Hi All,

Happy October!  This past Friday and Saturday I had the great opportunity to attend the Cotsen “Art of Teaching” conference. It took me out of the class on Friday, but gave me some new ideas to implement in our hardworking 3/4 class!

Today, our class received compliments 2 different times from adult staff members who saw how cooperative and well-behaved they are. Congratulations!

This week, Third Graders will be finishing up their first Math Module, and will have an
End of Unit assessment on Friday. I will send home some practice homework on Wednesday. Fourth Graders are doing a graphing lesson, and then have a very quick ( 5 lesson) module. The lessons are on metric measurements, and are designed to lead into multiplying bigger numbers, by looking at how metric conversions involve multiplying by tens.

We have begun our Global Read Aloud book, Front Desk, and will be making connections with classes reading the same book using digital technology, and “snail mail”.

A flyer for “Socktober” went home today. We are encouraging kids to bring in one new pair of socks. Last year, Rio students were able to donate more than 600 pairs of socks to homeless people as a result of this drive.

Our Drive-For-Schools fundraiser is also underway. Remember, all of the money from ticket sales goes to Rio. The overhead costs are donated!

Have a great week!
Carroll

Hi All,
It’s the first day of autumn!  Enjoy the fall.

This week Third Graders are bringing home an extra attachment with their Choice Board. They have a project on landforms due at the end of October. Please work with your child to plan this project, the materials, and a timetable that works for your family. All the details are on the handout, which you should retrieve and keep on the refrigerator for your reference.

Fourth Graders are finishing up the first math module, and will have a test on Thursday/Friday. Third will finish up their first module the following week, and also be assessed. Then we will all be working on short measurement modules. I encourage you to review math pages returned on Mondays, as well as making time for Engage New York practice pages, or Khan math.

Have a great week, and remember to fill out the Youth Truth survey!

Carroll Mayer

Hi All,
I can’t believe we are a month in to the school year!

This week most Parent Volunteers begin working in the class. Thanks so much to those of you who are able to make Room 9 a regular part of your schedule!

This past week both  3rd and 4th Graders had their first mid-module math test. For the most part, kids did well. When there were errors, I tried to communicate the kind of mistakes they were (understanding of content, formatting/direction-following, or misconception of the problem.) Ideally, you look over the test with your kid to review this feedback.

Kids completed the Youth Truth Survey last week. I shared with them that Mrs. Green reads each of their anonymous comments, and she’ll read yours too! Find the parent version of the Youth Truth survey on the Rio Del Mar home page.

Kids are getting into the routine and responsibility of returning the weekly Choice Board, and their library books, on Fridays. Most of the class has been doing well with this. If your child is struggling with procedures, please support them in organizing their papers so that they can do this successfully.

Finally, congratulations to those of you who participated in the Run for Rio last weekend. I heard it was a lot of fun. Next up, Harvest Festival!

Have a great week,
Carroll Mayer

Hi All,

I hope you enjoyed another delightful weekend.

We will continue with the routines established during the last several weeks, including the Homework Choice Board I sent home for the first time last week. I will give kids a new Choice Board each week, and it is due on Friday. Last week, most of the kids took on this responsibility, and brought a carefully completed form. A few did not. If your child forgot, please work with them to develop a routine that includes nightly reading, planning and completing their week’s homework activities, and returning the Choice Board on Friday. I appreciate that parents make the kids responsible for managing this, and understand that it may take some kids time to build this habit.

This week we will also begin a program called MAP Accelerator. Kids will be assigned Khan Academy lessons based on their own MAP results. I will send home more information about how kids can log into this from home, once we have used it a few times in school.

Both grades began Social Studies units last week, and will be reading Studies Weekly issues and completing hyperdocs to address the content. Fourth Graders are learning about the 4 California regions, and will be researching one of them and making a poster to share. Third Graders are learning about landforms, and will be making a picture dictionary. They will also be making a landform model as homework, which will be assigned in early October, and due October 25th. I will send home information about this project several weeks before the due date so everyone has plenty of time to work on it.

Have a great week, and remember to respond to the Youth Truth survey I mentioned last week, if you haven’t already. The link is in last week’s post, or on the RDM home page.

Have a great week!
Carroll Mayer

Hi All,

I hope you have enjoyed this lovely 3 day weekend!

A few thoughts about this week...Parents, please respond to the Youth Truth Survey  This is your opportunity to share your thoughts about Rio del Mar Elementary in a clear and efficient way. The kids and staff take time to do this survey at school, but we'd like to hear from more parents. Ms. Green shared at Site Council how carefully she looks at each written response, as well as the overall trends from each group of stakeholders.

I've included links to the 3rd and 4th Grade math homework for anyone that wishes their child to do more traditional, pencil and paper homework. They are to the right of this post, and should be printable. Let me know if there are issues. Also, if anyone wants their child to print homework pages here at school, please let me know and I will work with your child to print out a packet of homework pages.

I've also attached a link to the Choice Board that I mentioned would be your child's homework each week. If your child misplaces the hard copy I give them Mondays, or is absent, feel free to print one. You may also have your kid hand write a list of the things they did for homework on any piece of paper, and submit it to me when the Choice Board is due, on Fridays.

Finally, to those of you that were able to attend the Back-to-School Night, thank you for coming and getting to know about this year. If you were unable to attend, thank you for finding your way to this blog!

Have a great week,

Carroll Mayer