Update 12/17

Hi Parents,

There is no homework assigned tonight.  Please remember:

• Tomorrow is PJ day.  Students must wear real shoes!
• Our silly gift exchange is tomorrow.  Please don't forget to bring in a gift if your child would like to participate!
• Tonight Chick Fil A fundraising night!  Please drop by for a yummy dinner and support HES.

Also, thanks so much to the parents who came in yesterday to help us with our Gingerbread House STEAM project.  Pictures of the final products will be forthcoming :-)

Have a great night!

Update 12/15/2015

Parents,

Tonight the students have math homework on two step problem solving. They need to figure out the unknown amount by adding the "more amount" to the information that is provided. Then when they get that answer, they add it to the known amount to get the total. For example, the following problem is: The basketball team scored 30 points on Saturday. They scored 20 more points on Sunday than on Saturday. How many points did the basketball team score over the weekend. They know they scored 30 points on Saturday. They scored 20 more points on Sunday so you will add 20 + 30 to get 50 points scored on Sunday. The problem asks what they scored over the weekend. So now that we know they scored 30 on Saturday and 50 on Sunday, we add them together to solve the problem to get 80 points scored over the weekend. I hope this example helps in completing tonight's homework.

Tomorrow students will be building their gingerbread house and parents are welcome to come assist or check it out at 9:45. Have a great night.

charles.utter@am.dodea.edu      mindy.thompson@am.dodea.edu

Update 12/14

Hi Parents!

Tonight's homework is a short math worksheet.  This one should be a relief--students are just using the standard algorithm to add with regrouping.  Nothing fancy here :-)

Because of our Gingerbread House STEAM project, we won't be having regular reading stations, so we do not have a reader's blog prompt this week.  Students who wish to are certainly welcome to create a blog entry of their choice.  We'll definitely get back to our regular blog entries after the break.

Also, don't forget that we're looking for donations of graham crackers, twizzlers, chocolate chips, skittles, small candy canes, life savers, gumdrops, pretzel sticks, and gummies for students to use during their Gingerbread House STEAM project.  If you're able, please send these in by tomorrow.  Also, if you're free on Wednesday morning, parents are invited to come in at 9:45 and help students with the activity.

Finally, please remember that our Silly Gift Exchange will be on Friday.  Gifts need not be new and will be exchanged randomly.  You may bring the wrapped gift to school anytime this week.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.  Have a great evening!

Update 12/10/15

Parents,

There isn't any homework with the exception of the free write on their blog this week about what they want to say about their reading.

For the field trip tomorrow, please make sure your child brings their lunch unless they signed up to get one provided to them from the cafeteria. It is supposed to be very nice weather but they still might need a jacket and comfortable shoes for walking. Parent chaperones should be at school by 8:30 with their packed lunch. Students are allowed to bring something to take pictures on like a phone, or other device. However, they can only take pictures with them and not play games, listen to music, etc. If they choose to bring something of that nature, it is their responsibility. Students were also told to not bring money. This is an educational field trip where we are very limited in time.

We have also sent a note home today with your child in regard to next week. We are completing a STEAM project where students will be building a gingerbread house. We are asking parents to bring in the following supplies to complete it: boxes of graham crackers, small candy canes, life savers, twizzlers, skittles, gumdrops, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and gummies. You are welcome to come in and assist with this activity next Wednesday at 9:45.

We are also doing a silly gift exchange. We are asking students to wrap a funny but school appropriate gift to exchange with a classmate. This does not need to be purchased new, but can be something you already have at home. The gift needs to be in by next Friday for the exchange.

Next Friday is also Polar Express/PJ Day. Our school is hosting a PJ/Polar Express Day where they will watch the movie and be able to wear PJ's if they want. The Pj's must cover their body in the same manner normal clothes do and they must wear appropriate shoes. No slippers allowed.

Thank you for your support in making next week an educational and entertaining week.

charles.utter@am.dodea.edu   mindy.thompson@am.dodea.edu

Update 12/8/2015

Parents,

There is math homework tonight. Today's lesson had students thinking about larger numbers. We calculated in class if students have been alive to see 1 million days, hours, minutes and seconds. We found out that people in general would have to live about 2,700 years to see 1 million days, 114 years to see 1 million hours, about 2 years to see 1 million minutes, and about 11 days to see 1 million seconds. They have to complete the rest of the activity sheet we started in class. This is not something students will be tested on later. I believe this lesson was implemented to get students thinking and applying larger numbers. Do your best to complete it. If your child is having a difficult time with it, set it aside and write a note that you tried it at home. Thanks.

charles.utter@am.dodea.edu     mindy.thompson@am.dodea.edu

Update 12/7

Hi Parents!

Today was a quiz day in Math, so there is no assigned homework.  Additionally, because we only have 3 days to work in class, there is no blog prompt.  Students are just encouraged to share whatever they'd like about their reading on the blog.

Also, progress reports went home today, so please be on the lookout.  We've assured students that, if they are unhappy with their grades, they still have 4 weeks to bring them up.  Please sign the progress reports and return them as soon as possible.  If you'd like help getting set up with a Gradespeed account so you can stay up to date, don't hesitate to ask us :-)

Finally, don't forget that there is no school on Wednesday, and Friday is our field trip to Tryon Palace.  If you did not order a bag lunch from the school, please plan to send one with your child, since there is no place to purchase food during our trip.

Have a wonderful evening!

Update 12/3/2015

Parents,

The math homework tonight is a worksheet on conversions. I think they shouldn't have too many problems with it if they remember some of the conversions that: 1 km = 1,000 m, 1 L = 1,000 ml, 1 m = 100 cm, and 1 kg = 1,000 g.
The reader response is due tomorrow. If they don't remember what the question was, please refer to the tab on the parent blog that will redirect them to the reader response blog. Thank you and have a good night.

charles.utter@am.dodea.edu     mindy.thompson@am.dodea.edu

Update 12/1/15

Parents,

Today's homework has students converting kilometers to meters, meters to kilometers, centimeters to meters, and meters to centimeters. The students have to remember that 1 km = 1,000 m and 1 m = 100 cm. They should have brought home the Problem Set we did in class since the homework is very similar to it with different numbers. An example of how to complete a problem from the homework might be: What is 5 km 230 m - 2 km 484 m. There are several ways to answer this problem. The easiest way might be to convert the 5 km to 5,000 m and add it to the 230 m to get a total of 5,230 m. Then convert the 2 km to 2,000 m and add 484 m to get a total of 2,484 m. Then subtract 5,230 m - 2,484 m to get 2,746 m. I hope this helps.
They should continue to work on their reader response that is due on Friday. Check the parent blog that has a tab that goes to the reader response if you don't know what question they have to answer this week.
Reminder that field trip form and $6 is due tomorrow. Have a great night.

charles.utter@am.dodea.edu      mindy.thompson@am.dodea.edu