February 25 - March 1

D.AR.E.
Friday's school closing due to that pesky ice cancelled out Friday D.A.R.E. class. That was an extra class this week to make up for the class we lost last week because of the Valentine party. We'll take another look at Officer McCarley's calendar to reschedule so the gold team gets everything in before the picnic in May.

ISTEP
Next week ISTEP begins with the Applied Skills portion of the test. (Lots of writing and open ended problems)  We'll be starting first thing each day at about 8:10. You can help at home by making sure your child gets plenty of rest the night before and has a good breakfast each morning to maintain a good level of energy throughout the tests. And above all, lots of positive encouragement helps them start the day successfully.

Biz Town
Our Biz Town trip is coming up soon. I'm sure you've already heard about the jobs that were assigned this week. We're scheduled to spend our day there on Monday, March 11.

Mixtures and Solutions
Our class is beginning a new science unit this week on basic concepts in chemistry and finding out how materials interact with each other. The children will learn what happens when simple materials, like gravel, salt, and water are put together. They'll also learn techniques for separating the resulting mixtures and solutions. We'll be investigating combinations of materials, like baking soda and calcium chloride (the salt used to melt ice), that react when mixed, producing new products, like chalk, carbon-dioxide gas, and table salt.

Watch for the home/school connections sheets I'll be sending home with your child. These suggest ways for the whole family to investigate interesting aspects of chemistry.
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This Week's Agenda

Mon, Feb 25
     Social Studies: Biz Town Unit 4, Lesson 1
                              USA Studies Weekly #18
     Science: Lunch Menu Investigation review and checkup

Tues, Feb 26
     Health: DARE class with Officer McCarley

Wed, Feb 27
     Science: Investigation 1.1 Making and separating mixtures

Thurs, Feb 28
     Science: Investigation 1.2 Separating a salt solution

Fri, Mar 1
     Science: Investigation 1.3 Observing crystals