Week of February 11

NAAPID
Please join us for NAAPID on Monday January 11th.  We would love to have you involved in our classroom for the day or even a few minutes, whatever works best for you!

Count Day
Count Day is Wednesday January 13th.  Please help to ensure your child is in school on this day so we can have an accurate count of the number of students at Mitchell School.

Valentine's Day
We will have a celebration of friendship in our classroom on Thursday afternoon, February 14th.  Students may bring valentine's for their classmates.  If you would like to donate a snack it would be greatly appreciated.

Winter Break
Winter Break begins at the end of the day on Friday.  School resumes Monday, February 25th.  Have a safe, fun vacation with your family and friends!

Jiffy Mix

We had a great time on our field trip to Jiffy Mix.  After enjoying a snack and a video presentation of how Jiffy Mix is made, we took a tour of the factory.  We saw machines making and then filling boxes, conveyor belts transporting the finished product to the warehouse, and we even got to look at the Jiffy Mix truck up close!  Thank you to the parents who were able to attend this trip and a big thank you to Jiffy Mix for providing this opportunity for our students!

Week of February 4th

Jiffy Mix
Our field trip to Jiffy Mix is this Wednesday, February 6th.  We will leave school at 12:30 and return at 2:30.  Students will have lunch at school before we leave.  Please make sure your child has returned their permission slip.

Building Instruments
We are getting ready to take all that we have learned about sound to help us design and build musical instruments.  Each child will make an instrument in our classroom.  For this project to be a success we need donations of paper towel tubes, boxes, plastic tubs, oatmeal containers, and anything else that could be used to make an instrument.

Valentine's Day
On Thursday, February 14th we will have a celebration of friendship in our classroom.  Your child may choose to bring Valentine's for their classmates.  Check your child's take home folder for a list of the names of the children in our classroom.

Week of January 28th

It's cold and flu season and we need kleenex!  Please consider sending a donation to school with your child.

No School Tuesday, January 29th.

Research Writing

Gelada Monkeys

Dr. Eila Roberts visited our classroom last week to teach us about Gelada Monkeys.  Dr. Eila spent two years in the mountains of Ethiopia researching and observing these ground dwelling monkeys.  We learned, as grass eaters, Gelada Monkeys spend up to 90% of their day grazing in the grasslands.  Wow!  As humans and monkeys are both mammals, we learned that our survival needs are similar we just meet them in different ways.  Thanks Dr. Eila for sharing your knowledge with us.  We will be taking what we learned to begin writing Non-Fiction Animal books in our classroom.

Researching and Writing

This Week

This Week...

NWEA 
Your child will be taking the NWEA Assessment this week.  We will take the reading assessment on Monday and Tuesday and the math assessment on Wednesday and Thursday.  Help your child do their best by ensuring they get a good night's sleep.

Media Center

Want to know what your child is learning in the Media Center? Get a weekly snapshot of lessons being taught by grade level. Check out the newly launched Information Literacy and Technology (ILT) blog here: https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/media-center/blog. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!
There's lots to share as we begin working together in our classroom again.

Science Fair
The Mitchell School Science Fair will take place on March 26th but registration packets are going home Tuesday January 8th.  We'll be talking about the science fair in our classroom as well as conducting an science fair experiment for students to better understand what a project involves.  If you would like additional support helping your child choose and present a project please join us for the "Pick a Project" nights taking place on 1/15 at Mitchell or 1/24 at the Arbor Meadows Clubhouse.  Completed registration packets are due back to school on 1/25.

NWEA Testing
Students will be taking the NWEA assessment 1/14-17.  Please help your child do their best by making sure they are well-rested for each day of testing.

MLK Day
Mitchell School will be celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday 1/18.  There will be an all school assembly 9:30-10:15 and then 2nd graders will be joining our special guests in the music room 10:30-11.  Your are welcome to join us!

Sound Donations Needed!
As we begin studying the science of sound students will learn about how sound is made and how it travels.  At the end of the unit students will be using what they have learned about sound to design and build a musical instrument.  For this project to be a success we need donations of cereal boxes, shoe boxes, paper towel tubes, string, coffee can or oatmeal cans, etc.  Anything that can be used to build a instrument would be very much appreciated!