Hello All,

On Monday, the kids are bringing home permission slips for our first field trip, to Misssion San Juan Bautista. Please return these forms  as soon as possible. Parent drivers are needed, and must have cleared fingerprints and TB tests. If you were cleared last year, that information is still valid. For those still needing clearance, the district office does the fingerprinting when you bring a copy of your TB test from the doctor. Driver forms need to be updated this year, even if you've driven during other years.

The kids are also bringing home the Module 1 math test. If your child struggled with this test, or didn't perform as well as they have done in past years, let me encourage you to see this exam as an opportunity to develop a "growth mindset". I intend to persevere in building my skills in clearly communicating the concepts and expectations of the new Common Core standards, and I expect your children to persevere as well. Most of the kids are already demonstrating a greater degree of effort and engagement than I've seen in math during prior years. We are all going to be better and stronger because of this challenge!

In RTI, we are beginning our 3rd week studying Text Structure in Informational Text. This week's Social Studies reading will be about the California Indians in the Central Valley and Desert Region. Last week we finished reading Island of the Blue Dolphins, which brought the story of one California Indian to life. The kids loved this story, with several interested in reading Scott O'Dell's sequel. This week we'll begin reading Roald Dahl's The Witches. Finally, in math we're continuing Module 2, which is a short unit on the metric system. Math homework will be coming home daily during this unit, and will be completing worksheets begun in class.

Finally, for those interested, Scholastic book orders are due by Tuesday.

Take care,
Carroll Mayer