Busy Bee News

“Buzz”-worthy Moment: The ROADRUNNER!!!

In our expository texts this week, the roadrunner was mentioned as an animal who survives in the desert. The kids got excited about being an STCS Roadrunner!

Our discussion: What is it about a roadrunner that would make it a good mascot?

Answers: The Roadrunner… ~is a survivor in the desert  ~works fast  ~survives the heat  ~is efficient with its time  ~grown-up is the teacher and babies are the students  ~are fast  ~are playful

Our January Schedule…

Lunch with 3rd Grade (Mondays) Sign Up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4dafae2ca3f9c70-lunch

Guided Reading Groups (Tue/Wed/Thu) Sign Up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DAFAE2CA3F9C70-guided

 

Our February Schedule:

Friday, 2/3 Wear your Busy Bee Tees!

Friday 2/3 Learning Celebration 1-3pm

Please join us sometime between 1 and 3 p.m. for our FIRST EVER Science Exhibition!!!

Friday, 2/10 Wear your Busy Bee Tees!

Tuesday, 2/14 Valentine’s Day

PARTY-in-a-BAG

Each Busy Bee will get a paper lunch-sized bag.

His/Her responsibility:

• Put your name on the bottom of the bag

• Decorate the bag for a friend (any friend, not specific)

• Fill the bag with anything that a friend may enjoy!

  • A non-sugary drink (juice box, Capri Sun, etc.)

  • A small bag of snacks, chips, pretzels, etc.

  • Fruit, fruit snacks, dried fruit, etc.

  • A non-food item: stickers, pencil, eraser, etc.

  • A hand-written friendship card

These are ideas, but feel free to “BEE” as creative as you’d like! The intention is to find a low-cost way to make the recipient feel loved!!

• Reminder: No nuts and low-sugar snacks, please!

• The kids will be getting a bag from a friend!

• Please return the bag by Monday, February 13^th

Finally, please let me know if your child does not want to participate. This activity will take place at 2:15 so the rest of the day will be A LOT of REGULAR WORK!!! (HaHa!)

Friday, 2/17 Wear your Busy Bee Tees!

Monday,  2/20 President’s Day (No School)

Friday, 2/24 Wear your Busy Bee Tees!

2/21-3/3 Gifted Testing

All 3rd graders who have not already tested as “Gifted” will be tested.

No need to sign up!

3/1 Spring Pictures/Class Picture

In other NEWS…

Busy Bee Tees: Wear them on FRIDAYS!!!

The company that made our Busy Bee Tees for us was started by a few STCS High School Students and a dad. Feel free to browse their STCS Spirit Gear! I truly appreciate how they took care of us and our Busy Bee Tees! https://sstshirt.com/

 

A Glimpse into our Class

Daily Schedule

This is subject to change, of course!

daily-schedule-22-23

Homework

I am encouraging the kids to work on the homework emailed at the beginning of each week.

Any time they spend reading, writing, doing math, and practicing skills will encourage academic success!!

Reminder: I check homework for EFFORT, not COMPLETION. You decide how much gets done at home!

BENEFITS of Homework:

• Extra practice for students who may need it
• Communication with parents about what we are doing in class
• Creates good study habits
• Gives students the opportunity to ‘accomplished’ when they are finished and/or they understand
• Creates opportunities for parents and/or older siblings to spend time with their 3rd grader

***Homework is NOT meant to be a frustration!

My purpose with homework is for the kids to get the practice they need so they understand the concepts AND to show you what they know! If the math packet is easy for them, for example, there is no need for them to complete it at home, although they probably will have finished it at school! THE POINT: I know you are all busy! I am typically flexible with due dates so if you have sports or ??? one night, feel free to wait until the next night to do it.  When they return the homework to me, I acknowledge the time and effort they put into it. If this inspires your child to get the practice at home, wonderful! If not, no added stress!!

Social-Emotional Learning: FINISH!!

Our goals have gone from FAIL! to FINDING SOLUTIONS!! to FINISH!!!

Read Aloud:

Because of Winn Dixie  By Kate DiCamillo

We are going to enjoy this heartwarming story while digging deep into literary concepts such as COMPREHENSION, CAUSE and EFFECT, AUTHOR’S PURPOSE, CHARACTER ANALYSIS, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, and BOOK vs. MOVIE COMPARISON (If we decide to watch the movie!)

MAIN THEMES and LESSONS:

FRIENDSHIP   LONELINESS  JUDGING OTHERS

Language Arts

We are in week 3 of  Unit 4 with the Essential Question: How do animals adapt to challenges in their habitat? This week, we are back t reading expository text and these kids are fascinated!! We read about Wolves, Foxes, and animals in the Mojave desert, including the roadrunner, which they especially loved!!

Reading:

We enjoy our Guided Reading Groups each week. THANK YOU to our parents who led the groups Tue/Wed/Thu 11:40-12:15. We LOVE having you in class!! If you would like to join us, here is the link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DAFAE2CA3F9C70-guided

Writing:

Our writing this week is focused around our SCIENCE EXHIBITION projects. The kids are researching, taking notes, writing step-by-step instructions, and creating posters.

Spelling:  Plural Words: add -s, add -es, change the y to i and add -es

Grammar Focus:

Main Verb/Helping Verb

Commas and Quotations Marks in Dialogue

Continuing:

Contractions with not

Using Apostrophes

Linking Verbs

Using Commas

Content Words

Context Clues

Sequencing Events

Past/Present/Future Tense Verbs

Capitalizing Book Titles

Figurative Language: Idioms, Similes, personification, metaphors, hyperboles

Synonyms

Abbreviations

Name Titles

Verb Tenses and Subject/Verb Agreement

Adding -y to change the meaning: rock to rocky

Quotation Marks

Colons in the time

Verbs

Homographs.

Open Syllables

Possessive Nouns

Closed Syllables

Collective Nouns: class, team, family

Irregular Plural Nouns: tooth/teeth, mouse/mice, deer, moose, woman/women, life/lives

Homophones

Prefixes un/re/dis

Plural Nouns, adding -s or -es AND changing the y to i

Common Nouns/Proper Nouns

Concrete Nouns/Abstract Nouns

Word Meanings, including multiple meanings

Math Topic 8: Using Strategies and Properties to Add and Subtract

We are realizing that the properties for (x) are similar or the same as for (+): The Associative Property, The Commutative Property, and The Identity Property.  This week, we focused using the properties and other tricks for mental math.

XtraMath.com

This is great math fact fluency practice at home! Let me know if your child earns a certificate!!

Khan Academy

Feel free to do this at home! Here is the link for the ELA practice:

https://www.khanacademy.org/ela

Science:  SCIENCE EXHIBITION!!!!

Social Studies: Arizona State: Cattle, Copper,

 

Other San Tan News…

Yearbooks for Sale!

https://store.shopyearbook.com/santan-yb

From our Family Engagement Committee (FEC)

Please join our school’s Family Engagement Committee’s (FEC) Facebook page. Here you will find school wide events that are coming up and ways to volunteer at school.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/620590539585576

Thank you again,

Jenn Jacobs and Heather Warren

From the Principal (Emailed Tuesday)

Dear San Tan Families,

I hope you are having a great final week of January! As a reminder, we have our Learning Celebration this Friday. Details were sent out in a previous email and linked here. I am so excited for the students to be able to show off their learning to you all. The students are all abuzz with their excitement.

We have Valentine’s Day coming up here in a couple weeks, as a reminder we have a sugar free policy so no candy with your cards.

Learning Celebration Details

Have a wonderful week!

– Mrs. Sarah Laramie

Month at a Glance 

• Science Fair 2/2
• Learning Celebration 2/3
• Friendship Grams 2/6-2/10
• Regional Spelling Bee 2/15
• Honk Performances 2/16-2/18
• School is Closed- 2/20
• Gifted Testing 2/20-3/3

Important Announcements

Spring Field Trips Links

Please sign your student up as soon as possible for our fieldtrips coming up

Phoenix Children’s Museum (Kinderversity)

Butterfly Wonderland (1st Grade Mainstream and Gifted)

Arizona Science Center (2nd Grade Mainstream and Gifted)

Zoo Twilight Camp (3rd Grade Mainstream and Gifted)

Aspen Creek (4th & 5th Grade Mainstream, Gifted AND Montessori)

Medieval Times (6th Grade Mainstream, Gifted AND Montessori)

Kartchner Caverns State Park (6th Grade Mainstream, Gifted AND Montessori)

Montessori information to follow

Learning Celebration 

Learning Celebration is a time-honored tradition that we have at San Tan where families are invited into each student’s classroom to celebrate all the hard work and learning the students have done. We will run Learning Celebration from 1:00-3:30 (11:30-12:00 for half day Kinder) on Friday February 3rd.

 

March Conference Food Donation Request

Let’s thank our STCS staff during their Parent/Teacher Conference Night on Thursday March 9th!!

If you are able to donate, please drop off all non-perishable items on or before Wednesday, March 8th.  Perishable items can be dropped off after school until 4:00 on March 9th.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

The FEC

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B48A9AF2EAAFB6-taco

Tax Credit 

This year’s tax credit giving goal is $100,000.00.

Your gift — large or small — will make a difference.

The form link is now open at:

https://yqysjrrxph.formstack.com/forms/?1627645-EuNcDzZTd2

With your support, we can continue to provide the programs outlined below;

• Junior High and High School Culinary Arts: Restaurant quality cutlery, pots/pans, additional shelving, and supplies for the classroom
• Full-Day Kindergarten Scholarship
• Funding for the Library/Media Space
• Health Care Supplies
• Playground Equipment

Reenrollment is LIVE

This year, we have gone to completely ONLINE registration!  No more paper packets!!  While the phone app is convenient for most things – we recommend using a computer to complete re-enrollment.  We highly recommend getting your application finished as soon as possible as we prioritize current families and we already have a substantial pool of new students wanting to enroll.

Please Log into your Parent Portal. Go to “More” and then “Online Registration.”

1. Confirm existing students’ information
2. Add any new siblings

If you are adding a sibling this year you will want to have some documents ready as you will be required to upload them before you are able to move forward in the application.

·     Birth Certificate

·     Proof of Residency

·     Immunization Records (exemption form available in application)

·     IEP/504/Gifted Score Documents (if applicable)

If you have questions or need assistance with re-enrollment and/or the parent portal please feel free to reach out to Christine Gray, cgray@santancs.com, or Sydney Burdeno at sburdeno@santancs.com.

New York Trip Information

 

We still have a few spots remaining for our New York City trip! This trip is open for students grades 5-12 (and chaperone adults!)

Earliest Departure Date: May 28th

Latest Return Date: June 4th

The deadline to enroll is coming up quickly. Make sure your student doesn’t miss this once in a lifetime experience that will include two Broadway shows, a meet and great and improv workshop with an industry professional, walking tours of New York and more!!

www.efexploreamerica.com/2543243vf

Helpful Links

Order Lunch 

Arizona Tax Credit Form 

Social Media Links  

Facebook- San Tan Charter School Family Connection 

Facebook-PreK-6 Recker Campus 

Facebook-7-12 Power Campus 

Facebook- Mrs. Laramie Principal Recker Campus 

Instagram- Mrs. Laramie Principal Recker Campus 

Instagram-STCS Recker Campus