Thanksgiving Feast!

FYI from the Salmon Creek Kitchen:

The Cafeteria will be serving their Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday Nov. 17th. You may invite families to join us for lunch. We do appreciate reservations, and prepayment (cash or checks made to Salmon Creek Elementary). The cost for adult lunches are $2.90 and youth lunches are $1.95. Please know that Juice will not be sold during the Cafeteria Thanksgiving Feast. It will be available for our handful of non-milk drinking students.

Thank you!

Genius Hour!

So, many of you have probably noticed that I have a #geniushour bar on the left side of my blog. Well, today your students were introduced to the concept of Genius Hour! They were given the basic idea of what it is, how it works and what will be expected of them. Please talk with your child this weekend about it and see if they can explain the process to you! Also, because they took the Topic 4 math assessment today, students have no formal homework this weekend! I told them that their job is to discuss things that they are passionate about with you this weekend and talk about some possible ideas for presentations! They should not, however, begin the process because next week we have some more prep work to do. 

Next week, students will take a survey on some of their interests and they will start to zero in on their final idea that they want to pursue for Genius Hour for the next couple of months! Please help them in this process, as for many of them it is the first time they've been in charge of their own learning! One great way to support their learning is by sharing your own interests and passions with them and the ways in which you pursue those passions! Please comment below if you'd like to share with the rest of us as well!

I can't wait to see what your kids can accomplish. We're going to have so much fun!

Thank you!

What a week!

With conferences over and Halloween on it's way, this week was rough in some ways! In class, student behavior started to slide and work ethic was on the decline too. I did some thinking last night about motivation, and asked your children to do the same, and this morning I greeted them with a new activity so that we could all get back on track this morning! 

The good news is that today has been great so far! Have your child share with you what their commitment to excellence was today! 

I hope each of your families has a fantastic weekend!

Crazy Hair Day!

Hi families,

Friday is our first spirit day of the year at Salmon Creek Elementary! Students are welcome to wear crazy hairstyles to show their school spirit! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Field Trip!

Hi Fourth Grade Families,

We have our field trip to Clark Public Utility District, coming up on November 9! I sent home permission slips last week, as well as a form asking you whether or not your child needs a sack lunch provided by the school that day. We leave school at 9:15 and return sometime around 12:15 p.m. I sent home another copy today because some students were saying they didn't receive theirs last week! Please sign them and return as soon as possible! I'm also looking for parents that would like to join us as chaperones that day. If you're cleared to volunteer in our school district and would like to go, please let me know ASAP!

Thanks so much,

Ashley Beck

Thank you!

Thank you so much to all of you for meeting with me to talk about your sweet kids this week! Conferences are a lot of work to prepare for, but they are one of my favorite times of the year for two reasons: 1) I get to connect with families, sometimes for the first time; and 2) your kids get to show you the awesome work they are doing in our classroom. I love watching the pride they take in the process! I hope each of you enjoyed the student-led format as well! Your kids did such a great job explaining their progress over the course of the year. I know some of them were nervous beforehand, but I was really impressed! 

I hope you were all able to enjoy your extended weekend! Please remember that Monday is a 1-hour early release as well.

What was your favorite part of your conference? Comment below!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

:) Ashley 

No School Tomorrow!

Hi fourth grade families,

Tomorrow, October 14, there is no school for a teacher in-service day! Next week is conference week as well. Wednesday, October 19, is a 2-hour early release and there is no school on Thursday and Friday. I sent out the final list of conference times last week! Please let me know if you need another reminder!

Thanks!

Another great week...

We've had a great start to the fourth grade, and this week was no exception! Students have been working hard to set goals and achieve them and I'm proud of what they are accomplishing!

In math this week, we took our Topic 2 assessment on Monday. 87% of the class passed at 80% or higher and there were a couple more people who were really close! Students took a look at their scores and refined their action plan to see even greater success in Topic 3. Next week they will take that assessment and I will keep you posted about their progress!

In reading this week, we wrapped up Unit 1 Week 2 and began Unit 1 Week 3. An information page was sent home on Wednesday that outlines all of the things that will be covered this week. For example, our comprehension skill that we're working on this week is comparing and contrasting. Students will do this in a variety of ways: comparing and contrasting texts, characters an events in a story. The genre we are working with this week is Expository (Informational) Text. Our essential question for the week is: How do people respond in a natural disaster? The students find this topic very interesting! Next week, we will be able to compare what we are learning to the real world and talk more in depth about what is currently happening on the east coast with Hurricane Matthew. 

This week in science has been fun! Students have had the opportunity to experiment with using a battery, a wire and a light bulb to see if they could figure out a way to get the bulb to light up! A few of the teams were able to create a circuit for this to happen and they were very excited! Ask your child to explain the difference between a conductor and an insulator! Our field trip to Clark Public Utilities, where we will take everything we've learned about electricity and put it into action, is coming up on November 9! I will be asking for volunteers for chaperoning in a couple of weeks!

As a reminder, next Friday there is no school and the week after that is conferences! I will send out the conference times on Class Dojo messaging in case you needed a reminder of your time.

Also, please make sure to check your child's planner each day! They should be having a conversation with you about their day that is guided by the stuff we right in the planner each afternoon. Each day they will also be writing down their homework for the day. In Topic 2, we only have 63% of students turning in all of their homework and we've set a goal to have 75% of it turned in for Topic 3. Please support this as much as you can! Daily reading and math facts should also be occurring!

Thank you for your continued support!

Have a great weekend!

Ashley Beck

Picture Day and Husky Run!

Tomorrow, October 5th is picture day at Salmon Creek Elementary! Please remember to send picture forms and money with your children tomorrow!

On Thursday, students will participate in the Husky Run! Please send them to school dressed for running (possibly in the rain!). We're going to have a great time running to raise money for the awesome programs put on for our school by the PTA! Please support us if you can!