I sent an email today regarding agendas. Please continue to support the use of agendas with your students.
Please continue to encourage your students to continue following our big three: Show respect for myself, Show respect for others, and Be 100% accountable.
Important Dates:
February 21 – Final Jekyll Island Payment Due – If you have not returned forms, please do so ASAP!
February 26 – Spring Picture Day-Students will be taking both individual and class photos. Class photo order form went home today.
February 28 – February Book Review Due
February 29 – LEAP DAY! Do something fun and make your extra day count!!
March 4 – AMMS Field Trip
AMMS Field Trip--March 4 (Chaperones for HOMEROOM classes)
For the AMMS Field Trip on Wednesday, March 4, we’ll need two chaperones to go along with us. This is not a time for parents to ask questions of AMMS, there is usually a separate meeting for parents. This is a time for the kids to see it, ease some anxiety, and get excited! Parent chaperones (and myself) will simply be along for the ride and escort a group of about 10-15 around AMMS, as an AMMS student guide leads a tour and answers the kids’ questions. We’l l be leaving the school around 8:30ish and be back around 11:30-12:00 (right before lunch). Please let me know if you are interested! I’ll take the first two parents who respond. Thank you!!! Very exciting!
Fifth Grade Behavior
It is that time of year where the 5th grade teachers start seeing some of the students starting to try and act like a middle schooler (we usually have to send this e-mail as a team sometime in the Spring). They think it is “cool” to not follow the rules, focus on drama/friends vs. their work/themselves (if your child has a phone-you might want to check in on their group texts/social media), or be disrespectful to teachers or peers
(they think they are being funny but some have started to cross that thin line between humor and disrespect). If you
see your child’s grades starting to slip or notes in their agenda, please have a conversation with them about staying focused and being respectful (and how this doesn’t change for middle
school either….same, if not higher, expectations). We want to make sure all keep their current placements next year (have to keep an 80% average in both reading and language arts) as well as end their time at Dolvin on a positive note having lots of
fun! Thank you so much for the support at home!
Jekyll Reminder
Don’t forget that if your child has food allergies or special food needs, you’ll need to contact Jekyll yourself in advance (if you haven’t done this yet, please do this week if possible because we are in our final few weeks of preparation). Contact information was in the packet sent home (if you e-mail them, please include my name on e-mail, too). Thanks!
Coach Digital: (see separate email with bookshelf instructions)
Now that we are in the 2nd semester of school, many of you have asked about how you can help your child prepare for the upcoming the Georgia Milestones Assessment. Our AMAZING Dolvin Foundation purchased the rights to the Coach Digital electronic platform for all our students to access from home and school in order to prepare for the assessment. To access the platform, please go to www.coachdigital.com
Once there, select Georgia for the first drop down, Fulton County for the second drop down, and Dolvin Elementary for the third drop down. Your child's username is their 10-digit lunch number (which they know) and the password is 123456.
Word Work: Spelling/Vocabulary: Word Work list 9 quiz will be Wednesday. All lists should stay in their binder. For extra practice, please visit spellingcity.com/pratta. I have loaded all lists onto this site for practice (some might change throughout the year). We have changed the quizzes slightly this semester to reflect the fact that our "Word Study" time in class is not just about spelling, but also about morphology and vocabulary. Due to this, our tradition spelling quizzes will now be updated to include a different vocabulary section as well as sort sections based on the affixes discussed in class.
Grammar: We will continue our grammar unit on Verb Tense. We will continue to review verb phrases (helping verbs and main verbs), basic 3 verb tenses and principal parts of verbs (participles). We will also continue participles, verb tense, and the perfect tense (past-perfect, present-perfect, and future-perfect). There will be a unit test toward the beginning of March.
Writing: We will continue our unit on opinion writing. We will continue brainstorming to choose a stance by making a pro/con chart. Then we will use the pro/cons to help us develop counterarguments and started learning about the structure of an introduction. They’ll continue working through the structure from beginning to end on their practice paper. They read articles for information and creating a pro/con chart. We will work on the organizer, writing an intro, reviewing the structure of the detail paragraphs, adding citations/evidence, and adding transitions.
Reading: We will continue our unit on Folklore (fables, folktales, myths, and legends). We will continue reviewing all of the story elements, theme, setting, characterization, conflict resolution, and in addition tone. We will learn about tone/mood. We will also work with comparing and contrasting two characters in a folktale/myth. We will also be comparing similar stories written in different forms and with similar themes. The test will be in the beginning of March. Please monitor your child’s monthly Book Log Review. Students are required to read two, 150 page books, or one 300 page pre-approved book in February. Please help keep your student on track with their reading. The Book Review should be signed by a parent. The log along with the completed book review, are due Friday, February 28th.
If you would like extra practice for your child at home, visit the Launchpad website launchpad.fultonschools.org. There are many useful links available. One is a link for i-Ready. Your child should use this link for i-Ready for additional practice at home and at school. It is a Fulton County directive, that all students complete 40-60 minutes of iReady a week.
School Dress Code:
Just a reminder of the Dress code as written in the Dolvin Handbook. We will continue to give the students reminders about “school clothes” and “play/home clothes” as well. Thank you for helping reinforce the school dress code with the students. Also please remind your students to bring warm winter coats and accessories for when we are outside at recess. We encourage students to wear long pants over shorts in the mornings and at recess. If they get hot in the building, they may remove them and wear shorts inside the building. Hats should be removed once inside the building.
All students shall dress appropriately so as not to disrupt or interfere with the educational program or orderly operation of the school. Extremes in dressing and grooming will not be permitted. Shorts and skirts must meet finger-tip rule and straps must be one inch in width. Bare midriffs, see through clothing, and apparel that designate gangs or similar are not appropriate wear. Flip flops should not be worn to school. On the first violation, the teacher will send a note home to remind the parent and student of the dress code. For the second violation, students will be asked to call home for appropriate clothing or borrow from the clinic.
Devices
Students are not permitted to bring any devices to school at this time. We have not signed technology permission forms. If your student needs a cell phone for after school safety reasons, please let me know. The phone must be off and in their locker at all times. Please direct all necessary communication through the teacher.