child follow these guidelines:  Students should not bring accessories, weapons, masks, or unwieldy costumes, that s/he can not move around in comfortably and safely (face painting and make-up are great).

UNICEF:
     The Adventurers Team will again coordinate Shelburne Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF to help children in other parts of the world who are less fortunate.  We discuss with our students how just a few pennies can immunize a child from a deadly disease, medicine to prevent blindness, or help children threatened by war and disaster.  We talk about helping other children have school supplies and a place to go to school. Adventurers will provide UNICEF boxes to all SCS students, making announcements about UNICEF each morning and then after Halloween the tasks of collecting, sorting, counting all the donations (and learning lots about coins and counting money). 
  BTW:  We have a plethora of UNICEF boxes if you know a group that could use them.

ParentLink Homework: 
     Adventurers shared this week's ParentLink homework illustrations of outdoor activities.  The homework for this long weekend is for each Adventurer to draw her/his plan Halloween costume (or if s/he wants the costume to be a surprise it could be another Halloween scene).

Music:
  In Music, first and second graders are studying the guitar. Students are learning the parts of the guitar, and the names of the open strings. They create open string patterns to share with their class, using flash cards. On the flip side of each card is the note on the staff. We are presently working with strings E, B and G. Many students are bringing in some creative drums, shakers and pan flutes after seeing the instruments the 3^rd graders are making.  Here are a couple of links for making instruments:     http://www.makingfriends.com/musical_instruments.htm   
 http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/explore/homemademusic.htm

Math Night!!!!!!!!!
    We have scheduled the Adventurers fall math night for Tuesday evening November 11th.  6:00-7:30. and hope you can make it. Friday evenings are not convenient for everyone, so we're hoping this will make it possible for families that usually can't make it.  We can hear you saying "Isn't that the same week as the Craft Fair Work Day???"  Well, yes, but they're both important and fun; we don't want to overwhelm you, but if you can make it, it'll be a great time.
  We'll need a few more volunteers to help set up activities, clean-up, and it would be great to have some help with refreshments.  If we can share the effort, it will be fun for everyone. We hope you'll want to get involved.

November Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences:
    If you have yet to schedule your November parent/student/teacher conference please follow this link:  http://adventurers.pbwiki.com/Conferences.  To access the page you'll need to enter the "Invite Key" which is "SCS"
     
Attendance announcement:
   Just a reminder that students are expected to be in the classroom at 8:05  If your child arrives after 8:10, s/he needs to check in at the front office.  

Craft Fair:
   Don't forget to call Leslie if  you  have materials to donate for the craft fair items (if you can't find the list that was sent home, check last week's ParentLink in the archives). Our wonderful Craft Fairees (we didn't ask for their permission to call them that, we hope it's okay!) are  seeking an additional raffle item, if you have a suggestion, have any questions, or would like to find out about how you can help, please contact Leslie Borrok at 343-3751 or leslie@borrok.com

School Directory:
   Each family should have received the SCS family directory this week (thanks to the PTO).  There are a few updates and corrections, however; we're planning on sending an Adventurers list, if you have any changes in your listing, please let us know and we'll get it up to date before sending it out.

The Changing Season:
   With the changing season, this might be a good weekend to make sure your child is prepared with hats, gloves, boots, snowpants. etc. and that everything is labeled.  Also please make sure that on those sloppy days, your child will need boots for recess and indoor shoes to change into.

Coming Events:
 - Sunday, October 26, 1:00:   Shelburne Halloween Parade, meet at the town green.
 - Monday, November 3: Flynn Theatre "The Velveteen Rabbit"
 - Saturday, November 8,  9:00-12:00AM: CRAFT FAIR FAMILY WORKDAY Come one, come all!
 - Tuesday, November 11 6:00-7:30: Adventurers Math Night:  Fun for the whole family.
 - Wednesday, November 12:  Half day for students
 - November 19, 20, 21: Parent/Student/Teacher conferences
 - Saturday, December 6:  SCS Craft Fair

If you ever have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, we hope you will contact us by email or voicemail.
- Pam 985-3331 #167. Email: PWise@cssu.org
- Joplin 985-3331 #168.  Email: JJames@cssu.org
Adventurers homepage: http://www.scsvt.org/TEAMS/Advent/index.html