Another Break is Just Around the Corner

Hello Otter Families,

Time is flying by, and this is our last week before our week-long break. It is going to be a busy week, which will end with our second quarter awards assembly and auction on Friday. All students who have earned a grade point average of 3.0 or above will be honored. The assembly will be held in the library during 5th period, beginning at 1:10 p.m. and ending approximately 30 minutes later. Family and friends are invited to attend, so please join us if you can. We will end the day with our exciting auction, where once again, students will be able to bid on "fabulous" prizes with their hard-earned Otter Bucks. If you have any items that you would like to donate, we'd be happy to add them to our auction. Thank you in advance.

We are continuing to work hard in all subject areas. In math, the students are learning about the many ways that ratios and proportions can be used in everyday life. We have used them to convert units and calculate scale, tips and discounts. Hopefully these new skills will help the kids become better consumers. They took a quiz on these topics on Friday. Results are already posted on Power School, and the quizzes will be returned for revisions on Monday.

In social studies, we have left Egypt and have moved on to ancient India. In this unit students will learn about the impact that geography had on the development of the civilization. We will also touch on Hinduism and Buddhism, two of the major religions that sprung from this area of the world. As we study the many civilizations of ancient times, students will learn that religion has had an important impact on culture and the way of life. Our next unit will be ancient China. If you have any first hand knowledge of any of the areas of the world that we have studied or will study this year, and would like to share with the class, we'd love to have you join us.

In math intervention, we are working on test-taking skills, in order to prepare for the STAR test this spring. We have also used class time to go over the previous night's homework from the regular math class, get a preview of the day's lesson, and get a head start on homework. On Fridays, we use class time to go over a sneak preview of the quiz, which will be given later in the day. Hopefully, these steps will help boost learning and enable each student to become more confident and successful in their regular mathematics class.

On another note, recently, we have had much absence due to illness on the Otter team. This is problematic because missed class time can make things difficult and confusing for the student upon his/her return. All work must be made up as soon as possible. Tests and quizzes missed due to absence must be made up either during lunch or after school. Please make sure that your child gets plenty of sleep and eats properly during this germ-filled season. Hopefully, the week-long break will help to break the cycle of illness.

Good news...the Otters are going on another field trip. I received word that we have been accepted to attend the Arts Express sponsored trip to the symphony and the Tech Museum. Our trip will be on March 29. We will need several chaperones, so if you are interested in spending an exciting day with us, please mark your calendar. More information will be sent home with your child at a later date.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our awards assembly on Friday. Thank you for all of your support.

Mrs. Shimamoto