Iditarod Challenge

Dear Families,
Last week, the students on Harmony began their engineering challenge on the Iditarod.  In small groups, with students from all three classrooms, the children are working together to create a series of tasks, which will ultimately culminate in an "Iditarod Sled Race" behind our school.  Last week, the students started by creating a team flag and names for their team members (and mushers).  This week, the students will begin planning a structure that will be study enough to protect an egg (which will symbolize the original serum which was transported in the first dog sled race to Nome in 1925).  This structure will not only have to protect the egg through the "race", it must also be strong enough to withstand a series of obstacles along the way!  We are very excited to re-create the first Iditarod race on Harmony. Stay tuned for more updates.

Updates on FAP Fundraiser, parent-teacher conferences and the Big Basket Raffle

Dear Families,
This week is filled with many extra activities.  Please see the message below regarding our school-wide FAP Fundraiser:


Hello Families,

FAP is excited that this week begins our first ever Lucky U activities raffle.  

In case you didn't have a chance to read up on it yet, here are a couple key details:

- Every student receives 1 free ticket

- Additional tickets are for sale all week at 25 cents each, with a suggested limit of $5

- Students will choose which activities they want to enter for a chance to win

We have been very fortunate that so many of the Williston Schools faculty and staff have volunteered their time, resources and creativity to come up with a wide range of choices for students to enter to win, some happening during the day at school and others taking place outside of school hours.  In order for you to be informed, and help your child make great choices you can view the options HERE.

Please let your teacher or FAP rep know if you have any questions.

Next week, we have parent teacher conferences at ABS.  There is not school on Monday, March 23rd and I will be having parent conferences all day (and after school the week of the 23rd).  I sent out a google doc for you to sign up.  Please let me know if you did not receive this or if you need to schedule our meeting at another time. Thank you.  I look forward to seeing you all again and share your child's progress and learning at school.

This is also the last week for the Big Basket Raffle.  This week is a big week, as all classroom basket donations must be submitted by House families by no later than Friday, March 20th.  Please consider donating to this cause. Thank you!

Let's have a great week together,

Maria

Weekly Update

Dear Families,
Welcome back to school!  We had a great week back together again.  It was wonderful to see the kids again and hear about their February vacation adventures.   I just stayed home with my four kids.  We went sledding, did some things around the house and played lots and lots of boardgames.  I hope all had a chance to connect with your wonderful children.

I sent out an email and made a blogpost regarding our new Iditarod Reading Challenge during vacation.  In fact, the race started today!  Don;t forget to help your child check out the official Iditarod web-site at home.  We discussed the reading and writing expectations in school.  Each child also wrote a contract with me for this reading challenge.  Please keep in mind that these commitments are fluid.  In other words, I understand if you have a busy night and your child only reads for 10 minutes, even though your child tells you he/she promised 30 minutes.  The important thing with our March Reading Challenge is that all children develop a love of reading and feel excited about reading .  A love of reading is a life-long pursuit and I hope your child makes a connection with his/her musher, as they race in a very rough terrain in Alaska.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

I sent out invitations to our upcoming parent-teacher conferences earlier tonight.  Let me know if you have problems signing up or if these time-slots do not work for you and your family.  I look forward to seeing you all again.

The month of March is also dedicated to Math at ABS.  I hope you saw the information in our school newspaper, but to make sure, I will also paste it here:

March is Math Month in the Williston School District!  

We will have some special events and contests going on in both schools throughout the month.  Here’s what we’re planning….

Fact Fluency Challenge

• Each week, students who complete at least 3 fact fluency practice activities will be eligible for a prize drawing.  Teachers will hand out logs to students in Grades 1 – 6 during the week of March 2.  Students in 7th and 8th grade should ask their house TAs for logs.  Logs will be collected on Fridays starting on March 13 and prize drawings will be on Tuesdays.
• A prize will also be awarded to the student in each grade level (1st-8th grade) who makes the most progress on our Fact Fluency assessment during March.  
• Students who have already met the fact fluency standards for their grade levels will also be entered in a drawing at the end of the month.

Math Moments

• Starting the week of March 2, classes will be encouraged to blog about the awesome things that they are doing in math.  For each blog entry submitted, the class will earn another entry into a WSD class prize drawing.  
• Families can also blog by commenting on what classes are sharing.
• Find the blog at: wsdmathmoments.blogspot.com

Coffee with the Coordinator

• These events are for parents… do you have a question you’ve been meaning to ask about how to teach a math concept to your child or how SBAC is going to work?  Now’s your chance!  Stop by during the times and dates listed below and chat with Caitlin Bianchi, WSD Math Coordinator.

ABS on Fri., March 20 from 8:00 – 9:00 am in the ABS Library

WCS on Weds., March 25 from 8:00 – 9:00 am in the WCS Dining Room

Remember, March into Math is voluntary but all of the Harmony Teachers will send home logs in Homework folders on Monday.

I also hope you saw the Big Basket Raffle information in our School Bell this week.  Well, if you did not, here is the link to our classroom theme.  As always, thank you so much for your generosity.  I am lucky to have such supportive and encouraging parents.