News From Mrs. Graves

Upcoming This Week

Monday, 9/23   

Tuesday, 9/24   NTB 3-5 Reading Day, lunch times

Wednesday, 9/25  Early Dismissal, 12:30 pm; NO AFTERSCHOOL

Thursday, 9/26  

Friday, 9/27  NTB 3-5 Reading Day, lunch times

Monday, 9/30

Tuesday, 10/1  Progress Reports go home; NTB 3-5 Reading Day, lunch times

Wednesday, 10/2  Magnet Tour, 9:00 am

Thursday, 10/3  Fall Picture Day

Friday, 10/4  PTO Meeting, 8:10 am; NTB 3-5 Reading Day, lunch times

Name That Book, Grades 3-5

What is Name That Book (NTB)?

NTB is an academic competitive team that reads 35 books each year from the published list, and competes to identify the source of quotes read aloud.  This year, Mrs. Graves will serve as the team sponsor, with the support of Mrs. Whitehouse (4th grade) and Mrs. Khan (5th grade parent).  All students in grades 3-5 are invited to prepare, and then participate in the qualifier test for a place on the competitive team participating in the District Competition in the spring.

What are NTB Reading Days?

Reading Days are designed for students to check out books and read quietly while they eat.  Reading days are in the Principal's Office, and students stop in with their lunch on the way to the Cafe.  Students will not miss class time for Reading Days.

What is NTB Book Talk and how does it work?

Book Talks are opportunities for us to talk about the books on the NTB list.  We will discuss characters, plot, significant events, things that make the book unique, and similarities between the books.  Book Talks are not required, but it is highly recommended as preparation for the qualifier test and the official competition.  All Book Talks will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Fridays between October 21st  and January 31st.  To participate, students must have parent and teacher permission, and must make up any work missed while at Book Talk.   We will eat lunch during Book Talk, so students should bring a lunch, or get one from the cafeteria.  The Book Talk schedule and permission slip is attached to this blog post email, or can be picked up from the office.

Bullying or Not?

Through our work with +Works, we have been able to offer parents a handy resource for helping a child who is struggling with a classmate, +Parenting Guide.  You can find the guide on the Roberts website if you don't have a copy.  We are often quick to term any social struggle as bullying, but it is very important that we help differentiate behaviors to help our children resolve occasional conflicts with peers and friendship issues on their own.  

I am attaching the article, There are No Bullies, Just Kids Who Bully, from the recent edition of Teaching Tolerance, in which the author explores bully behaviors.  Bullying is repeated, targeted behavior, and is defined in the article as:

For behavior to qualify as bullying, two conditions must exist:

• The aggressor must intend to hurt or intimidate someone less powerful.
• The behavior must be repeated.

Take a few minutes to read the article attached to the blog post announcement email, or download the full magazine at tolerance.org .  

Don't forget to check out a new resource made available by +Works:

- +SNAX,   https://blog.positivethinkingworks.org

RE Blogs That Educate
Several of our faculty members are maintaining blogs to help you learn more about their areas of expertise. 

Want to learn more about social and emotional development?  Visit Ms. Nobles' blog at http://swroberts.weebly.com/blog.html

Want to learn more about reading instruction?  Ms. Rivers explains assessment and goal setting is her two new blog posts.  http://carivers.blogspot.com/