Halfway Through the First Quarter!

Hello Otter Families,

Can you believe that last Friday marked the half-way point for the first quarter of school? That means that at this time, there is a fairly good representation of grades in the grade book and power school. So, now would be a good time to check and review your child's grades with him or her. If your child has any missing work due to absence, please make sure that he or she completes it in a timely manner. I have collected the Social Studies notebooks, but I still need to finish grading the geography and map terms. Those grades should be entered into the system sometime this week. I also have not entered the Chapter 1 math test scores as some children need a little more class time to finish. Those scores should be up online by Tuesday.

In math, we just finished our first Chapter on Algebraic Reasoning. We will start our next unit, Integers, tomorrow, Monday, September 27. In social studies we are working on our World Maps. This is a major project and we will spend class time all this week on it. The children will then bring the maps home for completion. The due date will be sometime in early October. I will post the due date online as soon as I can. Thank you to the many parent helpers who have come in to help us. We could not do it without you!

This Friday is our first 6th grade social after school. We are all looking forward to an exciting and fun time. Thank you to the many Otter parents who have donated items and/or have volunteered to help. The social will take place in the quad right after school, and will go until 4:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at lunch. Tickets will sell for $5.00 and will cover the price of admission as well as all the games. You might want to send a few extra dollars with your child on Friday for miscellaneous snacks and goodies and/or photos with friends. There will be games, prizes, music, and dancing. Students get to choose which activities to do and there is always something for everyone! Please encourage your child to participate...the more the merrier.

It looks like we are in for another hot week at school. It might be a good idea to send your child in with a water bottle (in an effort to "go green" a refillable bottle is best). I allow kids to drink water in my class anytime. All other food and drink is prohibited as it creates a mess in the classroom.

Special thanks goes to my anonymous friend, who so kindly sent me a beautiful birthday surprise last week. Your otter cake was amazing and the third period kids enjoyed it immensely. Thanks also to the families who have donated items to room 301. If you would like to support our team, check out my wish list on the right side of the blog.

I hope there are at least a few Otter families who are finding this blog useful. I am not sure anyone is reading it. In order to give me an idea of who my readers are, PLEASE leave a comment, give me some feedback, and leave your name. Your response is greatly appreciated.

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

Mrs. Shimamoto