MOYER”S MONTHLY MEMO



MOYER’S MONTHLY MEMO

October 31, 2017

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy November! October was a long, productive month with: Spelunking, Celebrate Education Week, Fire Prevention Week, Red Ribbon Week, Halloween Howl and Halloween. It was great to see so many of you during these events.

Please feel free to contact me rmoyer@ at any time; your child is a priority and I intend to make this year academically, emotionally, and socially positive.

Students earned the silver spoon in the cafeteria for good behavior during the month of September. Students, challenge yourselves to “go for the gold” by: eating quietly, keeping a clean space, and listening to directions while in the cafeteria.

The following students volunteered to work with some of Mrs. Wetzel’s students Monday through Thursday during dismissal: Julia Alberts, Emily Anton, Bryan Dougherty, Nick Giordano, Saamia Salman and Sophie Schorn. The students working with Mrs. Lovell are: Lauren Copeland, Bryce Martinez, Alyssa Nocito, Roni Podoksik, Olivia Pulak, and Chloe Yang. The students working with Mrs. Ledwith throughout the day are: Emily Anton, Alexa Lee, and Eudora Demiri-Worman. Matthew Lewis is working with a student in Mrs. Stapp’s class two mornings per week. I’m proud that many students are willing to assist, serve as role models, and lend a helping hand to students and teachers on a regular basis.

On Thursday, October 5 Eudora Demiri-Worman and Matthew Lewis were elected to be our homeroom representatives. Congratulations Dora and Matthew! We know you will work to the best of your ability in the capacity as a homeroom representative.

On Tuesday, October 10 we attended Book Fair. We thank the following parents who were present and able to assist us: Mrs. Anton, Mrs. Critz, Mrs. Giordano, Mrs. Lee, and Mrs. Wagner.

Special thanks to all the parents for organizing the caves and donating materials for the caves that we spelunked in on Friday, October 13. Mrs. Copeland took an active role and worked diligently to make sure the experience was perfect. We had a great time investigating and interpreting the past. The following parents were able to join their child as they spelunked: Mrs. Adams, Mr. Alberts, Mrs. Anton, Mr. Copeland, Mrs. Critz, Mr. Demiri-Worman, Mrs. Hoelzle, Mrs. Nocito, Mrs. Schorn, and Mrs. Woodring.

Thank you to all the parents (Mrs. Anton, Mrs. Copeland, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Nocito, and Mrs. Salman) for creating the haunted house for the Halloween Howl on Friday, October 27; it looked phenomenal and was enjoyed by many. Students enjoyed the treats that parents so generously donated and having their parents chaperone (Mrs. Adams, Mr. Anton, Mr. Copeland, Mrs. Copeland, Mrs. Goldberg, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Martinez, Mr. Nocito, Mrs. Nocito, Mrs. Schorn and Mrs. Woodring) the event. Alyssa Nocito and Amber Woodring won for best group costume (Spice Girls) at the Halloween Howl. They were awarded movie tickets.

The following students are involved in the televised morning announcements: Sadie Adams, Emily Anton, Alexa Lee, Alyssa Nocito, Saamia Salman, Amber Woodring, Joshua Wagner, and Chloe Yang. They highlight what is going on at Bridge Valley Elementary and spend much time off camera getting ready for the daily televised broadcast.

Congratulations to Alex Kessel for making it to the next round of the Spelling Bee which will be on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. Fourteen students received this distinction; thirteen of which are sixth graders. Alex correctly spelled 44 words out of 50; we wish Alex the best of luck!

Each day we watch the student edition of CNN news and the star of the week leads the class in a discussion. As keen listeners, students are developing strong conversational skills and very thoughtful responses.

Students wrote cards to cheer up students who have suffered the effects of Hurricane Harvey. The students attend Willow Creek Elementary in Houston, Texas.

In addition, students wrote a letter to a veteran in honor of the Veteran’s assembly.

Roni Podoksik and Amber Woodring will read aloud a poem on diversity for the River of Rocks assembly on Thursday, November 2.

Please make sure your child comes clothed appropriately for 30 minutes of outdoor recess as students are on the recess yard from 1:00-1:30 P.M. A coat is necessary during the fall/winter season.

Snacks eaten during class should be healthful (vegetables, fruits, cheese, crackers, granola etc…). Thank you for helping to foster good eating habits.

Students should be working one hour on homework each night. Studying and reviewing material learned in class should count towards the allotted hour of homework. Each child needs ‘down time’ when s/he gets home from school. Consider offering one hour of free time to get reenergized. A snack, some rest, or another activity besides homework should be the focus for that hour. Then, students can choose to work in the following increments: two 30 minute blocks, three 20 minute blocks or four 15 minute blocks to complete that night’s assignments. One hour is too long to sit in one stretch. Please initial your child’s homework book each evening so you are aware of all assignments and upcoming quizzes and tests. It is also another method of keeping the lines of communication open.

Daily homework and a classroom calendar of events can be accessed via School Wires. Please encourage your child to access both daily. Students are expected to access the November calendar from School Wires, record the events listed in the November calendar and keep the calendar in their take home folder.

At the end of every other month (October, December, February and April) students change seats. I spoke about the importance of getting to know and work with a broad spectrum of different students throughout the year since students will be entering different middle schools in less than a year. I presented the following challenge to the students: meet your group outside of school to do an activity. We spoke about why this is important, what types of activities are appropriate and how this will positively affect them. When groups do meet the challenge, they are asked to share what they did during our class meeting.

We finished reading and discussing The Breadwinner on Friday, October 27. The students thoroughly enjoyed the novel and last week they asked if I could read aloud the sequel titled, Parvana’s Journey. It was unanimous, 22/22 students voted to have me read it aloud. As a teacher, this warms my heart. Please ask your child what s/he learned about Afghan culture and the Taliban and how it differs from American culture.

We started reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Brian Robeson is the thirteen-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels on a bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in northern Canada for the summer, the pilot suffers a heart attack and dies. Brian tries to land the plane, but ends up crash-landing into a lake in the forest, saving nothing but his hatchet (a gift his mother gave him shortly before his plane departed) and his own life. Throughout the summer, Brian attempts to survive in the endless wilderness with only his hatchet. He discovers how to make fire with the hatchet and eats whatever food he can find. He deals with threats from animals. During his time alone, Brian struggles with memories of home and the bittersweet memory of his mother and what she did to their family. Will Brian be rescued or will he have to survive in the forest for eternity?

Each day students: read a chapter, create a concise summary of the main events in the chapter, make a prediction about what the next chapter is about and think of a question that they want answered in the next chapter. Students also respond to a few open –ended questions after each chapter; these questions are thoughtful in nature and ask the students to reflect upon the chapter. In addition, students fill out a sequence of events after reading every chapter. The next day, students work collaboratively to share their chapter work and we have a rich discussion. I then lead a class discussion based on their independent and group work.

Students developed a three- paragraph narrative writing piece about a memory and followed a detailed checklist describing what should be in each paragraph. A lot of class time was spent working on each paragraph and grabbing the reader’s attention by using our senses to vividly describe what was happening. Shortly, we will begin developing an argumentative/opinion writing piece about school uniforms. Parents, share your thoughts with your child about this topic.

In science, we are learning about Human Body in Motion specifically-how we move, how our muscles know when to move, how our muscles get the nutrients they need and what role cells play.

The History Alive program allows students to access the text from home and has review games set up for each lesson. Each student has the directions to access the program in his/her take home folder. Recently, students created a Hominid Superhero Poster. They are hanging in our classroom. Please feel free to come and see these beautiful works of art.

Moyer’s Corner

1. My favorite store is Bloomingdales. (I also like Banana Republic and J Crew.)

2. I enjoy going to Marshall’s or TJ Maxx every Friday after school.

3. I try to exercise every day and enjoy being outdoors.

4. I think any combination of soup, salad, or vegetarian sushi is an ideal meal.

5. Panera, Villagio, and Cheesecake Factory are some of my favorite restaurants.

6. I enjoy watching This is Us (NBC) and Born This Way (A and E) on television.

7. I recently read Neither Here, Nor There by Miriam Drori.

Congratulations to the proud recipients of the October classroom award Julia Alberts, Emily Anton, Gwynneth Critz, Olivia Pulak, and Saamia Salman. Continue to soar to success; we are very proud of you!

YOU CAN, YOU WILL, SUCCEED!

Rachel Moyer

“It is vital that when educating our children’s brains that we do not neglect to educate their hearts.” Dalai Lama

“A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” George Eliot

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